I got in about an hour of work on Friday, but yesterday--when I should have been working all day and gotten a ton of writing done--I avoided writing totally. It was stupid to allow myself to do that, and shamefully unprofessional since I have a deadline.

I did, however, manage to see all four stages of Ninja Warrior. I've only been able to catch episodes with the first stage before, but with concentrated effort yesterday, I watched all the way to the end of one of the contests. I'm not sure why this feels like an accomplishment. I guess because I've been wondering what the second, third, and fourth stages look like. Answer: crazy hard. Almost all upper body. And hand and finger strength, because they do a lot of moving from obstacle to obstacle while danging from fingertips. And the last stage? Never watch it if you have bad memories of having to climb a rope in gym class.

Now to work. I had an idea that adds almost nothing to this sample chapter, but could help shape the entire ms if I ended up with the job. It has to do with this:

http://www.cassiopaea.com/cassiopaea/emotional_manipulation.htm