Extra Spooky

In case you didn't realize it by all your electronics turning demonic, people acting unusually brittle, and simple tasks becoming monumentally difficult, we are again in a Mercury retrograde. It's almost over now, though. This one was especially tough on us; even Dave (normally critical of my "retrograde rantings") asked me "when is this retrograde over?" (answer: Feb. 1). He's had a plethora of problems at school...oddly enough, they've so far been isolated to the retrograde period, which is I suppose why he's becoming a believer.

Retrogrades are, however, VERY good for working on existing projects, rethinking plans, and looking ahead. So the retrograde has proven quite useful for HP. I've gotten a lot done, although revising always seem to take three times longer than expected. Last weekend I got through my first "ghost" chapter, which has been haunting me (see what I did there?). I initially meant this novel to be rather serious and dark, but over time it has become much lighter and funnier...more of a parody than an actual gothic novel. That's fine, but the question becomes how to balance that tone with the ghost story? I don't want the ghost to be a joke. So I'm very happy to have tightrope-walked my way through this chapter, where I establish the haunting. On top of that, it's also a chapter where I try to establish a connection between Ana and her love interest....this is tricky because there initially wasn't a love triangle in the novel. Now, suddenly, I decided there is. Yes, it's a bit conventional, but I'm trying to find ways to spice it up or make it unusual. The point is, I'm happy to have improved this dasterdly chapter. As with my other revisions, I ended up cutting quite a bit out...but in the end, I think I've made this chapter Extra Spooky!

Other things:

Dave surprised me with gorgeous roses for no reason whatsoever, other than my being awesome (see photo)! He also bought for me a sweet little 1918 hardcover edition of Through the Looking-Glass.

We still haven't packed up our Christmas decorations, resulting in me being for the first time in my life sick of glitter.

I joined Facebook, which I have mixed feelings about.

I'm halfway through War and Peace, which is beyond-amazing.

This morning my friend Cory and his wife had their first child, who wins the "best baby name I've heard in a long time" award: Robinson Gary Funk. Congratualations Robinson! He also happens to be extra extra cute.