THIS TWISTED TORTURED MESS

My head feels like it’s been expanded—or more accurately, the contents of my head have been expanded while my skull maintains its size. Not a good feeling to have when under deadline. As suspected, I didn’t get to work on Angelic Layer’s final chapter this weekend, and so tonight have to get the remaining seventy pages out of the way. Shouldn’t be a problem if I can maintain the pace I began on Friday night.

So, I am at Starbucks yet again, though I was denied the regular size tables and hardback chair by the length of my power chord. There was a table I suppose I could have asked a woman to trade with me, but judging by her rude reaction to me just excusing myself to pull the chord by her, I don’t think she’d be too friendly about moving her little pink highlighter just now. Beyond that, the table that would have been just got snagged.

Chai latte for my throat. Depeche Mode Ultra for my ears.

I don’t know how I feel about this mad dash for the final book. I suppose it won’t be too bad. There is so much fighting in this last chapter, it’s not exactly poetry. I usually give myself a night’s sleep before reading over the script and making changes, which I suppose I can do tonight, if the body demands. But I prefer to go to sleep knowing that when my editor arrives in the morning, the script will be waiting for him. I feel that’s the real on-time—though technically even I give my freelancers to the close of the business day. Technically.

Plus, I need to take my own lesson and know my worries are not justified. I always tell the people I work with, when they are concerned their own work has taken a dip or that time constraints may have rushed them—you are always going to be operating at a certain level. Once you are a professional and have become fairly confident in your own working ability, you will have achieved a level of talent that you will always maintain, no matter what. You will never sink below that, and that is pretty damn good. You’ll always give folks their money’s worth.

*

Missy “Misdemeanor” Elliott, Miss E…So Addictive; random Dandy Warhols MP3s.

*

The initial writing went smoothly, thankfully…so this might not keep me up as late as I thought. The book ended up having a pretty fun ending, so I am glad. There were a lot of plot threads that began in book 1 and ran all the way through, and it was good to see that they paid off. So many comics seem to fumble in the finale. Angelic Layer doesn’t.

Current Soundtrack: Sugababes, “Round Round” CD single

cut_my_hair@hotmail.com