On Sven.

What an experience.  I made my goal of 70k, and Pirouette  is almost in the bag.  Marathons are good for me, because they keep me working steadily and honest.  Very honest.  Last night when I discovered I was 400 words away from hitting 70k, I wrote more.  It wasn’t just the number — it was the knowledge that even though I’ve had some issues this round (voice rec and migraines, mostly), I still managed to write 70k in three months.  For me, that’s a major accomplishment.

So thank you Sven, and the sponsors and all the sweating challengers.  🙂

Two more scenes to go, and Pirouette will be finished.  I can see the end as I rush headlong toward it.  It’s always such a rush.  To be this close, and not yet done.  To know that with a few more days work, the book will be complete.  To know that more work awaits me — but that’s okay.  It’s another step toward making it publishable.

And I will get it published.  There is no other option.

In the home stretch. And a little bit of history.

I estimate another 4 scenes and Pirouette will be finished.  It’s exhilerating and a little scary to be this close to the end.

It will still need some work before I start doing the agent rounds, but that’s ok.  I’m just one step closer to it being ready.

I’m a bit stumped on a plot point, and that has derailed me today.  I’m pondering it, throwing out ideas to myself, seeing if something will stick. 

Pirouette  is now at 167k.  I’m hoping to finish it on or near 170k, but we’ll see.

10 months of hard work has come down to this.  It has survived a divorce, a move, 2 parental surgeries back-to-back, recurrent tendonitis and a transition to voice recognition.  It has haunted me and kept me motivated for three years.  It has kept me grounded, kept me guessing, and has given me more pleasure that I can even express.  I absolutely love this book, and the Pirouette world.  The characters have grown and deepened over time.  Alisia is always fun to write.  Alisia and Lucien together rock good.

This book started its life as a short story called “Salvation.”  It was to answer the question: what if your salvation was really your hell?  Alisia started out as Emily, a woman who gets into a near-fatal car crash and almost dies.  Lucien, a doctor, offers to save her –but only if she become a vampire — his vampire mate.

It made it to 12 pages, and then Nano rolled around, and I decided to expand it.  Emily became Alisia, and became a ballerina/necromancer.  Lucien lost his M.D. degree and ended up becoming a vampire Prince.  And countless other things were added and twined together.

And now, with the second draft almost in the bag, I can’t help marveling at its evolution. 

Next up is Survivor.  I’ll be taking a short break from P after finishing to recharge the batteries, and I can’t wait to dig into it.

On 70 days of sweat, I made my goal of 60k, and then some.  Not sure if I’ll officially finish P by the end (May 16), but if I don’t, I know I’ll be pretty darned close.  Thank you, Sven.

 

Time keeps on slipping, slipping….

Thought it was time to do an update.  I’ve been very busy working on Pirouette.  It is up to 152k, and I estimate that it will come in at about 170k, which means some major cutting will be in order.  But I’ll worry about that later.

I have been voice reccing it exclusively, and the wrist is doing alot better.  Still may need to see the doc, but I’m hoping that will be unnecessary.

I also have been thinking about resurrecting an old short story and expanding it into a novel.  It’s called Like Summer, and it’s about (among other things) a marriage of convenience and the healing power of love.  Contemporary romances are shorter in length, and I thought that if I could bang out one within the next six months, I might be able to shop it around and perhaps even get it published.  Alot of my favorite authors started out with comtemporary romances.  And, it could get my foot in the door at a certain publisher I’m looking at for my other stuff.  And, I’m looking to spread my wings a bit and try something new and different.

We shall see.  It’s plotted and ready to roll.

In wedding news, the beloved and I booked our ceremony location a few weeks ago.  It’s a beautiful little chapel.  I knew when I walked in that it was The One.  And the price was right, and they offer other services (photography, flowers, etc) at discounted prices.  Works for me!

On 70 days of sweat, I’m up to 46,955.  I’m doing wonderfully.  I’m so glad I joined the challenge.

For the month (and April Fools — another challenge), I’m at 22,080.  Going to try for 25k.  It’s one of my highest monthly counts to date.

Well, that’s it for now.  Spring is here finally!  Whooohoo.

Update and an anniversary.

One year ago, on Easter Sunday, I started this blog.  It has had more than 1000 visitors since then.  🙂 

Granted, Easter was in April last year, but let’s just pretend this is April.  Thank you.  🙂

Update -y

Pirouette is up to 132k and growing.  I’ve entered the final third of the book, and I’m hoping to finish in by May (to coincide with the end of 70 days of Sweat).  I’ve been primarily voice reccing it, but this week, I switched back to typing because my wrist has been fine.  I imagine I’ll have to do more voice than typing overall, but that’s ok.  At least I can produce during my flare-ups.

Been doing alot of thinking about themes.  Because I’d like to try to work them into the next draft.  The original theme was redemption.  It still is.  But I’ve added a few more to that: silencing the ghosts, balance, and tough choices.  Alisia has to deal with all of these at some point in the book.  I want this book to go deeper than just the surface story.  I want it to resonate, man.

Also considering what comes after I finish the draft.  I might take a few weeks off and work on something else, to give myself distance.  That something else will prolly be Survivor, because it’s nearly done and next on my list.  It has been calling to me for about a year now, and I miss it terribly.  It’s one of my strongest stories.

Another book has called to me, too.  So strongly that I saw the opening scene in my head vividly.  It’s Darkweaver.  Wynd, the protagonist, has been pitching a fit in my head.  I keep telling her to wait her turn, but she’s a persistant little wench.  I might at some point write that first scene just to shut her up.

Something that’s been on my mind (if that isn’t enough, LOL) is Pirouette’s sequel, Blood Dance.  I have two potential plots that I’m trying to work out.  One will be the plot, and the other will be held back for a future book.  One involves a very unique type of mating and the other involves doppelgangers and insanity.  I wish I could do both, but the book would be mammoth.  So I gotta figure that out, too, so I can put together an outline.

And finally, I am happy to report that I’m back in the the darkroom.  Last weekend I took the plunge and developed a roll of film.  It was not without trouble, mind you — it’s been about two years — but I’m proud to say that it came out beautifully, and so did the resulting prints.  It’s my goal to get my backlog done before I move in June, as well as try out another type of infrared film.  Infrared film is a special kind of film that makes everything glow, plants turn white, and people’s skin becomes translucent.  It’s really neat, and tough to use/process but it is SO worth it.  My favorite kind, Kodak HIE, has been discontinued, so I found a comparable type: Rollei 400.  And I’m going to buy some and run some tests.  If it works, I’ll continue to use it, and do more shooting. 

It feels good to have my hand in photography again.  I’m also updating my website, putting up new pictures and redesigning the pages.  It’s very outdated.  And, I want to be able to show possible editors of photo mags current stuffs. 

So that’s my grande plan.  Muhaaaaa.

On 70 Days of Sweat, I’m up to 16,640 words.  Not bad for 22 days, eh?  And most were dictated, too.

Happy Easter to everyone. 

Are you sweating? I am.

Just an update: I’m up to 8,880 words so far, and Pirouette just broke 123k.  Huzzah! 

 Plot-wise, we’re at the beginning of the end.  So to speak.

 Poor Alisia and Lucien.

Wrist hurts, so that’s all for now.

70 Days of Sweat

Heh.  Just signed up to participate in 70 days of sweat.  I missed the first two rounds, so I wanted to get in on this one.  Basically, it’s like a marathon.  The objective is to reach between 60k and 100k on a WIP (or two, as some people are doing).  Since challenges and marathons keep me focused and steady, I thought this was a perfect way to get Pirouette finished.

I only have an estimated 40k left, but it might end up being more.  Cutting it down is going to suck, but right now, I’m only concerned with the story.  I’ll worry about revisions later.

Also, I’ve transitioned pretty much completely to voice recognition, and I’m just now starting to hit my pre-tendonitis wordcounts.  So hopefully I can actually keep up!

This challenge ends on May 16.  I think I can make it happen.