On Jon. On the krakens. On me.

We all slog onward.

Finished a chapter a few days ago. Revised another. Then re-revised it.

The days go too fast, the work too slowly. But onward.

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I decided to take a break from tearing and fumbling at the Meereenese knot, and completed a chapter about another character today. A character who is very far from Meereen.

Finishing the chapter felt good. Especially since it also completed that character’s arc for the book. Admittedly, she has only two chapters in DANCE, so I am not sending up any flares. But hey, I’m done with one of them for the present, that’s something.

Only thirty-eight more POVs to wrap up…

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Taking another whack at the Meereenese knot today. I’m going to try breaking two largish chapters into four smallish ones, changing the order of events somewhat, and weaving them all together. Maybe that will work a little better.

Can it really be September?? Ack. I can feel the heat of those flames…

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Here’s a catchy tune that will leave you humming.

http://scifisongs.blogspot.com/2009/08/sci-fi-song-20-george-rr-martin-is-not.html

(And no, I’m not. Though Parris and my editor both claim I’m their bitch).

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I almost hate to say anything here, for fear of jinxing it… but for what it’s worth, the last six weeks or so have been the most productive period I’ve had on A DANCE WITH DRAGONS in… well… a year at least, maybe several. In the last three days I’ve completed three new chapters. Not from scratch, mind you, these were all chapters that had been partially written, and in some cases rewritten, for months if not years. But they’re finally done, and I’ve just reread them, and I’m almost convinced that they’re Not Crap.

We’ll see how I feel tomorrow.

Anyway, I know I don’t talk about DANCE frequently here, and that’s not going to change. Sorry, but I’m never going to be one of these writers who blogs daily about how many words they produced today. I don’t like to talk about the good days for fear of jinxing myself (all writers are superstitious at heart, just like baseball players), and I don’t like to talk about the bad days… well, just because. Writing is like sausage making in my view; you’ll all be happier in the end if you just eat the final product without knowing what’s gone into it.

But I am making a small exception now because… well, I’m feeling rather jazzed right now, and for the first time in a very long while, I think I can see a glimmering that might just be a light at the end of the tunnel.

Now if I can only slash through the Meereenese knot that I’ve been worrying at since 2005, I may actually start to get excited.

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The flood of support I have received in the last day has been overwhelming.

More than four hundred comments on the DWD posting, and more every time I glance at it. I can hardly keep up with the unscreening. (My assistant, Ty, who normally handles that for me, has been out the last two days, sick with the same wretched flu that laid Parris low for a week and a half). Almost as many emails pouring in. By rough count, at least 99% of the messages are generous, understanding, supportive, and heartening.

There’s no way I can possibly answer all of them. It’s all I can do to read them.

But I do appreciate them, and I want every one to know that.

And, no, please, have no fear, there was never any danger that I would be so discouraged by the comments of trolls, critics, and detractors that I would stop work on the book. I am still pounding my head against that bloody keyboard daily. Today it was in service of… ah, no, you’re not supposed to know about that POV character yet. (Though I have hinted).

I also spent part of the day on email correspondence with a WARRIORS author about his story, talked to my editor and an artist about the ICE & FIRE concordance, traded some messages regarding developments on the HBO pilot, accepted an offer for that old issue of AMAZING I was looking for, paid my phone bill, and watched an episode of ER and one of MONK that I had TIVO’d earlier. That’s a pretty typical day, actually. I work on DANCE, but not to the exclusion of all else.

But I digress.

The main point of this is just to say thanks.

Yes, there are some dolts and loonies out there. But by and large, I have the best fans in the world.

(And who knew so many of them were Rick Nelson fans?)

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