Late last night I ended up going over the first chapter of the dystopia ms, trying to get it into shape. Feels great. To be working on it, that is. Right now it looks like the first chapter may be several scenes, which is not my usual way of doing things. Usually I do one scene, and the chapter ends. I'm not sure--will look at it at some point today, I hope. I've got other people's novels on my mind and need to organize my thoughts on those, too.

So far it really does look like having to think about other people's mss is actually keeping my creative wheels greased rather than getting in the way. That's unexpected, considering the number of mss. I knew it could be that way with two or three, but not for five plus my own.

I can't get the right name for one of the characters in my ms. I've been through four names so far. Just can't hit it right. Every time I get one, it interferes with another character's name--it sounds too close, too similar. Maybe I'm being too picky.