The Home Stretch

It's so very hot, hot enough that your brains are in danger of melting and leaking out of your ears, so hot that I want to do nothing other than lie under the ceiling fan and drink something cold. The low temperature this morning was 85, and it's going to top 100. I guess I was spoiled by the relatively cool first week in July. It's supposed to be "cooler" later in the week when the high is only in the upper 90s. How much longer is it until October?

I am now more than three-fourths of the way through the book, so I'm on the home stretch. I should finish the first draft this week, which will give me time to give it a good read-through before I go to the RWA conference in Atlanta next week. Then after the conference I can read it through again and send it to my agent to get her feedback. It looks like if I'm good and diligent and if my agent doesn't get swamped, I'll meet my September 15 deadline. (I'll actually have to beat it because that's when my high school reunion weekend starts with the homecoming game.)

My neighborhood Target sold out of my book. Okay, so I bought the last copy, but it still shows up on their records as selling out. I really wanted a copy with that "Breakout Book" sticker, and they're bad about not restocking once something sells out, so when I saw only one copy left Saturday night, I went ahead and bought it. They had three copies to begin with, and there were still three copies of the books on either side, so I don't know if they ever replenished and just try to keep three copies on the shelf at one time, or if they just had those three copies. As of this morning, the shelf spot for my book was still empty. I hope they do restock it. I've heard reports of it selling out in other areas, which is nice to know. It would be really sad to finally get a book in Target and then not have it sell very well. Then it would be nearly impossible to get another book in Target. Now I just worry about missing potential sales because they can't keep it on the shelf.

I'm so tempted to spend part of the afternoon reading and/or napping. I've got a few books from the library that I really want to get to, including the new Marian Keyes book. I know better than to start reading that one until my book is done because I know I won't be getting anything else done once I pick it up. So, if I'm very, very good and get the book done, then I can have guilt-free uninterrupted reading time later in the week. My local library has a summer reading club for adults. I remember doing those when I was a kid, and I'm having just as much fun now filling out my reading log. Prizes for adults include Target gift cards. Woo hoo! The more books you read, the more entries you get in the drawing for prizes. I wonder if I could get away with listing the book I'm writing. It should count too, don't you think? I read it at least three times through while I'm writing it.

Hmm, maybe if I'm very good this afternoon and reach my goal for the afternoon with some time to spare, I can take book time out later.