Dear me...

Yet another Andromeda slush update and 'Other Intelligent Life' (along with its ten other 'prison-mates') has not advanced past round 1. I've seen this happen to submissions before and thought, the poor bastards - never suspecting that I would one day be among those poor bastards.

The final section of part one of Commune has stretched out much farther than expected - I'm revising my estimate to about 105 pages. Some cute little scenes suggested themselves and will act as hints to the shift in pace I have planned for part two.

Haven't touched the editorial suggestions for 'Blue Diamond Pool', and since I have another buck's party scheduled this weekend, I think perhaps I should at least start it one night this week.

The past few days - perhaps due to lack of exercise and endorphins - have seen me doubting my writing ability. With Commune in the midst of composition, I feel like I'm studying the tree bark when I'm supposed to be surveying the forest. I've decided to take a step back from self-evaluation as I write and just let the prose flow, allow the story to gush out. There'll be plenty of time to agonise over language in the rewrites.