A few folks have noted in email that I've been kinda quiet
here of late,
and I just wanted to note that there are two reasons for this:

1) Whenever something of mine is aired, or shown, as with
"Midnight," I
tend to adopt a low profile in order to avoid influencing or
directing the
conversation.

As for 2)...a word in the ear of every person reading this who
uses the
keyboard incessantly: *BUY WRIST GUARDS*. For the last year or so,
I've been
fighting carpal tunnel syndrome. The problem is that I write 10-12
hours a
day, and when I'm going at white-heat, I've been clocked at nearly
120 words
per minute...one person who listened noted that during one
particular session
the click-click-click didn't pause, didn't slow for nearly twenty
minutes
straight. I fall through the screen and come out somewhere else,
hours later.

The downside of which being...I'm having *real* problems with
CTS right
now. As we gear up for the last part of the season, I'm behind the
keyboard
constantly, when I'm not in editing. During the Thanksgiving
break, I was
averaging 20 pages a day. Early in that process, the CTS settled
in bigtime.
The pain is nearly constant, all day, all night. To pick up a can
of soda is
an exercise in profound discomfort. To *type* is beyond
description. I'm
doing everything I can to minimize it, including sending for some
new wrist
supports and wrist braces, but apparently this stuff is cumulative.

It's not stopping the writing, not by so much as a comma, but
it makes me
more inclined to quick, short messages than my usual mini-novels.
I learned a long time ago how to burn through pain, so it's not a
problem on
that level. Once the season's over, we'll evaluate where things
stand, and
whether this can be ameliorated by exercises or surgery or
whatever. But I'm
a *writer*, and that means I'll write if they cut off my arms and
legs and I
have to type with my nose. Nor is this message intended for
sympathy. No
sympathies are expected or requested. This is just one more
challenge to B5.


My only thought at this moment is with those reading this: if
you do lots
of work behind the computer, take breaks, wear wrist braces, get a
support for
your keyboard, do wrist-hand exercises. You wouldn't like this.
Trust me.

This show has been an act of sheer will now for nearly seven
years. So
what else is new?

By Friday we finish shooting "Chrysalis," which looks
*gorgeous*. Then
comes "Deathwalker," with Sarah Douglas and Robin Curtis. It's
another of our
very tough episodes, written by Larry the D. With "Chrysalis" it's
12 down
and 10 to go. We're on the downward slide, and it's coming up
fast.

Later.

jms