I've been working heavily on the Pilby sequel for the last few weeks, especially this past weekend. It's not like I want to go anywhere anyway with the frozen rain that's coming down. (Yeah, you know I love it!)

Pilby 2 is very different to work on than Novel 3...the Pilby sequel has more dialogue and certainly much more humor. It's moves faster, it's more airy. It's coming along. My deadline to hand it in is Jan. 1. It will be out in a collection of three holiday novels next November 1. The other two center on Hannukah and Christmas, and mine will be the third one, the New Year's one. I've been jokingly calling it "A Very Pilby New Year" but that's not going to fly.

I do want to get back to Novel 3. My agent has read it and said she is doing a second read so she can give me suggestions. Nowhere in her e-mail did it say, "You're a genius. This is going to make us all rich, rich, I tell you!!!" I didn't expect that. The thing needs work, and I'm glad to put in as much work as it takes, however long it takes. I really care about the story.

In other news, a kind man named Randy wrote to ask me to update the Barometer Blog, so I did. How neglectful I have been!

Hannukah is tomorrow, which means that some of us have gotten most of our holiday shopping and gift-giving taken care of already. It's like being accepted into college Early Decision - all your work is done while you watch the rest of the world struggle and suffer. But alas, it's not over yet. My office grab bag is Wednesday. I have a good joke gift to put in (although not quite as funny as the thong someone contributed a few years ago). Other parties are coming up. Being a big eggnog fan, it's expected that I contribute a quart of the slow, tasty stuff. So I will.