I could not finish Man Bites World this morning before the signing. The end was just too far away.

After the signing, the socializing, and the lunch with an online friend and her family, my family returned home to the site of the copyedit of Game of Cages. It’s due back at the Random House offices on October 13th, which is a Tuesday. And if it’s going to arrive on time by express mail or whatever, I’m going to have to send it on Saturday.

That means I have one week. Did I mention that I’m a slow reader? That I’m trying to teach myself speed reading?

My poor wife is sick of her absent husband, not least of all because shortly after I deliver the copyedit, she’s going to be flying back east to spend some time with her parents. There’s talk of home upgrades for them. Who knows? I’ll be staying here.

However! I did not want to jump into the copyedit with MBW so close to finished. So that’s what I did.

Yep, Man Bites World is now complete in rough(est) draft version. A bunch of story beats need to be spackled over, there’s one section where Ray is too passive for the story to work, and one location that–surprise, surprise–turned out to be the scene of the climactic conflict. I have to go back and change the earlier scene to match them up.

And there are a lot of small changes to make. Plus, I should iron out the text. I’m not exactly Mr. Gorgeous First Draft (although blogging helps). Still, I solved that story.

So, a full copyedit in only one week is a challenge for me, but I’m going to do my best. But not tonight. Tonight I’m going to have another beer out of the celebratory six-pack of Dead Guy Ale my wife bought us, and I’m going to spend some quality time with the Internet.