Between heat waves and houseguests, I feel like I've been holding my breath for weeks. Some day life will return to normal.

On the plus side, the disruptions seem to have shaken things up for me creatively. I've been ripping up some of my novel's oldest plot points and totally reconceiving them for the better. Most of the changes are in the action climax, which has always been problematic as it felt (even to me) like it was from a whole different story (and even genre). Seeing Sunshine probably helped clarify the problem in my brain. The ending is still a bit actiony adventurish, but in a way, I think, that fits more logically with what has gone before.

The hardest part is resisting the urge to sift through what I just threw out, trying to reincorporate bits of it. Better to keep thinking new ideas for now, at least until they run out.