Paris!

The marquis and I are off to Paris this afternoon for a long weekend. I've been promising myself a trip since last May, when the novel sold. I've been many times, but this is the fulfillment of a promise. Years ago, I made a past with myself that should I ever sell a novel, I would go to the grave of Alexandre Dumas pere and put flowers on it. He's a very special writer to me (and not just because I'm famously in love with Aramis): his books have been both a source of pleasure and an inspiration to me for most of my adult life. Back when I made the promise, he was still buried in his home town of Villars-Cotterets. In 2002, the French government translated him to the secular temple of the Pantheon, where many political, literary and scientific men are also buried (and two women, one of whom is there because she was buried with her husband. THe other is Marie Curie, who is there in her own right). So I will be going to the Pantheon with flowers and having a rather odd conversation with its staff.
Meanwhile, chapters 5 and 6 are now revised, and I've emailed 1-6 to my editor for review.
Have a good weekend out there.