Day 4

Today there was no change in Jessica's status, but two very important things did happen. The first is that Ash saw her therapist. I don't know much about what they discussed, but she's taken on a calmer air since they met. He actually knows a lot about brain stem strokes, which are in fact the most serious kind of stroke. The second thing was that Dan, Steph and I began the project of clearning out her apartment. This apartment was so messy that no one had been allowed in for well over a year. I knew it was going to be bad, but there was no way to expect what I saw. It was gross and sad. I was glad that we were wearing masks so that Dan and Steph didn't have to see me in a permanent grimace. Her sink and counters were full of ancient dirty dishes. There was a plastic bin, full of dirty dishes. There were so many horrors and filthy abominations. The biggest mystery is a 25 lb bag of magnum lead shot.

I had started thinking I didn't need this blog, I was doing so well. I was writing every day, and I had more than 30,000 words until Friday, when my sister-in-law went into a coma. Since then, it's been a non-stop family emergency, and I haven't written a word of The Fire Demon. I'm at a crucial point in the book, so I'm hoping that when I start writing FD again I will find my practice again pure, which will be lovely. I have so much to say about all this, but need to write in smaller pieces as it's the only way I can see myself actually doing this. As of now, my sister in law is near death, and my wife's entire family is in town, and things are not looking good. I personally wasn't very close to Jessica. Ashley's relationship with her older sister Jess is strained, to say the least. I have so far been relatively calm, and I am hoping that I can use that calm to help out with my wife and her family.

Nano!

We'll it's Day 2 - I'm at 2500 words - and feeling more confident than ever before about the whole process. I participated in this in 2007 and 2008. Neither time did I get further than about 6,000 words before totally giving up. This year is much different. Everything is different.