I’ve come to realize that my working methods are quite different than those of Francis Bacon. There is no way in the world that I could gamble all night and then work all day. I tried this on my first night and not only did not write a single word over the rest of the weekend, but couldn’t read anything either, except for the menu.

That said, I did make a few notes on Deirdre’s weekend in Vegas that I think might work: “A story was in my head but it was numbers – 4, 6, 12, 11, 3, 6, 8, 9, 8, 4, 7, 7, 9 – a sequence that I wanted to follow and rolled the dice to see what was next.”

I also noticed a very interesting woman, someone who might have something of Deirdre in her. She wore a short, elegant dress, white, and was most self-assured. She had two men with her, neither of whom said a word, and seemed to be waiting on her. She was very pleasant to everyone and rolled the dice quite happily…but there was something mysterious about her demeanor that was transfixing. She and Deirdre would get along well. Or maybe they would hate each other. One of the two.