Life According to N., Season 25, Episode 12

So I sent an agent a synopsis of the novel plus the first four (revised) chapters. Now said agent wants to see the whole book by Monday morning, and therein lies the problem: I've only rewritten the first four chapters. The rest, well, if not exactly a mess, is the writerly equivalent of a duty VW bug with 80k miles on it - gets from Point A to Point B, has some interesting quirks and tricks left in it, but you wouldn't pony up the cash to buy it if you had other options. So I know the bulk of the weekend will be spent at my desk, scribbling and typing away - or overhauling the engine, as it were.

Ultimately, though, it's a positive, because the producer that M. and I were talking to about the screenplay has gone AWOL. Which isn't a huge loss, but I kind of wanted the oodles of cash that we would have been entitled to under a deal brokered on WGA guidelines.

Argh.

Freelancing is likewise in limbo. Last week was somewhat lucrative, this week editors were nibbling but noncommittal. Suddenly I understand why people in professions based on the vulgarities of chance are always so stressed out.

Once this is all over and done with, one way or the other, I plan to open the bottle of red I bought during the day-trip to wine country last weekend, drink maybe half, and pass out in front of '24.'