I’m in the Mormon capital of the world, ironically sitting in a charming little coffee house called Mill Creek Coffee Roasters. Not a bad place, although it’s not conducive to long-term sitting-and-working, as parking is limited to 1 hour (???) and I don’t see any outlets for my laptop. I guess they don’t believe in lingering over a good cuppa. Oh well.

I should be writing the next installment of my NaNoWriMo novel, but I’m positively blocked, as I look at my battery indicator on the system tray and find that I have only 43% left. Would hate to start my word count for the day, only to have my laptop go blink on me.

My impressions of SLC? Rainy, urban, just like any other metropolitan city in the U.S. except its surrounded by snow-capped mountains. Of course, I just got here last night and will be leaving tomorrow, but so far, I’m not especially impressed. Although, with an IKEA just outside the city limits tempting me with its blue-and-yellow sprawl of a building, I could learn to like this place.

Yes, I’m doing NaNoWriMo again. And yes, I’m working on the same novel as I was last year. I know, I know, it’s technically against the rules, but I’m not especially good at multitasking and can’t make myself begin working on another book while I’m still wrestling with this one. So far I’m well past 100k words and 300 pages — God, what a monster. But the good news is that the Japanese have finally, finally invaded Singapore, and for my next trick I’ll have them storm and rage the city and finally eke out a reluctant surrender from the exhausted British officers. Exciting stuff.

The books I got from Singapore have been so helpful. I spent way more money than I intended to in getting these books (I think I took home about 15-20 in all, including a couple of unwieldy coffeetable-size books that made my suitcase groan), but it’s all for a good cause. And hey, if the book sells (when! Not if!), I can write them off my taxes (fingers crossed). But they’ve provided beautiful background information on the city at the time of the war and just before, especially Tanamera by Noel Barber, one of the best novels I’ve ever read. Long, sprawling, moving, and rich in detail. You know. The kind of novel I hope mine will become. Eventually.