6748 more words of Broken Trails edited.  It won’t be much longer before Lainey’s in Nome, at this rate.

Being a complete World of Warcraft geek these days, I’ve been watching a web series called ‘The Guild.’  Hilarious!  Anybody who RPGs will get a lot of the jokes, and those who predominantly play online will love it!  Go.  Check it out!

Whoa!  A whopping 8276 words edited this time round on Broken Trail. WOOT!

Watched Children of Men last night.  Loved the way it was filmed.  Michael Caine’s character was a hoot!  The scene with the soldiers and the baby made me cry.  This is the second time I’ve read/seen something with this sort of premise—namely, the lack of ability for the Human race to procreate.  Childhood’s End by Sir Arthur C. Clarke has a similar bent, though not for the same reasons.  In both cases, the adults become depressed and violent. It’s difficult for me to wrap my head around the cause of their acting out, having never wanted to have children myself.

Got some new Vans!  WOOT!  No more sandals in fifty degree weather!  In a couple of months, I’ll look for a decent cold weather jacket, too.  Mine bit the dust last year.

No posting yesterday because I didn’t do any writing to note.  A friend I RPG with on a Star Trek ship moved here from California last summer.  We finally made arrangements to get together.  He now understands the Awe and Power of the Shrine, Powell’s.  (“And this,” waving to one half of a huge room, “is the science fiction section.”)  It was good to see him again, and reconnect face-to-face.  Now we need Shawn to move up here—we can get a real D&D game going!!

Broken Trails, chapters forty-one through forty-three completed today.  6151 word count.  The novel has broken the 102k mark.  Here’s hoping my publisher is willing to take it when it’s complete… With just the rest of the first draft added, it’ll top 125k.  And I’ve at least one or two more scenes to add later in the manuscript.

Got to see Stargate Universe last night.  SyFy (the idgits) won’t show a television show the night after its television airdate.  They want to wait a week and a day.  I was pretty bummed about that, but a friend (thank you, Stevie) found it on Hulu.com.  WOOT!  Anyway, I love it, of course.  Wasn’t too hot on SG:Atlantis, but SGU looks cool.  It helps that I like the actor playing Dr. Rush.  Hope he’s not a bad apple that’ll end up being killed off this season for whatever reason…

Still working on Conquistador by S.M. Stirling.  It’s good.  I especially like the fan-geek stuff he sprinkles throughout his manuscripts.  An Italian feudal style family with a priest called Father Sarducci.  LOLOL!  Is his first name Guido??

I’m off to Clackamas Towne Center and the Vans store.  I desperately need shoes now that the weather’s getting cooler!

Happy October, everyone!

Three more chapters of Broken Trail edited. 6483 words. No significant changes to be had. I may read through those chapters on Saturday before the next round just to be sure I couldn’t have shoved some angst in there somewhere.

I finished the last of Tanya Huff’s Blood Books last night.  While I’d brought S.M. Stirling’s Conquistador to work to start, I found a book in the hotel gift shop I had to grab—The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold. It starts off so:

My name was Salmon, like the fish; first name Susie. I was fourteen when I was murdered on December 6, 1973.

How could I pass up a book like THAT? Apparently, it’s a motion picture, but I’ve never heard of it.  Doubt I’ll actually watch the movie, either, but who knows…

Tonight is Poison Night, making tomorrow my day off of writing. With nothing to update, I probably won’t post tomorrow.

Three chapters of Broken Trail completed for a total of 6601 words edited.  Now that the majority of the technical race details have been passed over, I was able to throw in a few thoughts and angst.  Lainey’s decided if she can finish the Iditarod, she can do anything—to include admitting her alcoholism to Ben Strauss and Scotch.  It terrifies and sickens her, but it’s something she has to get through.

The story is mostly from Lainey’s POV, but I’ve had requests to get more of Scotch’s POV into it.  At the very least, there are readers who’ve requested to see Scotch’s win at Nome.  That means at least two more scenes to write from scratch, one when Scotch wins the Iditarod, and one while she reflects and waits for Lainey’s arrival.

I’m way past the halfway point now. YAY!

Saw the next ep of Heroes this morning.  Convoluted, as always. Love it! Can’t wait for V to start next month! I think I saw that ABC.com has another Flash Forward ep available.  I’ll see that tonight after work.

Speaking of work…  Urgh.

Finished Broken Trails, Chapter Twenty-Nine. I backtracked to chapter twenty-seven to start, scanning over it.  From here on out, the novel’s mostly about the mechanics of the race—it’ll be difficult to toss in the foreshadowing of Lainey’s emotional issues.  I’ll probably have to read it from start to finish one more time, just to be sure I’m keeping the feel of the novel cohesive. Total wordcount today is 2602.

I also edited chapter thirty, and set up thirty-one for the next round.  I’m not counting it for today’s total for the reason listed above.  I need to have a go over it again, just to be sure.

Saw the season premiere of Heroes on NBC.com last night.  Ah, a carnival of real freaks!  Of course!  Funny how the guy running it – Robert Knepper – also acted in the Showtime series, Carnivale, huh?  LOL!

There’s an auction for Kim Pritekel on AUSXIP.com (click here.) I’ve added a signed copy of Warlord Metal and On Azrael’s Wings.  Go.  Bid.  The woman’s a good writer, and losing her eyesight would interfere with that talent.

Broken Trails, chapters twenty-seven and twenty-eight are ready to go.  About 3100 words edited.  Lainey’s come to the conclusion that she is an alcoholic, though she’s yet to say the words aloud. I think that’ll wait until the end of the book—I can already envision the scene where Scotch’s mysterious past is finally out in the open, and Lainey decides to come clean as well.

Found a new band – Delain.  I like ‘em.  (What’s not to like with a hot redhead as a lead singer??)  I’ve been focusing a lot on metal bands with women vocalists.  I think Beautiful Sin is my favorite—the lead singer’s voice is gritty and rough, just the way I like it. (Take that comment any way you see fit.  )

Almost finished with Blood Debt by Tanya Huff.  Not certain what I’ll be reading next.   S.M. Stirling’s Conquistador seems to beckoning, but we’ll see.

3847 words written and edited on Broken Trails.  Chapter Twenty-Seven is complete.  Queuing up Chapter Twenty-Eight for tomorrow.  It’s now February at the Fuller Kennels, with lots of work to do for the race coming in March.  Lainey’s also beginning to come to terms with the idea that she’s an alcoholic.  I think I’ll add a new scene next, one where she speaks with the kennel’s handler, Miguel.  He’s a supporting character that hasn’t had a lot of weight throughout the novel, but I’ve made him a recovering alcoholic—time for Lainey to approach someone who understands what’s going on with her.

Working on the last of the Blood Books by Tanya Huff, Blood Debt.  I like the series, but I can put the book down pretty easy.  Not sure why.  It’s not boring, and the writing’s good.  The verbal play between the characters is hilarious… Yet I find myself needing to take a break from the book.  Weird.

Finished watching the third season of ‘Deadwood.’  It ended rather abruptly.  I guess they’d hoped to continue on, and it got canceled.  Too bad. I’d love to follow along more, though they’d lose some of the rough and tumble of the place with the coming of government into the territory.  (And Bullock losing the sheriff’s seat opens up a whole ‘nother can o’ worms…)  It could be similar to the reasons I don’t write a sequel to Tiopa Ki Lakota – I don’t want to see my characters on a reservation, or the sickness and oppression they’ll receive from growing contact with the whites.

I watched ‘Flash Forward’ on ABC.go.com yesterday.  Now I have to get the book! I’ll be following this one for sure.

Saw the season premiere of ‘Mercy’ this morning on NBC.com. Kate Mulgrew as the drunken mother was fun.  (Gods, I love that woman’s voice!  LOL!  “Gin Ricky!”)  She’s a supporting character, so I’m debating whether or not to watch the show on a regular basis.  I like the set up and all, and the characters are interesting as hel, but I’ve never been much for the medical dramas. I guess if I remember to watch it next week, that’ll be an indicator of interest, huh?

Well, off to feed cats, make lunch, and do chores before work. Have a great day, y’all!

New words!  WOOT!  1262 wordcount for a new scene in Chapter Twenty-Five of Broken Trails, wherein Lainey’s first qualification run (the Kuskokwim 300) is detailed. She eats snow. Not by choice.  LOL!

Started editing the next scene of that chapter, as well. Not finished yet. I need to show more of the residual awkwardness between Lainey and Thom Fuller, the result of Lainey’s drinking binge the previous month. I’ll continue on Saturday. (Tonight is Poison Night – arthritis meds – and I’m going to be worthless on Friday.  Friday will be my official day off of writing from here on out, I think.)

I’ve been reading the Blood Books by Tanya Huff lately.  Working on number four – Blood Pact.  I like them better than the television show they inspired.  (Was it True Blood? Don’t remember.)  Saw the first episode of that series and, while it followed the book quite well, I didn’t get into the characters or the sense of anticipation.  The book covers several days, so I think the loss came from cramming so much material into the one or two hour block required for TV.

Last night after work, I did some editing on my website.  I discovered that while there was a link to a short story called ‘Dancing,’ it had never been uploaded to the site.  The information page for On Azrael’s Wings also had the wrong excerpt (it showed Castle Walls, instead,) so I changed that, as well.

Chapter Twenty-Five of Broken Trails has been edited / rewritten.  2121 words.  Set up the next chapter for tomorrow.  I’ll have to write part of it from scratch, as one of my beta readers reminded me to show, not tell.  The current manuscript has Lainey arriving at Fuller Kennels after her first qualifying run; it doesn’t show her actually doing the run.

Another 1160 words written today on Broken Trails (a.k.a. Iditarod.)  Over the hump of Lainey’s fall off the wagon!  WOOT!

The majority of the rest should be an easy edit, though I believe I had requests for people to see Lainey’s qualification runs.  I’ll end up writing those races as I go, and shoveling in the various angst-ridden subplots as I go.  The only other major writings will be Scotch’s winning of the race, and Lainey’s banquet speech, I think.

After years of searching, I finally decided on a title for the Iditarod novel.  I now christen thee… Broken Trails!  WOOT!

Now that the summer from Hel is over with, I’ve been working on said novel.  Today I achieved 1392 words!  It’s been a long time since that’s happened, lemme tell ya.  Here’s hoping the lull is over.

Thanks to Fran for reminding me to get a move on and update this site!  LOL!  Seems I’m a total slacker these days (which everyone here knows at this point, I think.)

The Sanguire novel is complete.  It went out on April Fool’s Day (no foolin’!) to Daw.  No word yet, but I wasn’t expecting it.  Their website states three months before a response, so I’ll wait until July before moving forward.

Edits to Iditarod are fair-to-middling.  We’ve moved into another apartment, and getting time to write has been difficult.  We’re still skirting around boxes and luggage and whatnot.  Tomorrow afternoon, the overflow goes to a storage unit (thank the gods!)  It’ll be nice to actually see the new floor, doncha know?  In any case, it’s been a little rough attempting to insert back story and alcoholism into characters that were initially trouble-free…  I will get there, though.
Work has been hectic, but what’s new?  The economy sucks, and more people are being hit hard.  It hasn’t helped that I volunteered to be the Safety Committee chair person.  I’ve been taking a lot of OSHA training courses to catch up to current regulations.  It’s been over ten years since I’ve done this job!  LOL!

Reading has taken up the rest of my time, mostly J/7 fanfic online.  Hmmm…  Can’t remember when I last picked up a book.  April?  March?  Ah, well.  I’ve about exhausted the online opportunities, anyway.   Just foolin’ around, I’ve written a first chapter to a J/7 fanfic.  We’ll see how it goes.

And recently?  Two words:  Star Trek  OMGs!  Whether or not you enjoy Trek, you really should see this flick.  Those that are into the series (especially the original) will have a great time!  Anyone who doesn’t care one way or the other will still enjoy themselves with the action packed movie.  Go.  NOW!

I’ll leave you with a snippet from that J/7 fanfic:

Tuvok studied her weary frame. He knew she’d never lie to him – though that didn’t preclude her from lying to herself. Unlike Vulcans, Humans needed to speak of their emotions with others for their continued good health. Voyager’s current circumstances didn’t allow her this opportunity. She held a rigid set of protocols when it came to command, something he had always respected regardless of her occasional brash actions. He suspected it was this inflexibility that caused her to remain aloof from the rest of the crew, and it was this emotional distance that caused her harm.

Of all the individuals aboard, he was the only one close enough to qualify as a friend. They had a long history that, while beginning on a somewhat adversarial note, had deepened into esteem and loyalty. Despite his distaste for the messy necessity of Human emotional discourse, he saw no other option than to elicit such a conversation. Over the past six years, Janeway had become more and more withdrawn. If the ship and crew were to survive their sojourn into the Delta Quadrant, they needed their captain mentally and emotionally sound.

“Kathryn.”

Her eyebrows shot up at his use of her given name. She blinked at him, biting the inside of her lower lip in what he knew as a subtle nervous gesture.

“It is 0326 hours. You are not scheduled for duty until 0800. You are in full uniform, imbibing in what I believe is your second cup of coffee.” A quick, skittish expression crossed her face. “Correction, your third.”

An unrepentant grin teased the corners of her lips. “Busted, am I?”

He drew himself up with a deep breath. “That would be an adequate term.”

Have a great month, folks!  See you on Facebook.

I promised myself that I’d update this blog at least once a month.  I mean, why pay for a website that never gets updated? Waste of money—and with the economy in shambles, I can’t affort to let what I have leak away.

So … Happy February!  LOL!

The first Sanguire book is still in my hot little hands. I’ve been scouring it for recurring words, thereby beefing up the narrative. (At least I hope that’s the end result.) My wife has suggested that I’m procrastinating (true) because I’m afraid to send it out… Well, okay. She knows me pretty well after two decades. There might be a small iota of truth in that belief… Oh, alright, alright! I confess! I have a very wide yellow streak!

To that end, my personal deadline is the end of this month. If it’s not out by March 1st, everybody who reads this has my permission to nag, rag, cajole me, and beat me about the head and shoulders until it is in the mail.

Besides, Iditarod is beginning to burn a hole in my mind. I can’t ofer it to my publisher until it’s rewritten…

Speaking of procrastination, I’ve certainly found a lot of things to assist me in the endeavor! Singe Yule, we’ve acquired a Wii console, the Wii Fit board, and Band in a Box with Guitar Hero. Ah, bliss! We haven’t had a gaming cosole since the kids were little (read ‘fifteen plus years’!) I’ve already burned through Guitar Hero World Tour on the easy setting. The medium level is a pain! Whew. (Please blame this particular distraction on my best friend who hooked me on it last month.)

And then there’s Facebook and, by extension, Mafia Wars. Again, this isn’t entirely my fault. Certain individuals lured me there, and then stooped to addict me to the game. (Linda… Steph… uh huh.) So, that’s been a distraction, too.

Finally, there’s the Obsidian Fleet, a conglomeration of PBEM and SMS Star Trek role-playing simulations. After months of research—reading mission posts, studying ships and personnel, etc.—I’ve joined up. I’m playing a security officer on board a small vessel patrolling the Romulan Neutral Zone. I’ve only had access to their forum fo a week, but I think I made an excellent decision. My TrekGeek yearnings have been soothed, and I now have a venue to vet future characters. (The one I’ve created is one I have in mind for a future space smuggler series. By running her against other people in different situations, I can better write her in a book.)

So, that’s my month in a nutshell (no peanuts!) Hope everyone else is a little more motivated than me these days!  LOL!  I’ll try to curb my growing gaming habits.

Take care!

It’s been far too long since I’ve been here, but the absence was necessary.

To be honest, I hated to post another ‘haven’t-written-a-damned-thing-yet’ entry, so decided not to post anything at all.  It’s one thing to say you’re confident the writer’s block will move on.  I found it’s quite another to be it.  The more I said that I wasn’t concerned with the lack of motivation, the more worried I became.  What a vicious cycle!

I’m happy to report that in May of this year, I began the final rewrites of the first Sanguire novel.  They are now complete.  I finished the last of the major editing today, and plan to go through a concordance of the 90k words tomorrow in search of oft repeated phrases.

I nearly chickened out of my original intent to submit it to a major market.  Thanks to KG McGregor, Steph Solomon-Lopez, Medora MacDougal, and a host of others, my waning self-assurance was bolstered…  On the first business day of the new year, this manuscript goes off to Tor.

In the meantime, my next major project is to begin the Iditarod rewrites.  I don’t want to jinx myself by reporting my progress.  I’ve had far too many false starts over the years.  Not giving progress reports somehow kept me on track, and I’ll do the same here.  I will attempt to be a bit more communicative, however.  (Don’t quote me on that!)

Until next time!