Never before have I felt such sympathy for George W. Bush in that moment when he realized he’d declared ‘Mission Accomplished’ too soon.

The grain bugs are back. Steve found a few flagrantly mating on our kitchen wall last night. We are fighting a guerrilla war against a cunning, though slow and small, enemy. On the positive side, my cabinets still sparkle.

Yesterday was a good day for writing. It didn’t seem like it would be at first. In the morning and early afternoon I was stuck. Worse, I was depressed about being stuck. I woke up yesterday with a killer headache and acid stomach. I spent hours in that state, listlessly poking at the keys but mostly just finding ways to avoid writing: Candy Crush, Daz 3D, and even less useful forms of procrastination. Finally I had some coffee, slept and then hiked with Steve.

On the hike we solved some of my story problems and I could see the way forward again.  (We also solved all the world’s political and economic problems, but alas, only the story was made better for our discussion.) I made a few notes and when Max invited me to sprint I was finally in a place I could write and eagerly accepted her invitation. So despite a blah morning and afternoon I still wrote a fair number of words.

Take-away Lesson: Writing is a team sport. Don’t be afraid to lean on your friends and family when you need help. There’s a reason most books have Acknowledgements and Dedications. Steve and Max earned their place in my book’s thank you sections yesterday. Again.

At this point we are 1/3 through November. To get back on track and win this thing I need to write at least 1,865 words a day. It’s not impossible and I know I have people on my side, which is invaluable.

Word Count: 12,689