Computer Down

Ah no! I've spent all of today fixing my dying computer. I've got it up and running again, but it's getting up there in age and I really need to get a new one. I hope this one can last just a little while longer!

Even so, I roughed out a few more chapters in the second book's outline. I was frustrated when the outline I made for my last book veered off course, but in the end I think it helped create a skeleton that gave my writing a sense of purpose. I don't think it would have come out quite the same without it. So, I'm not giving up on outlining all together yet and decided to give it another whorl.
What I've done is take my two main characters, flesh them out a little more, add a few main internal and external conflicts, and set into motion a basic plot.

Experience is one thing you can't get for nothing. ~ Oscar Wilde

Eye of the Storm

They call us by many names. Elena. Hazel. Camille.

The fury in our arms is the beacon of death for those that steal the very marrow from our sea. Kill our children. Murder our parents. Pump the life from our beds.

When unleashed, our fury reigns complete. We walk on the water and onto your shores with the rage of the sky and sea around us. We take back what is ours, but we dare not stay long.

The earth kisses our feet, romances our bodies. Begs us to stay. Become like one of you.

(Inspired by a dream; which was in turn inspired by my mother's fantastic stories.)

Novel #2

Now that the first draft of the first book is done, the soft edits (spelling, etc) done, and the print ordered, I'm spending the week tweaking the rough outline and setting up a basic plot for #2. I already know the characters. They both starred as minors in the first book, and bringing them into the limelight for the second seems natural.

When I receive the rough draft from the printer (it was way too many pages to burn up my little Epson with) I will go back to the first book, with fresher eyes, and do the first edit.

You can't wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club. ~ Jack London

Word Count - 4803

I did it! The first draft is done at just over 90k. With ten minutes to go on my self-imposed deadline, the draft comes in at 90,183 words. I'm going out to dinner!

Tomorrow I start on the first round of editing.

You just never know what you can do until you try!

Some Stats:

• I spent 90.25 hours writing 90,183 words.
• I averaged 2,732 words per day and 999 words per hour.
  
• I spent an average of 2.73 hours per day with fingers to keyboard.
• Most days I spent 4 hours with butt in chair.

Work is love made visible. And if you cannot work with love but only with distaste, it is better that you should leave your work and sit at the gate of the temple and take alms of those who work with joy. ~ Kahlil Gibran

Word Count - 4933

For some reason, the words just flew onto the screen yesterday. It's almost as if the rest yesterday acted like a bottle stop, and when I let them loose there was no containing it.

Tomorrow is my deadline to finish the first draft. I need to write 4,617 words to reach the 90,000 goal.

I have no problem seeing this done already.

There are times when quantity is at least as important as quality in learning an art. ~ Lawrence Watt-Evans

Word Count - 642

Imagination grows by exercise, and contrary to common belief, is more powerful in the mature than in the young. ~ W. Somerset Maugham

Cracked Return Musings

With my word count for the day done, I began to dream of the next book in the series, then wondered if I should work on book#2 instead of Cracked Return.

Knowing the people who dared me to write Cracked Return were waiting anxiously for the finished book by Christmas, I just couldn't disappoint. So here I am, musing on this weird and fantastical book that is on the far reaches of what I have written before. And how I'm going to pull it all together.

I know, for instance, that the gods are going to be Aeon and Eris. Aeon is a little hard up, he knows. He's the father of time, but that doesn't necessarily mean a good time, and he's on the prowl for some entertainment. Eris, on the other hand, is all about a good time. As long as it's on her terms. Using a few of Hekate's magic talismans, the two of them conspire to see if our heroine has what it takes to steal - and return - them, and if the hero will stop her or save her.

Austin will need a name change. One, it just doesn't fit the dude. I mean, how many hibernating warriors do you know named Austin? Besides, if Aeon is going to be a main character, the names are too similar for my taste. So Austin is out. He'll have to choose one of the other names.

Word Count - 3582

Writing a novel is like driving a car at night. You can see only as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way. ~ E.L. Doctorow

Word Count - 3576

Don't ever tell me the odds. ~ Han Solo in Star Wars (George Lucas)

Word Count - 3518

You will be published if you possess three qualities—talent, passion, and discipline.
You will probably be published if you possess two of the three qualities in either combination—either talent and discipline, or passion and discipline.
You will likely be published if you possess neither talent nor passion but still have discipline. Just go to the bookstore and pick up a few “notable” titles and you’ll see what I mean.
But if all you possess is talent or passion, if all you possess is talent and passion, you will not be published. The likelihood is you will never be published. And if by some miracle you are published, it will probably never happen again.
~ Elizabeth George