Word count: 12784 | Since last entry: 721

Just back from the gay square dance in Seattle, where we danced to the stimulating Saundra Bryant and local caller Stephen Cole. Sandie is always a treat — even her Challenge dancing is actually dancing, with flow and rhythm and all that stuff. On Saturday morning we skipped the fly-in’s brunch in favor of a wonderful breakfast at Etta’s, followed by a stroll around the Pike Place Market area and a trip to Uwajimaya for more Japanese puzzle books for Kate.

I’ve gotten better at keeping up the writing during trips like this one, maintaining at least 200 words per day. Which is a good thing, since this fershlugginer story has just passed 12,500 words and seems doomed to exceed the 17,500 word barrier between novelette and novella. But it seems to demand this length, so I mean to see it out.

A snippet: “When my reserved time arrived, the five satellites swiveled themselves to focus on Earth and kept up this scrutiny for a full eight hours. Post-processing took another two hours. During this time I floated among the tomatoes and zucchinis in the greenhouse, trying to distract myself with pruning and pollinating but actually accomplishing little more than plant-assisted nail-chewing. When my watch chimed, I rushed eagerly to Delta work bay, where the monitor revealed…

“Nothing.

“The interpolated data of the five satellites did not reveal any signal from Earth at all.”