Next installment is up.

Out now . . . Enjoy!

Of course. Busy day, but I spent a good portion of it doing cleaning stuff . . . which left me alone with my thoughts for a bit. Some story changes are in the works.

Orphan Maker: Got a handle on the next chapter. I’ll have to reread the last to make certain where I’m going with it. Not sure whether the next scene will be Loomis’ or Gwen’s POV. Gwen’s is due.

On Azrael’s Wings: Got a handle on the next scene there. Can almost see and hear and smell it. Should be worth another five hundred to a thousand words on the rewrites.

Born of Silence: Some character adjustments to go with the plot adjustments. Less nicey-nice with Jenna, more hardcore street bitch. She won’t be a blood thirsty killer, but she’ll be primed to become one should the proper circumstances arise. (Which they ultimately will.) Streetname change for Jenna. Her initials are J.D. and she’s known as that in the first draft. J.D. = Jack Daniels = Whiskey. There it is – she’s known on the streets as Whiskey.

Kou Itten: A story I haven’t mentioned here much. It’s a cyberpunk genre that was half written before I began this blog. It’s stalled out on me twice now, but I think I’ve finally found a way to complete the second half of the book and tie it all together. I’ll use the same format as before except reverse the character POV’s. (The first half is from my netrunner’s POV.)

So . . . no writing done, but lots of brainstorming. Not a bad day.

College classes started Monday, and you know what that means . . .

Computer and Palm crisis! ARGH!

LOL! I’ve been on day shift for two months. The only time I’ve seen midnight is when I stagger out of bed for the bathroom. Last night I worked swing (the other supervisor is partying in Disneyland. At least he’s with his in-laws, so I’m not too bent out of shape for slogging through the dark of night.) Got home in the wee hours to find TWO pleas for assistance. It’s been so long since the wife has used her Documents to Go program, she was getting fatal errors on her Palmie.

Needless to say, at midnight I was true to my nickname (Grumpy,) hungry, exhausted, and not looking forward to tonight’s swing shift. T’weren’t no way I could figure out what to do; brain function was at an all time low. Left apologies on the white board in the kitchen, had dinner, read my email, and crashed.

She left her Palmie home this morning and I deleted the entire program and reinstalled it. Working like a charm now.

Jett, if you read this . . . I love you! Even if I’m grumpy at midnight and wanting to throw a tantrum.

Ah, the smell of bleach. The floors have just been mopped. They needed it desparately. Tomorrow I’m going to vacuum.

Tomorrow night I get to meet some email RPG friends in RL. I’ve know Kat for five or six years, and her husband just recently began playing, too. We have plans for dinner at Todai’s. I look forward to seeing them.

Last night as I began drifting off, Tommy Boy came to mind.

Tommy Boy is one of the Gatos in Orphan Maker. He and his girlfriend, Emerita, have a three year old. They got shafted when they were farmed out to the other homesteads and ended up with the town assholes. Needless to say, he does the angry-young-man thing well, and that’s what I saw in my head.

Spent the day today, thinking about him and his family’s situation. And Gwen’s idea to drag him to Loomis for help. And Loomis’ response to that after all the soul searching she’s beginning to do over her feelings for Gwen. . .

As soon as I got home from work, I started typing. 2101 words in 3 hours. I’d love to do this every day! Wow!

Chapter 24 is complete, and the book is padded with more wordage. I’m only about 2/3rds through.

Work promises to be busier than hel for week three. Making up for the sloooooooooow August in a big way. My checking account’s happy, though the old body ain’t.

Chapter 23 of Orphan Maker is complete. Now Loomis has some serious thinking to do about Gwen’s true intentions. Seems Weasel is very much like his namesake, sowing seeds of dissension at the festival.

Next chapter will be Loomis off getting drunk as she ponders this negative insight to a woman she’s beginning to feel attracted to.

Over a grand by 8am. I can dig it. Nonnycat, you were right. Wrong scene, wrong time. I’ve decided to skip the flashback for the present time.

I hope to get the next chapter finished before noon.

I blew $27 bucks at iTunes yesterday. I’ve been on a nostalgia kick – Bon Jovi, Damn Yankees, and a couple of Phil Collins songs. At the mall I nearly blew $25 on two Til Tuesday CDs. Ah, the memories . . . all of which are about being stationed in West Germany, dancing in the discoteque, or hanging in the barracks with Shubert and Bailey and Reagan.

Find it here. Enjoy!

I’ve been sitting here in front of the next chapter of Orphan Maker for a furking HOUR. Ain’t nothing coming to me! I know what scene’s next. I know who’s point of view it should focus on. I know what needs to be imparted to the reader.

But it won’t WRITE, dammit!

Work’s been busy, busy, busy, and I haven’t had a lot of time to concentrate on the writing, so it’s been slow going.

I just finished the final edits and added the dedication, bio, and acknowledgements for Tiopa. Whew! Since this is the final go round, I had to really pay attention to each and every word. What isn’t caught now ends up in the final product.

I’ve gotten through most the edits for Warlord Metal, as well. I’m waiting for the technical edit run through and then the final round with that, as well.

Tiopa Ki Lakota will definitely be available at Orlando Bardcon (complete with it’s spiffy new cover.) I think we’re still trying to push for Warlord Metal to be out at that time, as well, but I don’t know the timeline. Cross your fingers!

Chapter anyway. Still about 120 words light, but maybe I can beef it up a bit tomorrow when I review.

Gwen and the Loomis clan are in Lindsay Crossing for the festival. She runs into her ex, Weasel. It’n not pretty. He imparts some information about her new friends, suggesting that one of them is a stone killer. Now she’s left to worry about the veracity of his statements.

Tomorrow begins the first full work week I’ve had since July. Weeeee! The MTX seems to be taking effect – at least my normal joints of complaint aren’t bugging me anymore. Cool beans.

And, since I’m going to be slaving away over the weekend, here’s the next installment of the Iditarod. Enjoy!

In the last two days, I’ve been through two rounds of publication edits on Warlord Metal and written 2k on the next chapter of Orpham Maker

One more round is possible for WM, though I’m hoping it won’t be much. I’ve also got a great idea for the next chapter of OM, so perhaps the block is over.

On the Katrina front, here’s an interesting site listing the timeline (and links to the news articles for each item.) I thought things were bad from reading the reports on each new day. Seeing the entire thing listed comprehensively . . . I’m speechless.

I’m writing!

Nobody interrupt!

Part 17 is up and running!

Too bad I’m working the next three days. Hardly any time to enjoy it! The wife is on board the train now, heading to her sister’s in Washington.

On the way home from the station, I stopped on the corner. There’s nothing but a wrought iron fence between the apartment complex and the train yard. I was literally standing in front of the gate (albeit on the wrong side of the tracks.) Couldn’t see inside the station, but I had a fleeting moment of insanity.

user rushes to the iron fence, screaming at the top of her lungs, “STELLA!”

Okay. Maybe not. But it was worth the giggle.