I crossed the 50,000 word mark with my novel in progress, Pears, yesterday. This feels hugely significant to me, possibly because 50,000 words is the goal of National Novel Writing Month, plus it's such a nice big juicy round number. These 50,000 words took a year rather than a month to write, though--one of the most challenging years of my life; between the separation/divorce, taking on more teaching, and dealing with other assorted life issues, it hasn't always been easy for me to find the time/energy/focus to write. Some small part of me was worried I'd never finish this novel, that I'd have to keep renegotiating my contract with Ballantine, but reaching this milestone makes me feel as if November 1st is a do-able deadline now. Of course I'll have plenty of revision to do after this draft is complete--this draft almost feels like an outline of what the book wants to become--but just getting the story down will be such a relief. The fact that I've done NaNoWriMo twice gives me confidence that I can crank out the rest of the book with a little less than three months to go. If I finish in time, maybe I can even take part in NaNoWriMo this year!

The pears that I picked up at the Pear Fair in the Sacrmento Delta two weeks ago are ripe now; it is so lovely to be able to picture the orchard the pears came from, to watch them transform from hard and green to soft, yellow, fragrant, delicious. My novel doesn't feel ripe yet, but it's getting there, and I can finally trust that it will come to full fruition.