August 27, 2010
Posted on | 5 days, 16 hours ago, mid-afternoon | No Comments
Here’s today’s progress on my Hunley version 4.0 submarine book about Andan Cly and his crew having a damp misadventure in a Texian-occupied New Orleans, plus Bonus! guerrilla warfare, other assorted historic pirates, and an octoroon madam who moonlights as a Union spy.
Project: Ganymede
Deadline: November 1, 2010
New words written: 2153 (acceptable on this occasion)
Present total word count: 42,260 words
Things accomplished in fiction: Docked in Oneida (the old name for Amarillo, Texas) right after a windstorm; got some good gossip that might be bad gossip; answered an interminable stream of questions from a 17-year-old boy who doesn’t get out enough.
Next up: I know I said “gators, Texians, and paranoid privateers” were up next, but I meant for Josephine. Next up for Captain Cly (and the rest of this chapter) – fun with new crew members, a refueling, and a reconsidering of plans.
Things accomplished in real life: Started a new day-job project; did a crap-ton of research; cleaned house somewhat; tackled some logistical arrangements with future event coordinators; did some business email clean-up tasks (putting people in touch with one another, getting requested materials into the right hands, etc.); not much else – but Lordy, that took all day.
Other: My productivity struggles today were not compositional struggles, but logistical ones. It’s been a long time since I’ve gone poking around New Orleans – about six years – and I had to refresh myself with regards to a few things in the Quarter. I also had to look up a bunch of stuff about the Texas panhandle, and figure out some information-sharing juicy bits before writing could begin in earnest today; so although this isn’t a great word count, I’m still fairly happy with it. I’ll try to play catch-up this weekend.
Total Official Word Count of 2010: 170,871 words
August 26, 2010
Posted on | 6 days, 12 hours ago, in the late evening | 1 Comment
FINALLY. Good Lord, it’s 9:00 p.m. here.
Oh well. You do what it takes.
Here’s today’s progress on my Hunley version 4.0 submarine book about Andan Cly and his crew having a damp misadventure in a Texian-occupied New Orleans, plus Bonus! guerrilla warfare, other assorted historic pirates, and an octoroon madam who moonlights as a Union spy.
Project: Ganymede
Deadline: November 1, 2010
New words written: 2523 (meh, but acceptable)
Present total word count: 40,107 words
Things accomplished in fiction: Busted past the curfew patrols; made it to the ferry and briefly crossed paths with a Texas Ranger who may well prove familiar to readers (by the time this book comes out); disembarked at the River Road and made a run for the canal – where a skimmer craft will be waiting … or so it is to be hoped.
Next up: Gators, Texians, and paranoid privateers.
Things accomplished in real life: Day-job work; daily run/climb; went to Walgreens to pick up prescriptions; exchanged many important emails and a few frivolous ones; went to the post office main branch and was disappointed; consoled self with Trader Joe’s run; came home and stuffed self silly.
Other: More productivity struggles, but I finally reached the end of the chapter. I’d meant to end it at a different point, but realized that wouldn’t work with my timeline – so now I’m faced with thinking of something cool for my air captain to do … just for a few thousand words. Dammit. And I thought I knew what I was going to be writing about tomorrow, too. Yargh. I’ll figure something out.
Total Official Word Count of 2010: 168,718 words
August 25, 2010
Posted on | 1 week ago, in the early evening | 1 Comment
Before the word metrics – first, a quick note: The cute book widgets on my far right sidebar (on my main page) have been disappearing/reappearing today – due to website difficulties at Macmillan, where they are hosted. So yes, I’m aware of the issue – no need to send me heads-up notes. I’m sure they’ll be back (for good) soon!
Anyway. Moving on.
Here’s today’s progress on my Hunley version 4.0 submarine book about Andan Cly and his crew having a damp misadventure in a Texian-occupied New Orleans, plus Bonus! guerrilla warfare, other assorted historic pirates, and an octoroon madam who moonlights as a Union spy.
Project: Ganymede
Deadline: November 1, 2010
New words written: 2518 (meh)
Present total word count: 37,584 words
Things accomplished in fiction: Visited with a fortune-teller friend; received bad news; escaped the French Quarter despite a curfew; made it to Canal Street and had to promise sexual favors to get a carriage ride to Tchoupitoulas.
Next up: Pirates! We’re headed to Barataria Bay, y’all.
Things accomplished in real life: Day-job work; daily run/climb; went to Walgreens to refill prescriptions ahead of DragonCon; had errands to run and ran them – was outside for chunks of the afternoon; but not much else, which is ridiculous given how crappy the word count turned out to be.
Other: Really struggled to be productive today. I just wasn’t feeling it – which is no excuse when deadlines loom and I’m not even stuck with writer’s block. Kind of felt a little ill. Not sure why. It’s a real pretty day outside, though. Maybe I was just itchy to go soak up some sunshine while the soaking was good.
Total Official Word Count of 2010: 166,195 words
August 24, 2010
Posted on | 1 week, 1 day ago, mid-afternoon | 10 Comments
No word metrics to post today, alas. It’s been day-job mayhem and writer-business chaos since I woke up – and that’s just how it works out, sometimes. Among the things accomplished are such diverse elements as: a small mountain of important email tackled; two more potential events negotiated for 2011 (but awaiting confirmation); a trip to U-books to sign stuff and sort stuff out with Duane; a trip to the postal place to ship some goodies to a freshly married cousin; and a couple of important phone calls.
And so it goes.
Two last things to report, then I’ll log off and see about being writing-productive this afternoon/evening:
- Steampunk Magazine tackles Dreadnought – Via friendly feminist critique. Thanks a bunch for the review! I’m glad the reader enjoyed the book, and I’m glad to see that people are starting to talk about it.
- New look for fall – As you can already tell if you’re visiting my website directly, I’ve switched things up a bit. I felt the need for something a little brighter and more personalized … and something that would handle the Macmillan widgets with more finesse. If you’re reading this via the LiveJournal crosspost or an RSS feed, feel free to click the link at the start of this paragraph and poke around. Let me know if you spy anything that’s broken.
August 23, 2010
Posted on | 1 week, 2 days ago, in the late afternoon | 2 Comments
Here’s today’s progress on my Hunley version 4.0 submarine book about Andan Cly and his crew having a damp misadventure in a Texian-occupied New Orleans, plus Bonus! guerrilla warfare, other assorted historic pirates, and an octoroon madam who moonlights as a Union spy.
Project: Ganymede
Deadline: November 1, 2010
New words written: 4431 (much better)
Present total word count: 35,066 words
Things accomplished in fiction: Got a gander at the new guy in charge of the city; received bad news; ignored good advice; prepared to visit a pirate bay and stage a rescue.
Things accomplished in real life: Day-job work; daily run/climb; a couple loads of laundry “extras” (bedding, bathrobes, etc.) that didn’t make it into last week’s loads; tackled a mountain of Monday Morning Business Emails; officially bowed out of an event (which had not been announced yet, don’t worry) with much regret, but it had to be done.
Other: Too tired for other – except to note that I have now officially passed the mythical/hypothetical/official third of the way into this book. Huzzah?
Total Official Word Count of 2010: 163,677 words