It's Friday; It's a Good Thing

This week has not been a great word count week, but it has been a great writing week. That is, although I haven't amassed thousands of words in my document this week, I have put quite a bit of time into the process. I've plotted, I've outlines, I've organized, I've gotten to know my characters better, including all their motivations and the baggage they bring to the book.

I have also done quite a bit more research into treatments for diabetic comas and stem cell research and systemic allergies to insulin. These medical details are the things which, later down the road, could hang up my writing, and I'd hate to get to a glitch and then have to rethink my entire plotting. These are good things to have under my belt in the early stages.

Also, I have contacted two individuals who are part of the Oxford Graduate Program as professors, one of whom is a judge and one of whom is a doctor, who both have agreed to read the finished manuscript and advise me on the medical, legal and ethical details of diabetes and stem cell research (which are their specialties). This is a hugely good thing!

And as for the rest of my life, these are the things this week that I am especially grateful for:

1. Old friends who have become new friends. You once were lost, but now are found. Friends are a very good thing.

2. Music. When I am sad, it comforts me. When I need a lift, it is there to raise my spirits. When I am happy, it gives me something to sing and dance to. It brings back memories. It creates new ones. It is a very, very good thing.

3. Johnny Depp days at Heidi the Hick's blog. I'm not a Johnny Depp fanatic, although I think he is incredibly talented, but you can't help but love him for all the enthusiasm Heidi shows for him. It's fun to know on Friday, though, you can almost always rely on some Johnny love at her blog!

4. Libraries are a good thing. I may have said that before, but I am having a serious love affair with the library now. Free books. Quiet writing room. No distractions. Wireless internet. A couple gorgeous cherry trees blossoming out the window I am sitting next to. Tons of windows. Comfy chairs. This is tax money well spent.

5. Smiles. From me. Directed at me. With or without laughter. Smiles are a warm-you-up-inside good thing.

6. Emails. Remember when you use to look forward to mail time, because you always hoped there would be something personal in it? A letter, a postcard.... something other than bills and advertisements. Email is better. It comes at any point in the day, often during the day, sometimes at night. You get to wake up and turn on the machine and there it is: a friend waiting to say hi. Sure, they miss the distinct handwriting that makes a letter feel personal. But still, they are pretty cool.

7. New bookshelves. To say this is a good thing is a gross understatement. It is an amazingly awesome, phenomenally terrific good thing. There. Two adverbs and three adjectives in a nine word sentence. And they are worth every modifier!

Off to actually write, now. Happy Friday!