Sorry for the radio silence this week. I’ve been stressed, and Jessie is apparently working triple-shifts, which I did not know were a thing in the 21st century. Tomorrow is also not the start of my weekend, as I am covering for someone on Saturday. At least the office will be devoid of people I’m supposed to interact with.

It’s all good though, because next week, we’ll be on yet another road trip adventure to a cottage on a river! Romantic getaway, you say??? Quite the opposite. It’s a week-long, get-away-from-it-all bachelor party, without the strippers and gambling, for yours truly. (Okay, there might be some gambling involved.) This is my summer vacation, since all other planning and money-spending efforts have gone to that thing I have… the, uh… wedding! To Future Wife! Lots of excitement, but lots of shit to do also.

Anywho, “Jaed and Aston” is close to being done, and having a week off from work will go a long way to helping me achieve that. I’m at 162k words or so, and I can safely say that the story will wrap up within 167k. I’m currently setting up for the big climax, and I’ve been brainstorming revisions to make to the rest of the story.

I’ve decided to actually print the manuscript, both for the benefit of my alpha readers and so I can hold a physical copy of my story. I can also edit the manuscript myself while I wait for reader feedback, so I’ll be that much more prepared for the second draft.

But Manuscript: Alpha, as I have taken to calling this phase of noveling, is nearly operational. I even have a basic draft queued and ready to launch once I’m ready to send the manuscript off to alpha readers. Title and synopsis releases are imminent.

Fuckin’ hell, though, I just want this week to be over. We are close. On all fronts, we are close.

Steve D