I dreamed this morning that I was at Gilchrist, the retreat center I’ve written about before.  I was hiking through the mists as the sun started to break through.  Dewdrops sparkled on my shoes.  I remembered seeing the deer on the next hill, watching me, before leaping away into the trees, white tail flashing.

In my dream, I thought: I should go back to the cabin soon.  I should settle down to write.

Then I woke.  I remembered I still have at least 5,000 words to write on Kill By Numbers, the sequel to The Dangerous Type.  It’s due February 1.  I can make the deadline, but apparently my subconscious felt I needed a momentary retreat before it kicked me out of bed to get to work.

Kill By Numbers is the reason I haven’t been blogging — or doing much of anything else.  I found out about the deadline at the end of November, when I still had 25,000 words to go.

I’ve made good progress, but it’s been interesting to me that I slammed the first 50K words out during Nanowrimo 2013.  The rest of the book — a subplot, much more character development, several more points of view — has taken much longer.  It’s been the difference between a good, solid first draft and an almost submission-ready novel.

I found out last week that the third book in the trilogy is due April 1, so once the current novel is out the door, I need to dive into the next one.  I’ve got a good outline to work from and a couple of kickass opening scenes, but it’s going to be a long haul.

I need to figure out how cram my Gilchrist experience — the long drive, the great copilot conversation, the amazing home-cooked meals, the isolation, the silence, the woods — into a day. Because that’s all I can afford to take off, before I kick into gear on No More Heroes.

I can do this.  I’ve been preparing for it all my life.  But’s it’s still daunting.