Charley's Postcard

Charley the studly laptop has been recovering from his exertions getting Demetios and Anny finished and sent off to Richmond.

He was heartened in his efforts by the arrival of a postcard from one of his admirers, Scarlet S O'Dell (a very classy red English lass) who was holidaying in Lindos with her family.

Hearing from Scarlet (and heaven only knows what The Powers That Be at Mills & Boon thought of the postcard when it arrived) made Charley's -- and my -- day!

We send thanks to Scarlet (and Rach who had to write it for her because Scarlet couldn't get any connectivity out in the Grecian boondocks apparently) and are very happy to have it. It has pride of place on the bookshelf now. Charley is lobbying for a trophy case in which to put it. This is sort of like a notch on the computer bedpost, I guess.

Next thing you know he'll be getting postcards from lovely lissome lady laptops all over the world. There will be no end to his preening then.

I am in the process of cleaning my office (a long process) and watching physics lectures by Richard Wolfson (sort of physics for non-believers, er, scientists) which I'm thoroughly enjoying. This is in preparation for George's book. Fascinating stuff.

The Prof keeps looking at me strangely when I say that. I think he expected me to be bored out of my mind. Not at all. It all makes perfect sense and as long as I filter it through George's brain -- and his relationship with Sophy (whom you will meet in Christo's book) -- has a great deal of relevance to my life.

Well, I suppose the laws of physics have a great deal to do with everyone's life (gravity among other things), but I just don't spend a lot of time thinking about it specifically. Nice that George does, though.

Scarlet -- and Rach -- thank you for making Charley such a happy guy! Hope you had a good time on Lindos!

Timing

Remember what I said about 'transitions?'

It's true. I was working my way back through the middle of the book, basically doing something that felt like ironing spaghetti (and about as useful), when I realized that the issue wasn't what I had written, it was where it was happening.

I needed -- or rather Demetrios and Anny needed -- just a bit more time. Not a minute-by-minute play-by-play, but rather some nice transitional jumps that would take them from one day to the next to the one a couple of days after that without dragging the readers with them.

What I needed were a few well-placed transitions.

So . . . I'm busy creating transitions, and feeling like I've finally got a grip on this thing. Not that it's ready to go in, by any means. But the sense of no longer being becalmed is energizing. There will probably be less ironing of the spaghetti strands now, too.

Charley is pleased. He thinks that we've wasted a lot of time doing that. He wants to get out and socialize more. He doesn't like having to tell all his lady friends that he has work to do.

I told him they'd be impressed that he's a hard-working responsible type. I'm not sure he's convinced. I have a feeling Charley is going to be one of those heroes who takes more than a single book to shape up.

Lucky for him I'm patient.

Revelations

No, this is not a theological treatise.

But it has that feeling. It's about one of those times when the little voice echoes inside your ear (or in this case, mine) and tells you something you might or might not be prepared to hear.

In this case, though, it wasn't about God, it was about books.

Writing. Specifically writing Demetrios and Anny.

While the saga of Charley continues, I'm in the middle of chapter seven of the book I'm supposed to be writing on him. The book that is due June 15th. The book that showed every promise of being there on time.

And yet . . .

There was something in chapter six that had the effect of making me feel as if I was going in a circle, and the circle didn't seem to be tightening.

The circle itself is not a bad sign. As I get closer to the end of a book, things are supposed to speed up, the circle is supposed to tighten. There's supposed to be a logical inevitability to the story that I, at least, can see (even if Demetrios and Anny can't yet).

It's supposed to make it easier to get to the end.

Notice all those "suppose"s in the previous two paragraphs. So, if that isn't happening -- if in sailboat terms, we're becalmed -- if the circle is flat, something is wrong.

Usually it's lack of obstacle. Usually I have to go back and dig deeper to discover what is 'really' keeping the characters apart.

In this case there was too much keeping them apart. They had one obstacle too many.

Anny couldn't go forward because of a moral imperative. Neither could Demetrios. They were going to be in this circle forever (or well past June 15th) if I didn't do something.

So today I will be going back and helping Anny sort out her dilemma rather earlier in the book. She needs to make her decision in chapter three, not chapter six. Then Demetrios and Anny can get where they're going. Or at least where I hope they're going.

Why didn't I see this sooner? Why did I have my 15 beats all figured out (and they still all exist) and yet still have a problem? I don't know.

After 63 books, I'm still learning.

So I spent the morning trying to figure out where the changes need to come. I think I've got it. Now I need to work them in. I'm headed back to chapter one.

I told Charley that a few minutes ago.

He said hopefully, "So you won't be, um, needing me right now?"

I said, "I will certainly need you. What do you think I type on?"

He looked a little crestfallen. "Oh," he said. "Sure. Be right with you."

I think he's ringing some hot red laptop, rearranging plans.

The Trouble With Charley

My editor is going to love Charley -- if I don't kill him first.

Why? Because she's always telling me I should write faster, get books out more often, etc etc etc.

But that means, what? Spending more time at the computer. Working my fingers to the nub. Not to mention my brain.

I have resisted. The well of inspiration is not a gusher around here. It's generally more of a slow steady trickle -- with occasional plugs.

That was all pre-Charley.

Charley, I suspect, has ADD or ADHD or one of those acronymns that I can never get right but that means he has the attention span of, say, a chicken.

Rooster, Charley says. Attention span of a rooster.

Yes, well, whatever you want to call it, Charley needs to be kept busy. Left to his own devices, he does not stay on task.

He is easily distractable -- especially by anything with a keyboard wearing pink, red or purple.

While I'm pausing for thought, trying to figure out which Greek saint's feast day we're going to be celebrating in chapter seven and trying to use the internet to find it out, Charley won't wait.

He is busy making notes in his little black book about which girly laptop he wants to ring next.

I didn't even know he had a little black book.

Everyone has a little black book, he told me. Only now they call it an address file. Liz Fielding's sexy "Liz Machine" is in it now, and Kate Walker's new RED Dell Mini may be next.

More trouble is brewing on the horizon, too, because Kate Hardy is expecting a new laptop whom she intends to call Seb. He has already asked Charley if he wants to go out trolling for chicks!

I hope Kate gives Seb a few rules before she unleashes him on his peer group. I'm thinking Charley may need a curfew and it won't help if Seb can come in any time he wants.

I'm not sure Kate mentioned if Seb was another of those sleek black laptops like Charley. I'm just hoping he's not that Lamborghini yellow one Charley spotted this morning. I don't need him having a case of laptop cover envy.

The only way I've found of handling these energy bursts of Charley's is to make him work. He finished chapter six this morning and is working his way through chapter seven.

I tried to stop there and think a bit about the next scene, but Charley didn't want to quit.

Once he's on a roll, he won't settle down. He just wants to keep writing and writing and writing (which is why my editor will love him).

When I say I need a break or to go to the grocery store or think about where the story goes next, he starts prowling the internet looking for new girlfriends.

I suggested yanking out his wireless card. It's what I used to have to do with Old Wonky when he either spun his hourglass forever or got seriously overheated. But it won't work with Charley. His wireless card is built-in.

I'm thinking he needs some games to play. Got any suggestions? I'm not sure he's a spider solitaire kind of guy. He might need something a bit more, er, action oriented than that.

Something with guns and spies and going undercover, Charley says. And girls with keyboards (goes without saying). Ideas welcome.

In the meantime, I know what I'm going to do with him tonight. I'm going to send him downstairs at 8:00 to watch the premiere of the third season of Burn Notice.

Only problem there is that I won't be upstairs thinking. I'll be downstairs, too, watching it with him.

Flirting with Charley

Charley could be trouble.

On the plus side, he works hard, he's competent, he has stamina, he hasn't crashed yet, and he hasn't overheated.

On the downside, he's a babe magnet.

Worse, he knows it. Oh, dear.

He's been propositioned twice in the comment section (once by a luscious pink Aussie laptop and once by a hot lipstick red babe called Dell who lives in England). Today, when I took him to the hospital to work while I waited for my neighbor who was having surgery, he got propositioned three times!

By women who didn't even have computers. They wanted him for themselves!

Word is spreading.

Mary Ann's hot red Vivienne has been calling and leaving messages. The lady in the hospital gift shop told him she already had diamonds, she just needed a good . . . um, computer.

He's listening. He's got out his little black book (or the digital equivalent thereof) and he's taking names and numbers.

I'm concerned. I had no idea he was going to be so . . . appealing. Not to everyone else, that is.

He says I should be glad he makes friends easily. He's even arguing that we ought to go to a conference where he can meet my friends. I don't think so.

I think he's going to stay right here and help me finish Demetrios and Anny, and then if he's very very very good, he might (MIGHT!) be the computer who gets to come with me when I head back to Montana and Washington in July.

I told him that.

He said he is very very very good.

And then he winked at me.

My New Hero

Shortly before 10 this morning the FedEx guy appeared on the doorstep bringing me my perfect computer.

The fact that it appeared 3 days earlier than promised is, to my way of thinking, a good sign.

So was my first impression.

Right out of the box Mr Refurbished looked stunning and handsome, sleek and slender, with rock hard muscles and wearing a burnished silver and matte black suit. Handsome, indeed.

But looks, as we know, aren't everything.

Deep down where it counts, though, he seems pretty impressive, too.

He's fast, for one thing. But in a good way. He has a lot of memory (won't be forgetting the important things, I'm sure). He doesn't get all hot and bothered the way his predecessor did (at least so far he's stayed cool and calm under a day of arduous testing and having his programs tweaked). No sitting on the wastebasket to cool his ardor yet.

He hasn't crashed once. And he hasn't spun his hourglass for, well, hours , either. Always a good thing.

I added him to the network and he seems to be playing nice with the other computers. I was going to add him as AM-laptop, but he took exception. He told me he has a name.

His name is Charley.

I've never had a laptop with a name before. I feel almost like he expects me to write a book about him.

Next thing you know he'll be angling for a little pink laptop girlfriend. Or, possibly worse, one of those lipstick red ones like my friend Mary Ann has. That laptop is positively dangerous.

I can see right now that I'm going to have to be careful about where I take him. He may be easily led astray. I won't be able to leave him alone with Mary Ann's stunning red honey of a laptop, that's for sure.

On second thought, maybe I should.

Would they have little laptops, do you think? There's a thought.

Anyway, so far the news is good. Charley seems to be everything I'd hoped he would be and more.

But, of course, this is the honeymoon.

Tonight he gets to tackle the last of a chapter of Demetrios and Anny. It's all been fun and games here up til now. We'll see how Charley likes real work.

I wonder if he knows how to sail a boat.