The Ephraim Factor

Sunday I completed a good chunk of The Candy Store Generation, I think close to 1800 words. Along with what I wrote in the couple of days before that, I'm at 39,100 and change. I've been targeting to have the book 40,000—because that seems to be a good length of book based on attention spans and not over-doing the level of detail. I want to keep the book popular, not scholarly.
Yesterday, on the Memorial Day holiday, however, I got very little done. I'm blaming it on Ephraim, number one grandson who arrived with Lynda Sunday evening and immediately took over the schedule. A 4 year old boy can't wait to eat while you finish a chapter, or even a paragraph. His walks have to be done at certain times. Baths are the same. He has to potty regularly. And of course, there's reading him books while he's on your lap, pretending to sleep on the floor as he jumps on you, moving his toys to have a walking path. These are all essentials, and have priority on the schedule.

His bedtime is 9:00 p.m., which we sort of missed on Sunday night but made on Monday night. And he takes a good afternoon nap, from 2 or 2:30 to 5:00. So I had four to four and a half hours to get something done on the book, or on other writing. Did I get much done? No. I was tired and slept a little myself, and couldn't concentrate as much as I needed to. I added some words, and re-read some chapters, but I didn't finish the book.

And that's okay. I don't get to see Ephraim all that much. I can't pick up and go to Oklahoma City for any given week like Lynda can. So to have him with us for a fair spell is okay. He may be here until June 10, or more likely June 7 or 8, when Lynda will take him back. His dad heads out of town around then for the last residency module of his doctoral program, and Lynda will stay with Sara and the boys a couple of weeks to help out. That will be plenty of quiet time to get things finished.

Of course, this assumes he won't get so homesick for his parents and baby brother that he insists on going back sooner. I pray that doesn't happen, but if it does we will comply.

Actually I may be able to finish the book in the meantime, using my pre-work hour at the office, and maybe an hour in the evenings. Much of what I have left to do is read the book and go through the self-editing process. That I can do in bits and snatches.

But if the book is delayed a month, so be it. I will be richer for it.