As for taking a big chunk out of Part Two...well...
I had already written the first page and a half of the opening scene of Part Two upon the completion of part one last week. I figured it would make jumping into Part Two much easier. So, I sat there and reread the page and everything came to a halt. Something was wrong! So I sat there for a while longer.
And I finally realized that I didn't like that I had ended part
Considering he was already physically where he needed to be to perform this feat, it just didn't seem right sending him on a journey hundreds of leagues to simply be told to turn around and go right back where he currently was.
So, I tossed the opening of the opening scene, went back to the ending of the chapter that concludes Part One of Book One and scrapped the last bit. And I've now replaced it with a very significant event that ties into one of the two critical events that I had added last minute into Part One.
And I wrote a new opening scene that kicks off Part Two of Book One.
So, I ate a lot, had some good beer, wrote not as much as I would have liked, but -- plot-wise -- I took a great stride forward in the story.
Overall, an excellent Thanksgiving.
And now I'm back at work and busy.