I just finished writing Year of the Dog ! It had a massive plot hole that I had to fix which turned out to be more work than I expected. Here’s a snippet: “Hey, Auntie Nell.” He wrapped his arms around her, bussing her on the cheek and breathing in pikake flowers and shortbread cookies. And suddenly he was nine years old again, and her solid presence had made his chaotic world stable once more. “What are you doing here?” He usually took her to dinner on Wednesday nights, but today was Tuesday. The edges of her smile faltered a little before brightening right back up again. “What, I can’t visit my nephew?” She angled around him to enter his home. “Is this your new house? Looks lovely.” Which was a blatant lie, because the fixer-upper was barely livable, much less acceptable to a neat-freak like his aunt. She also left four matching pink and purple floral suitcases on the stoop behind her. Only then did Ashwin notice the cab driver standing slightly to the side of the walkway. “Can ...
Captain's Log, Supplemental It is sooooooo hot here in San Jose, and we don’t have air conditioning. (Collective “Awww” of pity for poor Camy) On a positive note, it’s too hot for my dog to get into too much trouble. A couple weekends ago (before it got so hot), Captain Caffeine and I got rid of my old desk, a heavy wooden one (which I can’t complain about because it was free) and we got a door at Home Depot to lay on cinderblocks for my desk. Ta da! We wrapped the cinderblocks in black plastic trash bags so they wouldn’t rain gravel on my carpet (that’s the black pillars at each corner). You’ll notice that my monitor, keyboard, and trackball are elevated on cardboard boxes so that I can stand and type (it’s better for my back), but my ergonomic chair is rolled to the side so I can sit if I want to (the keyboard and monitor are easy to move down from the boxes. I also have a rolling caddy with drawers for my stuff, and my file cabinet is on the far right, out of the picture. I love...