My "New" Office

The last few weeks have been spent re-doing the basement which is fast becoming my favorite room in the house. My office has been revamped (with a mural -- above), the godawful paneling has been painted, and all of the girls' toys are in tidy little bins in a giant cubby bookcase (lookout, Martha). We have a sleeper couch, a TV, and new carpeting as well. There's a sweet reading corner with all of the girls' books and a cozy chair for us. It's been well worth the time and money spent.

I have also been madly revising. I think I've got about three weeks left, if I stay on schedule. I'm finding that I have really learned the value of economy. I am forcing myself to cut one page per chapter. This makes for much tighter writing. My agent-in-waiting continues to give me positive feedback, and I feel encouraged.

The pre-school issue has been resolved. The school is grandfathering current students and their siblings, so both girls will be going half-days next fall. I haven't heard yet about the position at GW (a visiting writer position I applied for), but having them in school will open up my schedule a bit.

I went to hear Tayari Jones read at GW a couple of nights ago. We share a mutual writer friend, Nichelle Tramble (http://www.nichelletramble.com). Nichelle is going to post an interview with me sometime in the next couple of weeks. Tayari was terrific. She read from her first novel, Leaving Atlanta.

Today I teach at The Writer's Center and then it's home to play with the merbabies and do some more work. Did I mention my desk faces their play area? Multi-tasking at it's best.