Writing: I think the NaNoWriMo folks regard NaNoEdMo (National Novel Editing Month) as some particular month, but for me, it is the rest of the year that is not November.

After losing Crys and Grandma Smith in the same month, I decided November was pretty much shot and that I would forget about NaNoWriMo this time around and just work on The Hand of Vengeance starting in December. And that's what I'll be doing. I started working out the next scenes, and I will do some writing on them tonight.

To-do for the story:
1. Write Myradin's and Garrid's bogus adventures traveling to Moder-Eld Zedaura's home across the swamp from Moder-Eld Iona's.
2. Write the talk that Iona will have with Myrset. Just because Myradin saved her from herself once doesn't mean she's emotionally okay, by a long shot.
3. And, for God's sake, I really need to work out the logistics of Garrid's boat--as in how big it is and how it's powered. I originally conceived of it as a rowboat, but once I started writing, I realized I would need something with a belowdecks, unless Myrset was going to change out of her wet clothes in front of her older brother and his best friend. No 13 year-old girl would do that. The story takes place in a society with a medieval tech level, so no outboard engines. And the characters are navigating through swampy water, so I don't think sails would work. I'll have to think about it. I'm pretty sure the boat I've written about would be too large for even two men to row effectively, though I could be wrong.

Dream, the night of Dec. 1, 2008: Tonight, I dreamed of watching someone write their name and address on a whiteboard. I looked, and my own named and address were written at the top, in child-like printing. It occurred to me that the whiteboard was the guest register for my grandmother's funeral. I started to cry because I missed her so much.

Thank God, I am finally crying for Grandma. It disturbs me that this is happening only in the dream state, but at least it is happening.