Connections

Thanks to Mhici, one of the wonderful Irish writers I met via the Forward Motion website, I've been able to get answers for most of my Ireland-related questions. This particular lady has been kind, courteous and helpful. She always answers in detail with just a little more information than I actually asked for, and it's always right on the mark and contains some valuable little gem of uniquely Irish insight that I know will make Pale a better book. I don't know what I would do without her.

Sometime within the last 36 hours, I sent her an email with several questions, and this evening I got her reply. I've already used the information to make a couple of corrections in the manuscript. Email amazes me. The internet amazes me. It's like magic. I can send a message to a friend in Ireland and get a reply back with only a short delay. Sometimes the entire exchange of emails takes place within a 24-hour period. So much faster than all the old methods of international communication, and so much less expensive than a phone call! When I was in Ireland in 1992, I sent a postcard to our house-sitters back in the States. My husband and I arrived home before the postcard did.

One of my questions involved some Irish language pronunciation, so Mhici's going to consult an Irish-speaking friend for me. Her help has been so far above and beyond that I really, really owe her one. Or several. I hope I can repay the favor someday.

Writing progress: I wrote one of the last three scenes of the book (over 3,000 words) on Tuesday night. It was a tough battle scene with lots of magic flying around, but some things about it didn't feel quite right. Last night I realized that it just wasn't working for me. I didn't feel comfortable leaving it as it was, so I scrapped it all and started over. I like the rewritten scene much better. It's also shorter, which should leave me a little more word count budget for the last major scene and then the brief wrap-up afterward.