I just barely finished Beauty of the Wood, got in a first-pass edit, and made a few final corrections in the submission form in time.  Whew.

Now, I need to relax for a few minutes *laugh*

The cover may be late in coming up for this one, among other things.  This one was right down to the wire.  I’m going to give it a day or two before I get into the full editing process as well.

As I said before, apologies for any mistakes you find in the posting for the contest.  I just didn’t have time to give it the full editing attention I usually do.  As soon as the edit is done, I’ll apply it to the Lit version, and the clean copy will go up at SOL.

I’m trying to finish Beauty of the Wood tonight.  It’s going to be a tough one.  I really need to have it done before I go to bed tonight to have any hope of getting it edited, though.  Hope to have good news to report later.

A little later:  Up to 13k.  I need to close out the scene I’m working on, and then there are two more.  Still going to be a rough one to finish it tonight.  If nothing else, I should be close enough now that I can get it in with a quick self-edit if need be, though I’m going to try to avoid that by finishing tonight.

And yet a little later:  Finished that scene, and another I hadn’t anticipated that I needed in there for proper flow, but I’m just not going to make it tonight.

Crossing my fingers that work won’t be such a bitch tomorrow that I’m able to finish it after I get home.  Apologies for any errors you come across if I make it and get it posted.  They will be corrected when the edited copy comes back from Roust, and the version that goes up at SOL in a few days will be clean, edited copy from the get-go.

Over 9K words on Beauty of the Wood.  Getting closer.  The next scene is a major catalyst.  Still going to be a race to the finish, and I might not have time to do much editing before adding it to the contest.  Hope that’s not the case, but…

It will still get full editing even if I have to post it at the last second with a quick check at Lit.  I’ll then make the corrections to the Lit version, and the one at SOL will be the fully edited version.

A little later:  At about 11k now.  Getting closer 🙂

Up to 8600 words on Beauty of the Wood and moving right along.  I’m starting to believe I’m going to make it in time 🙂

Getting my motivation back a little.  Adjusting to the hours at work and the heat wave abating today is helping.  Working a bit here and there on other stories as well.  That’s just part of the way I work.  Even when I’m focusing on something, I have to bounce a bit.

Hope to be able to deliver more good news soon, and possibly a “finished!” with link to the posted story in the near future.