Right now it's definitely off the ground, although writing it seems more like kite-flying than plane flying. There's this big unwieldy thing that during my moments of I-can't-write frustration I was sure was never going to do anything, that's now way high off the ground, and then there's me holding on tightly to the string, scribbling as fast as I can all the time with the other hand, terrified of letting go of it in case it's dragged off by the wind and never seen again...
It's all cool. It may even be a good book, I don't know -- wonderfully (and what a relief it is not to) I don't even care whether it's any good or not. I do know that I'm at the exciting bit, and I have to keep writing to find out what's going to happen next, and then finding out what happens next, than which there can be no more delightful a feeling. And anyway, the people in the book are depending on me.... (yes, it sounds crazy. But that's still how it feels, and I'd not have it any other way).
I've got a bit less than 48 hours left in this house and I wish I had at least another week, although I'm scribbling about 4,000 words a day right now, so in a week I'd probably have run out of book.
Many, many apologies to anyone who is waiting for an e-mail from me, or a phone call, or anything. It probably won't come for a bit. I'm holding on very tight to the string of a kite and I don't want to let it go.
....
ps -- I can't watch it (not on this crackly dial-up connection) but Mark Askwith writes to let me know that at http://www.spacecast.com/command/videos/ you can apparently watch me and JK Rowling talk about censorship and book-banning and people who wouldn't know a Satanist from a fish-finger claiming that we're Satanists... (If the video doesn't work, tell them, not me.)
pps -- apparently you need to click on the picture of Ms Rowling, not on the headline, or you'll be watching the lovely Janis Ian instead of us. Or this link may work as the Real Video clip.