Sorry for the flurry of short entries lately, but I figure short and sweet is better than long breaks between rambling, lengthy entries. Plus, I'm having fun on the book again, so I wanted to share.

So, they say you should "murder your darlings" when editing and revising, which means you cut all those passages and sentences you as the writer love love love. Because those sentences will only be loved by you -- they'll only annoy and distract your readers.

So, here's a potential candidate for removal later, when I'm revising -- even I think it's over the top, but it sorta cracks me up:

Pablo was here, noisy and full of light, and his arrival chased away any and all evidence of Grampa and his muzzled bird, the sputtery Saab acting like one big Delete button for the now-messed-up text that had once been her Grampa in the manuscript of her past.

What do you think? Too much? Over the top? Later...