Today: 1,708 words
Total: 3,419 words

I think I’m running into a bit of a problem with High Tide. Namely, I don’t really have a solid outline for it, and when I don’t have a good outline I have a real problem getting words on the page (I am not a pantser by any stretch of the definition. If I don’t have a roadmap for where I’m going, I can’t move).

See, back when I came up with the concept for the series I had an MFM trio in mind for this book until I realized that, well, let’s just say that a female romantic lead wouldn’t face the challenges I needed her to face. Switching the romantic menage to MMM fixed this, but it also changed a lot of plot elements of the story that I probably should have sorted out months ago. But hey, cancer and all that.

So I spent today with earbuds in blasting my song list for this book and hammering out the details of the new outline. It helps that when I moaned to Ramón abouta sticky plot point he asked me what the problem was, then came up with a couple of possible fixes. Turns out one of them prompted a very apropos subplot that is probably going to get me some hate down the line but what the hell, I stand by what I’m writing.

Once I got the outline massaged into shape the words started to flow again and I churned out 1,708 words for the day. So I’m still hitting my daily word quota and the story is progressing, tra la!

In associated news I had the last visit to my surgeon this morning for 2023. Everything looks good, he snipped off the remaining stitches on my neck and one long little bugger inside my mouth that was annoying me, and I’m to schedule an appointment with him after my scans in January.

I am still pretty swollen and my face is a little lopsided but I can feel tingles in the numb part of my lip, chin, and earlobe so hopefully the nerves are healing/decompressing and I’ll get full sensation back. To be honest the left half of my chin has been throbbing more than tingling, so I take that to mean that healing is in progress. More importantly, new gum tissue is growing over the bit of exposed jawbone in my mouth, as expected, and my remaining teeth are quite white and clean from my 3 times a day brushing habit and gargling with dry mouth mouthwash twice a day. My hygienist should be happy when I have my cleaning appointment this month.

As for potential reconstruction possibilities, implants are verboten for the time being because he wants to be able to monitor the area, but I’m cleared to get a partial denture if I want chewing surfaces. Dunno how my dentist is going to feel about that (I mentioned the possibility of a partial the last time I talked to him and he said very flatly, “You’re getting implants”) but I literally *have no bone* in which to put implants for at least the next six months so it’s a moot point. If a partial will help me chew on that side of my mouth once the stitches finally dissolve, I’m all for it.