Ugh, I just thought I'd managed to shove the new idea aside. Here's a sample of what was going on in my head yesterday:
New Characters: Psst! What do you think of this scene?
Current Characters: Do you mind? We're busy here. We're about to go into the major mid-book action sequence.
New Characters: You know, we think it would work out better if our situation were a little different. You ought to think about it for a while.
Current Characters: WE'RE WORKING HERE!!!
New Characters: Okay, okay, we get it. But here are some things that you'll probably need to read for research before you write us. And wouldn't it be fun to start watching the world-building, mood-setting stuff?
Current Characters: Now, before we were so rudely interrupted, where were we?
New Characters: We wonder what we'd be wearing in this time period ...
Current Characters: That does it! We give up. Make her start thinking about clothes and it's over.
Me: All of you shut up. I'm going to bed.
And then they proceeded to alternate scenes in my dreams.
It doesn't help matters that an opportunity came through yesterday, plus the current project went out into the world in search of a home yesterday, so I know exactly which editors will be reading it. If that project sells and if they buy into the trilogy, then between that and the new opportunity I will be very, very busy next year. Not that this is a bad thing. That's the way to build momentum for a career. But the kind of working pace I'll need to keep up next year to do it all is a little daunting, especially considering that I'll then also need to be ramping up promotional efforts. It may be a year before I can really work on this new idea, aside from the preparation reading I'll need to do. This has also created some warring impulses. Part of me wants to buckle down and get to work now, because the more work I do now, the easier next year will be. And part of me is thinking that this could be my last deadline-free time to relax and enjoy myself until late next year, so I should make the most of it to gather my resources and be ready to plunge in full-speed ahead after the holidays. I'm not very good at balance. I seem to go into all-or-nothing mode, and if I'm not frantically working, I'll be feeling guilty about it, but if I try to work, then I'll get distracted and slack off. I just need to be better about managing my time and making the most of my working time. If the other characters would shut up and wait their turn, that would make things a lot easier.
Today may be one of my "balance" days, since I know the weekend is going to be so hectic and I'm still a little run-down after my cold (I almost slept the clock around last night). I may get some work done, but anything I accomplish will be considered a bonus. Otherwise, my main task for the day is baking some cookies for a church missions fundraiser. And I may load my Christmas music into iTunes and create a mix CD for driving around. I wish I could get a good recording of this year's choir stuff. We're doing jazz for Christmas, and it's awesome.
On a programming note, tonight the Disney Channel is showing Phineas and Ferb's Christmas Vacation, which is an extended episode, so it will run from 7:30 to 8:10 (central time). Because it overlaps Supernatural, I'll probably tape for viewing after Supernatural (and so I can pause the tape to laugh). Then Eureka and Warehouse 13 will have their holiday episodes on Tuesday night on SyFy. From what I understand, the Warehouse 13 episode takes place outside the current series timeline, like maybe in a holiday season we didn't see that happened in between events on the series. It won't be resolving the cliffhanger from the most recent season finale. If SyFy is going to do holiday episodes for their summer series, I'd love to see what a Haven Christmas would be like, but they couldn't do that this year because a holiday season hasn't fallen during the events of the series so far, and they'll have to resolve the current cliffhanger before going further.
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