Today has been packed with work, and yet I feel like I’ve hardly gotten anything done. Mondays are like that sometimes. Sometimes you realize you’ve been wrestling with plot bunnies all day and haven’t actually done any of your dayjob work, so you must break for the afternoon and take care of that while your husband is off being a ninja for a few hours — since dayjob work pays the bills and your boss is super-cool and all.

Or maybe that’s just me.

Anyway. In between fretting over fiction and worrying over mold in my apartment again, I took a few minutes and joined the Science Fiction Writers of America. Some kind, anonymous soul donated my membership fee for the year — so, many thanks and three cheers to Mr./Ms./Etc. Anonymous, plus Bonus! thanks to Mary Robinette Kowal, who was very patient with all my n00b questions. Of which there were many.

So. Yes. In other news, two word meters again, to be updated thusly.

First: Here are recent stats for the fabulous urban fantasy adventure about a neurotic vampire/thief and her wealthy blind client, now with Bonus! Cuban drag queen and military intrigue:

Project: Bloodshot
New Words Written: 3898 (much better!)
Present Total Word Count: 80,411 words
Goal: 95,000 words by December 12





Things Accomplished in Fiction: Made a point. A messy, messy point.
Things Accomplished in Real Life: Joined SFWA; cleaned filthy kitchen; wreaked war on remaining window mold with bleach and Lysol; pestered kitty; did some research for “Reluctance” which FINALLY gave me what I needed in order to build a hydrogen-producing apparatus in my back yard out of an old regulation issue Civil War army wagon, two reinforced ammunition crates lined with copper, a vat or two of sulfuric acid, a few pounds of metal filings, and a bunch of Goodyear tubing.

So it’s just as well that I don’t have a back yard.

Second: I give you stats for the dirigible/pony-express story with zombies, the Goodnight-Loving trail, and a 19-year-old Union veteran who’s stuck with a mechanical foot.

Project: “Reluctance”
New Words Written: 648 (meh)
Present Total Word Count: 4640 words
Goal: 5000 words by November 29





Details: Definitely running long. I actually removed a number of words today, but this is the daily tally and I’m sticking to it. I love this character, though. Might have to use him in a future Clockwork Century story.