In today’s Journal
▪ I can tell you right now
▪ I’ve also decided
▪ Update on Casey and the Coyote
▪ Daily diary
▪ Of Interest
▪ The numbers
Well, I can tell you right now I’m probably not going to finish Book 5 in the Blackwell Ops series today. It’ll take at least one more good writing day and possibly two. Or three.
No biggie. I can’t write the next one (in the series or otherwise) until I finish this one. (shrug)
***
I’ve also decided I’m dropping the challenge. It just doesn’t mean as much to me in the moment as it did when I first attacked it a couple of months ago.
I’ve talked here before about life rolls, and we’ve all experienced them. We normally think of a life roll being a bad thing — the death or illness of a loved one, for example — but it can also be a good thing.
When my ticker was faltering (heart function 10% at the best), that fact drove me to the computer, as odd as that might sound to some of you. It drove me to write a lot more than I might have otherwise.
Now, I haven’t lost the desire to write At All. But since I learned a couple of weeks ago that I was in much better health than I thought (heart rate 35% at the worst, and the doc is calling it 45%) I’m just not as frantic about it.
Does that make sense? So anyway, I’m dropping the challenge.
Chances are I’ll continue writing 2000 to 3000 or more words per day pretty much every day. And chances are I’ll continue to turn out a novel every 15 to 20 days or so. But I won’t feel pressured at all to do so. I’m just not worried about it (or that ticker thing) like I was. (grin)
And the current book? I don’t know. It keeps running and frankly I’m enjoying the heck out of it. I have at least one or two more major scenes to write for it, so it might even take TWENTY (gasp!) calendar days to write it. (grin) Who cares? The important thing is to tell a good story and have fun doing it.
***
Apparently my chihuahua (Casey, who is old enough to warrant the designation Silverback Chihuahua) did not bite his tongue as I previously thought. He lost a canine tooth (no pun intended). He must have bit the field-wire fence we have around the yard when he was arguing his point with the song dog.
So today he’s resting, with my apologies for the unintentional slander.
I did see the coyote later in the day yesterday (around sunset) and fired a couple of rounds in his direction. He was running away from me and I missed low, but the dirt hit him and I think (I hope) he’s moved on to more hospitable pastures.
***
Rolled out at 3, did all my usual stuff, and between 4:30 and 5 this morning, my wife and I cleaned out Casey’s kennel. (He’s undergone a trauma and is reacting accordingly, which you’ll understand if you’ve ever had a long-root tooth ripped out without anesthesia.)
Finally back to the Hovel around 5:10.
Not a good diary today. I wrote a lot but didn’t keep track through the day like I usually do.
I kept going up to the house to check on the pup, and I wore my 9mm all day just in case our sick coyote came back.
I also realized (late, when my wife drove up at a little after 1) today is a half-day. (grin) So I’m shutting things down.
Talk with you again tomorrow.
Of Interest
See “Mentor Program Update” at https://www.deanwesleysmith.com/mentor-program-update/. A great opportunity for someone. Got me thinking about my own mentor prorgram again.
See “Federal Prisoner ‘John’ Discusses Helicopter Wire, the Mafia, and Al Sharpton” at https://www.leelofland.com/federal-prisoner-john-discusses-helicopter-wire-the-mafia-and-al-sharpton/.
See “Business Musings: Rebranding, Rethinking, Refreshing” at https://kriswrites.com/2019/03/27/business-musings-rebranding-rethinking-refreshing/.
From the Weird Stuff file, see “A Visit to the Synthetic Cadaver Factory” at https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/syndaver-labs-synthetic-cadavers-tour. For a video that complements the story, see https://youtu.be/se8sB7pzCic.
Not about writing per se, but see “My Great Galapagos Adventure – Part 1” at https://terryodell.com/my-great-galapagos-adventure-part-1/.
Fiction Words: 2510
Nonfiction Words: 680 (Journal)
Total words for the day: 3190
Writing of Blackwell Ops 5: Georgette Tilden (novel)
Day 10… 4416 words. Total words to date…… 24564
Day 11… 2948 words. Total words to date…… 27512
Day 12… 2721 words. Total words to date…… 30233
Day 13… 2510 words. Total words to date…… 32743
Total fiction words for the month……… 55823
Total fiction words for the year………… 214881
Total nonfiction words for the month… 22930
Total nonfiction words for the year…… 74150
Total words for the year (fiction and this blog)…… 289031
Calendar Year 2019 Novels to Date…………………… 4
Calendar Year 2019 Novellas to Date……………… X
Calendar Year 2019 Short Stories to Date… X
Novels (since Oct 19, 2014)…………………………………… 41
Novellas (since Nov 1, 2015)………………………………… 7
Short stories (since Apr 15, 2014)………………… 193
Short story collections……………………………………………… 31