Why yes, I'm procrastinating...
The novel validator is up at NaNoWriMo, so I did a few find/replaces on my validation file (to remove those pesky contractions I'm so fond of), then slapped it up there. I thought I'd have over 40K - after all, by my own calculations I was nearing 41K last night.
The result? 39351. Not cool. So, to verify this, I went back and actually used a, y'know, calculator to add up my word count, chapter by chapter, as per Open Office's word counter. Now, mind you, I didn't get rid of my contractions there; I won't want to have the stilted language of "I have not" etc. when I publish the novel. I've seen it happen before: an author writes without contractions to up their word count, then forgets to go through and change the "have not" to "haven't" - making their dialog stilted and stuffy.
My final count with the calculator? 39137.
I think I'll take the validator's count, TYVM. And realize once and for all that math is not my bag.
In other matters, we had a hard freeze last night. Very cold even when I got up this morning. The dog's outside water bowl was frozen solid, and the temperature drop made the trees in the back yard let loose tons of their leaves. Boy #2 had spent some time on Sunday using the leaf blower to clear the carport and driveway as far as the extension cord would let him. Now, if you look down in front of the carport, you can't even see what he did. The driveway there is once again carpeted with leaves.
Okay. Enough with the procrastination. I have 400 words to make 40K, and nearly another 1000 to make it where I was yesterday. Then onward beyond that. Fortunately, I'm in a spot that's full of action, and it should flow well. I'm going to finish off my coffee, and get to work!