1,064,141

That's it for the year!

Turkey Shoot is done! 16,505 and fun as usual!

Now, just some final notes on the Emergent outline, and I'm done!

Yay!

Very close to done. And a few notes left on Emergent, that I had a wonderful insight into right after I went to bed last night. A change that makes it something quite different from what I imagined, and considerably more intersting, I think. I'm going to work with the outline this afternoon. Should be fun.

But here it is, the last hours of 2002. There is a glitch at the FM site that's keeping everyone from logging in. Argh. Always something, isn't there?

I've got a sneeze and sniff kind of cold, too. But I am about to finish up the last of my work for the year. Time to celebrate!

Ended up writing about 700 words and reaching the end of the chapter. I have a final chapter and I'm done. Right now I'm heading for bed, though.

Almost there!

A slight change in plans....

I did the work on Vision, but it took longer than I expected, as usual -- and I needed a break from the computer. I went out and watched Lethal Weapon, my favorite holiday movie. I'm going to do a little writing and then retire for a few hours before I come back and finish off my work for 2002. I think I just wanted to drag the work out a little longer, to be honest. It's been a very good year, and the idea that I'm about to zero-out a million word count and start over is a bit daunting.

But... I'm looking forward to starting the new novel. Emergent is starting to slip up and take over my mind, and I have to fight it back down for a few more hours, at least. (grin) It's almost time, though...

I'm looking forward to it in that respect. So much to get done next year, all of it calling to me. I need to get organized here pretty soon! Yeah, right... like I'm ever organized, or ever really will be.

Last day of the year. Pretty amazing. It's gone quickly, again...

The last hours of the year, stretching out before me...

I really have very little to get done. Some work on Vision, which shouldn't be too bad. I have everything lined up now, and I just need to do two notes and fix a couple problems. Turkey Shoot is very nearly done -- I expect it to come in under 20,000 words. I'm just playing around with the two outlines. I could probably be more serious about them... but I'm in a mood to just slow down and relax.

My plan is to write my last words for the year some time after midnight tonight, and then not write again until after midnight and into the new year. I actually haven't decided exactly what I'm going to start writing on, which is rather troubling this late in the game, but I suspect it will be one of the two new outlines. In fact, even as I thought of this, Emergent started calling to me. Good.

I have several other projects for the New Year, and a few I think I'd like to start on Day 1, and try to get into the habit of working on them. The big one is the one I almost always face at the first of the year -- editing. I've written a great deal of new material this year, and I need to turn my focus toward making some of them presentable. In some cases, I have no choice. I still need a final edit on three of the Dark Staff series (as well as writing two more). In fact, I might as well admit to myself that I'm not at all happy with Eliora's World (Book 5) and plan on another complete rewrite of that one. Okay. I said it. So I have to edit two and write three. That's not too bad. Of course, then I have to edit the three I have to write, but that's all right.

I'm also getting the copy edits in on book 2 right now, so that needs to be added into the 'get this done right now' list of things.

But this all sounds so normal for me that I'm trying to figure out what I can do that would be new and different. I like a challenge at the start of the year. Something other than 'Try to keep a little more sane this year.'

Have to think about this one...

There. Two stories all edited, printed up, and ready to go out into the world. That is one more major bit of work off my list.

Most of Vision is done as well, I'm glad to say. This was a tough one, for many reasons, but it's done almost done and ready to go live.

I've been thinking about my goals for next year, and so far I have been creating 'negative' goals. For instance, I will not write one million words next year. I will do less web work over all, and concentrate on the ones I really like -- Vision, for instance.

But that leaves me with on vague ideas of what I will do.

I would like to read more next year, but that depends on how much trouble my eyes give me. This wasn't a good year for books -- barely one every two weeks or so. I have several lined up, and I want to get to them.

Should this be a year that I try another new genre? I would love (as I have mentioned several years running now, I think) that I would love to do Historical Fiction, but I just don't have the patience to do the work involved.

Also, I have several novels still contracted that I need to finish up, so in some ways next year is just going to be a continuation of this one. I just hope to come up with some new ideas for stretching out a little more. I love challenges.

I just wish my brain was up to the challenge of thinking of some.

A long day of working on Vision. I've very nearly gottten it all done. I always have days like this right before it goes up. I'm happy with it so far, though, so all is well.

I did a lot of research/writing today for an article (we were light in one section), and spent the time out at the dining room table working with my Visor. I had a dozen books spread out, and it worked very well to be able to use the little keyboard and have enough room for the research material. I actually had fun with it. I must have -- the article went over 2000 words.

And now, I think, I'll go find something to munchy on, and then think about writing. I need to get a couple things finished up pretty soon!

Yes, I seem to have my connection back -- at least for the most part. I am, however, behind on so much work that this blog is getting left behind again.

I want to have a plan for this one next year. I'm not sure what it will be, but I sure as hell better come up with something pretty damned fast, right?

Writing related, right? That would be a good theme since I don't seem to have much else to talk about these days. (grin)

Well, no time to think about it right now. I have way too much to get done still. Sort of. Really, it's going pretty well, but I don't want to fall behind now. Kind of running out of time.

And words. I think my brain is going blank.

I just finished Ada Nish Pura Book 1, and it ended so well that I got one of those little shivers that writers sometimes get when something just works. It is only about 62,000 words, but then I almost always do write short first drafts, so I'm not worried. But the plot is there. The story is there. And Book 2 has a natural starting point.

I am happy. I would be happier if I had a real Internet connection tonight, but at least I can get to this blog and report my news.

All I have left to do is Turkey Shoot. And Vision. (grin).

I am very happy, though. I know, now, that I made the right decision in cutting this one in half..

My Internet Connection is down. It's been down for about six hours now, and they say they might get it back up for me before the New Year.

Right. I can guarantee that I'll have a new connection before the New Year if they aren't here tomorrow.

In the mean time, I'm trying to do a little on-line work on an older, dying computer with a keyboard that doesn't suit me at all. But I thought I would drop a notice here, since I can't update my journal at all.

I am not a happy person.

I did not get much writing done tonight. We watched a couple Garrison's Gorillas, and then some music clips from the 60's... and then Streets of Fire. I love that movie. Hadn't seen it in a while, which made it all the better.

I am increasingly convinced that cutting Ada in two is a great idea. New pieces have already started to filter into my head, and a rearrangement of something I just wrote that will be far more powerful as a closing scene. I'd been testing this idea out all evening, thinking I should just push through and do all the notes I have, and then thinking no... Even though I know I could get it done, and Turkey Shoot without much trouble in the next week, I kept getting the ideas for more scenes, added pieces, bits of story...

I have a surprisingly good feeling about the two novel idea. So I'm going with it.

And the great thing is I have about half the outline for the next book already done. (grin)

Merry Christmas!

We've had a good day. We're about to open presents, now that we're home and everything else (including working on the city's internet server) is done. I am having trouble uploading my journal for some reason, but I don't really care tonight.

I did, however, have a really interesting insight into Ada Nish Pura in the last couple days.

It's sitting right now at a little over 60,000 words, which is pretty good for me in first draft. It is also sitting at a crux point in the story, a place where the MC both makes a decision and is accepted by the people for whom he will now work. He has, in effect, become a member of the clan. The chapter I am working on right now sets up a chain of events...

But the chapter after that takes place about a year later, in the full bloom of the war.

I have two books, not one.

This is not the first time something like this has happened to me. It may be my mind just telling me there is no way I can get all the rest of this novel done in the little time I have left this year and grabbing at a logical alternative. But I have a good plan here, and it allows me to expand both halves a bit more. I had, I admit, rushed the outline of the last half of the novel because I didn't want it to be more than 80 or 90,000 in the first draft. Now I can go back and add in all the things that I had skipped over in favor of a shorter section.

And you know, it's not like I need the word count.

So, I will likely be done with Ada Nish Pura, Book 1, in the next day or so. Then all I have is Turkey Shoot.

And Vision.

And a couple rewrites to get something out for submission this month.

Yeah, I think this is a really good plan.

Happy holidays!

I'm going to be heading to bed soon. Yes, this early. My back is better because of the pills, but they are knocking me out. I got some writing done. I can't be certain how much -- a couple thousand? It's enough for tonight. I'll need to get my little fingers moving after the holiday. But tonight... sleep is in order.

I hope everyone has a good day, whether you celebrate it or not. Good days are rare enough, no matter where you find them.

I could not sleep this morning. My back is out a bit, and my head hurt. I was tossing and turning in bed... and saw a couple little plot holes in my fanfic, of all things. So, since Russ is off delivering things this morning, I got up and came back here to correct the problems. That's done and I'll print it out later. I'm going to go take a nice warm bath now and hope that helps with the back.

If I don't get back to sleep that's not all bad. I need to be up fairly early tomorrow to go see my parents.

With luck, we'll get everything done early tonight and have some nice time to sit around and watch shows -- our Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve tradition. It used to be just New Year's Eve, but we have such a large collection that it started to spread out. (grin) Cheese and crackers, maybe some cookies if I bake a dozen or so today... Yeah, it could be fun.

Time for a bath and relax...

We did the shopping. We watched a show. All is going pretty well. I'm still writing away, with a nice new plan -- a page of these outline notes a day ought to do it, though I'm going to be hard pressed to do that on Christmas or even Christmas Eve. Okay, half a page on both those days, and I'll still be fine.

We ran into someone at a store tonight who said she'd been told we're going to loose sscdc.net. This isn't a surprise, but it is an annoyance on several levels. First, I have a good many sites on there, including the zoo pictures and my regular journal. I can move the journal, but the zoo site will go away. It's too large to be able to afford putting it somewhere else.

But more annoying, in many ways, is that no one has told me that the server is going away. I have worked on it for eight years now, doing web sites for the city and the county. When the city moved over to their own server, they didn't tell me they were going... but I was so tired of doing their sites that I didn't mind. Now they're doing it again, but in a bigger way.

But you know what? It means they'll have to do the damned agendas themselves. And in some ways... that's just fine with me.

I need to write more. Well, no, not actually write more... but sell more. I think I have just had my goals for 2003 defined for me. Good. Less work on my part having to come up with something.

Need to get back to work on Ada Nish Pura. It's going very well tonight. The fanfic break was obviously just what I needed to do to step back again. Or maybe I just work well under pressure.

I had written an entry, all about how lousy I feel, snarly, etc. Then I forgot to post it and closed the window.

Snarling yet more, I finally opened Ada Nish Pura and determined to cover a couple points in the outline before Russ and I go off to do our only Christmas shopping of the year. (Mostly just a present for my mother. I got a small check while he was in New York, for which I am grateful!)

Snarl, snarl. Looked at the outline. Didn't like the arrangement of events in the next three steps. Changed them. Started typing.

I've only done about 400 words, but you know... this is going fine now. Not great, not earth shattering -- but it's moving.

I did the outline much like I did for Freedom and Fame. I broke it down into little tiny steps -- and set an arbitrary 200 word count for each step. F&F had a higher per-step word count, but it hardly matters. It's just a number to aim for in general, because I do well with number goals. Some of the steps go way over, some fall way below. But it puts the story out there in easy pieces (200 words) that I can handle without much effort. And it makes it look as though I'm making progress because I can mark off each step as I go through it.

The steps are not absolute. I've ended up deleting quite a few steps, rearranging others... but it keeps me moving at a time when I really don't want to have to stop and try to figure out the next step.

Time to get back to work!

Russ is home. Already to bed -- he has a very busy day tomorrow. And if we're going to do any shopping at all, it will have to be tomorrow or early Christmas Eve. I don't do 'early' very well.

I'm reading over the story. Then I'll likely head off to bed.

Or maybe a nice long bath...

Or maybe I should do some more work.

Hmmm...

17,315. That's it, I think. Time to move on.

That was fun. I'll likely do it again soon -- though not before I get the other two pieces finished. But I do have another story in mind that I'd like to do.

Russ is on the road between Omaha and home. He'll be here sooner than I expected. Good thing I got almost everything else done already. (grin)

17,242. I just wrote The End. I suspect the total will go up and down a bit while I read it -- but it is DONE.

Now back to Ada Nish Pura and Turkey Shoot.

Actually, now I'm back to some soup and a show. Not at the same time, though. Eat first, watch afterwards.

Russ should finally be on a plane. He said he'll be a couple hours late getting home. That means around 2am instead of midnight. Things are looking good.

16,290. Still going, but not much left.

Russ called. He's in Chicago. Planes are running late everywhere, and he's not certain when he'll make it home.

And I'm ready to attack the story one more time.

Russ should be on a plane between New York and Chicago right now. I'm doing a few 'pick up' things around the house, but I'm mostly going to concentrate on getting this story done and moving on to real work again. (grin)

Starting count is 14425.

And why is my dog barking now... (argh)

Well, I got side tracked anyway. Garrison's Gorillas, mostly. But I've done a couple thousand words tonight, so I'm not upset. Yeah, I'd like to finish the story. There's always tomorrow.

Besides, I found a bit of something I need to work into the story. An ever so slight and subtle change in direction.

Yeah, yeah. Why take this much time with a bit of fanfic.

Because, like everything else I write, I intend to do it properly. And because, like everything else I write as well, I enjoy it. Getting the little bits and pieces of the story down is half the fun. I'm writing unaired episodes. I try to stick as close to the original characters as I can, even in a story like this which is far outside the regular lines. But that's what I do for fun.

I've got a couple hours before dawn. I can get a little more writing in.

My, that sounded rather vampire-ish, didn't it?

I had to take Genome into another room, away from me. Short chapters... I could read just a little more, right.

Well, sure ... If I don't want to write any more tonight.

The chapter on fate (yes, I'm sure that sounds odd) was fascinating and frightening, and very sad.

Time to work.

I've just worked out the last of the outline for the fanfic. There's only one scene I still need and can't quite figure out where to put it in. I'm not going to worry too much about it.

Having the outline done means I'll likely have the story done before the night is out. It's only a chapter and a half lef to go, maybe 3-5000 words tops. Once I have it out of the way, it's back to serious work.

Russ will be home in about 26 hours. I still have some things to do around the house, if I get to them. (grin)

Current count -- 13092. Let's see if I can bring this in under 20,000 words.

The agenda is finally done and up. Yes, it really does take that long to get them done sometimes. This one actually gave me problems because of my Internet Connection, though -- I couldn't get the thing to post. Done now, though, and that means I have all the time in the world to write, right?

I am reading a wonderful book titled Genome by Matt Ridley. Yes, it is science. I don't read nearly enough science. This man has a prose style and a sense of humor to kill for. Copyrighted in 1999, and this edition from 2000 -- as close to modern science as I'm likely to get, although I know that the discussion on human/chimp likenesses is a bit out of date already. Still, it's a great book to read. How can you not love a line like this:

'Some mathematical masochist has calculated that the brain was adding 150 million brain cells every hundred thousand years, the sort of useless statistic beloved of tourist guides.' (Page 33)

I must track the man's other books down. It's been a long time since I read any science book that made me laugh out loud. His comments on Mendel are equally fun.

And I might learn something.

I am starting out my day with a sore throat, an ear ache, an upset stomach... and the Agenda. Somehow they all seem to go together.

I've got the agenda about half done, but I need to go rest for a little while. This is pretty miserable. Taking stuff that should help once it kicks in, though.

Just hit a little odd time-related snag.

See, I want this silly fanfic to go out with the tapes. Those will go out on Monday, I think. The story is not done.

If I concentrate on Ada Nish Pura as I SHOULD, then I won't have it done in time. If I skip Ada for a few days, I run the risk of not getting it done in time.

Oh hell. I might as well go with the fanfic. I only have about 30,000 words left on Ada, and I've proven that I can do 10,000 a day with an outline like this. I have plenty of time to finish it and the Sangre story as well.

Okay. Off to do silly stuff rather than serious stuff. I guess it's my Christmas present to myself. Right?

Moving along...

I've a lot left to do on Ada Nish Pura, but I finally have a real handle on what it needs, and that helps a great deal. It's just the inability to actually sit down and do it that seems to be stopping me now. I do this, I do that, I write a couple hundred words, I do a little bit more on something else.. eventually I'll get there.

Well it is only midnight, after all. I don't know why ever expect to get a lot of writing done before midnight. It rarely happens.

My head is full of story ideas. They want out. But my subconscious refuses to cooperate. Every time I sit down, I get the urge to stand up and go do something else instead. Very odd. Well, at least I'm getting some of the house cleaned! (grin)

Five types of food.

Five feeding spots.

The hordes are content for the moment.

I am working on Vision this evening. It's going pretty well. Last nights work on Ada went well, too. I'm not quite as far as I hoped, but part of that was just a general feeling that I couldn't connect with anything last night. I think I'll do better today.

It's quiet here though. Very odd. We've had strong winds for two days, and they just died down in the last half an hour.

And now the damned connection is down again.

Ah well. I should be working anyway, right?

The outline is working well, even if my brain isn't really focused. Part of it is just the usual 'Russ is gone, poor me' feeling. The other part is the idea that I should get some real work done around the house in the next couple days.

But I have to say that the outline is a real help. I just had to delete one line of the outline because I realized it would not work at all. Other than that, it's moving along quite nicely. I have hopes to get it, and the other two, done within time.

Even if I am messing around now.

Russ has just left.

Sigh.

I have been up since 10am (after going to bed at about 6am), so I'm probably going to do some serious napping here in a bit.

It should be a fast trip, at least. He'll be back Monday morning. In the mean time, I do have some work to get done here at the house.

As soon as I wake up enough to do it...

Good writing day, finally. A bit over 3000 words, part of it in the new outline that looks very manageable and comes to a wonderful ending that I didn't quite see until I got there. It lays out 14 sections of 250 words a day (those are rough sections and rough word counts, but gives me something to aim at), and at that count I'll be done on about the 29th.

But knowing me -- and knowing how well this worked with Freedom and Fame -- I'll likely get done sooner. Which is okay. I do have two other stories to work on as well.

I'm relieved though.

And going to bed. Russ leaves in about eight hours.

Okay, so I'm a little slow sometimes...

I wrote 100,000 words in ten days last month. Why? Because I had a very good outline.

Why is Ada Nish Pura not moving along all that well? Because, while I have a short outline of what's going to happen, I can't seem to focus on how to get there.

Duh.

I've started the new outline. It's going pretty well. It's just going to cover the last 1/3rd of the book. This will help.

Duh...

The connection is down again. Argh.

Okay, hours later and not only am I back, but the connection is back as well. Good. Now what do I do?

I woke up today feeling off. I went back to bed. I got up feeling worse. It's been that way all day, but a couple Tums are finally settling my stomach a little. Russ is trying to finish up an article. And then we have to do some running around to prepare for his trip tomorrow. I rather hope I don't feel like falling over dead before then.

I did get the guys fed.

Ack.

So, am I the only one who ends up doing self-analysis in the bathtub? There's nothing like a long, warm bath on a cold winter night to let you think through decisions. And I think I've finally come to realize the problems I'm having with this yes/no holiday season.

The first part is my usual 'I don't want to change' attitude, which equates, in many ways, to 'I don't want to grow up.' The second part is the very startling realization that I'm going to be 49 in about ten weeks.

So here I am, a few days before Christmas. The 'but I like pretty lights and cookies' is warring with the 'Oh grow up!' side of me. And I'm not saying that adults can't enjoy pretty lights and cookies, but that at some point even I have to look at things responsibly and make the right choice rather than the 'me' one.

That's not to say Russ dislikes the holidays, but he's just not into the 'trappings' stuff. He doesn't enjoy putting up decorations and helping to bake and frost the cookies is right out. (Although he's quite good at baking cookies at other times -- grin). We have put the tree up in my office the last few years, partly to keep an eye on it, and also because I'm the one who enjoys looking at it. That's fine and fun, but is it necessary to spend the money to put a tree in my room? And even I have come to think that it's a lot of work (and often a lot of money at the wrong time) just to put some glittery stuff out for a few days.

I have to buy my mother a present this year, and that's about it. I got a wonderful set of tapes already that I never expected to see and I'm totally addicted to -- I've watched at least one show a day since I got them, and often quite a few more. I have the new Cherryh book, which I might just hold till Christmas and read it that day... that might be a lot of fun! I might even set a few little Christmas-y things out this weekend, since the stuff is still sitting right there in the library. But that depends on if I get the house cleaned up.

But you know, it might be time to find a new way to celebrate the holidays. Something that doesn't include wandering around the mall, (which I really don't like to do -- a sure sign that I'm getting older) looking for things to buy. I always end up finding more things that I'd like to buy for decorations and such rather than presents, which his annoying as well. I have avoided all Christmas displays since last October, just to keep from getting into the 'oh that's a cute little bit of expensive fluff that I'd like to sit out for a couple days each year.' I think I've done rather well. I did buy a cat decoration very early, though. But hey... I like to buy cat stuff anyway.

Russ has always tried to pay off all the bills he can at the end of the year, and I think that bit of money I have might help there as well. We don't have a lot of outstanding bills, so it's not that big of a deal, but this might well be the year to contribute rather than making it worse.

You know, I feel a lot better now.

Kincaid is looking better today. I'm relieved. He ate a good amount of food this afternoon and has not yet gotten sick. We got his medication into him again (no easy task) and all looks good. He looked awful yesterday at this time, so I'm really glad to see him pick up. He's lost a lot of weight -- which isn't all bad.

With that worry out of the way, I think I would like to have a nice, fun Christmas, but I get the feeling that this isn't the year to push my luck and do anything. It hasn't been a bad year, mind you. I've had a lot of fun and done a lot of good writing. I had a great time on our anniversary, and got an entire new novel out of it. (grin) But it has been a frustrating year in respect to the things I had planned. From my birthday through the conventions (including one I had planned to attend for YEARS), very little has worked out. None of it was all that tragic, just frustrating. I wanted to see the ocean again, but I'm sure a convention will turn back up on the West Coast again, after all. I really wanted to see my friends, but most of them will be at other conventions. I want to go to the mountains again, but then that's a pretty standard one for me. I could go this weekend, and I'd say I want to go to the mountains two days after I'm back. (grin) Of course I'm the same way about deserts and oceans, it's just that they're farther away.

There are years when things just don't work out for that kind of stuff, and there's nothing that can be done about it. I've made a lot of the problem myself by not having a real job, so I can't complain. But it leaves me here, right before Christmas, thinking I ought to just enjoy things the way they are -- I'm having a great time watching the shows! -- and call it good. I did write a teddy bear poem, but I didn't print it out for mailing -- just finally wrote it a couple days ago. I have not put out any decorations. I'd have to clean first, and my back has been so miserable, that even standing and doing the dishes hurts. I had to go back to bed this afternoon after I changed the kitty litter because it hurt so bad. But I do have to clean sometime anyway. (grin)

But here is the problem. I love Christmas trees -- just the scent of them alone makes me happy. But... well, funds have been tight this year, and every time I think about the tree, I think that it would be a waste of money. Russ's checks haven't come in yet, but I did get one recently and have been holding on to it. I said for Christmas, but now... Maybe a little one. Really, a nice little one a couple feet high that wouldn't be a pain to deal with, and shouldn't cost a lot. I wonder if I could find one tomorrow. Probably not, and it's not a big deal. I've been going back and forth on this since the first, and if I can't make up my mind yet, then it's obviously not that important.

Russ leaves for New York on Thursday. He should be back on Sunday. It's a quick trip this time, at least (they usually run from a week to ten days) and it comes at a good time because his other regular work won't pick up again until after Christmas. I have no set plans for the time he's gone, except to get more writing done, but nothing surprising there. Maybe I'll even do a little of that cleaning stuff.

They're saying we might get a little snow later today. That wouldn't be bad. It's kind of dull brown around here right now, and I think a nice snow would make things a bit prettier. Not that I'd notice a lot since I rarely leave my office, but still...

Okay, enough rambling. Time to go take a bath and think out a scene to one of the stories.

Gack.

Not exactly my best set of days. Kincaid has been in and out of the kitty hospital, and he's just not looking good. I'm hoping the new medication helps, but he wouldn't eat at all tonight. This, of course, has affected just about everything I do. I get up and check on him every few minutes, which means writing anything more than a paragraph or so at a run is just not going to happen. But the stories are inching along. I'm just not having much fun with them. They're not bad, they're just not flying -- although the new Sangre story has had some fun lines, at least. And my MC made an important discovery in Ada Nish Pura. Too bad the giant sea creature grabbed him a moment later and is pulling him down into the ocean.

Russ will be leaving for New York on Thursday morning, but if all goes well he'll be back home on Sunday night. I rather expect a massive snow storm to trap him for a day or two, just to make me more miserable, but I'll survive it.

I have done nothing for the holidays and I don't think I will this year. No decorations, no tree, no Bear Story -- though that's not entirely true. I wrote a poem a couple days ago, finally, but I didn't do anything with it. I used to love the holiday season, and couldn't wait to get decorations up and make cookies. And I think I would still enjoy it, but I just got tired this year, I guess. It seems like an awful lot of effort just to entertain myself. And far too much money. I finally got a check, but Russ hasn't gotten any of his, so we'll be using mine to cover everything that needs taken care of before he leaves. You know -- food, cat food, more cat food, dog food, a couple bills. Oh and cat food.

I do have the new C.J. Cherryh book on my shelf. Yay! I'm looking forward to reading it, and I'll probably do that this weekend while Russ is gone.

Well, no. It's not like I've been really busy. That can't be the reason I haven't been here. I'm not even doing holiday stuff this year, so I don't have that excuse. I did get one of the unfinished pieces cleared out of the queue, but it was really the relatively easy one to do, so that's good. But... well, I'm just not really here, I guess. I don't know where the days are going.

Dacey's Dream is done. I'll have another read through before it goes out, and no doubt a bit more editing, but that's going to wait until next year. I'm working through the other three pieces at about 500 words a day. I'd like to be doing more, but they're just not coming.

And yes, you've read that kind of stuff a few dozen times during the last year. I hit periods like this, usually after a long, good writing stretch. It's not a surprise. It is an annoyance this close to the end of the year, but I'll get everything done. I have Ada Nish Pura plotted out, and I'm just going from scene to scene with Turkey Shoot, but that's part of the fun of that story. It's silly, and it's meant to be, so there's no telling what might pop up next in it. The bit of fanfic is going all right too. I just need to get my people moving there.

Anything else? No. Well, my cat is sick. Russ is going to New York next week. I've given up on the idea of holidays. I should be writing.

Ack.

I've gone crazy. I've gone stark raving mad. But I'm sure that doesn't surprise anyone here.

For the last few days I have been eeking out 1000 words a day, bouncing from one story to another with a mere 200 or so words on each one, and hoping one of them would take off so I could finish it and clear it out. I'm running out of days, after all. And I really don't have that much to get done. The run final through Dacey's Dream is going the best of all of them, and I have faith I can get this draft done quickly. I'll get it finished without a problem. Ada Nish Pura is a little more difficult, but I finally have the last half of the novel worked out plot wise and if I could get fall into it, I would get done in no time. The Sangre story is fun so far, and will likely not go more than 10,000 to 12,000 words. None of this should be a problem.

But I can't get into the stories. I'm not sure why.

No, that's a lie. I know exactly why. It's because a totally useless bit of TV fanfic is caught in my brain and has refused to let go. In fact two of them, based in the same series. Do you have to guess which series? I just watched 26 episodes in four days. Of course that's the only thing left in my brain right now.

I finally gave in a few minutes ago. After toying with the other stories for most of the day, and getting only 300 words written, I started a Garrison's Gorilla's story. I've already written, in the last ten minutes, more than I wrote on the other stuff in four hours. I don't know why I bothered to wait this long. I knew it would happen.

Well, fanfic has always been my 'vacation' writing, and I suspect this is my brain telling me that after 180,000 words in November it would like a little fluff and fun. I can live with that for a week or so.

Of course, there is also Vision to get done. So I had better start setting out everything for that as well if I want to be on time as well. Time for a nice little daily list, I suppose.

But at least I'm still having fun!

I'm not doing all that well today. Not bad, but I'm feeling a little ill, and I think I'm going to go rest in a tub of water for an hour or so and see if I can get past this part. I am making progress on several fronts -- things for Vision, ending for Ada Nish Pura, some thoughts on other material. I still have two Garrison's Gorillas left to watch, but they're held out as a carrot for getting other material done.

I did get my office cleaned up-- but only because my computer had a problem and I had to wait for Russ to get home before I dared restart it again.

A nice bath will help. I'm feeling just a bit off tonight, and I want to sit back and enjoy the night if I can. I have a piece for Vision that I MUST get done tonight and off to the proper people, and all is going better with that, finally, as well. But a little relaxation would not hurt right now.

Bath. Yes.

So, I got up with the intention of doing all the work I needed to do, then getting back to the shows. Seemed like a nice, simple ploy. I did have that agenda to do, of course. And updates at various other sites, and...

Well, I got sidetracked by something else very early on, only now finished the agenda, still haven't done the other sites, and haven't done a bit of writing -- which is actually the most annoying part of it. I've not been doing a lot of writing the last week. (Oh, pod person again.) Last night (well actually about 7am) when I went to bed I had some very good ideas for what I wanted to do with Ada Nish Pura. Exciting stuff. I hope to get to it yet tonight, but I still have other work to get done first.

I can't believe how much I'm enjoying watching these shows. I end up watching three or four of them a night. It's cut way into my writing time... but at the same time, it's sparked some very odd ideas.

But I am falling behind on other things. I can't believe that it's already Saturday morning. Gack! I have agendas to get done. One is uploading now, but it's the easy county one. I did do part of the work for the big city one earlier this week.

All I really want to do is go back and watch more of the show. That has really been fun. But right now I'm working on Agendas, the new Sangre Story, and letting a story idea simmer in the back of my brain. It's growing quite nicely, in fact. I hope it continues to -- although I would like to handle all of the unfinished ones as well. At least get one of the silly things done and out of the way! I am running out of time...

But there are about eight more of the show to go through...

Trying to get work done today. Ha. Not likely. Though I did write a fun scene for the Sangre story:

If Baby had had a knife on her right at that moment, there was no telling what might have happened. Apache caught hold of her arm when she started to move, and Kim looked at her, an eyebrow raised.

"Let's change places, Baby," Apache said.

"What? Afraid I'll kill your friend here before your first date is over?"

"Well, it wouldn't be the first time, would it?" Apache said.

"Ah. Good point."

****
At any rate, it's just silly stuff. Sometimes that's the best to write, especially on days with crashing computers making odd noises. (Fan, I suspect. We'll have it handled soon.)

What an odd, rather strange day.

We received a box full of video tapes today -- an early Christmas present. In the box was a complete set of a 35 year old series we never expected to see -- Garrison's Gorillas. Beautiful off air copies. Also in the box was all but two or three episodes of a series called T.H.E. Cat -- but in very bad condition. We 'watched' the first show. You could almost make out what was going on most of the time -- but you know, this is another 30+ year old series, and the first time I watched it was on a little black and white with a built in antenna that I had to move around and hold on to to see a picture.

At any rate, I had a 'revert to childhood' day. I watched the first six episodes of GG, 1 episode of Cat, and one episode of Most Deadly Game (4 episodes of that in the box as well).

That's more television watching than I did in all of October and November combined. I only watched 9 hours in September, so the 7.5 is coming very close to that already. And it's going to keep going, of course. Another 20 episodes of GG to go through, 21 of Cat, and 3 Most Deadly Games. And then maybe I delve back into my own collection. Hmmm.... All of Route 66 -- I've never seen them all, actually. Complete set of the Fugitive. All the Man from UNCLE episodes, most of the Girl from UNCLE's as well. All the I SPY, many on DVD and beautiful... Or maybe I'll go for a western binge. High Chaparral? Lancer? Quest? Or move out of the 60's and 70's into something closer... ah, there are so many wonderful possibilites for mindless, fun entertainment. Sometimes that doesn't really hurt. I should probably do it more often, in fact. Turn my brain off from writing and give it something else. Even reading is about writing for me, since everything I read ends up with little brain notes tucked away on content, style -- or, if it's nonfiction, which I read more often then fiction, I end up with real notes everywhere.

I'm talking myself into a real watching marathon here. Which would be nice, really.

It's not like I need to write a whole lot, after all. (grin)

And yes, I did get some writing done. Edited some of Dacey, too. And started to lose most of my headache that has been lingering for days.

All in all, it's not so bad to retreat to childhood, I guess. (grin)

Ah, nice calm quiet day. Got things done around the house. Waiting for Russ to get home from a meeting. Not doing a lot of writing, and rather enjoying it. So far things look good. I'm going to continue to relax, and think about what I need to get done. I've started working on putting together somethings for Vision, and those are going very well, too. I think it's going to be a good last month to the year.

Sure wish I had something interesting to say, though. (grin)

Change that. Not adding enough to Dacey's Dream to make it worth listing for word count. It'll just go by number of pages edited. Hmmm....

If I edit 15 pages a day, I'll have it done in plenty of time. I can do that. Good.

I had thought there was an entire important section to write yet, but I'd already done it. Once I read it, I remembered it, but with so much else, it had kind of slipped out of my notice. Okay. So two things to finish, one to just edit, and one of the massive outlines like I did for Freedom and Fame.

Okay.

I am trying to get back into the idea of normal. Well, normal for me. We've already discussed that I don't have a life, so I can't exactly have a normal life, can I?

At any rate...

I have three unfinished projects this year. None of them are drastic, and I might actually run out of material before the end of the month. I could fill in with short stories after that if I do. Oh, and I should do really good outlines for one or two of the early 2003 projects, just like the one I did for the first NaNo novel. Yeah. There, that's better. I now have more than I can reasonably get done in December. Sounds about right to me...

I suppose I ought to go get organized or something now, right?

So, the unfinished pieces are:

Ada Nish Pura (SF) -- 47,993 (Looking for another 20,000 at least in the first draft. Maybe more.)

Dacey's Dream (Series book # 4) -- 74,669 (This one is actually in the rewrite/edit phase with some extensive additions. I just need to get back to it.)

Sangre -- Turkey Shoot (Contemporary SF) -- 4438 (This one will be a novella or maybe just a novelette. At any rate, it shouldn't take long to finish.) (Probably just cursed myself with that line.)

I should do outlines for Series book # 7, and maybe even for the last one, # 8. But I also have a brand new fantasy novel I'd like to start on 1/1/03 that I need to do some outline and research for before I can seriously consider it. But since I always begin something brand new on the first day of the year... yeah, I'll likely do the outline for it, too.

Hmmm...

I think I'll go watch TV for a while.

Hello. Welcome back to life, Zette.

Well, that would be if you really had a life, of course.

NaNo is past. I got some much needed work done in the last 24 hours. I am preparing to attack my three unfinished projects for this year, and trying to get my mind around the concept that I'm running out of time. It's not working. I can't quite grasp the fact that there are only 30 days left in the year. I'm not certain where my mind thinks we are, but I keep getting the feeling that it should maybe be September or something.

Okay, writing shouldn't be so hard, right? It's not like it's something I've never done before....

Back to work!

Well, we are officially into the last day of the Dare and the lst day of NaNoWriMo. It's been an interesting month!

It is also Kitten Kid's 13th birthday (home day, actually). And we might be out of town this afternoon.

Just thought I'd drop all that in here in case I don't get back to it soon.

I've got a cold.

Ack. Sneeze. Sniff.

Well, better today than yesterday.

Kind of explains my feeling so up and down though!

(Off to curl up in a nice, warm bath for a while...)

Yes, I did it...

So, I got a couple hundred more words.

And then I realized something. I want to be working on something fun when I hit 1,000,000 -- not just dragging out the poor second NaNo story.

Russ suggested something, and I think I'm going with it.

It's one of my 'Sangre' stories -- the two sister spies who thought they were working for the U.N., but found out they actually worked for an alien group instead. As it happens, the next story up in the set (written in my twenties), is Turkey Shoot, the Thanksgiving story. These are all holiday themed stories. The first book is Double Time for Holidays and has four stories: And aPartridge in a Pear Tree, Auld Lang Syne, St. Valentine's Day Masarcre Revisited, and Luck of the Irish. The second set (Which I haven't made into a unified book yet, unlike the complete reworking fo the first stories) has May Day, When Do the Firworks Start, Not a Ghost of a Chance... and Turkey Shoot. Possibly Home for the Holidays, if I feel up to it.

Turkey Shoot is not going to be a case of copying the story from an old version. The older version was written when the Berlin Wall still stood, and the Soviet Union held power. I'll have to rework everything, including the location and reasoning behind the assignment. But...

Yeah. Can you tell I'm having fun with this already?

Time to go to work on it.

Okay, I actually had to make up a list of things to do today. I've gotten one important one done and deleted off it. I've started looking at the rest of the list and wondering if I really, really care...

Yes, it's headache time again. Might be weather change. Might just be annoyance with everything in general. No reason for it -- things are not going badly, really. Maybe writing almost 170,000 words this month has something to do with it. My brain is rebelling.

I have, by the way, 3425 words to go to 1,000,000. And right now even that looks like... so?

I think I might need a little break here.

But I probably won't take it.

We have canceled our trip for tomorrow. We might go this weekend, or we may end up not going until next week some time. It's hard to say right now. It takes some of the pressure off what we're doing, even if I was looking forward to it.

Only a few more days of NaNo left. It's going to be odd not having it sitting there each day... But then, my life is odd anyway, isn't it?

I think I'll start my annual Christmas show watching early this year with Lethal Weapon...

Closing in on 65,000 and the story inching closer to done. Yes, I could put The End on it right now and put it aside, but I keep thinking of things I want added in, and since it continues to grow, I'm going to let it. This is slower now, but still doing well enough for the rest of this month. In fact, it's kind of nice to wind down like this and prepare for a somewhat calmer December.

Tomorrow we will be out of town and I'll be doing my writing on the Visor. I think I'm going to try for a new short story -- just something short and quick that I can write in a couple days. I've got a busy three days coming up ahead of me, so no matter what, I'll be getting Whispers of Winterwood done soon.

Other than that... not really a lot to say. I'm working out some other problems right now -- no writing stuff -- so it's kind of taken a little of my attention. But I'm having a good time with NaNoWriMo, and I'm going to be sorry to see it go away.

It's snowing. Very pretty tonight.

I'm over 63,000 and doing well, though I think I'll take a break and go have a nice warm long bath now. It's been a good night!

And less than 8,000 words to go to 1,000,000.

I've nearly reached 60,000 words on the novel, and it is sort of drifting toward an end. I just realized that I hadn't finished off one thread, and I'm doing that now. I'm so looking forward to having it done! Two novels -- over 160,000 words total -- this month. This is the most I've ever written in a month (duh), but the amazing thing is that I'm still as eager and ready to write as I was at the first of the month. Hell, if it was the 20th, rather than the 25th, I'd go for a third novel. Lucky for me time has intervened where sanity fails.

Slow going today. I'm at a little over 52,000 though, so I'm fine. Just need ot get my brain around this current set of scenes, and then move on to the ending. Nothing too hard.

I need this done by Tuesday, though. Wednesday we may leave town, Thrusday we have Thanksgiving at my parents, and Friday is my parents 50th anniversary... which only leaves Saturday after that.

If I pushed, I could probably have this done by tonight. There really isn't that much left to go. We'll see...

Still having trouble with our modem connection. Another phone call and email exchange. It's getting odd.

Oh. Yeah. Post.

Well, to be honest, I've been kind of busy. Not just writing. I had an agenda with a whole new problem today. Amazing how after years of doing this, they can still find new ways to screw it up and make it more work for me. It idd not put me in a good mood. And I do have other things to do sometimes, you know. Like... like... I swept up today. I changed cat litter. I fed the guys.

And I wrote.

Whispers of Winterwood is now a bit over 51,000 words. So I've made the second novel count. I'm in a good mood. And the novel is still going, too. I think it might make 60,000 before I'm done.

Happy zette, off to bed now before the modem crashes yet again...

The new thought on the novel turned out to be so twisty and devious that it took me hours to figure out how to properly work it in. I finally came up with the answer, I'm happy to say. But it's 3am, and I'm not going to get it all worked out tonight. Still, it's been interesting working this bit up.

I'm tired tonight, though. I think I'm going to call it an early night (for me at least) and think through the scenes to come. Take my Visor to bed and write a few notes, if any come to me.

Yes, sleep sounds like a really good idea...

Still having modem problems. A person could get really tired of this, esepcially when the problems came in the midst of trying to do some agenda work.

But in the midst of a lot of annoying little things, I had a new thought on my novel. Something twisty and interesting, and I'm going back in and writing a couple little hints and then I'll run with it in as soon as I get all the rest of my work done. This one came out of nowhere, but it fits the story. (grin)

And I have a new book out!



The info is here

I have a new modem. It does not seem to be working any better, but we'll see. And not only that, but they upped the cost of it without sending out notices... hmmmm, does the word illegal mean anything? We'll see how it goes, but I'm about to drop the cable modem entirely. When it works, it's great. When it doesn't -- and when they start screwing around with us like this -- it's not good.

You see, Russ worked for this company -- Marketing manager, in fact, before he left. He worked for the company over here before this one bought them out -- General Manager here. He knows the law and he knows when they're screwing around with things that they shouldn't be doing. He's also a former city council member. They really shouldn't treat him like he doesn't know what's going on.

Okay, back to the story and novel....

I went to the zoo yesterday. Great day, lots of fun -- hope for some good pictures, but I'm not had much of a chance to look yet. I've got a couple bits of writing I absolutely have to get done, so I'm off to work on that and see if I can't get the story to fall together. I know what I want. Maybe I need to just write the bits I know, and then see how I can fit them together in the end. Yeah. That might work in this case.

Okay. That helps. It's a short story, and that's part of the problem, I think. I keep trying to add in too much. Too many novels lately. (grin)

Hello. A bit over 26,000 words today. Headache, though, and modem crashing every few minutes. That doesn't hurt with the writing, of course, but it is an annoyance over all.

I like this story. I realize that I've rushed through some parts of it that I can expand (good thing since the plot line appears to be a little light for what I need), but over all it's moved very well. I'm having a good time, when I can concentrate on it. Toinght is a problem because of the way I feel, but I think once I lock myself into the work, I should be fine. That's how it usually works for me.

My eyes are starting to give me some serious focus problems again. I hate that. I keep readjusting the position of my glasses, which does not help, and only contributes to the headache in new ways. So reading stuff is out. Writing stuff is in. Time to get to work.

I'm almost up to 25,000 words on Whispers of Winter. Still moving along, in an odd, little steps fashion. But moving and I like the story.

We went out for food tonight. It was the first time in quite a while. I ate too much, felt stuffed, and came back home and napped. I hadn't intended to, but I was falling asleep at the computer. I don't do that very often. I headed for the bedroom and laid down -- and went so instantly to sleep that Russ said he didn't have time to hang up the phone and come in and ask me if I was all right. Just, gone. And I slept for hours.

So now it's 4am and I'm wide awake. Okay, fine. I can do some writing then, can't I?

I've come to realize that during the work on Freedom and Fame, and now Whispers of Winter, I have taken a serious break from reality. It's been a needed break, to be honest. Things have been a little bit troublesome in real life, but nothing so earth-shattering that I couldn't escape for a while into a novel or two. That's good. Just the kind of break that I needed. I'm still at less than 20,000 on Whispers and starting to worry that the outline is not going to carry it all the way to 50,000. Argh. But I am still working on it. It's going very well as a story, just not the word count that I would like.

So yes, I'm a bit distracted still. I probably will be for a while longer. I need the break for a couple reasons, including my own bad temper at the attitudes of others here and there on the web. But once I'm working on a story that is going well... well, it doesn't really matter much. I'm in my place. I'm doing what I do best (whether I do it well is another question).

Off to do more writing.

Thought I'd post again before this got away from me once more.

I am working on Whispers of Winter. I'm about 17,400 words on it tonight, and I like the feel. If it keeps going the way it is, it should come in right about at 50,000 words. That's good enough for me this month. (grin)

I've been going back and changing things in this one as I go along. Adding a bit here and there, reworking the storyline a bit to cover new ideas. I think it works. I need to bring in more of the secondary trouble, but over all... not bad.

And now -- off to bed!

I had no idea it had been this many days since I last posted. I think I rested a little too much after the 10,000 words a day, 10 days in a row. Not that I stopped writing, but my total output for the last 4 days has only been about 12,000 words. Good words, though. I wrote up a short outline for the new novel and it's helped a lot. Yeah, I've sort of been won over to outlines. Sad, isn't it? Another 'free spirit' writer gone to the dark side.

LOL.

Really, the reason I haven't been here has had more to do with not getting work done during the first ten days of the month than anything else. Quite a bit to get caught up on there.

Hell. I think my modem connection just went down again. Yup, it's down. Well, this will just have to sit here for a few minutes, then, while I wait for it to come back. Goofy damned provider. I'm starting to think wireless feed, even if it isn't great in bad weather, might be the way to go. At least then you'd know why it wasn't working.

Tonight I have an agenda to put together, but it looks like a short one. It's just coming up on 6pm here, so I don't think I'm going to get any additions or changes after this. I'll give it another half an hour, though, before I start work. One of the most annoying things in the world is to get to work on the agenda and then have them send me a new, updated version.

I think we're back up, about half an hour later. Going to try to post. Copy first, though...

And now...

I feel like I've just come back from a long vacation somewhere. I've never written anything so intently before. I have the plans to start a second novel today, mostly because I feel like I'm just kind of twitchy now without one. Too sudden of a drop. I need to ease off the writing drug a bit more slowly. LOL. Like I'd stop altogether.

Okay. Just thought I'd drop in here for a moment. I've been wandering around boards, trying to get my mind engaged again. But the cats are circling my ankles, so I better get moving and feed them, and then maybe do a little other work around the place.

And then... the new novel. I have it in my head. Time to get it out.

I did it! I Did It! I DID IT!

101,654 words in ten days. Done just before 11:30pm.

Unfortunately, NaNo appears to be down right now. I'm hoping it comes back soon.

In the mean time, I get to do happy dances and scare the cats. Lucky Russ has gone to bed. (Actually, he stayed up to be with mewhen I finished, and even made cookies to celebrate! -- but I did hold off on the happy dancing part so I didn't scare him, too!)

My computer connection has been down all day. I was really annoyed, but I think it may have had something to do with the rather serious wind storm we had here.

I am within a few hundred words of being done with the novel. It's going to hit 100,000 words, but not much more than that.

I'm pleased!

A NaNoWriMo Post

Okay, I've got to get this out of my system.

Some people either:

a) Take writing way too seriously
b) Have no sense of humor
c) All of the above

The following is the post I made at NaNoWriMo after reading the article I've linked above.

I've met Alma's kind many times. She's a member of the 'I've suffered for my art, and now it's your turn' group. They're the people who think that if you're having fun, it can't possibly be work, and if it's not work, it can't possibly be good.

A person who has fun at NaNo can't possibly ever be a real writer. And my, if we're laughing and having fun, we're obviously laughing at her! We're making fun of real writers!

Well...

The novel I am so very close to finishing for NaNoWriMo is already sold. It's part of a larger fantasy series that will be in ebook first, and (if all continues to go right) print next year. It joins a number of other books I've already sold, along with several short stories. In fact, my total sales of novels and short stories since July, 1999 (my first sale) has just topped 50.

I'm not published by a 'real' print publisher out of New York (small press for the print editions coming out), so that probably disqualifies me in her eyes as well. However, since one of my books is by an epublisher who previously only took books by known authors, I'll stand by my right to be listed as an author, too. The rest of the people I'm published with have names like Sharon Lee and Steve Miller, Christie Golden, Josepha Sherman, Jack C. Chalker, Jack Williamson... (SF and fantasy people might recognize some of those names. The rest of you don't need to worry about it -- grin.)

I did write a novel during NaNo last year -- I need to edit it still, but with nine books under contract since then, I kind of ran out of time. I think I'm going to do two novels this year for NaNo -- the one I'm just finishing for publication, and one that's just for me. I do it because it is fun.

Yes, I could have written Freedom and Fame without NaNoWriMo. In fact, since I have a signed contract for it, it's pretty much guaranteed I would have written it. But I held off starting it until November 1 so that I could throw myself into NaNo and do something silly -- work along with 10,000+ other writers, many of whom are also having fun.

There's another important part of all this that the woman obviously refuses to see. Everyone who becomes a novelist has to write a first book. For good or bad, the person has to sit down and learn the mechanics of turning out the words, sentences, paragraphs and pages that eventually become a novel. For many people, it takes far more than one attempt before they actually find their voice and true style. Some people look at the work involved and give up without some kind of goal and push. The idea of publication works as a catalyst for a few, but for many others it looks like such an impossibility that they never get through their first draft, let alone go on to editing, synopsis and query letters, and submissions.

But here a first time novelist (or anyone that has trouble getting a good run on a manuscript) can leap in and do the work because there is a silly, fun goal. Reach 50,000 words in one month. Don't worry if it's not perfect. Learning to edit comes after you learn to just write the material. The best editing in the world won't sell a novel that is never completed.

So, Alma misses the boat for the fun cruise while the rest of us party, and she's going to think we're making fun of her craft every time we laugh. She's going to continue to hold to her angst-filled attitude of 'you can't be a real writer if you do something this silly.' And the rest of us will continue to write. Some will be published. Some will not. But you know... I have heard Chris Baty's name mentioned by aspiring writers as someone who started something that gave them a reason to be a little daring -- and give novel writing a try. When I hear the same about Alma Hromic I'll maybe take her more seriously.

I love writing. I also work very hard at it, and I write every single day. I'm far from a perfect novelist, and for all I know, she writes far better prose than I ever will and is far more popular than I will ever be. But you know what? I wouldn't care if she made the Times Bestseller list and outsold Stephen King -- I'd still rather have fun writing, including doing something silly like NaNoWriMo, then be like her and bitch about other people having fun and doing something that will absolutely have no affect on her life whatsoever.

So, go have fun. Even if you don't make the 50,000 word goal, enjoy yourself while you're here through November. The party boat only sails once a year, and it's one of the few times and places where you can talk all you want about writing with people who not only understand what you're saying, but also aren't going to look down their noses at you and say 'You can't be a real writer because I haven't given you permission to be one.'

Have fun!

Okay, back.

I got my 10,000 words written (which was actually 81,000 something). And now I am doing the agenda that came in this afternoon. I am doing it now because otherwise I will just not get it done in a good time frame for it to be of use. Not a good plan.

And, well, it's kind of a nice break from the novel.

That's it. I'm crazy. I knew it was going to happen if I kept up like this...

Hello, yes, I'm still alive. (Notice the same sort of line in my last post!)

I'm up to 80,100 words right now. I might stop for the night. I've been feeling ill all day, and writing has not been a lot of fun... but then I could have just been sitting around miserable and not writing instead. Last I looked I was in the #3 spot on the NaNo chart. Amazing.

Ack. I thought I was done for the day. A bit of a scene just came to me. All right. Back to writing about 1000 more before midnight. Ought to be interesting, I think.

At the most, I have two more days of work on this thing. And then I'm off to something else.

Oh, and a rant or two when I'm done. I do have some things to day about attitudes. (grin)

Yes. Hello. I'm still here.

Wow is this story going well. I've never had such luck with writing. I've gone over the half way point in the outline and over 60,000 words total... which, apparently, puts me in second place at NaNo. Actually, from what I can see, I'm technically in first place. The person who posted a 100,000+ story the first day wrote one paragraph and then copy pasted 'hello there' until they hit 100,000 words. (You can see it when you click on his name.)

I'm amazed. And I'm having fun.

And, nevertheless, I want this novel done.

So, back to do a few more 'phases' before I go to bed. I'm up to 192 out of 330. I kept thinking there were only 310... ah well. What's another twenty by that point?

Except for the problem with the modem, all is going pretty well. The writing is great. I'm having a wonderful time -- over 50,000 words total on the novel as of today. That's a good showing for Nano, though several people are doing far better. I'm not quite half way through my outline yet, though, which kind of worries me, still.

Russ has been wonderful during this madness. He thinks it's great. I think it's madness.

But it is fun.

Quick entry, while the connection is up.

I'm up to 46,000 words. A slow run toward 50,000. I hope to make that tonight. I think I' might also make it to about half way point in the novel. Maybe not that until tomorrow.

It's been interesting still. I wish I could write even faster, but this has been fun!

I put the dog out.

The ground is white. Huh. Snow.

Maybe I'm a little too much into this novel stuff? Ya think?

I'm having a great time, except for the modem giving me problems. Did a couple thousand more words after midnight. And now, off to bed. I have to do things around the house tomorrow. Really. Maybe.

At midnight of day 4, I had 40,236 words for the NaNo novel.

I haven't enjoyed writing like this in a long time. My arms and shoulders aren't so certain it's been such fun... but my mind sure does.

It's amazing, sometimes, how often people take exception to someone having fun doing something they aren't having fun with. I'm serious. You would think that half the people who signed up for NaNoWriMo had been forced into it with guns to their heads, and that each word is extracted with a blunt needle. They're going to suffer through this and a good many of them want to make sure not only does everyone else know it... but that those of us enjoying ourselves realize that we're cruel and evil for doing so. LOL.

Look people, if you don't like it, don't do it. Simple answer. There's no competition here, except with yourself. It's a silly little thing to do, and there's no problem with deciding it isn't the way you want to spend the month.

And, well, I'm not going to feel sorry for doing well at something I enjoy. You might take a clue from my attitude, if you really want to do better at this. Stop approaching writing like it's something to be dreaded and hated. Have fun. Not only will it be a lot easier on you (and the people you live with) but it will show in your work as well. Even if you are writing the darkest, bottom of the pits story, you need to be able to enjoy the act of making those words right. Not enjoy what you have created in a sense that you think it's all fun and light, but have a sense of joy in knowing that what you wrote is the best you can create.

I still have far too much to learn about writing. I fail at a lot of key spots. But I still write with the intention of writing well, and enjoying the act itself. And I will keep doing so.

You know, it's nice to know that somethings just stay with you...

I was taking a bath this afteroon. At about 2:45 I felt what I swore was an earthquake. Having grown up in LA, I knew these kinds of things.

Didn't see anything on it. Forgot about it -- except to mention it to Russ later. But a note on sff.net from Justin asked if I'd felt the Earthquake this afternoon. Well. Checked it out, and sure enough. 4.3 with the eppicenter north of us.

I still have the feel. I'm relieved. I'm also rather relieved to know I'm not crazy, because I couldn't figure out what the hell it had been if it wasn't a quake...

28,109

Hard to keep this pace up for this long. But... less than 2000 to go and I can have the 30,000 I wanted!

27,115

I have been writing like hell for the last hour and a half. Almost 3,000 words there. If I can do another 3,000 before midnight, I'll be happy. I don't know if I can. I'm taking a little break here just to let it gather a few more sentences before I go into this new section. A difficult section, of course. Damn. I would have liked something easy right now.

Ah well. Back to work.

For various reasons, I'm only now getting started on the novel. I'm going to try to make it to 30,000 -- that would be a respectable three day total, though not nearly as good as some of the NaNo people are doing. It's going well right now, so I hope that I can keep it up for the next couple hours. Just wanted to post here before I forgot.

24,303

I ended day two with 22,987 -- and so dead tired that I just crawled off to bed without posting here. But it went well enough. I hope for another good day, though I'm not sure that I'll make it this time. I'm wearing down.

I'm having fun, though. That counts.

14,037 so far total (11,490 yesterday). I'm doing all right. Better than I had hoped, in fact.

I had to go out with Russ for a little while. But I'm back now. Can't see that I'll make 10,000 today, but I hope to at least get moving...

Russ is off to work until around Midnight, too. Except for the kitties, I don't think there's going to be anything to distract me.

Time to work!

I got up at noon. Russ gave me medications and said go back to bed. I felt/looked horrid. I'm up again. I can't say I feel any better, but I'm off to work...

Won't be as good a day as yesterday, but I'm going to get something done.

After I feed the cats.

Oh my. I slowed way down. It's like my eyes saw MIDNIGHT and my brain turned off. I haven't quite gotten 1000 words yet. I hope to make it to the end of this chapter, but it's looking unlikely right now. Sitting at 12,340.

But I'm happy so far. It's going very well. And by my 'phase' count, I'm over 1/10th of the way through the novel. Excellent. I'd love to be able to keep counts like that up for a few more days... and maybe I will, once I get a little sleep.

Right now, though, I'm going to fight my way to the end of this chapter!

First day count -- 11,490

That was fun once it finally started to move! I've made it through phase 37.

Yes! 10,089 -- and still an hour to go until midnight!

That puts me in a much better mood. The outline is perfect for this kind of work. I'm having fun! I wonder how much I'll get done before I go to bed!

Russ should be home soon, so I probably won't make it much past what I've done so far. After midnight I start the Day 2 count.

8420. It's been interesting working this way. I don't get lost at all, but it is still slower than I expected because sometimes it's harder to pull out the information that I want added. But that just might be me tonight. At any rate, it's just past 9:30. I don't know that I'll make 10,000 the first day, but I've already done pretty well.

Yes, I'm having a pretty good time. Just starting chapter three -- phase 22 -- which means once I get this section done I'll have done two days worth of writing today. Word count is 6966 so far. I'll make a bit more before midnight. It's a good first day, though.

Part of the reason is because of something annoying. My modem keeps dropping out. Russ has tried calling in to the place a few times tonight, but he can't get through. It does mean I've been spending less time on line, though. Even here.

The chapter I'm just starting has some real action in it. I suspect (as often happens with my work) that the rewrite of this will cut a good amount of what I've written -- or at least condense it a bit.

If I get to Phase 31 I'll be 1/10th of the way through the novel. So, off to work!

4269. I'm on 'phase' 13 -- that's two over what I need to finish this on the 30th. It's early, too, of course. I hope to get a few more in tonight.

I need to pick up speed here. I think I shouldn't have too much trouble if I can just focus for more than a few minutes.

Back to work!

And back. I was moving along pretty well, but my parents showed up. Didn't someone tell them this is NaNoWriMo month? What's their upcoming 50th anniversary to that, I ask you...

Anyway, I'm up to 3371 words. Not really omving yet... but we'll see.

Oh, and my modem connection keeps going down. ARGH! I hate that!

2819 for the first part of the first day.

And now... sleep!

1441 so far. Unfortunate that I have a headache tonight and it's VERY cold in here! Ack!

But still... not bad. I still have all day tomorrow, too, of course. Right now I'm making some rice, though. I'll eat a bit while I work and see how much more I can get done. I'm really enjoying this so far.

And yes, I'm off and running.

Starting count (at Midnight my time) 0

Current count (12:17) 341

So, I had finished the outline. Vision is done and up. The agendas are done (except for the html... but that's easy this time). I was feeling pretty good and crawled off for a little relaxation in the bathtub. Good day. Everything done ahead of time...

Well, except for that one thing...

I haven't written anything for today. Everything after midnight goes to November 1 because of NaNoWriMo.

Back out of the tub and to the computer. Back to work. Lucky for me I'm way over what I need for the month, so I'm just going to write about 500 words and call it good. It will mess with my 'Reaching 1,000,000' words per day goal, but I suspect that will change as soon as I get to work on the novel.

HA!
They thought they would get me with the agendas. Two on one day... but it turned out that one I could skip entirely, and the other had very little work. It's done and out. I still have web pages to do, but they'll wait until after I get done with Vision. Which is almsot done, by the way.

Just thought I'd drop that in here since I have to get a few things done still. Off to work!

I have completed the outline.

This is a very rare and strange event. I have a detailed outline, just ready for me to start working. It came in (quite unintentionally) at 330 entries, which makes 11 a day. 250 words per entry will take me well over 82,000 words for the novel. I can do this. I'm anxious to do this. LOL.

This is fun. I like trying new things.

My only problem is... well, I have to write something tomorrow. I have one short story to work on, and one unfinished novel. I can get a few thousand words out of them, I guess. And then I can start on the new novel after midnight. The only things I do not have outlined for it are the Prologue and the Epilogue -- but the first is based entirely on the closing of the previous book, and that isn't in the completed final draft yet. The Epilogue... well, I can put that in, I guess. There. That's added. Still looks good.

I'm going to work a bit on Vision now. I have it nearly done as well. Tomorrow I will have an agenda from the city, but it should be a short one. I'll have another on Friday. I'm doing some work at Forward Motion, and I'm trying to figure out what I'm doing wrong there... very frustrating some times when I know I should be able to figure it out. But I'll get it eventually.

Right now, though.... The outline is done! Yay!

How very odd. I'm down to the last few notes on Freedom and Fame, and I've got only two or three more pages to do for Vision. This would... you know... put me done ahead of the game.

I'm sure that can't be right. I'm one of those people who are perpetually behind. I don't care how much time I spend sitting here doing sites and writing, by the time I get up to go to bed I will be farther behind than when I started. The idea that I might have a little bit of a rest tomorrow before midnight kind of... doesn't feel right. LOL.

I guess that says it all. I seem to work well under pressure, and I probably even create some of it for myself. Hmmm...

Ah well. Back to Vision and the outline. At least I'm having fun!

I went to bed early last night with very little work done. I got hit by the cold again, and it just knocked me out. Today I am back on medications which also knocked me out. You can't win in a situation like this.

NaNoWriMo is having trouble with their host site. I can really feel for the people, since Forward Motion went through the same thing not so long ago. I'm sure they're going nuts.

I'm having a great time preparing for the novel, though. I'm down to the last few notes. I would have had it done last night, but tonight will do.

I am having real problems iwth my connnection, though. Making it very difficult to get any on-line work done. Copying this off to make sure I don't lose it when I post. Not that I'd really be losing much, but...

Well, I've done about everything but write so far today. That's all right. It was a good day so far. I've gotten most of Vision done. I did some posts at NaNoWriMo. I'm gearing up for the fun! Yay!

I do have some work to do at FM tonight, but I'm going to wait until late, when I can mess around with the boards and maybe people won't notice. (LOL)

(Looking at notes I need to work into outline...) Best get back to work. It would be nice to be done with this a day or two early!

And I'm back. Twelve hours later. Pretty funny.

Russ and I went out for a bit. I'm now working on Vision. It's not looking like too bad of a day so far. If I can get a bunch of Vision stuff done quickly, then I can go on to the outline. Yay. I'm almost done with it, by the way. I'll be very happy to get all the way to the end of it and be ready.

Time to get to work...

Okay, a little more. Made 3011 words total for the day. And now. Really. Bed.

300 more words. That's all I need. I can do this... But I'm really tired tonight!

3:48Am... I can do this...

3:51 Am -- 229 more words.

3:52 am -- 151 words. (Yes, I am getting silly...)

3:58 am 83 words to go. Yes, slowed up there. Transition crap. But I'm past it.

4:01 am 2 words to go. LOL.

4:06 am -- 112 words over what I need. Almost tempted to do more, but I think it's time to sleep.

Good stuff, though. Past the part that had stopped me earlier. Heading into the last of the scenes. I bet it's going to run about 300 phases, which would be excellent. 10 phases a day, and about 270 words per phase (to reach 80,000 -- about the average for the previous five books in the set.)

I'm happy. I can do this.

After I sleep...

Yes, the bath helped. A couple nice scenes came out of it. Between them and the article, I've nearly reached 2000 words for the day. That's good. I'm just a bit over 9000 words for the outline, by the way. And I'm still mostly having fun with it, though it's going to be rough to get the last sections done before the first. Getting closer, though!

I have some Forward Motion work to do in the morning, though. Well, afternoon I suppose is the better term. I'm rather hoping it goes quickly.

I'm looking forward to November 1...

Quite a bit done on Vision tonight. Yay! But I have not yet started work on Freedom and Fame outline. I think I'm going to do my 'soak in the tub' trick with my notecards and see if I can come up with some interesting little bits for this entirely new section. That also gets me away from the computer and puts a break point between Vision and my work. Sometimes it's hard to leap from one to the other like that. Especially when I know that I really must have Vision done, but the outline could be unfinished when I start on November 1. I don't want to go that way, though, so I will keep working at this and see if I can get it all finished.

But right now... bath, relax, think my way through a dangerous journey across some mountains.

I have run into a plotting problem with Freedom and Fame. By cutting out so much of the original novel, I have deleted a large section of the conflict. It was stupid conflict, mind you, but still... better than nothing? Maybe not, but it has left me with this gap that I am having trouble filling with anything of interest. It shouldn't be that way, of course. My people are up to their asses in trouble. They have to make a long journey over dangerous terrain that they will only survive because they have a couple powerful mages with them. And they have an enemy dogging their steps... ah, of course. Take away the power of one of those mages, and surviving the journey becomes far less likely. Take Abby and Tristan away from the group, and can they still expect the blessing that follows them and their followers? Okay, I can see a couple spots there that can be expanded. I don't want to dwell too long on the journey part anyway, but because I have stressed the danger in doing what they are doing, I can't just leap over it and say 'and then they walked out of the mountains and reached the city.'

Good. That helps.

I'm working pretty well on Vision, too. Going together nicely. Shouldn't take too much to get it done now, though I still have one missing piece that I need to do. Not too much of a problem.

I am about half way through my word count for the night. Good. I am half tempted to stop and write on the new short story, but I think I'd be wiser to keep going on this one. I've made it through the 16 pages of orginal material, but there were probably seven or eight pages there that I only took a look at and skipped.

I was thinking about getting done, going to bed... and then I remebered that Russ has to get up at about 4:15. He has a deal to be at for the radio station at 6am. If I go to bed before that, I'll just wake him up when he needs the sleep. He has a horrible cold, and feeling really miserable.

But I'm tired tonight. Really beat. I may have to crawl off to bed anyway, as soon as I get my writing done.

Back to the outline. Just thought of an entire new chapter I want to add in. Good.

Sometimes I wonder what makes me tick.

I spent today with my little list of things that I need to get done. Not much of a list, really. Prepare five articles for Vision. (I did eight, I think.) Take notes based on 16 pages of the original manuscript for Freedom and Fame.

Every time I sat down to do that part, I found myself skating off to do something else instead. Nothing important. I finally took the papers and notecards and headed into the tub for a while. Headache, I told myself. A bath will help. I did two and a half notes, and then fell over asleep.

I came back out. I sat down to work, and found myself bouncing around the Internet instead. Huh. Stop that. Called up the outline. Looked at the papers... and started typing. Did about 700 words so far. Still moving well, even if I am here on a short little break. I'm about to cut a huge section of the original, and I need to cover some of the material from it in a new way. But it is going well. I'm on page 110 of the original. There is only 181 pages to it total. I shouldn't have much trouble getting this part done and being ready for November.

I lost my last post. Ah well. I hadn't really said anything important!

I've got something of a schedule worked out to get me through the last few days of the month and have me ready for posting Vision and getting my outline done for NaNoWriMo. I have plenty of time for both, but... well, in case you didn't notice, I'm easily distracted. I have no idea how it got to be the end of the month. It should be the 15th or so, I'm sure. But my computer keeps saying the 27th. I think computers are stealing days away from us.

It has nothing whatsoever to do with the fact that I edited an entire 100,000+ book this month, plus wrote a new 62,000+ novel, and a couple short stories. Those couldn't have taken all those days, right?

I managed to do a lot of work on Vision tonight. I'm quite happy with that. Now it's back to work on the outline, and finish up the agenda stuff for the city -- except that it's still giving me trouble uploading.

Maybe a nice warm, long bath instead...

A few hundred words over. And now... good night! (And in a much better mood than I was a few hours ago.)

Slight break to do a quick check at Forward Motion, post a couple things, answer a private email... and move on. I'm up to 1709 words with just 1078 left. Excellent.

I have also finally settled on how this will work for the NaNoWriMo madness. When I have all of this done, I'll be able to divide up the number of phases by 30 (days in November) and tell just exactly how many of them I have to get through each day. I will then take my outline and put dates in at the appropriate spots. That should keep me easily in line, even if I get busy at some point.

Okay, off to do the last 1000+ words. So far I've had to make a few drastic changes in the plot, but it will still all lead to the same places, and this time by much better paths.

545 words to go. And I'm happy with the way this is working out. I'm up to 124 phases. There are going to be several hundred of them, but I think they'll still work well. I also know I'm about to hit a spot in the story where I am changing a great deal again.

I'm surprised to see that I'm just a little over half way through the original plot. Very good. I'm betting it will actually not go much over 300 phases then, unless I add a great deal in on this last half. I might.

I've never worked quite like this before. It's kind of fun to try something new and different. It actually makes the outline something I'm apt to stick closely to, which in this case will help. If it works out, I'll be doing the last two books in the series this way as well. I hope to have the entire series done by February, which whill make it one year from the time it was bought. I would have liked to have had it done by the end of December, but I'm not going to push that hard. Besides, I want December to be a fun month, not a totally crazed one.

Right. Like they're all not crazed. Oh, and I've written 810,550 words so far this year, not counting today's work. That means less than 100,000 for the last two months. Good so far. I hope to get it down even better, so that I can go into December without total panic.

Okay. Back to writing. Another 545 words. I can do that much...

836 words. And a very nice new little bit that I like very much. Ah, much better mood already.

I also realized I had written 205 words on the new short story right after I got up today and before I fell into the work on the agenda. That helps. I'm now just over 1000 words, with 1745 more to go.

I have given up trying to get the web stuff to work. I'll do it tomorrow. It's too late to keep messing around with this, and it just gives me a worse headache anyway. I'm already getting the little light flashes in my right eye -- prelude to really bad headaches if I don't ease up.

I have barely written 300 words for the day. I am going to go work on the outline for Freedom and Fame. I'm having fun with it. I wasn't certain I would, but the way I'm doing it seems to be working very well for me. I'm outlining in what I call 'phases.' They're not quite pages, and they're not quite scenes. Transistions is too strong a word, as well. But they follow the flow of the story by giving a line or two of description in what's going on. There may be several phases to a scene. So far I have 79 phases based on the original 50 pages of material. I've also cut several scenes, not to mention five characters, from the original story. Cutting the characters makes the phasing even more important since I have to work around people who are no longer there, and make certain anything essential that they covered is picked up by someone else.

I'm running out of time, though. I need to get this done and Vision put together. I may have to work in the 'reward' method. I can only work on the outline if I do X amount of work on Vision. I'll have to start that tomorrow, though. Today I've had quite enough of putting together things.

Okay, starting count for the outline was 2831. I am now up to 3153. I need to write 2786 words for the day to keep on my goal.

Somehow, I don't think I'm going to make it.

Actually, now I'm done with the PDF file. I forgot to do one important step. It really didn't take that long, and I'm glad I didn't send it out before it was done.

In the mean time, I'm trying to get the web pages to go together. It keeps crashing on the very first item. Not a good sign.

Sigh. I could be writing now, you know. I could be working on my notes to Freedom and Fame, which is going very well. Or I could be working out the details for my new short story. But instead I'm working on this damned agenda. For... four hours now, right? Something that, if they sent the material to me properly, I could do in maybe an hour. That is the frustration. I like doing the pdf's. I don't even mind doing the web site stuff. I would gladly do it forever... If someone on their end would just take the time to check the material before they send it to me, so that I'm not spending hours matching stuff up and making it readable.

The site I do this for has won national awards. But the people at the other end are less and less interested in seeing it work properly. I'm afraid it's coming to a time when I'm going to have to say do what you want with it, just don't bother me any more.

On the good news front, Russ will be home in the next hour. And he will bring pizza tonight. I'm looking forward to it. And I might just have to skip this part of the web site if it refuses to go up and move on to the other parts. And then... Yes, write...

I'm killing a little time here to see if the web stuff is going to bomb out again before I try to do something else. I can only sit and stare at it for so long...

So. I have a lovely new little short story. I'm working up the main conflict in my mind, but the intro 800 words are pretty good so far, and I have a wonderful closing line. I think it will stay less than 4000 or so words -- pretty short for me. I even have a market in mind for it, which is rare. I don't normally think about markets when I work. (Ignoring the fact that I can't even get the web program to open now... We'll just pretend I didn't check, right?) I don't expect the story to fit their needs, but I still think it's going to be a good little piece. I haven't written nearly enough short stories this year.

Huh. It seems to have done something. Post this and back to work...

The PDF file is put together. I need to send it off to some people, but I know I also need to make some cdrom versions. I'll wait until Russ gets home to figure out which is which. In the mean time, it's on to the web version. That's going to be... interesting to put together. I should have marked which of the attachments turned out to be duplicates. Oh well.

Off to work. I might get this done yet tonight!

Oh look... another hour gone. I do finally have the material in one document. As I worked through the set I found that they had duplicated many pieces and missed several others entirely. The agenda is now up to 106 pages. I now have to go change all those links, though. Then I get to create the pdf version.

And then I get to take all of this and material do the web site.

Do you have those kind of jobs where you just open up something to start and the headache begins inching up the back of your head? That's this job. Sometimes they amaze me, and there's only a couple little things wrong. Sometimes...

I am now almost an hour and a half into the work. I have not yet started putting anything together. There are 51 attachments. Most of the scans were so bad I could not make out the words. So I had to spend time 'fixing' those, as best I could.

Then I found that they had used a very odd size font on the agenda itself, so I need to do a test pdf to see if it reads all right, before I put the entire thing together. Only it doesn't want to create a pdf at all. Hmmm....

It's going to be well over 100 pages by the time I'm done. Providing, of course, that I ever actually get done...

Got some site work done at Forward Motion. Now I really really really have to do the agenda. No, I haven't even looked at it yet. They annoyed me with it before I even got that far by not putting the numbers on the attachments. That means I have to open up over 20 attachments and start trying to match them up with numbered items on the agenda. I shouldn't have to do this. Snarl, but opening agenda now...

snarl, snarl...