This chapter is pants

I mean that's practically the theme. I hope it actually comes out better than that.

It is another struggle. I'm looking forward to the simplicity of some action sequences. I made up a mix tape of the stuff I was usually listening to during the first book. After messing around with a couple alternatives to iTunes I found that the old stalwart, VLC, does a bang-up job in doing shuffle play from a designated folder. Or CD, if it comes to that.

But it doesn't help when I have a thinky scene to work through. The "pants" scene at the center of the chapter I'm working on is when the tension of the shared living arrangement between Graham and Penny comes to a boil. But I realized -- again, late in the day, and why I don't believe in nailing down too much in the outline -- that this is set up by what turns out to be the final scene in the Penny-and-Tony relationship arc.

Which is yet one more conversation of people being clever and snarky. This is, after all, the chapter that will also include the "Hercules Hedgehog" conversation that's been in my notes since the first week.

But before I can get there, I have to do a Penny and Steve conversation and this one is extra annoying. I still haven't worked out Steve yet. I'm pretty much going to have to write through the climax when he finally does whatever it is he will do, and then work backwards from that point, adjusting previous scenes to make his behavior fit.

And that's where I am this morning. Fighting a fatigue that even Peet's coffee and my brand-new electric kettle (very British) can't cure, being depressed about how many more months this is going to take and how few copies the previous one sold (I'm counting on the power of a series to finally turn the numbers to green ink...but that's two or three books away).

Basically, this is the conversation where Steve says, "What's a pretty girl like you doing in a job like this?" Only, you know, not quite as crassly. And that's not even the worst part. The worst part is how she's going to reply.

Maybe I will try the music. It's gotta be better than avoiding it entirely and surfing Quora and updating my blog...