Forest War is stalled in the outline, because I realized there's a huge structual flaw in the middle (basically, an extended sequence in which the POV character is inactive, an observer rather than an actor), and I haven't figured out how to fix it yet ( Read more... )

About a year ago, I wrote my first-ever picture book manuscript.  For quite awhile it appeared to be the only picture book I'd ever write, and I know nobody wants to publish a one-off, so after I worked really really hard on it and ended up with something I was actually pretty proud of, I shelved it.  I had novel work to do, and I'm definitely a go ( Read more... )

The US government shutdown is actively impeding my research ( Read more... )

Started in on applying my hard copy edits to the .doc for Trial, and as expected, I'm essentially doing another round of editing.  Finished chapter one today--it took four hours and my total wordcount went up by 750 words--but I'm fairly pleased.  There's a few spots I think I went overboard with, and in a book where my goal chapter length is 1,500 ( Read more... )

A week and 112 pages down, 15 pages to go ( Read more... )

Conclusion: The pace sped up some, but not much.  As of midnight and eightish hours of work (I ate twice), I've finished through page 34.  That's just over four pages an hour.  With 93 pages more to go, I'm thinking this is going to take significantly longer than I budgeted ( Read more... )

I have the day off today, and it's my first day off since WisCon that I don't have doctor's appts or any other errands to run.  If I were most other people, that would mean relaxing, since my job is about to expand and this might be my last stress-free time to relax for awhile ( Read more... )

I am thiiiiiiiis close to finishing the rough of Trial.  Pushed through on two of the hardest chapters today, the first one I've been dreading since I outlined it because it involves a plot device I'm not good at, and the second because I realized in reading my outline that I'd stuffed way too much into it and half of it belongs in the next chapter ( Read more... )

It turns out that while I am still ace at writing on planes/in airports, car rides with my family and without headphones are not a productive working environment.

One chapter away from hitting the two-thirds point with Trial, and crossing my fingers that life is kind and gives me time to actually finish the damn rough.  I don't want time to edit it ( Read more... )

Two novel updates: First, getting the first third of Trial printed was a pain since I no longer have a printer or work in an office where 50 pages of extra printing will go completely unnoticed.  The library is my friend, even if it is my expensive friend.  I would rather pay the library to print than go to kinko's or something.  Supporting ( Read more... )