The Journal of Michael Merriam

We have survived SNOWPOCALYPSE 2010! Which is more than I can say for the tired old Metrodome.

Hopkins, MN got 20.5 inches of snow. I suspect I won't see my patio again until April. I did manage go clear a path to the walk, and the home owners association has cleared the walks down to the streets. The car is safe in the garage, though careswen almost got stranded at her office yesterday. She rode the bus into the office to see her clients, thinking (rightfully) that it was safer than driving in the ever-worsening conditions, but then things got so bad Metro Transit stopped running the buses. And the Mall of America closed. This morning I made sure the vents and exhaust for my heater were cleared, and brushed the snow off the gas meter so it doesn't freeze. I do not plan on venturing out again today.

Received a pair of 8X10 prints of the cover art for Should We Drown in Feathered Sleep that I can use at my readings next year. I am also supposed to receive postcards to hand out and put on freebie tables. The Reverend Selena approves mightily of the envelope from Harlequin, and periodically perches on it.

I have reach a scene in my rewrite of Dead Brew that, I realized this morning, I am actively avoiding. I had glossed over a difficult phone conversation between Sharisha and her father, but I realized I need to write this out. I need this scene to show the difficult relationship between them, because Sharisha's difficult relationship with her family is a key element of this book. Sometimes it actually is okay to tell and not bother showing (sacrilege, I know, but sometimes exposition is your friend). This is not one of those moments. So I need to change this 900 word scene to something more, and I am dreading it, because I know writing this scene will force me to consider my own sometimes difficult relationship with my late father.

Oh well. The snow is really pretty in the bright sunshine today.

*sigh*

Time to put on my big boy pants and write this scene.