Salutations dudes and ladies! I hope you all are on the pleasant downslope of an already wonderful week. I got some much needed R&R time last night by hanging out with some friends, playing Resident Evil 7 with them, and cracking open a bottle of Glenlivet single malt scotch whiskey. Our cause for celebration? My best friend and counseling school buddy was able to successfully meet his direct client hours requirement over the winter break, and has now been awarded his master’s degree. I’m super proud of him and glad those few weeks of extra hard work paid off!

Currently, I’m reading Laughing at My Nightmare, a pleasantly acerbic autobiography by Shane Burcaw, a young man who has been learning how to live with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) since the day he was born. I just read the chapter in which Shane and his cousin Becca got wasted for the New Year. After quite a few serious reads, Shane’s irreverent humor is a welcome change!  More importantly, however, his courage and determination in the face of ridicule and adversity are awesome. I would love to meet more unwavering souls like Shane.

All is going well on the editing front. I am currently on chapter 8 of In the Words of Your Love, and boy have I made some serious corrections and done some substantial changes on my syntax. I’m also cutting superficial plot points, sentences, and whole paragraphs like a madman. I imagine that many editors and agents would be proud of me. I know I am for sticking to this very important process.