Word of the Week: Dayturnal — The opposite of nocturnal. Informal word for whatever it is that actually describes sleeping at night and being awake during the day.

For the same reason I didn’t get to attend this year’s RWA conference, I didn’t have much of a traditional 4th of July weekend celebration.  No camping or cookouts or parades for me.  Oh, no—I’m on deadline.

But for working writers, holiday weekends can be godsends.  They give us the chance to hunker down for three or four days straight with no (or very few) interruptions.  Everybody else is off having fun, so we’re not getting phone calls or e-mails, nobody drops in unexpectedly, & things online are kind of slow & quiet.  Yay!

So I hunkered down & worked like the dickens.  Waking up early, staying up late…sometimes conking out in the middle of the day without warning… :sleeping   Even through the bloody fireworks three nights in a row that were enough to make my head want to explode. :bloody

But all of the stress & panic & complete wonkiness of my internal clock was worth it, because I am finished.

THE BOOK IS DONE!!!

Can I get a woot-woot?! :getdown

Oh, yeah.  I meant to blog about that process…scampering toward the Finish Line …as I was going along, but I simply did not have the brain capacity.  Seriously, it was all I could do to remember to brush my teeth in the mornings.  And some days, I’m not sure I even did that! :que

To recap, though, it went something like this:

Bopping along, writing on a regular basis at a decent pace.

Look up suddenly & realize I’m not quite as far along as I probably should be & that the book is due in five minutes!

OMG, OMG, OMG, I’ve got to do something!

:bloody

No, not that.

No, not that, either.  (Although it was tempting. *vbg*)

Maybe a bit of this, though:

No, no. Buckling down & getting the job done seemed the better way to go.  So I did. :doh

And let me just say, the book is AWESOME!!! So funny that I can plug away for so long, knowing I’m on the right track but not really feeling as though the story has that :bigwow factor.

Then I’m done & let it sit for a couple days before going back for a final polish & read-through…&—BOOM!—it’s fabulous. I had actually forgotten a couple of earlier scene & even had myself getting a little weepy as I read over the end.  That’s got to count for something.

Now to turn in “Dynasties:  The Kincaids” – Book 4 to Editor C & see what he thinks.  He’d better love Kara’s & Eli’s story as much as I do, though, or I may have to reconsider a couple of those earlier options like or .

Happy Sunday, my Darlings!

First & foremost, you’re welcome.  Because I know you must be thinking, Oooh, thank you, Mistress Heidi, for that luscious hunka Happy Sunday man. So as I said, you’re welcome. :wink

This week, I AM HAPPY to actually have my laundry done.  I did it before this dirty, sexy hot-a-tot-tot dropped by, more’s the pity.  But still…it’s done.

I AM HAPPY, too, that I got the lawn mowed.  Again.  I’m averaging yard work about once a month at this point, since I hate it so very, very much, but it’s done for a while now & lookin’ good.

I AM HAPPY that I got through something very unpleasant this week.  Didn’t want to do it, but it needed to be done…you know what that’s like, right? And I got through it without a scratch.  The situation isn’t resolved & there are likely more confrontations to come, but this week’s issue is out of the way. Whew.

So how about you?  What are you happy or grateful for this week?  And don’t be shy…we want to hear your hoorays & hurrahs!

And now for the winner of this week’s Free Book Friday title, Tempting Juliana by Lauren Royal.

:getdown Shadow!!! :getdown

Congratulations, Shadow! :claphat Please contact me with your full name & mailing information, & I’ll get your book out to you as soon as I can!

(P.S:  Our FBF title from two weeks ago—Burn Notice: The Giveaway–is still unclaimed.  If you entered & think you may have won, be sure to go back & check that Sunday’s post to be sure.)