Did no writing today and felt no guilt.

Did feel weird not writing but I can live with it.

Did put in a request for a guest pass for Dragon*Con.

Did talk to someone about being at Marcon next year. I think that's definitely going to happen.

Worked on basic ideas for a proposal for a book.

Sent ideas to daytonward so he can shoot me down if I'm too far off base with ideas.

Talked to ghostbearmw about doing some short stories for Battlecorps.

So, no writing but lots of plotting. *grin* Amazing what you can accomplish with a little time on Twitter.

OH, and did spend evening visiting with family and running around the mall so daughter could spend gift cards she's been saving up. Good time was had by all.

Tomorrow, reading, watching a DVD and relaxing is on schedule. Writing officially resumes on 27 Apr 2009 unless something very strange comes up between now and then.

O.K., wishweaver has been pushing me to ask for an extension on the delivery of this book, but I'm so damn close to being done, I just hate to do it. Of course, to make the deadline, I'm really pushing myself in the editing and rewriting stages. I made it through Chapter 12 last night and then Chapters 13-16 tonight. I can see the finish line (nine chapters to go), but I'm exhausted in the mornings. Luckily, I've turned in my latest deliverables at work today, so I've got a few days before anything else is going to be due. I'll try to balance doing some work at work and doing some editing at work.

At least, I'll be off from Friday noon until COB on Monday. As long as I get this en route to Fandemonium by 2359 on Monday, I'll be on time. They'll get it first thing Tuesday morning, which is when they would have gotten it whether I quit working on it at 1700 EST or 2359 EST.

It's weird, I went through four chapters today and the word count meter barely budged, even though there was a whole lot of typing going on. I added 692 words for all my efforts on Shadows. Even though the word meter isn't moving, I caught some conflicting information between Chapter 2 and 14, which would have annoyed the editor if it had slipped through. So, I guess, yeah me?

I could probably make it another hour or so, but I'm thinking the body is telling me to go to sleep and it usually knows better than my mind does in situations like this.

Night!
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Words for Today

692 / 1000 words. 69%

Progress on SG-1: Shadows of the Heart

86262 / 80000 words. 108%

Progress on Shadows of the Heart's revisions

16 / 25 chapters. 64%

Words for 2009

77758 / 365000 words. 21%

First surprise of the day was I didn't go to work.

Daughter-unit injured her hand last night (shut in a door). Nothing too serious, but it was definitely painful. She and wishweaver didn't think it was a good idea to go to school where it would probably get bumped into repeatedly over the day, but Wish had something due at work, so I stayed home in case the daughter's hand got worse and she needed to go to the doc.

We used the opportunity to finish an assignment she was late on, but the teacher said she'd accept it up to Friday. We sat down, discussed what needed to be done and hammered it out in a few hours. Course, if she'd done it when she was supposed to, we could have spread the pain out a bit, but what's done is done. I know when her next assignment like this is due, so we'll start on it a tad earlier next time.

Along with her typing, I did get some of my own typing done today and tonight. I revised Chapters 4-6 of Shadows, adding another 2093 words to the story. I almost completely rewrote Chapter 6 and tomorrow, I have to add in a new Chapter 7. This should be the last major revision until I reach Chapter 23. Should be. Will keep fingers crossed.

So, if I mentioned a first surprise, that implies a second one, no?

Well, here it is. The Balticon Program Participant's page. What's so surprising about a standard convention page listing who's attending. Well, I always assumed one would know they were a participant at a convention before it appeared on the Internet.

Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the thought. Given everything else, I probably will attend it since it's about 40 miles from my house as the beltway turns. Still, either someone was "watching out for me" after the last few times of not knowing whether I was an attendee until the last minute or else there's another Richard White out there who'll be fighting me for the badge.

I wonder what panels I signed up for? *grin*
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Words for Today

2093 / 1000 words. 209%

Progress on SG-1: Shadows of the Heart

81416 / 80000 words. 102%

Progress on Shadows of the Heart's revisons

6 / 25 chapters. 24%

Words for 2009

72912 / 365000 words. 20%

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%

Wow.

Having that weight lifted off of my shoulders has made the writing start flowing again. Heck, it even flowed well at work today . . . that is, when they weren't pulling me away to work on other stuff . . . or attend meetings . . . or do excel spreadsheets for requirements . . . aauugh! Oh well, keep telling yourself it's paying the bills.

I picked up a couple of new CDs after work at Borders while the daughter-unit was buying her supply of Pocky. I snagged a Keiko Matsui CD I didn't have, a CD by Gary Stadler called Fairy of the Woods, which looks like it'll be good to write to and the D-U pointed out a Best of Glenn Miller CD. She knows as a former trombonist as well as a former jazz trombonist, I'm a huge Glenn Miller fan, so I snagged it also. She enjoyed In the Mood and String of Pearls but Moonlight Serenade was a little too laid back for her.

Hey, I've got an almost 16 year old listening to Glenn Miller. I'm not going to complain that she doesn't like all of them. *grin*

But, as I said, the writing came together well tonight. I added 1953 words to Shadows tonight and finished Chapter 17. The novel feels like it's a little light at the moment in the word count department, but I expect it'll grow during the editing part before I submit it. I've thought of a few things I want to expand on earlier in the book, but I want to get to the end before I start changing stuff up earlier. Better to be a little short on words than to miss the deadline.

Thank goodness the weekend is almost here.
_________________________________________________________________________

Words for Today

1953 / 1000 words. 195%

Progress on SG-1: Shadows of the Heart

56052 / 80000 words. 70%

Words for 2009

47498 / 365000 words. 13%

First and foremost, "Happy Birthday" to wishweaver!!!

We both had to go into work today to make up some hours, so we took advantage of it by stopping at Eggspectations in Ellicott City. Nice leisurely breakfast and then on to work.

When we pulled in, Wish noticed the motorcycle beside us had its blinkers going. She got out and noticed not only were the blinkers still on, so was the headlight and the keys were still in the ignition. We quickly notified security and they secured the keys until the owner realized he didn't have them on him. *grin*

We put in four hours and then I took Wish out shopping for her birthday. We took advantage of some sales and she got a new winter coat for next year as well as some new body washes and perfumes from Bath and Body Shop. I tried to pick up the Coraline soundtrack, but everyone was out. I did pick up Deep Purple: The Greatest Hits, so it wasn't a total wash.

Came home to find the daughter-unit had baked her first cake unsupervised. She was worried because she had overbeatten the batter, but personally, the cake was the fluffiest one I had ever had and I highly recommended that she overbeat all of her cakes from now on. She was so nervous about it, but it turned out great! What a nice present to give her mom.

I did get some writing in this evening while she tried to help a friend of hers who had gotten something on her computer. I added 2111 words to Shadows, bringing my weekend total to 6964 words. I can't guarantee I'll match that output every weekend, but it's nice to know I "can" do it if I have to. Wrapped up Chapter 15 and now moving on to Chapter 16 tomorrow night. We're heading into the homestretch now.
______________________________________________________________________________

Words for Today

2111 / 1000 words. 211%

Progress on SG-1: Shadows of the Heart

49655 / 80000 words. 62%

Words for 2009

41099 / 365000 words. 11%

wishweaver had plans for today, so I took over getting the daughter-unit around to her appointments. Took over is the correct word. She let me sleep in a bit this morning and took D-U to her vision therapy session. I met them there and she went to learn how to do beading with some friends from work.

After D-U's session, we went over to a local coffee house and snagged warm drinks and a good apple crisp. We picked up our anime discussion from last night over breakfast before I took her to her weekly group session.

Here's where the fun begins.

See, they meet once a week, so they try to schedule something every so often to do and this week, they were coming over to our house.

O.K., me . . . in a house . . . full of teenagers. *shudder*

It actually went well. They worked on a story they've been developing while I ordered pizza then they watched Spaceballs while said pizza disappeared like sand in a wind tunnel. They did some more writing and plotting on their project and it all wrapped up about 1600. By the time I ran them all home, Wish was home and things slowly began to settle back to normal.

I had hoped to get some of my own writing done earlier today, but *sigh* that didn't happen. I didn't get started on it until 1930, but I made up for lost time. I finished at 2230 tonight adding 2802 words to Shadows. I got on a roll and the words and descriptions just appeared on the page. Oh, if I could only bottle nights like this.

I do have to go into work tomorrow, and with the DST thing kicking off, it's going to hurt worse when I wake up in the morning than usual. So, with that, good night, LJ.
_______________________________________________________________________________

Words for Today

2802 / 1000 words. 280%

Progress on SG-1: Shadows of the Heart

47542 / 80000 words. 59%

Words for 2009

38988 / 365000 words. 11% done!

It was a day of many ups and downs.

Our oldest cat had to go into the vet today. He'd been listless and we found bloody stools last night, which scared me to no end. wishweaver stayed home to take him to the vet, so I had to wait until late this afternoon to hear from her. Luckily, the big goofball was all right, the vet believes he was just constipated. They're going to run tests on the stools, but we've been giving him his medicine and Jim seems to be a lot perkier than he was.

Wish tells me he didn't hiss or growl at the vet like usual, so that tells me he didn't feel very good. Poor guy.

I was supposed to get my Miata back today. When 1300 came and no calls, I buzzed the auto body shop and the receptionist told me they'd get back to me as soon as the guy came back in from talking to a customer. So, of course he called me back about 1530. They had found a small other problem (tail light had a crack in it, so they fixed it also) and I could pick up the car before 1700. I had to wrap stuff up at work pretty quick after that and hustle over to the shop (mainly because I only had the rental for three days), but Alita is back home and she's looking as good as the day I got her. Huzzah!

Still haven't heard anything about my MFA application. They were supposed to send out acceptance letters at the end of February, but so far, nothing. I'm trying to be patient and not call them, but I'd love to get this over with one way or the other.

I finally got my contract from Fandemonium last night, but I had a few questions that I'd like to have answered before I sign it. I was hoping when I got home from work they would have responded, but no such luck. I did go ahead and work on the story though, adding 1681 words to Shadows. I do hope they respond soon as I'd like to get that worry off of my mind.

Oh, yeah, I have a project due at work on Monday and with all this other stuff on my mind, I got bumpkiss done on that. Like it or not, I'll have to put in some time this weekend to make up for all the personal stuff that's popped up this week. *bleah*

Just one of those days.
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Words for Today

1681 / 1000 words. 168%

Progress on SG-1: Shadows of the Heart

42689 / 80000 words. 53%

Words for 2009

34135 / 365000 words. 9%

Got the car to the repair shop and picked up the rental car. Minimal amount of pain involved there, although I have to take a bit of umbrage at the insurance company. They said I'd get an equivalent car for a rental. I'm afraid their concept of equivalent and mine are somewhat different. I have a Miata, and while I certainly wasn't expecting them to shell out for a Corvette or anything like that, I expected a sub-compact, maybe a compact.

I got a Chevy Malibu.

There's nothing wrong with the car, it's a 2008 and it's in great condition, but it's huge compared to what I've been driving the past year. I do not have a good feel for the right and left boundaries on the car and the sight patterns are all wrong.

Oh, by the way, it's an automatic. I haven't owned an automatic since 1984. Trying to remember to leave the left foot on the floor when braking is not easy. *grin*

Still, it's only for three days (hopefully) and I'm riding into work with wishweaver tomorrow. I suspect the car may not move until I have to go get my car from the shop. Still, it's good to have the spare in case something comes up.

Took some time away from the house tonight. Ran a few errands and went out to dinner with Wish (daughter-unit decided her leftover pizza was good enough tonight) and just relaxed and talked about stuff. She's been very patient with my writing, but I thought it might be good for her to see I don't automatically gravitate to the computer as soon as I get home from work.

Still, I did get in some writing. (What? You thought I forgot about my deadline?) I added 1507 words to Shadows and I've now got the plot and the three subplots percolating nicely now. It'll be fun how things cascade to the finale from this point.

Have to go to a meeting with the daughter-unit's new school in the morning, so I better call it here.

Night, LJ-land.
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Words for Today

1507 / 1000 words. 151%

Progress on SG-1: Shadows of the Heart

41008 / 80000 words. 51%

Words for 2009

32454 / 365000 words. 9%

Well, there are good things and bad things about being snowed in. The good thing is I had time to spend with my family and get a good days writing in. The bad thing is I have to make up the eight hours I didn't work today sometime over the course of the month. Not too bad a deal, but it would have been nice to get the admin leave wishweaver gets from her work. *mutter mutter*

I didn't get as many "words" as I had hoped for today, but I think I have good words. This was one of the other pivotal scenes in the book and I went back and forth on how I was going to set it up. I may have erased as many words as I wrote today. Here's hoping the editor agrees with me.

Shadows may not reach the 100K goal I've originally set, but the publisher is looking for stories between 80 and 100K. I'm thinking this thing may run just a little over 80K (which would probably be the shortest novel I've ever written. Therefore I am going to be adjusting my counter to show this.

And, speaking of word count, I did add 2714 words today. I finished Chapter 12 and have started on Chapter 13. Not my best days work, but a good solid one.

I'll be so happy when this whole remodeling thing is done and I have a place other than the living room to work in. It's weird, I can sit in a Starbucks or a B&N and write even with the noise, but somehow I can't block out stuff at home unless I'm away from the TV or the family. I can't explain it, just the way I'm wired I guess.

Well, off to bed. I have to take the car in to the repair shop and pick up the rental in the morning, so I can't stay up too late. (So he says at three minutes to one.)
_______________________________________________________________________________

Words for Today

2714 / 1000 words. 271%

Progress on SG-1: Shadows of the Heart

39501 / 80000 words. 49%

Words for 2009

31947 / 365000 words. 9%

I had to go into work today to make up some time I've missed this month. 2008 slammed me for leave - I went from over 160 hours to just a little over 14. So, all the time I've taken off with my car and family appointments the past couple of weeks has got to be made up before the end of the month. It was pretty productive, but five hours later, I'm discovering my back is a lot stiffer today than it was yesterday.

Not. Fun.

Luckily, the chair in front of my computer is a lot more comfortable than the chairs at work. I was able to get some good writing in today and added 2621 words to the story. Finished up the edits to Chapter 8 and *almost* finished Chapter 9. I did get to the reveal of one of the villains of the piece though before stopping for the night. Plus, since Twitter was all awash in Oscar commentary, that helped me focus on the writing instead of the tweets since I really don't pay attention to stuff like award shows. Now if it had been the NFL draft, that could have been a problem.

I'm finding on days like Saturday and today I'm writing in fits and spurts rather than just grinding it out like I do on weeknights. I wonder if it's because I know I have "time"? I'm hoping I can restore the discipline I had the first half of last year, but all things considered, I can't complain. I've almost caught up to my goal for February, then (maybe) I can start working off the deficit that January left me.

(Hey, living this close to Washington, it's hard not to get sucked into deficit thinking *grin*)

However, it's time to take another dose of aspirin and get some sleep. wishweaver is wanting to go in to work a little early tomorrow, so if I want to ride in with her, I better be ready.
____________________________________________________________________________________
Words for Today

2621 / 1000 words. 262%

Progress on SG-1: Shadows of the Heart

28420 / 100000 words. 28%

Words for 2009

20866 / 365000 words. 6%

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 . . .
______________________________________________________________________________________

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%

Actually, it's going to be a very busy next few weeks. I have four documents at work I need to have finished by 06 April and then the first draft of Shadows of the Heart is due at Fandemonium on 12 April. So, I predict a LOT OF WRITING in my future over the next six weeks. I am anticipating my stress level going through the roof during this time, but hey, the tech writing pays the bills so I can afford to actually write for myself.

At least, I have a new vice to go along with the stress. There's a store at the mall called Teavanna, and I found a very nice tea mixture that they were giving away samples of. It's a mixture of Samurai Chai Mate and White Ayurvedic Chai. It's a white tea with 100% the caffeine equivalent of coffee. So, now I can supplement the coffee IV with this stuff. Whoo hoo!!!!

Just got back from the auto body shop. The insurance adjuster agreed with the estimate so, in a week or so, my car goes into the shop for a few days. Here's hoping they don't spot any more damage while they're in there.

Of course, I nearly got creamed again today. I was turning left at a different intersection, but still two lanes go left here also. I was in the outside lane and as I made my turn, I noticed the car next to me was swinging INTO MY LANE from the interior lane. Luckily, there was a small shoulder, so I was able to duck and brake to get away from them. I caught up to them at the next light and the (insert curse word of choice) person was talking on her cell phone, completely oblivious to the fact she damn near took the front end off of my car.

GAAAAAHHH!!!!!

When I have the car in the shop, I'm going to ask them to see if they can find the idiot magnets in it and get rid of them.

We had company parts of the holiday weekend, so I didn't get as much writing done as I had hoped. The majority came in a trek to B&N on Sunday and then tonight. Still, I'm happy with the 5492 words and since there are no more three-day weekends between now and then, I'm hoping we can keep the distractions down to a minimum. The operative word is "hoping".

Oh, and if I didn't need another time sink, I've finally gone to the dark side and picked up a Twitter account. We'll see how long that lasts or if it becomes too much of a distraction. Still, if you're vaguely interested, you can either search for me or @nightwolfwriter.
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Words for Today (2 day total)

5492 / 2000 words. 275%

Progress on SG-1: Shadows of the Heart

21078 / 100000 words. 21%

Words for 2009

13524 / 365000 words. 4%

Open message to convention attendees:

When dining in a local restaurant, do not regale the other diners of the sexual innuendos you used when you were talking the guest of honor . . . even if you are a Browncoat. You also do not need to describe the following, con funk, toilet mishaps or smashing open smurf dolls lined with blood bags at the table either.

Remember, there's a fine line between "freaking the mundanes" and being an obnoxious asshole.

The Browncoats who left Farpoint and descended on the sushi restaurant in my home town managed to ruin not only my family's time there, but several other tables worth of guests, to judge from the looks on the diners' faces.

Behavior like that is one reason why attending cons is less and less fun. I don't need it following me to my front door.

Thanks.

Aggravated person.

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?

I knew better.

I knew better and I did it anyway.

My last post said Hopefully, I can knock out about 3,000 words or more on Saturday,. I knew better than to say something like that out loud (or to post it) because it invoked the law of the unspeakable.

One of Murphy's Laws - "If you mention something bad, it'll happen." and it's mate - "If you mention something good, it'll stop."

So, of course, family stuff managed to keep me busy all weekend. And I wound up missing work on Monday and still didn't get any writing done. I have to admit, I did go to see Coraline on Sunday with the family and dzeytoun. That was a couple of hours well spent. I enjoyed the heck out of the movie. The daughter-unit had picked up the book a few weeks ago, and she said it was "close enough" that it didn't annoy her like a lot of adaptions do.

But, I was bound and determined to get some writing in tonight. I finished off Chapter 5, putting us 1496 words to the good. Been having fun writing the majority of this story from Samantha Carter's point of view. Unlike Jack's smart-ass remarks, she tends to pick and choose her "gotcha's".

Shifting subjects for a second, one of these days, I'll have to list the web comics I'm following these days and get some suggestions from you guys. Maybe tomorrow's post.

It's good to get back to the keyboard. But now, I think I'll catch a Sam Spade radio show or two and call it a night.
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Words for Today:

1496 / 1000 words. 150%

Progress on SG-1: Shadows of the Heart:

14494 / 100000 words. 14%

Words for 2009:

6940 / 365000 words. 2%

(Typing the title just as a song from an anime soundtrack comes on . . . talk about serendipity.)

Some friends of ours recently returned from a tour in Japan with their company. Outside of being highly jealous because I'd kill for that opportunity . . . (OK, that might be a bit extreme. I might maim for that opportunity), I was pleased for them. Chris and Jodi were two of my kendoka friends, in fact, Chris is the one who introduced me to Kendo.

Just before they returned, Jodi contacted me regarding getting the daughter-unit a kimono to hang on her wall. The package just arrived and the kimono is absolutely gorgeous! I don't have any pictures of it yet, but as soon as we can get it hung on her wall, I'll be posting some. wishweaver received a cute little stuffed "lucky cat" and I received a neat sake set, which I hope to put to use sooner than later. *grin*

Chris did look into picking up a katana while he was over there, but the one he found that he really wanted . . . well, let's just say he could buy a house here in Maryland outright with what they were asking for it. *yikes!* I suspect we'll have a lot of stories to swap when we get time to get together after they settle in.

This all dovetails with my Stargate story, because I am using the Shavadai (from Emancipation (Season One)) for Shadows of the Heart. I've been busy going through the various "baby name" web sites looking for Mongolian names to adapt to become Shavadai names and comparing Mongol history and artifacts against what was on the show and trying to blend the two.

(And who said doing tie-in work wasn't educational?)

Speaking of Shadows, I added 1458 words tonight, coming close to the 1500 I'm shooting for a night. It was a fairly easy section to write. Once I got going, the conversations just seemed to occur naturally, rather than thinking about how X would respond. They just did and transcribing is a lot simpler than writing. I love it when that happens.

Besides jimhines's book, The Stepsister Scheme, I'm currently reading two other books. One is Charles de Lint's Little (grrl) Lost and the other is H.P. Lovecraft, Complete and Unabridged. Just reached The Call of Cthulhu and am about halfway through it. On the nightstand, I also have The Journeys of Marco Polo. As I said once, one story launched a thousand adventures, the other, a thousand nightmares. *grin*

Yeah, I have eclectic reading tastes.

And now, to bed, perchance not to dream of Software Requirement Documents . . .
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Words for Today

1458 / 1000 words. 146%

Progress on SG-1: Shadows of the Heart

11952 / 100000 words. 12%

Words for 2009

4398 / 365000 words. 1%

Unfortunately, our house is still under construction, so I am currently writing in the living room on my laptop. Which is not normally a big issue, except now that I'm trying to get back into the writing habit and the daughter-unit is wanting to watch TV. The small TV is disconnected at the moment for the contractors to finish work in the basement and get the new family room in shape. Therefore, if she wants to see TV, she has to do it in here with me. It's going to be a test of my writing concentration to see how much actual writing I get done.

I did get some writing done, when I wasn't having to go back through my sources for reference material. I developed the pitch for Shadows of the Heart a year ago March. Back then, all of this was fresh in my mind. Now, I know what I want to write about, but the small little details you need to throw in for a tie-in novel aren't as clear. So it's write . . . look something up . . . write some more . . . read the show transcript . . . write . . .

I'm hoping my speed will pick up by the end of the week as this becomes more second-nature to me. Still, I added 1181 words to the story tonight. Not too shabby for starting back up.

And now, it's time to call it a night and get ready for another exciting day of tech writing tomorrow.
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Words for Today

1181 / 1000 words. 118%

Progress on SG-1: Shadows of the Heart

8735 / 100000 words. 9%

Words for 2009

1181 / 365000 words. 0%

Just got home from helping Ann Crispin and Victoria Strauss do the "How to Find a REAL Agent" panel at Capclave and decided it was time for me to get off the sidelines and back into this stuff. Been battling a mild case of writer block (aka too damn lazy to write) and a bit of depression/"my writing sucks, why am I doing this?" Not looking for sympathy because I'm not being sympathetic to myself. It's my lost time and it's damn time I got back to doing something productive.

Not going to go into great details about the last four and a half months, so I'll pass on the highlights in semi-chronological order:

1) Started playing Guild Wars as a way to recharge the old batteries (Old D&D geeks need to get their fixes somehow *grin*)
2) My truck started to die, so I am now the proud owner of a 2008 Mazda MX-5 (Miata). Pictures to follow.
3) The Daughter-Unit had to go to summer school, so I had to take off an hour a day during the summer to pick her up and get her home
4) Had a good time at Shore Leave (personally, not so much professionally)
4a) Getting the feeling my days of writing Star Trek are pretty much over barring something I don't expect
5) Looks like I'll be moving to a new contract at work . . . current assignment coming to an end right after Thanksgiving
6) Wrote to an editor regarding doing a Guild Wars novel . . . no response yea or nay yet.
7) Heard back from the secret project which isn't a secret any more. Unless something weird happens, I should be getting a contract from Fandemonium in the next week or so for a Stargate SG-1 novel. First draft due March 9.
8) Finishing my application paperwork for the MFA program at the University of Baltimore. If I'm accepted, I start Fall 2009

I think that summarizes what's been going on so far.

For those of you who've stuck with me (out of friendship or inertia) I thank you. I'll try not to take such an extended vacation again.

Now . . . go do something productive.

Three big projects coming up at work and for once, I think I'm actually holding my own. Of course, 90% of my time is still spent fighting Microsoft Word's inability to format the same thing the same way twice. *Fhtagn* (The Lovecraftians will recognize that word . . . and run.) Still, things are going well and I'm still managing to get in some writing at lunch. I'll probably have more to add to Harbinger this weekend.

Got a copy of The Sky's the Limit and The Quality of Leadership off to my folks tonight. Thanks to the gang at mikescomics who went above and beyond getting me some copies of TQoL. I know Dad loves showing off the books to everyone . . . just hope he enjoys reading them also.

BTW, If you're wanting to pick up the Doctor Who book, don't wait for Amazon to get around to bringing it over here, Mike's is the way to go. (This was a completely unpaid and heartfelt plug. I like supporting people who take care of their customers.)

Had to take the Matrix in for an oil change, so while wishweaver was playing with her new shiny (see this entry for more raving about her new iMac. Well, almost new . . . it's refurbished, but it's definitely new to her and it's frappin' HUGE! It's got a bigger screen than our small flat-screen TV. I can't wait to see how it handles a DVD.

Anyway, while I was at the Jiffy Lube, I snagged one of my writing notebooks out of the trunk and spent some quality time writing. Yeah, I guess all that Army training is coming in handy. Not only can I sleep damn near anywhere now, but it seems I can write almost anywhere, background noise notwithstanding. Oh, and by the way , I was not trying to sell books while I was there, for those who follow the NEPAT or the Never-Ending Publish America Thread over at Absolute Write.

(Wow, tonight's theme really seems to be parenthetical asides and inside jokes.)

Somewhere in all this, I did get work done on the unnamed project. I added 1376 words and have completely confused at least one of the main characters. I may need to go back and flesh this scene out a bit more tomorrow night before pushing on (lots of talking, not so much description). I may want to readdress how I build up some of the tension here before I get to one of the early reveals. It's still early, but I'm already having fun with this book and once we get out of the "recap and reintroduce characters phase, it's going to pick up steam in a hurry."

But for now, I'm running out of steam, so it's off to bed.

Night, LJ.
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Words for Today

1376 / 1000 words. 138%

Progress on Unnamed Project: SotH

3723 / 100000 words. 4%

Words for 2008

157252 / 366000 words. 43%

Took the day off from work. Spent most of the day out running around with wishweaver, where she helped me pick out some new shirts and ties for work. (Taking advantage of those Memorial Day Sales at J.C. Penny's. Stafford no-iron shirts are wonderful time-savers.) Also stopped by Yankee Candle and checked out the new stock. Even when we don't buy stuff, it's always interesting to see what new scent combinations they design.

Got home to find This sitting in my mailbox. I was teasing Wish that now I'm an "internationally published" author. Of course, that and $2.50 will buy you a cup of coffee, but it still sounds good. *preen* (My friend, Tee Morris, did have to point out that he's been an internationally published author all along (Dragon Moon Press is out of Canada), so that did deflate the ol' ego a bit after that.) I'm enjoying the stories I've read so far and am very proud to have a story in the same book with the other authors.


Here's a picture of the cover. I can see why the other authors were really digging on the cover. It looks a lot more dynamic in hand than the Amazon picture looked.



Made it up to Balticon and ran into perivayne who helped straighten out various issues (like no badge), and informed me that I now have a reading and a signing on Sunday. So, yes, all my events take place on Sunday, but at least I'm beginning to feel like I'm earning my guest pass. I also ran into dzeytoun, pbray and jpsorrow, and then yogcmarthoth and scifilaura. I saw klingonguy across the room at the Meet the Pros gathering, but I didn't get a chance to talk to him. Maybe tomorrow . . . oh, right, maybe later today.

I attended the New Media party, where I ran into Tee Morris, who was DJing for the party as well as several other podcasters (some I knew and some were new). I also talked to one of the organizers of AnimeUSA and may be doing a panel or two at their convention later this year.

Finally slipped out and headed home. Now, it's definitely bed time.

After my daughter's appointments this morning, we hit the Apple store where she fell in love with the 20" iMac. We picked it up with some writing software (iWorks) and a Manga drawing software suite. She finished downloading all of her stuff from the old dying laptop after we got home and then after dinner tonight, we pulled the iMac out of the box, uploaded all of her stuff and started having fun with it. We're going to have to track down her WACOM drawing pad software to see if there's a Mac version or if it's universal software. Worst comes to worst, we'll just have to try and contact WACOM and have them send her a new CD. She's still having too much fun with her new "shiny" to worry about the drawing pad for the moment.

Of course, wishweaver fell in love with it too, but that's a purchase for another day . . . way far away. I never saw her as a Mac user, but Microsoft Vista is definitely pushing her toward it. Let's just say, its unreliabiliity is only exceeded by its memory-hogging slowness. I have a feeling we'll be blowing Vista off of her desktop soon and replacing it with XP. Hell, I'm thinking about doing the same with this laptop. Vista was NOT a better idea, Bill.

After all that, I uploaded my Bach collection into iTunes and prepared to write. That's where I hit a wall. I don't know why, but I just couldn't get into writing tonight. Maybe I'm already looking ahead to starting the sekrit project or maybe I was having too much fun visiting my old novel yesterday, but it was tough getting into the Chronicles tonight. So, after about two and a half hours, (most spent doing stuff other than writing), I finally logged 1,187 words. They're not bad words, and they were starting to come faster and better toward the end, so I'm encouraged by that.

Perhaps things will feel better after a good night's sleep.
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Words for Today

1187 / 1000 words. 119%

Progress on CSD: Dragon Couchant

92550 / 120000 words. 77%


Words for 2008

144156 / 366000 words. 39%

Came home from a boring day at work to find out that wishweaver and the daughter-unit had just gotten home from getting a bite to eat. The D-U decided she was in for the night, so Wish and I took off to go do "something". She joined me while I grabbed a quick bite to eat and then we wandered over to the pet store to get cat "supplies" and then off to Staples. The chair I've been using upstairs was slowly dying (it was a Target special that came with a relatively cheap computer desk), so I got a nice new chair with good back support and she picked up a FM tuner for her iPod, so I can recover mine. *grin*

We weren't quite ready to go home, so we went up to the local mall and wandered around doing some window shopping. We're going to be taking D-U back to the mall tomorrow with us, since we've made an appointment at the Apple store. The D-U has been using my old laptop (and I mean old, I think I got this one back in 1999 or 2000) and it's seen better days. Since she's really getting into art, especially doing art on her computer drawing tablet, Wish and I thought getting her a Mac might be the way to go. We talked to one of the associates and we're leaning toward a 24" iMac for her, but we'll let D-U make the decision (within reason) since she'll be the one using it.

Yes, we're a Windows family for the moment, but the art world belongs to Apple (plus we can install Windows on the Mac if we decide to not upgrade a few of her programs to the Mac versions). I have to admit, I've been tempted by the Macbook Air, but I need to get a lot more use out of my Toshiba before I consider buying any more computer equipment for myself.

Did I mention it was a slow day at work? I took advantage of the situation and wrote 2,372 words today. Of course, they were words for the new version of Harbinger of Darkness, but this new first chapter is insisting on getting written sooner than later. So, since I didn't have anything to add to Shattered Mirror tonight, I transcribed the pages I brought home with me, edited some sentences, added some stuff here and there and generally enjoyed getting to visit with my girl, Raven.

Tomorrow, I hope to get some writing done on Chronicles. I know Wish has college stuff to do and D-U may be playing with her new toy. (She's already talking about what she can do with Garage Band and iMovie, sheesh!) That may be my cue to slip out and hit the local coffee shop for a bit.

Ulterior motives? Me? I'm shocked, shocked you could make such an accusation.

(Your winnings, monsieur. Thank you, Andre.)
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Words for Today

2372 / 1000 words. 237%

Progress on Harbinger of Darkness rewrite

2372 / 110000 words. 2%

Words for 2008

142969 / 366000 words. 39%

Met with our contractor today and picked out the bathroom fixtures for the master bath and the upstairs bathroom as well as the faucets for the bar in the new family room and the new half-bath in the basement. We discussed different options and one thing I'm looking forward to is putting a deep tub with the jets in it. Nothing like a whirlpool bath after a long aggravating day.

It also appears that they're hoping to get started on the kitchen renovations sometime next week. wishweaver and I will be busy hauling stuff downstairs into the new pantry once they give us a definite start date. It's tough . . . I want to have most of it done now, but we still need the food, dishes, glasses, etc. until they're ready to gut it.

Oh, the joys of home renovation.
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As mentioned in the entry subject, the NFL held its draft today. Personally, I think the Chiefs made out like bandits, picking up Glenn Dorsey (DT), Brandon Albert (OT), and Brandon Flowers (DB) with their first three picks. I would have loved for them to have tried to trade into the 2nd round again to pick up a defensive end, but given all the holes in the Chiefs' line-up, it's going to take a couple of drafts to fill everything we need.

Still, this is, by far, the best first day draft I've seen for the Chiefs in almost twenty years. I can't wait to see how things go tomorrow.
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I need to finish my slides for the Maryland Writer's Conference for Saturday. It's my second time representing Writer Beware at a convention, but the first time was presenting the annual report at the SFWA meeting at NASFIC. This is my actual first time as a presenter/representative.

Yes, I am nervous, thanks for asking.
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Did some work on Childhood's Tears while my daughter had an appointment this morning, but since I didn't transcribe those words onto the computer, they'll have to wait for tomorrow's word total. I did work on Chronicles of the Sea Dragon tonight after I finished listening to the draft and the myriad discussions about who did well and who fell on their swords. I added 1010 words to the list.

Not sure how much I'll accomplish tomorrow. We're going down to visit with my collaborator, April, and her family tomorrow. We'll be going over my first pass at Chapter Eight for Shattered Mirror while we're down there. Depending on when we get home afterwards will determine whether I stay up and write or just crawl in the sack.

Which I'm getting ready to do now.
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Words for Today

1010 / 1000 words. 101%

Progress on CSD: Dragon Couchant

91343 / 120000 words. 76%

Words for 2008

129239 / 366000 words. 35%

I'm not quite sure what happened last evening, but I just couldn't pull the trigger on writing. Sat in front of the computer and just nada.

Luckily, I almost made up for last night. I worked on Chapter Nine of Steel on Target, adding 1537 words and I hope to do some more writing on our intrepid band of cavalry troopers tomorrow as well as finishing up my first draft of the sample package for Grad School. Oh yeah, and working on Chronicles of the Sea Dragon also.

But, tonight was fun. To celebrate wishweaver finishing her finals for this semester and also to celebrate the end of a less than stellar work week, I suggested we go to the fondue place tonight and to my surprise, she was in favor of that. (I say to my surprise because it's not a cheap place for dinner). So, we snagged up the daughter-unit and made our way there tonight.

To say I enjoyed myself is sorta like saying the ocean is a little wet. *grin*

We had a cheddar cheese fondue for starters with bread and veggies. Then we had a surf and turf fondue cooked in a bouillion while the daughter-unit had a seafood trio. Of course, we all shared and enjoyed everything. I really enjoyed the different sauces they brought out to go along with the meats, to include a couple that surprised me. I'm not a huge Gorgonzola fan, but the Gorgonzola sauce on the fillet was out-frickin-standing. And, of course, we finished off with the yin and yang chocolate fondue (white chocolate and dark chocolate mixed together, with strawberries, bananas, pound cake, cheesecake, marshmallows and rice crispy treats to dunk.

Needless to say, we won't be going back there again for a while, but it sure is fun when we've got a little extra and can afford it.

Wish is going in to work tomorrow to make up for missing Thursday, so I'll be porting the daughter-unit around tomorrow for a while. Hopefully, I'll get a chance to get some writing in. *keeping fingers crossed*

Now it's time to call it a night and dream about dinner all over again. *grin*
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Words for Today

1537 / 1000 words. 154%

Progress on Steel on Target

39819 / 90000 words. 44%

Words for 2008

119203 / 366000 words. 33%

Went out this afternoon with wishweaver for lunch and then writing. We hit Mad City Coffee and while Wish worked on her take-home final for college, I got some serious writing time in.

It's strange but somehow getting out of the house seems to help free up the ol' writing process and words appear. Now, it could be because our house is still topsy-turvy from the remodeling, (I am so looking forward to getting the office done down stairs so we can get the desks moved in and the writing books and reference books moved down into the basement), or it could be simply because there are too many distractions at the house. But whatever it is, I seem to be able to concentrate and really crank out the words when I'm outside the house.

While Wish was out taking another final that had to be proctored, I got a little gaming time in, but I've managed to get myself stuck in one section of Xenosaga II. For some reason, I just can't figure out how to beat this one boss, so I guess I'm going to have to go back to some earlier sections and do some grinding until I can just outlast him rather than finesse it. *Sigh*

It's weird, but I almost prefer the combat system of the first game over the second. You'd think each version would look slicker and they'd streamline stuff based on feedback from the first game, but this combat system is actually klugier than the original games. Luckily, even with the aggravation that comes with the combat system, I still love the storyline to the game.

Came back to Chronicles of the Sea Dragon after everyone headed to bed and finished up Chapter 20. Between the two writing sessions, I finished with 2439 words. I probably could have gone further, but I was at the end of the chapter, so it was time to quit.

I can see though, I'm going to have to up my estimated total. I was shooting for 100K, but it's beginning to feel like a 120K story. I'm sure the first draft is going to go well beyond that, but I think I can combine a few chapters at the first to get it down to a manageable level.

Not quite ready for the weekend to be over, but like Garfield, I have to face Mondays whether I want to or not. *grin*
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Words for Today

2439 / 1000 words. 244%

Progress on CSD: Dragon Couchant

90333 / 120000 words. 75%

Words for 2008

116733 / 366000 words. 32%

After struggling with my writing on Thursday, I decided to take a night off from writing and read and do some other stuff. Went to the mall with wishweaver and bought some cool teas at Teavana. Wish had gotten some of their tea for her birthday and wanted to talk to them about brewing times and such and I spotted a few that looked rather interesting, so I indulged myself a little bit.

Today however, I got to deal with a different issue. Some idiot nearly rear-ended me when they merged onto the street I was on at a higher than necessary speed. (Driving like a bat out of hell) I had to punch the accelerator in my old 91 Toyota pickup to avoid being creamed. Luckily for me, the engine still has some pep in it and I barely managed to avoid the idiot. However, as I did, I heard a loud pop and then the noise started.

I was hoping I had just ruptured my muffler, but then the truck started staggering and I was really afraid I had done something bad to the truck. Yes, I do want to replace it, but no, I don't want to do it in an emergency (more or less) situation. I managed to limp the beast to Menike for service and they did their inspection. The guy came in and told me there was nothing wrong with the muffler. Let me tell you, my heart dropped because I was thinking I'd blown the engine somehow. Then he tells me, the O2 converter had blown out . . . literally. That's where all the engine noise was coming from, plus because it was gone, the engine couldn't regulate how much gas it needed, so it was alternating between too much and too lean. That's why it was running so rough. Whew. It wound up costing me about half what I was expecting and a whole lot less than I was afraid of.

Went to Ellicott City to pick up some t-shirts I had ordered from one of the shops there. I love "The Mountain" T-shirts. I have gotten several compliments for their "Fallen Angel" shirt I picked up a couple of years ago, so I picked up a few more for this year's convention season. Plus the shop I bought them in makes some of the best fudge in the state. Their "Tiger Butter" fudge is outstanding. *nom, nom, nom.*

I did get some writing in today. Spent some time with the Chronicles of the Sea Dragon, adding 1312 words. I had two of my protagonists nearly come to blows tonight. It'll be interesting to see how much pride was bruised over their exchange of words. (*evil writer, evil writer*)

Might have gotten some more done, but I wound up visiting with a good friend that I hadn't talked to for a while. Sometimes, you have to step away from the keyboard for life, and that's O.K., too.
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Words for Today

1312 / 1000 words. 131%

Progress on CSD: Dragon Couchant

87894 / 100000 words. 88%

Words for 2008

114294 / 366000 words. 31%

Well, I had to take a day of leave to stay home with the sick kid. I was thinking, this won't be too bad. Since I didn't work on Steel on Target last night, I can get some extra writing in today.

Then I fell back asleep.

When I woke up, the daughter-unit was feeling a little better, so I took her out for lunch and then we watched a couple of Elemental Gelade disks. We're down to the final one now, but we saved it for later. Then I came upstairs to write and just fiddled around on the computer doing "stuff".

Maybe I was just tired of writing in the guest bedroom. So I bundled everything downstairs to write at the kitchen table. Pulled up my file, reread what I wrote this past weekend and go started.

And stopped.

So, I took a break. Maybe I was trying too hard. Fiddled around with some more stuff, played a little Xenosaga II and came back to the computer.

Still felt like I was wading through mollasses.

But, I did hit 1103 words, so it wasn't a complete failure. Just didn't get the extra words in I had hoped for. Maybe tomorrow night, since I'm still waiting to hear from April on the edits for Chapter Eight on Shattered Mirror.

Or maybe I'll work on one of those short stories I've been threatening to write and start shipping around.

Right now, it's time for relaxing and music.

Night, everyone.
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Words for Today

1103 / 1000 words. 110%

Progress on Steel on Target

36911 / 90000 words. 41%

Words for 2008

112982 / 366000 words. 31%

Well, I wound up getting sick Wednesday night. I have come to the conclusion that I'm going to have to write pizza off of the list of things I can eat. Period. At first I thought it was just the pepperoni that were getting to me, but now, I think it's the grease that comes with most delivery pizzas. Either way, I can't afford to miss much more work and this time, I was out both Thursday and Friday.

As you can imagine, no words were written Wed night, Thursday or Friday. By Friday evening, I was starting to get back to feeling like myself, but when my regular writing time came, I curled up with a book, read for a few minutes and passed out.

Which brings us to today.

The daughter-unit and a couple of her friends decided they wanted to go shopping at the local mall today. By themselves. Well, I agreed to this up to a point. The daughter-unit had X amount of money to spend (mostly birthday money she'd saved) and I agreed to this jaunt as long as I was "at the mall". They had their cell phones and agreed to contact me every so often, but Dad wouldn't embarrass them by hanging over their shoulder.

So, at 1330, they took off and I checked myself into the local Starbucks, plugged in my computer and got to writing. Four and a half hours later, I had added 4,319 words to Steel on Target, starting to get that story back on schedule. After a quick dinner and folding some laundry, I started working on Chronicles of the Sea Dragon and added 1851 words to that one also in the regular writing session.

Yep, that's right.

6,170 words, which I believe is a personal best for me for one day's worth of writing.

Over dinner, the daughter-unit informed me that her friends were discussing getting together like this next Saturday also and maybe every other weekend after that. Sort of a girl's afternoon out.

Hmmm, 4-6,000 words every other Saturday? I could get used to that. Course, next week, I'll park myself at Panera's. No sense in wearing out my welcome at any one restaurant at the mall too quickly. Just give me a plug and a cup of hot tea and I'm ready to write.

Who knew being a (semi-)chaperon could be so productive?

*grin*
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Words for Today

6170 / 1000 words. 617%

Progress on Steel on Target

35813 / 90000 words. 40%

Progress on CSD: Dragon Couchant

85099 / 100000 words. 85%

Words for 2008

101663 / 366000 words. 28%

Didn't get any writing done this weekend, well nothing on paper anyway.

My collaborator, April and her husband, Mark, came up this weekend, which was a darn good excuse to pull the house together on Friday. Unfortunately, that took more time than I thought it would, but it was time well spent. They came up on Saturday and we went to Elicott City to go shopping. Old Elicott City has a ton of antique stores and specialty shops, which makes it a fun place to windowshop.

One thing in particular I'm wanting to do is set up our new office downstairs in an oriental theme. The interior designer we worked with suggested it when he picked out the paint scheme; said it would be a relaxing motif for working/writing. We only hit a few of the antique stores (we started with the largest one and since Mark had never been there, we spent a couple of hours just there checking out all the various rooms (it's an antique mall over four stories). We did find a nice set of four Japanese screen prints and the dealer gave us a great deal since we bought the set. We're going to have to go back again, though, since we didn't find any other furniture that would compliment what we're already going to be moving into the room.

They had to go back early (unexpected commitments meant they had to be home for Sunday morning), so April and I only had about a half-hour to work on the story. We were working on one of the themes of the book when a plot twist occurred to us . . . one that will affect both sides of the on-going war as well as our main characters. It was such a revelation and it came about from a poem she's writing that the antagonists have regarding the situation. She read her current draft of the poem and *bam*, the answer to one of the questions I still had about the story was right there.

Man, I love "eureka" moments.

I was going to try and write yesterday evening, but we had a friend drop over for a visit. We had a good time and wow, was service fast at dinner, but by the time we wrapped up, I was ready to call it a night.

*bad writer, bad writer*

So . . .

to get to the subject of the title of this blog . . .

I thought I'd check my e-mail this morning before heading to work and there was a letter from the editor for the project I submitted to a while ago. She likes the proposal and needs a bio to submit with it to the licensor. Now, it'll be up to them, but if they like it, I'll be getting a contract soon (at which time, I'll stop being so coy and let you know what I'm doing for real). The manuscript will be due sometime in early 2009, (which sounds like a long time and I intend to be done well before then).

OK, I'm guardedly excited right now.

OH, hell, I'm ecstatic right night, but I'm trying to not get too carried away until I actually sign the contract.

But, I'll be grinning all day.

I wonder, do authors with many books under their belt still get goofy grins whenever they hear one of their projects has been accepted?