I’m not going to make the 50K by November 30.

There’s lots of reasons. It boils down to this…

1) I’m not under a contract by which I get money to finish my novel on time. I am, however, on payroll for my day job. I have three briefs to write. That comes first. The novel will just have to wait until I get there. We’ve been shorthanded, I’ve been in court a lot, and they’re not done yet. They come first. If I was under a paying contract for my novel, you can bet your sweet patootie that I’d be burning the midnight oil to get it done. It’s not. For reasons you’ll see, I’m trying not to wear myself completely out.

2) I’m just coming out the other side of a horrendous bout of bronchitis. I had it a couple of months ago, and I don’t think I ever really kicked it. I actually lost my voice at one point last week, which means I can’t work. Not many lawyers can get stuff done if they can’t go to court, can’t interview witnesses and can’t talk on the phone. It’s also hard to talk to the staff and the co-workers, advise law enforcement, and otherwise function. I also kept getting really dizzy. Which means, I am still behind on my day to day work stuff.

3) Add those two factors together with the fact that I’ve got more on my plate than I have had during the past three Novembers with the new house, the lack of a roommate with which to beg, borrow, and barter household tasks with, family obligations, and other craziness, and my life has gone boom.

I’m still writing. I refuse to stress myself out with everything else going on. My hope is still to have most of the first draft of GRIMM written by February. I’m hoping that I’ll be somewhere near 30K by the end of November. For me, with how this month has unfolded, that’s about as good as it’s going to get.

On the other hand, if someone miraculously popped up with a publishing contract to pay me to write to thing RIGHTNOW, I’d stay up late and drink lots of caffeine to get there. Right now, however, I’m thinking that it would be a better idea to go to bed early, drink lots of water, and stress less going into the holidays.

Hope everyone else out there is having a much better NaNo. Have a great Thanksgiving!

On an unrelated note…still having an itchy cat problem. Anyone got ideas for an overgrooming kitty?