Been a bit since I posted. Sorry to disappear like that.

a) UCM lost in the NCAA Div II Final Four to the eventual national champions Findley (OH) University 67-65. Congrats to Findley for going 36-0 on the season. Well done.

b) Survived the daughter-unit's 16th birthday party over the weekend. Good part - everyone enjoyed themselves. Best part - over until next year.

c) Found out I did not get accepted into University of Baltimore's MFA program by logging into my student page and finding the message waiting there. Official word is supposed to come sometime this week. Will try and schedule a meeting with the Dept. Chair to see what I can do to improve my chances for next year. If I don't get in then, I'll just pass on the MFA. I'd be 55 if I get in next year. Any older than that and it shifts from being useful to vanity.

Yeah, that one stings a bit. Esp. since I have more pro credits than most of the instructors at the school, but I can't teach at the local JuCo without the Masters. Maybe I'll look into getting a straight MA in English instead.

d) I lost Monday because my old computer was just not enjoying life, so I have a new baby in the house. It's a cute little HP Pavillion dv7-1245dx Entertainment Computer. Let me tell you, that extra 2G of RAM is making this baby scream loading programs compared to the old Toshiba. The Toshiba would have probably been fine with XP on the machine, but Vista and it were NOT friends. Took a little bit to figure out how to move all the stuff from one machine to the other (esp. setting up Thunderbird as my mail client and getting it to talk to a recalcitrant mail server).

e) And speaking of pro cred, as you might note from the title of this blog entry, I have officially hit the end of Shadows this evening. Yes, I know I need to add another chapter and yes, I know it needs editing/rewriting and yes, I know the 13th is still right around the corner.

But, the first draft is done.

I finished Chapter 22 and then wrote a bridge chapter (currently Chapter 13b) which explains some of what happens in Chapter 21. Now to add in the new chapter and modify the chapters I've already identified to accommodate all the rest of the stuff I added in 20, 21 and 22. I'm quite convinced, the new stuff I have to add will push me well over what I needed for this book.

But still, it's nice to say, I'm in editing mode, not writing mode.

Note to self, never get this far behind on a project again or else push for a more reasonable delivery date.

And now, it's off to bed.
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Words for the day

3810 / 1000 words. 381%

Progress on SG-1: Shadows of the Heart

78399 / 80000 words. 98% done!

Words for 2009

69835 / 365000 words. 19%

The University of Central Missouri continues to make me proud. They came back from down 12 at halftime with a blistering 69% from the floor (including 7 of 10 from three-point land) to defeat Gannon University (Pa) 86-77.

Not sure who they'll face in the next round, but whoever it is will be 33-0 when the Mules face them (both teams in the late game are undefeated). Not that UCM is any slouch at 30-4, but it's pretty impressive to get this far in a season without being defeated. Augusta State (GA) will be playing Cal-Poly Pomona in the other Final Four game.

Keeping the ol' fingers crossed.

Go Mules!

Congratulations to the Central Missouri Mules for winning the South Central regional and advancing to the Elite Eight in the NCAA Division II tournament.

UCM beat conference rival Southwest Baptist 98-63 at Warrensburg and now moves on to Springfield MA for the Quarterfinals to face Gannon University of Erie, PA.

This is twice in the past three years UCM has gone this far in the tournament and I am a proud alumnus tonight.

Whoo hoo!

As some of you know, I am a proud alum from the University of Central Missouri.

Tonight, the Mules of UCM captured the MIAA conference tournament title with their third consecutive overtime game, defeating Missouri Western 86-84. This was the first time any team had played three overtime games in the tournament much less winning all three.

This means the Mules finished the season at 26-4, which secured them the top seed in the South Central region for the NCAA Division II basketball tournament. They also will be hosting the regional as the top seed.

Congratulations to the Mules basketball team. Here's to a long and enjoyable dance starting on the 16th!

There is something to be said for just sitting down and writing until you're done writing.

I was working on Shadows today. Sat down, picked up where I left off on Chapter 11 and just buzzed through to the end of the chapter. Really pumped, good characterization (or at least I thought so *grin*), and the hardest part was actually getting the chapter to a stopping point.

So, I finished the chapter and decided to snag some dinner. I grabbed the leftover Chicken Rigatoni from lunch today, tossed it in the microwave, fixed a big glass of iced tea, enjoyed my meal, sat down at the computer

And I had nothing.

Everything seemed to be more interesting than writing. What I did write sounded flat and I fought with Chapter 12 for a good three hours.

AAAUUGGHH!

Now, I did manage a small recovery right about 2200, and all told, I hit 2206 words for the day, but I had hoped to get almost double that. Rassenfrassen sassenfrassen. But that was above the goal I need to hit and with a little extra tomorrow, I'll be right on track. Still, the monthly totals look pretty good. I'd love to keep this momentum up when Shadows is done and I get back to my "own" WiPs. We'll see.

And in other news: Central Missouri won their season finale in basketball, raising their record to 23-4 (16-4 in conference). They will be the #2 seed in the Conference tournament and barring something very strange, they should be in the NCAA tournament for Div II. Final Four two years ago, can they do it again?

Stay tuned, same bat time, same bat channel.
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Words for Today

2206 / 1000 words. 221%

Progress on SG-1: Shadows of the Heart

36787 / 100000 words. 37%

Words for 2009

29233 / 365000 words. 8%

I was going to take the daughter-unit to vision therapy this morning and then tag in with wishweaver who'd take her to her other appointments while I stayed home to watch the Central Missouri Mules actually on National TV (CBS College Sports Network).

That was until I walked down the stairs at 8am.

Well, let me change that. I almost walked down the stairs. I did walk down most of them, then my foot slipped on the next to last one.

BAM!

I found myself laying on my face on the entryway wondering why I hated my body. After a bit, I manged to get the daughter-unit's attention and she helped me up to my feet. After an initial inventory proved everything was still attached and in mostly working order, I determined I managed to bollox up my lower back, neck and right knee.

At this rate, between driving excitement and the inability to walk in my own house without hurting myself, that 50th birthday this summer is looking more and more questionable. *eek!*

So, anyway, Wish had to leave work early and take daughter to appointments. I putz around trying to get comfortable on couch and dial up TV to watch the ballgame. Which is unavailable because we don't have that channel on our current cable package. I did find out later, UCM won, pushing their record to 21-4 on the season with three games to go before the conference tournament. Keeping fingers crossed.

So, I went back upstairs and took a nap.

Still, Wish took me out for sushi tonight and I managed to get some writing done today. Still need to go back and edit Chapter 8 some more, but I'm pushing on with Chapter 9 while I do so. Shadows added 1724 words and with a little luck, I'll get some more done tomorrow, provided my back doesn't tighten up completely tonight.

I've got to have a talk with that voodoo lady and see who put the current curse on me . . .
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Words for Today

1724 / 1000 words. 172%

Progress on SG-1: Shadows of the Heart

25799 / 100000 words. 26%

Words for 2009

18245 / 365000 words. 5%

No words tonight, but I knew there wouldn't be.

We had some friends of mine just return from a tour in Japan and we took them out to the Melting Pot for dinner tonight. Enjoyed a couple of nice bottles of wine, some great fondue and a lot of good conversation.

Chris and Jodi are fellow kendoka and over the conversation tonight, Chris and I decided once they get settled, we're going to start working out a couple nights a week so we can both get back into doing Kendo. Looking at how things have been lately, dropping a few pounds and getting a little exercise back into my routine might be just the thing to get me back to feeling like my old self.

Got home in time to listen to the end of the Central Missouri basketball game. The Mules pulled off another victory, raising their record to 18-3, and they're currently ranked 11th in the nation for Division II. Five games left to go until the conference tournament and hopefully, the NCAA playoffs. Let's hear it for March Madness - Div II style.

I mentioned web comics in the last post, so I thought since I didn't have any words to report, I'd list a few of my distractions *grin*. In no particular order, here are the comics I'm currently following:

Kevin and Kell
Sluggy Freelance
Dilbert
Luann
Namir Deiter
Girl Genius
Faux Pas
Fragile Gravity
Gunnerkrigg Court
Penny and Aggie
Dan and Mab's Furry Adventures
The Order of the Stick
The Unspeakable Vault of Doom
No Rest for the Wicked
Undertow
Fey Winds

Yeah, just about as eclectic as my music and other reading tastes.

So, do you have any web comics you follow?

Well, the University of Central Missouri lost in the Div II Final Four to Winona State University(last year's national champs) 90-85 in OT, finishing the season at 31-4. They weren't able to hold the 06 Champs off as Winona rallied in the 2nd Half to overcome an 11 point deficit and tie the Mules to force the extra period.

Still, a Final Four is nothing to sneeze at and the Mules were fun to listen to on Internet Radio all season. Congratulation to the team and to my old Alma Mater! Well done and here's looking forward to next year's team.

Congratulations to the University of Central Missouri Mules for winning the South-Central Region in the NCAA Div-II Basketball Tournament and advancing to the Elite Eight in Springfield Mass. this weekend.

Also, congratulations to the Mules for reaching 30-3, the most number of wins ever for a Mules Baskeball team (surpassing the 29 games they won en route to the National Championship in 1984).

<--- pleased alumnus

UCM 66 - Truman State (MO) 47

That's it.

19-0

The 2006-2007 Mules Basketball team is in the record books for the best start in the history of the college/university. EVER. (Not to mention, we're ranked second in the nation in NCAA Division II.)

A definite tip of the hat to the boys of crimson and black.

(There'll be another post here in a while explaining where I've been and what I've been doing (or not doing) in a bit.)

Central Missouri 81 - Pittsburg State (KS) 59

The Mules move to 18-0 on the season, tying the best record in school history. They play Tuesday night against Truman State (the team they played last Wednesday) to try and go to 19-0 and set a new record. I'm trying to track down how long the Mules have been playing basketball, but still, even tying a record like that is quite an accomplishment.

It's a good day to be an alumnus.

Yes, the University of Central Missouri Mules won their 17th game in a row this evening over Truman State 77-63, tying their second-best start since 1990. The Mules are now 17-0, (8-0 in conference) this year with 10 games to go in the regular season. The other good news tonight was Emporia State lost their game to Northwest Missouri, dropping them to second place in conference at 16-1, 7-1 in conference.

Yes, I'm rather proud of my alma mater. The Mules are one of four teams still undefeated in NCAA Div II and one of only eight undefeated teams among all the four year colleges (NCAA Div I, II, III, NAIA I, NAIA II).

Well, my old alma mater, University of Central Missouri, won their game tonight against Ft. Hayes State moving their record to 15-0 (6-0 in conference). Three more wins and they tie the best start any basketball team has had since the Mules began playing. The team sounds really good this year. Kim Anderson is doing a great job as the coach.

No words tonight. Got off work, ate, spent time with family, piddled on the computer a bit and am now going to bed before midnight for once.

Definite words tomorrow night.

can life get any better than this?

OK, time to get the sports geek stuff over with first. My old alma mater, University of Central Missouri, ran their basketball record to 14-0 (5-0 in conference)tonight against Missouri Western State University. This sets up a clash of titans on Saturday when the Mules will face off against conference co-leader Emporia State U. (KS), which is also 14-0. Luckily for me, the Mules games are carried on internet radio so I can listen in. If you think it's tough to keep up with a sports team on the internet or in the newspaper, try being a fan of an NCAA Division II team. If you're not within 50 miles, you might as well forget reading about them in the paper or hearing a score on TV.

I received the editorial changes to Shadows today. Marco sent this version on to the licensing people, so hopefully we'll hear something official back on the project soon.

I went back and made a couple of corrections on the stuff I wrote last night based on some feedback from wishweaver and mollymorrison as well as the editorial copy. Then got back on track and added another 1251 words tonight. Finished the second scene and am on the third now.

I keep saying scenes because when I wrote this, I was seeing it like an episode from Next Generation. Even though the story is being told from one character's POV, there are still definite beats in the story as the scenes shift from one part of the ship to another. It feels sorta like screen writing without all the annoying formatting problems. *grin*

I have to admit, I got a late start on writing tonight because I was reading about the latest sting pulled against Publish America (or as we like to call it, Publish Anything). Crack of Death by Sharla Tann has now joined Atlanta Nights by Travis Tea as another intentionally badly written book to be offered a contract by PA. Originally conceived to be the Publish Britannica version of Atlanta Nights, it lingered in limbo after PB closed its doors until now.

There's a very entertaining thread on this topic at Making Light.

Of special interest at the Crack of Death web site are two articles posted by former PA employees who describe just what it was like to work for this self-proclaimed "traditional publisher". If these articles don't make people think twice about going to Publish America, I'm at a loss to think what might get through to them.

Someday, that "traditional publisher" is going to fold its tent and I intend to drive up to Fredrick, MD and dance on their grave when the locks go on the doors.

Words for Today

1,251 / 1,000 (125.1%)

Progress on "Shadows"

2,444 / 10,000 (24.4%)

Words for the Year

14,605 / 365,000 (4.0%)

I'm a little under the weather. Debating on whether or not to go to work in the morning.

I didn't get my college papers done (see note 1), but I did get my reading done

CMSU lost to SBU in the championship game 78-71. It was close, we had a one-point lead with 58 seconds to go, but two SBU three-pointers sandwiched around a Mules' turnover and that was the game. We're going to Bolivar to play in the NCAA Div II basketball tournament, so CMSU should have a few more games to go. Who knows? We might be facing off against Southwest Baptist again before the week is over.

However, in the let's hear it for Hollywood portion of tonight's post, Wallace and Gromit and March of the Penguins won Oscars. Other than that, they could have canceled the rest of the show, (not that I watched any of it anyway, just got info from kradical and a few other places). Nothing nominated interested me when they hit the theaters, why would I care if they were nominated for any awards.

I think it's time to go to bed and see if I feel better in the morning.

Bleah.

Sometimes they're the same thing, but tonight, not.

I finished my first edits of chapters 2, 3 and 4 for Harbinger tonight. Eeep! Boy, can I tell I started working on this back in 2004. The basic story is still good, but there are definitely places I can tighten up the conversations and actions. I've cut quite a bit out so far, but this is only the first pass. I'll be printing these off and then going over them again with a red pen pretty soon.

The enjoyable part was listening to internet radio while I was working on the chapters. I listened to my old alma mater, Central Missouri State, defeat Emporia State (KS) to advance to the MIAA Championship game against Southwest Baptist University tomorrow afternoon. The CMSU women's team also defeated Emporia State earlier this evening to advance to the championship round against Washburn University (KS). The men's team is taking a six-game winning streak into the game against SBU, and they split their regular season match-ups.

Normally, I listen to music when I work on stuff, but for some reason, I didn't have much problem listening to the game with one ear while working on the story.

Need to concentrate on college stuff tomorrow.