Un-writing

There's writing-related content to follow, but first this news: It was 60 degrees today. In Massachusetts! I was running around in a dress and bare legs. (I hear my mother's voice scolding me and assuring me I'll get pneumonia, but I had to do it!)

My sweet husband came home tonight and I told him that, with one click of the mouse, I'd removed close to 4,000 words from Lion's Pride.

He said, "Oh my God. You have a backup, right?"

I said, "Yes, of course--but painful as it was, I meant to do it!"

I'm at that lovely stage of going through the first draft and removing stuff that obviously doesn't belong. This manuscript is a fat, wonderful mess, so I imagine I'll be doing quite a bit of this.

It's hard to kill my darlings, but I know the book will be much better for my efforts.

In other news: three short spanking stories accepted by the luscious Alison Tyler. (Read her blog. It's fascinating. I can't be that self-revelatory with my real name and face on here, but I wish I were that brave.)

A rejection on Out of the Frying Pan from Avon. Sigh. I know it'll find a home. I was accepted by not actually sold once on proposal (the editor wanted it, but the contract terms and advance weren't acceptable, and the publisher couldn't/wouldn't negotiate) and was loved by the editor at Kensington who couldn't buy it because it didn't fit their line, so I know someone will love it eventually. But still. Sigh.

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I've got two "girls' days out" planned this weekend, with two different groups of friends. One's a combined birthday/prenuptial gathering (for my friends Lyd and Coll, who've been married in our eyes and theirs for years, but can finally become so under the law of their home state); the other is just because. The silly picture is in honor of these celebrations, which will involve much giggling and no doubt a few strange drinks.

I hardly ever do a girls' day out these days (RWA, while it has elements of a writers' girls week out, is also work!) and I'm looking forward to it.

Do my all female dance and yoga classes count? There's certainly a lot of laughter and female bonding, but it seems like it's only girls' out if there's shopping and/or silly drinks involved.