The Daily Journal, Thursday, February 21

In today’s Journal

▪ Update on the PWW site
▪ Daily diary
▪ Of Interest
▪ The numbers

The basics of the PWW site are set in concrete now. We’ll have six regular contributors who will post once a week on Monday through Saturday. Sunday will be reserved for the guest contributors, who will post in rotation.

Later today I’ll add a subscription form. I was going to use WordPress.com’s “JetPack” plugin, but WP.com has gotten too big for their britches. The plugin basically took over the PWW site, so I deactivated and uninstalled it.

At the worst, I’ll create a new “campaign” over at MailChimp, but in the meantime I’m searching for a friendlier (and free) email subscription service. Of course, I’ll also create an RSS feed for PWW so readers will be able to subscribe in a reader as well.

I can’t quite believe I used to design websites for part of my living. I’d forgotten how much work is involved. (grin)
***

Rolled out at 1:30 this morning. It’s Thursday, so a short writing day. Then again, it’s always slow going at the beginning of a Blackwell Ops novel anyway. I have to pop out and do a few minutes’ research every now and then.

For example, in BO3, the protagonist was directed to fly to Mozambique to handle a situation there. Of course, I needed to know something about the area, Mozambiquean names, etc.

In BO4, there I was, writing along just fine, when the protag’s VaporStream device went off and she was directed to “proceed to Istanbul.” Sigh.

I spent the first three hours answering emails, updating the PWW site, and composing and sending a “final” (I hope) all-inclusive email to contributors.

At 4:30, I’m taking a break up to the house, then back here to the WIP.

Took another break at around 7:30. Worked on the PWW site for a little while up at the house. Back to the Hovel and the WIP at 9.

Didn’t get a lot done on the WIP today. Back at it tomorrow.

Talk with you again tomorrow.

Of Interest

See “A Glimpse Back Almost Nine Years” at https://www.deanwesleysmith.com/a-glimpse-back-almost-nine-years/.

See “Dick Francis: A Crime Reader’s Guide to the Classics” at https://crimereads.com/dick-francis-a-crime-readers-guide-to-the-classics/. A lot of gems re openings to be gleaned here.

See “Violence and Madness in a Lost Chester Himes Noir” at https://crimereads.com/violence-and-madness-in-a-lost-chester-himes-noir/. See what he says about writing novels. He “knocked them out.”

See “Business Musings: Ghostwriting, Plagiarism, and The Latest Scandal” at https://kriswrites.com/2019/02/20/business-musings-ghostwriting-plagiarism-and-the-latest-scandal/.

For those who love real poetry, see “Meet Your New Favorite Poet” at https://www.thepassivevoice.com/meet-your-new-favorite-poet/.

Fiction Words: 2233
Nonfiction Words: 450 (Journal)
So total words for the day: 2683

Writing of Blackwell Ops 4: Melanie Stone (novel)

Day 1…… 2363 words. Total words to date…… 2363
Day 2…… 2233 words. Total words to date…… 4596

Total fiction words for the month……… 54806
Total fiction words for the year………… 138209
Total nonfiction words for the month… 19420
Total nonfiction words for the year…… 44830
Total words for the year (fiction and this blog)…… 183039

Calendar Year 2019 Novels to Date………………………… 3
Calendar Year 2019 Novellas to Date…………………… X
Calendar Year 2019 Short Stories to Date……… X
Novels (since Oct 19, 2014)………………………………………… 40
Novellas (since Nov 1, 2015)……………………………………… 7
Short stories (since Apr 15, 2014)……………………… 193
Short story collections…………………………………………………… 31