whew.

It's been a busy, crazy, nonstop day.

1) The big news: I kicked off the first draft of my sequel. Second massive novel, under way! I managed to begin before 8:30 in the morning, without coffee.

2) 11:00 a.m., received coffee. My entire perspective on life did a 180, and I finished writing Chapter One in a fit of glee and caffeine. Over two thousand words, not bad for the first day.

3) In the afternoon, I switched insurance companies, which means answering all those great questions about yourself, your health, etc. But it's the only time I've been asked, in rapid succession:

• what's your date of birth?
• what's your social security number?
• what's your novel about?

It completely threw me! I think she was being chatty, but still, in the midst of all those official questions, I started sweating. What, do you want it in a single sentence? Will a broad description work? Should I have brought an outline?

4) After running errands and enjoying dinner with the family, I made a cherry clafoutis for the first time. My hands were covered with cherry gore, this being my first pitting experience.

And no, I don't know how to pronounce "clafoutis." We're rhyming it with "kablooie," and though we're sure it's wrong, it's psychologically satisfying.

(Okay. I'll confess. We're actually calling it Cherry Kablooie, completely ruining the chic French vibe. But it still tastes amazing.)

5) And... just to round out day one of book two, I dyed my hair to match my new protagonist's.

Black.

I've had red hair for a year, so it's a bit of a switch... I'll post a picture in a day or two. (And yes, I was quoting Anne Shirley... he told me it would dye my hair a beautiful raven black... I was just a little nervous it would come out green. Whew. It didn't.)

I'm still startling myself a little when I look into the mirror, but maybe I can see more of my protagonist now. I don't know why hair color feels like an important link this time around, but we'll see.

And since it's Monday night, I'll be right back with the second Writer In Progress post... (Did you think I forgot? I didn't. Not really.)