Jericho-ho-ho

Each morning I get up at 5 a.m. and stumble upstairs to my office. I sit in front of my computer, spend a few minutes getting caught up on e-mail and any pending business, and then tackle whatever writing project I’m currently working on. Best case scenario, I’m writing by 5:15. Worst case: 5:30. This morning, I glanced at the clock and realized it was almost 6:00 a.m. and I have no idea where the time went. It was like the clock jumped forward half an hour without me realizing it. That left me with little time to get any work done, so I shut the computer down and declared the morning a wasted effort.

However, in the shower, I began to put together the final 20% of the novel I’m working on, so it wasn’t a complete loss. During yesterday’s session, I experienced one of those epiphanies that it’s almost impossible to explain. I had been operating under one assumption about the story, and this bolt out of the blue skewered that in one instant. At first, I resisted the notion as untenable, but the more I thought about it, the better it seemed. If this idea took me by surprise 80% of the way through the book, it would have to be a surprise to readers as well, for one thing. The beauty of this concept is that it requires no rewriting. It evolved naturally out of the story as already told. It’s not a “retcon.” It has such profound and poignant implications for the protagonist that it just seems like the right way to go with the story.

So, after the shower I put together a page of notes that explains what all this means for the story and for the character. Tomorrow morning’s work is already laid out.

Ryan came up with an unusual surprise on Big Brother last night. Though I suspected he was going to pull back from the deals with the devil he had been making, I didn’t see his choice for replacement nomination coming at all&and neither did the nominee. It was one of the truly surprising moments on the show so far this season, and I like the way it will impact the game. I felt bad for Sheila having the $10,000 unceremoniously yanked out of her hands after Adam so graciously gave it to her, but that’s life. Adam is an enigma to me. He’s cruising through the show without making too many waves. He seems like a bit of a buffoon, but I suspect there’s more to him than meets the eye. He might make it to the end now that his fate is not attached to Sheila’s, simply because nobody regards him as a threat and he’s keeping a low profile.

Jericho was stellar last night. The stand-off situation was well motivated, and the machinations that got the army out of town meshed well with the rest of the story. I especially liked the way the Jericho-ites treated people who didn’t rise to the occasion: the guy who left voluntarily to be with his wife, and the guy who turned into a mole. They weren’t villified, they were understood. I had no doubt what Stanley would do once he showed up on the scene at the end, and the others, while dreading the implications of that act, didn’t really do much to try to stop him. If the plot had demanded that he be stopped, those standing around would have behaved differently, I think. It was the only “weakness” in the storytelling. Can’t wait for the final two episodes, and the bomb coming back into play.

Having finished The Fourth Estate by Jeffrey Archer, I picked up The Blue Religion again last night and read the story by Alafair Burke. It’s called “Winning” and it’s built around the different concepts of what that word means for men and women, in general, and then turns that around at the end. She is the daughter of author James Lee Burke, and a fine writer in her own right. I’ve never read any of her novels, but this story is poignant and very well executed.