Things have changed here at the Home Office.
When Tim first moved to Houston (just after IT HAD TO BE YOU was published), he accessed the Internet via dial-up in his apartment. In the Big House, we’d recently made the transition from dial-up to cable modem, and we had a couple of computers linked in a network. Tim frequently used the second computer to write (mainly to keep documents software compatible), then permanently after his Mac died. We sat face to face, but we couldn’t see each other because one of the desks had a high back with shelving on it. That was the situation when we worked on HE’S THE ONE and THE DEAL.
When Tim got his new Mac, he used dial-up in his apartment for a while, and I’M YOUR MAN was finished during that time. Then we needed the Home Office for temporary housing for my mother, so the cable modem was moved to Tim’s apartment. For a while, we worked side by side upstairs, but our hours weren’t compatible, which meant I was often interfering with Tim’s sleep. So we dropped a line downstairs, and we finished writing SOMEONE LIKE YOU and THREE FORTUNES IN ONE COOKIE on different floors in the same building.
After my mother moved out, we set up the Home Office in a way much more conducive to two work spaces, and Tim and I have sat side by side for about a year and a half. We changed to wireless (secured, you Stalkers!), which means my laptop often serves as a guest computer, but Tim’s Mac didn’t have wireless capability.
Now we’re working on TJB FIVE, and Tom and I just gave Tim an early birthday gift–whatever thingie (I don’t do geek talk) he needed for his Mac to be wireless. The wireless signal is more than strong enough to reach the apartment, so Tim can now office in his own space.
It remains to be seen how this will affect progress on TJB FIVE. I’m sure Tim will be happy not to deal with the ten million questions I ask him a day (his brain is like my encyclopedia), and Rex and the girls will get some time apart, which should help their socialization issues.
But this is the first day, and it’s kind of lonely over here.