The first draft of "Bambino" is finished, coming in at just over 15,000 words! Although it feels good to put this one aside for a little bit so that I can return to the novel, I'm already thinking long and hard about how the second time through it is going to go. Essentially I have to decide whether I want a happy ending or a not-so-happy ending. As it stands, the story ends on a positive note; but I had I ended it about two thousand words sooner, it could have ended a lot more creepily, and perhaps more convincingly as well. Hmm. A tough call. Good thing that decision is at least a couple weeks in the future...

...and here's dilemma number two: I am scheduled to take my Masters exam in the History of Greek Literature two weeks from tomorrow, on the 23rd. If I pass this test, I will have successfully completed all of my requirements for my degree, and will at long last be eligible to receive my combined undergraduate and graduate degree in Classics (thus finishing off a college education that officially began thirteen years ago, in 1990). The problem is that I haven't studied for the exam. It's not that I don't know Greek Literature - for Heaven's sake, I teach it week in, week out! - but what my old Classics Department expects me to know about the subject is no doubt a little different than what I've found to be important through my own readings, my own teachings, my own investigations. So, to cram or not to cram? That is the question.

I think I'd much rather be writing, to tell the truth.