I managed to sneak in some writing time here and there yesterday, in among Toddler Story Hour and putting puzzles together and taking walks and doing other kid-centric activities. I finished my draft of The Deep Woods, my middle grade contemporary fantasy. It's 44,000 words, and I wrote it in 18 days. (And I would have been done in an even two weeks if I hadn't taken some days off from writing, mostly due to Halloween festivities and my kid's birthday.)

Of course, it needs some revising — I already snipped out a minor subplot that seemed neat but ultimately went nowhere, and some of the scenes are little more than streams of unattributed dialogue — but I think it's structurally sound. I hope to have it revised and in good shape by Thanksgiving.

I'm so glad I found time to squeeze in a fun exciting personal project in between contract jobs and tie-in work.

But, as always, now that I've finished writing a novel, I find myself wondering… what do I do with my evenings and weekends now? (Actually, the answer is simple: generate some paying work. Maybe some short stories…)

Originally published at Tim Pratt. You can comment here or there.