This morning when it was time for Patrick to wake me up, I was so deep asleep that I spent the next half hour just trying to fight my way up into full consciousness, even as I was moving around the kitchen, making coffee, etc. My body was moving, but my mind was totally out of it! Add rainy, chilly weather and the beginnings of a cold, and I ended up spending the first hour of my writing time surfing through the internet and wondering whether I should just go back to bed. Luckily, I finally figured out what to do! I made a cup of Earl Grey tea; I sliced myself a brownie; and most importantly of all, I dug out my Jane Austen action figure from the pile of stuff-waiting-to-be-moved-into-our-new-writing-room. With Jane standing on the desk in front of me (holding her quill pen high in benediction), and chocolate and caffeine flowing through my bloodstream, I managed to spend an hour and a half typing revisions into Kat. Hooray! Over halfway done...if I'm lucky and feeling well enough this afternoon, I'll do another hour later, but even if I can't, I still feel like I've been productive today.

I had a nice reward afterwards - the latest issue of the Historical Novels Review arrived in the mail today. I joined the Historical Novel Society earlier this year because it seemed like a good idea as a writer of historical novels, but it's actually turned out to be a real joy for me as a reader of historical fiction. The Historical Novels Review is full of reviews of new historical novels and nonfiction, as well as market news, etc. When I finished my writing session this morning, I curled up with the Review and a ballpoint pen, to put stars next to every novel that looked fun - and there were a lot of them, most of which I probably would have never come across if I hadn't read the Review. I'm going to take the list with me next time I go to Borders (or to Amazon, for the American-only releases).

Meanwhile, Maya is sleeping on my feet, and I'm feeling glad we don't have to venture out again into the rain for another three hours. Yucky weather...definitely a good day for curling up under the covers to read and play online Scrabble. :)