In Today’s Journal
* Quote of the Day
* A New Short Story
* TNDJ Contests Reminder
* The Novel Wrapped!
* Of Interest
* The Numbers
Quote of the Day
“If you always do what interests you, at least one person is pleased.” Katharine Hepburn
A New Short Story
“Aspen Delaney” went live yesterday at 10 a.m. on my Stanbrough Writes Substack. Go check it out. It’s free.
This is another short story set in the Blackwell Ops world. It’s kind of proof that Romance genre can exist within a Thriller novel.
If you enjoy the story, please click Like. Comments are welcome too. Both help with my Substack algorithms. Then tell Everyone else.
TNDJ Contests Reminder
Today is Saturday. Just a reminder to get info about your various TNDJ Challenges in to me before the Journal goes live on Monday.
I’ll report the week’s results from the Bradbury Challenge first, then the Stephen King Challenge, then the Run With Harvey Challenge.
All three challenges are ongoing. Feel free to jump into any of them, or into Bradbury and either of the others.
Having a place to report really does help with your writing.
Remember, if you finish a story earlier in the week, you can send the info to me early too. It never hurts to avoid pushing the deadline.
The Novel Wrapped!
I started writing Blackwell Ops 47 on July 5, but for various reasons I didn’t write it straight through like I usually do. Most of the writing I did during the interim was on this goofy newsletter.
At 76 calendar days (albeit only 14 writing days), this is the longest I’ve ever taken to write a novel. Had I been writing fiction at my usual pace, during that 76 days I should have written BO-47 and four other novels.
Strictly my fault, and I’m not complaining. Just sayin’, once a day’s gone, it’s gone. Whatever you want to do or think you want to do—especially if it’s something you enjoy doing—don’t let your days slip by. Do it.
Anyway, frankly, I’m thrilled this one finally wrapped. For myself, I hate wasting time (treading water or marching in place or Doing Nothing) more than I hate anything else.
Per usual, I ran my spell check, then saved the file as a PDF document and shipped it off to my first reader.
Now I just have to write a promo doc, build a cover, and publish the thing to D2D and Amazon. So I’ll do that today. I’m more than ready to move onto something else.
Talk with you again soon.
Of Interest
5 Ways to Manage Reader Expectations
Some Fiction Campaigns That Are Worth Studying and Backing
The rise of adult pacifiers I’m stunned, but sadly I’m not at all surprised.
The Numbers
The Journal…………………………… 450
Writing of Blackwell Ops 47: Sam Granger | Special Duty
Day 1…… 3250 words. To date…… 3250
Day 2…… 1110 words. To date…… 4360
Day 3…… 3323 words. To date…… 7683
Day 4…… 1656 words. To date…… 9339
Day 5…… 1413 words. To date…… 10752
Day 6…… 3135 words. To date…… 13887
Day 7…… 3338 words. To date…… 17225
Day 8…… 1228 words. To date…… 18453
Day 9…… 1985 words. To date…… 20438
Day 10….. 1312 words. To date…… 21750
Day 11….. 2559 words. To date…… 24309
Day 12….. 1345 words. To date…… 25654
Day 13….. 2800 words. To date…… 28454
Day 14….. 3367 words. To date…… 31821 (done)
Fiction for September……………… 24475
Fiction for 2025…………………….. 558624
Nonfiction for September.………… 16510
Nonfiction for 2025………………… 202760
2025 consumable words………….. 753770
2025 Novels to Date…………………….. 14
2025 Novellas to Date…………………… 0
2025 Short Stories to Date……………… 31
Novels (since Oct 19, 2014)…………….. 118
Novellas (since Nov 1, 2015)…………… 10
Short stories (since Apr 15, 2014)……… 301
Short story collections……………………. 29