New novel

[nonionay]

I'm jittery right now, thanks to the new roommate situation. We've got one woman stopping by tonight, and we're meeting another guy for coffee tomorrow. This is putting me seriously off balance since hey, my home and my roommates are an important part of my life and identity, and I'm going to be intentionally bringing a complete stranger into this. At least I have a nice impression of our current candidate. I hope she likes us, too. One interesting thing to come of this is that I now feel like an editor. I got sixteen responses in less than 24 hours on the Craigslist ads. So here's a hint to people looking for a room: describe yourself and your living requirements a little. Offer to meet for coffee and please, if possible, don't have spelling errors. Assure us you've got a job. However, a generic "Hi, I'm Joe, let me know if the room's still open", is better than a description that makes you sound creepy.

In addition to roommate stress, I've probably got some post-novel ennui. So to keep myself distracted, I read a book (see previous post) and then sketched out my next novel. That helped, but exacerbated some stress, since this next novel is The Montana Book, and is exploiting the intense emotions I have wound up in the Bitterroot Valley. (The main character and I each have the same goal--to understand and banish the power this place holds over us.) And so, thinking on the book stirs up emotions.

Screw all that. It's time for the Day Job.