Used the morning to reread The False Side of Shadow and get an idea where I left off. I also put in about 750 words on Orphan Maker world building.

Off to work. Blech. This is day seven. One more day to go before my weekend.

...especially if he hasn't been declawed!

Got home early from work. Just finished the last 70 pages of Tiopa Ki Lakota, and sent it back to my editor. YAY! I have a reprieve! If I’m lucky, she’ll be so swamped I won’t see it again for a month!

Which brings today's editing total up to 157 pages, and a complete 1k additional words to the manuscript (which doesn't count the stuff I deleted and ended up replacing.)

Who the hel thinks writing fiction is EASY?

87 pages today. I'm at 302 of 372. Don't know that I'll finish tomorrow, but definitely by Tuesday. Anybody keeping track will note that the manuscript has grown by 4 pages. So, ultmately, I'll be able to say I wrote 1k words over the last week! LOL!

Most of the questions my editor had were foreshadowing events, clearer explanations of Lakota culture and character motivations earlier in the manuscript. I think the last seventy pages will be a breeze. The only question I haven't really answered is the reason for Stewart not having married by the time Kathleen returns to the homestead. He's only a couple of years older than Anpo, and it's already been mentioned that there are far more eligible women than men on the frontier. We'll see how it goes.

Off to clean the disaster of a kitchen and get ready for work. Here's hoping it's not another 11 hour day like yesterday.

Now on page 179 of 368. Finished editing 47 pages, to include more racial issues for Kathleen. I mean, she is a good Irish Christian woman. . . and Anpo is a godless heathen. There should be a bit more of the bias in Kathleen’s thoughts.

Off to prep for work.

Yeah, it's a Mac program, too. I've got it set to a wild laugh for an alarm. I can't help but chuckle whenever my timer goes off.

Sixty pages edited today, slogging through four pages of editor's notes. I've got 131 out of 368 complete. One third! YAY!

Now I have to work. Blech.

said I was going to keep writing my 1k over and above the edits for Tiopa Ki Lakota. While the word count will eventually bag me money, however, the edits are guaranteed to do so as soon as the book is published. Much as I’d like to say, “See? I’ve put out mucho words this year!” it’d be nicer to see royalty checks come in.

Ah, the reality of the writing business.

So, I edited 56 pages today. I'm on page 71 now.

As mentioned earlier, I’ve had a hankering to work on Orphan Maker. So, I whipped out a couple thousand words of character development, and put it into my notebook. But going through what I have, I found that there was no outline.

Dammit! I know I wrote an outline for the thing! Where the hel is it?

I’ve finished my 1k words today on The False Side of Shadow, and have since torn apart the house in search of the illusive outline. I distinctly recalled bits and pieces of it, remembered writing it down. Couldn’t find it anywhere. Just as I got online to bitch in my journal, I looked in my file drawer.

Lo and Behold! There she be! Whew.

I’ve completed two of the three Dares I signed up for at Forward Motion – new novel / Master level (8 chapters of 1k each,) and world building / Master level (8k words of world building.) Except for the last 2k of the world building, it’s all been on Sanguire or The False Side of Shadow.

2268 words today, all world building for Orphan Maker. I’m now almost caught up to where I should be.

I also got back preliminary notes on Tiopa Ki Lakota from my editor. Looks like I’m getting better. There isn’t nearly the level of rewriting involved as there was with Castle Walls. Yay me! Still, it’s enough. And since I’m involved with the January / February Dare on Forward Motion, I’ll have to edit on top of my 1k a day.

All in all, a productive day.

3167 words today, all on that wonderful PWP Sanguire short. Ever wonder what happened when Elisibet the Tyrannos and the young Margaurethe met? Whew! I don't anymore!

As an added treat to those who actually read this blog, I've posted it on my website. This the only active link to it, but I'll post it to my mailing lists tomorrow.

Want

Very minor blood play – keep in mind these are Sanguire! Vampires! What’s sex without a little blood, anyway? And don’t read this at work!

I did get writing done yesterday. I figure about a thousand words. Coat check can be a wonderful thing – nothing to do but guard the personal items of party-goers while they enjoy the hosted bar.

Now I'm trying to wake up enough to write today’s word count.

1466 total. Beginning of chapter 8, scene 9.

Jenna's attending her first official function, despite the fact that the Symbouhera hasn't yet agreed to her royal claims. This is the first time she's been face to face with any of them after forcing them to relocate from Europe to Portland, Oregon. She's standing on the dais in her audience hall without about a hundred people watching her.

Again Margaurethe directed her to the throne. Instead of sitting, Jenna turned to her with a smile. “No. The Symbouhera hasn’t proclaimed me vasilissa, yet. I can’t officially take this chair until they do.”


“You think they will?” Margaurethe asked, tone acidic at being thwarted.


Jenna chuckled. “They’ll have no choice.” She patted her lover’s hand. “But I’ve got to follow legal precedent.”


“Castillo,” Margaurethe said under her breath, the name a curse.


“Yup.” Jenna looked over the people gossiping about her. Bentoncourt had joined Cassadie at the base of the dais, and she tamped down a rush of nerves. “Come on. Let’s get this shit over with before I have a heart attack.”

Finally broke through the writer's block. Nothing major, just enough to keep me from continuing on with the Sanguire.

Slow Valentine is complete, and in the hands of the wonderful folks at the Royal Academy of Bards for Valentine’s Day.

Chapter 7 of The False Side of Shadow is now underway with 1097 words yesterday. I hope to plug at least another 1k today to finish the chapter, and perhaps start the next one.

The problem was Bertrada Nijmege. She's playing both ends against the middle, which has been somewhat confusing, and I wasn't able to zero in on her true motivations and desires. She wants to be the one to kill Jenna. Nijmege went bananas when her lover was executed by Elisibet, and she truly believes that Jenna must be punished for it. On the other hand, she's been spouting in council chambers for months now that Jenna is not Elisibet the Tyrannos reborn, and has no claim to the throne.

Nijmege is allied with McCall who has voted with her all the way in the matter. She worked with Valmont in an effort to have Jenna kidnapped, and brought to her to attain her bloody goals. It's common knowledge among the other three Symboulos that she's trying to off Jenna, but Nijmege wasn't aware she'd been so transparent. She also doesn't know that when Valmont swore obesience to Jenna, that he also spilled the beans about her plans. Now everybody knows what she's planning, but she thinks she's been keeping it secret.

What a mess! LOL! I had to get everybody's POV and knowledge set in mind. It's weird that the reader knows exactly what's going on with a character before the character does!

Off to write.