Can't beat the heat.

It's too hot to think of even trying to do any sort of work. I can handle the heat until my husband comes in and starts complaining about how hot it is. Then I notice the heat. Or I wander into the basement to do the laundry and get hit with a wave of heat on my way up the stairs. I notice it then, too.

Besides the heat, I have some exciting news. The critic has accepted the task of doing a full-body mark up of my manuscript. I gave her the whole manuscript and a large package of red pens on Friday night. I know she's at least a little into the editing process because she texted me with paranoid angst yesterday. I'm excited too because I think I've managed to inspire her to start writing her novel once more. We had a lot of fun on Friday just talking about our writing and our characters. Oh, and if you haven't had a London Fog from Starbucks yet, I highly recommend it. I've also been notified by another of my readers that he will now have more time to dedicate to the book.

I'm feeling a little more at ease. Now that I am no longer pressing myself to finish by CAPAU I'm not as paranoid about breathing down the readership's back. There are simply too many people who need to give me the feedback I need for me to give myself a deadline like that. Besides, you can't rush perfection. ;P School will be out soon, so hopefully more of my readers will have time to sit down and give me a couple days of their time and attention.

As for CAPAU...the agent that I'm 'supposedly' being assigned to pitch to is also an agent who is fairly willing to critique query letters. So, I think instead of pitching her, I'm going to ask her to please edit my query letter. I don't know if that is a complete faux-pas, but I have read that agents tend to appreciate a break when they have pitch sessions.