She's just saying hi...

Welllllllll…Soooooooooooo…It’s one of those mornings when you use that refrain as you do a Trader Joe’s run, a shoestore run for the little guy, a Target run and a Lowe’s run because you can’t live without knowing if they have Lantana or whatever the heck that flowering bush is that looks like irresistible fruity-tooty ice cream: “Yeah! That’s it! See? I’ll work on my novel this evening, see? Yeah! See?” (said or thought in thug-ish New York accent)

And then you get home and you: Blog.

Oh, PB. What are your choice words for this month? Perseverance and Focus. Say them, sweetie-pie-sugar-plum-mud. Savor them and not the spoonful of Trader Joe’s Wine Country Chicken Salad you shoved in your mouth after checking Facebook. You had a million inspirational fits over the weekend and you used them well—go see! Go see what you did. Face your edits and all that lovely criticism you received from the marvelous YA Muses (lucky woman!). While you’re at it, start paring down the use of exclamation points at any given time, whether speaking or writing. And remember what your husband told you last night as he shut down his laptop and stretched his creaking joints: “PB? It’s begun.” Remember how that statement thrilled you? He’s begun writing that thing! You felt so excited for him. And then he told you, “It feels daunting.” And what did you reply, PB? You replied: “It’s always daunting in the beginning.” Quipped before you even knew what you saying. A quip from your gut.

You are not at the beginning, PB. You are fathoms into revising your completed manuscript. Think ocean. Think swells. Think sea pinks and fact check the length of the greatest great white shark’s tail, then embellish.

Persevere.

Focus.

The end.