Lord, it's a pretty morning...

I'm sitting out in the back yard with my coffee just past my left elbow, sitting on the kids' little plastic picnic table.  It's about as quiet as it ever gets in town.  Next to no traffic.  No kids outside (except my son).  About all that's breaking the silence is the air conditioners, birds, insects, and the imp rustling around in his gravel box (he prefers gravel over sand). 

It's not real hot--only about 85 degrees--and just humid enough to make the breeze feel like a caress.

I've been steadily plodding away at the book I'm working on.  Odysseus is helping me with some parts of one story I kept getting stuck on by myself (it's only fair--he's the one that gave me the idea for the story in the first place).  The other story is coming slowly, building in my head before it's willing to fall off my fingers onto my keyboard.  Once those two stories are done, the second part of my second book (if you remember, my first one is linked over at the top right) will be done.  The third part will consist of about eight stories that wrap up the book by showing falling action and resolution from the main climax of the loose plot.

I will say this: both Hermes and Loki have turned into far different characters than I thought they would be.  So have Thor, and Tyr.  Hell, most of them are very different than I thought they would be.  I had plans, you know.  And very few of the characters have gone according to plan--they took on lives and personalities of their own while I wasn't watching.   

Oh, well.  It's not the first time I've been surprised like this.  Nor am I the first writer who's been ambushed by their characters.

The imp is still happily playing in his rock box, and I've still got a full cup of coffee by my elbow.  I've got four weeks before classes start.  Time to get some writing in.