You know, despite the image at the top of this post, I'm not sure I've ever actually edited with a red pen. Maybe waaaaay back when I first started. But there's something about the idea of a red pen that persists, like floppy disc icons for saving.
No walk this morning as I was absolutely knackered from a day of clearing out, cleaning and sorting out our conservatory, which has been a spider-webbed dumping ground since we moved in. It was a lot of work, but very glad I did it, as we now, finally, have a semi-outdoor space we can use even when it's raining. Which is a very good thing to have in Scotland.
ON DECK: Back on the edits and pushing through Part 3 this morning. I added 165 words in aggregate, and finished 3 chapters. When I'm editing, 'chapters' isn't all that useful a measure, since they're all very different lengths, but its more useful than aggregate word count, since I'm adding and deleting constantly. What matters, mainly, is that I'm progressing steadily.
LISTENING: I really enjoyed my friend Lorraine Wilson's appearance on the 'Unfortunately...' podcast, talking about her career so far. It's a really great podcast due to the focus on the downs as well as the ups of a publishing career, and Lorraine's journey is fascinating.
WATCHING: We re-watched ROGUE ONE over the weekend, which, hoo boy, hits different after watching the finale of ANDOR. I'd forgotten just how much plot that film packs into two hours, while still being coherent and a lot of fun.
READING: I decided to take a short novella-length break, so I'm reading LIMBO by Dan Fox, a fascinating short book about the idea and state of limbo, particularly as it relates to creative work. It's a series of short essays, essentially, looking at different meanings and definitions and appreciations of in-between states in the arts and elsewhere. Quite hard to describe, really? But it's a very nice Fitzcarraldo Edition book and I'm really enjoying it.
LINK: Phoebe Morgan is creating a really good snapshot of the current industry with her newsletter 'The Honest Editor'. The latest post is about finding an agent, and why you need one.
UP NEXT: This week, I'm aiming to complete Part 3 of PROJECT SCARLET, and ideally Part 4 as well, or at least to make substantial progress on it. So it's a head-down week. But I'm on track and feeling good. Onward!