Almost done packing...

The great thing about taking time to really pack out the right way is that you discover things.

I found something that I had assumed was lost forever, which I will now hang onto forever.

When I was first working on Last Dragon, it took me a long time to find the right "voice" to carry the story. I had all these ideas, and I kept starting over, searching for the right vehicle for those ideas.

Then, one day - likely after a marathon session of playing Icewind Dale, whose soundtrack was an important influence on me when I was working on the book - I sat down and "got it".

Boom.

In a flash, I had seventy some-odd pages that didn't suck, and that got it just right. It was still a rough draft, and it still needed a lot of work, but I had the voice.

I did the smartest thing a could have done. I immediately printed it up, and filed it away, in case my computer exploded.

I had assumed it was lost in the mysterious vortex old papers go when they are neither thrown away nor held on to. While cleaning out my old files from the cabinet so as not to take anything I don't need anymore, I discovered the old manila folder, shoved between two useless files.

If you're ever hanging out at my place, ask me nice and I may show it to ya.