As I pack up my things and get ready to head back to the city from my week-long hiatus in the Midwest, I feel like I got very little accomplished. Of course, I was out of commission due to illness for much of the time and that definitely sapped my creativity.

Nonetheless, I added about 1000 words to my novel, and decided that it will benefit from bits of the hero’s point-of-view (especially because of key scenes where my protagonist isn’t present). So that gives me a course of action for the future. The first draft is basically done except for those key additions.

I read Dan Brown’s The Lost Symbol (it was terrible), and Carrie Lofty’s What a Scoundrel Wants, which suffered from both a completely ill-fitting title and cover. It was a great story that spun off from the story of Robin Hood, and the trite moniker and guy wearing 20th century pants didn’t do it justice. I also read Smash Cut, by Sandra Brown, which was basically one of her standard romantic thrillers. Nothing to see here, move it along. Grave Goods, by Ariana Franklin, was probably my best pick of the week. Adelia Aguilar is an awesome main character, smart and savvy and self-sufficient. I love that her books tackle forensic pathology in the Middle Ages.

The movie round-up was decent as well. I saw Sherlock Holmes, Inkheart, District 9, and Up. Television-wise, I feel like there wasn’t much of significance except for the groundbreaking Kyle and Oliver love scene on One Life to Live, and the end of David Tennant’s run as the Doctor on Doctor Who.

What does the coming week hold? I have no idea.