The Journal: A Change to the Journal

In today’s Journal

* Yesterday’s Journal
* You’ll notice I’ve switched
* Authors in My Novels
* The writing slowed again today, but
* Of Interest
* The Numbers

The Journal that went live on Nov 12 I actually posted on Nov 11. Not sure why it didn’t go out until the 12th. Anyway, I thought it was an important one.

Frankly, I’m surprised I got such a small response on that one. (Thanks, Patrick.) I thought everyone would find it useful if not illuminating.

Mark it up to reader taste, I suppose. Who knew reader taste worked for writing advice as well as fiction? (grin)

You’ll notice I’ve switched the Journal back to a later posting time. This is an experiment. Posting it earlier was interesting, but it cost me extra work and I often delayed including items “Of Interest” until the following day.

After the Journal was long-since posted for the day, I’d write fiction. Then I had to update my fiction numbers on the boilerplate version of the Journal and my spreadsheet. If I forgot to do that, I’d have to play catchup later.

Then on the day of the next posting, I’d update my nonfiction numbers for that day and put the thing online. Like I said, it was a fun experiment, but also annoying. And my fiction accounting was always at least one day behind.

So from here on out, those of you who follow the progress on my fiction numbers will see same-day figures. Today, for example, you’ll see figures from Days 15, 16, and 17 (calendar dates Nov 11, 12, and 13).

I write most of the Journal the day before (rarely) or first thing in the morning while I’m checking online sources, sipping coffee, and waking up. That won’t change. But posting the Journal later will also enable me to include links I might have otherwise missed until the day after.

If you receive the Journal via RSS, nothing will change. You’ll still receive it right after I post it online. But if you receive the Journal via email, it won’t arrive in your inbox until early to mid-evening, depending on where you live.

Of course, if you’re hungry for my nonsense, you can always check the website at https://hestanbrough.com. The new edition usually should be available by 5 p.m. Arizona time.

Note: Arizona doesn’t obey the annual Daylight Savings Time silliness, so at this time of year that would be 4 p.m. in California, 6 p.m. Central, and 7 p.m. along the east coast.

The Journal will go out live via email an hour later, at 6 p.m. Arizona time to be sure I have time to finish my fiction writing for the day and post the Journal.

NOTE: If you have issues with receiving the Journal later, please let me know. I’ve already encountered a few issues: Most notably, it seems to consume more of my time when I let it sit on my desktop all day.

So after all that, I might go back to the way it was. It’s all about trying new things, right? (grin)

Authors in My Novels

Awhile back I mentioned I’d received a nice email from an author whose work I mentioned in one of my Blackwell Ops novels. Many of my characters are readers, and I saw no reason not to mention an actual author name and genre (and maybe even the title of a specific book) in my fiction.

The idea is that every little bit of passive advertising helps. Maybe someone who’s reading one of my novels will look up an author name or title to see whether it’s a real person or book. (I do that often.)

In my current novel, the XO of a generation ship (The Ark) has an extensive library along one wall of his office. He probably has another library in his personal quarters. (I haven’t had the opportunity to visit there yet, shadowing one or more of my characters.)

The idea is, the XO is a reader. He will spend the rest of his life reading the books in that library during his down time. Subliminally, they bear a certain importance since he must have culled them from among many more books he left back on Earth.

During an official visit, another character has noticed the XO’s office library contains works by several authors whose work I enjoy reading, including a few who subscribe to this Journal. Because why not?

I rolled out a couple of hours early this morning at 1 a.m. after going to bed tired last night at 7. Today should be a good day of writing, the third in a row.

The writing slowed again today after just over 2000 words. But after a break, as I looked at it again, I realized why. It’s either finished or very close. My 51st novel. I have to admit, that feels really good. Tomorrow I’ll read back a bit (a final cycling pass) and see whether it’s done. Turns out it’s also my first-ever romance novel. (grin) SF/Romance. Who knew?

Talk with you again soon.

Of Interest

See “Publishing 70 Books In One Year” at https://www.deanwesleysmith.com/publishing-70-books-in-one-year/.

See “Stuck! A Writer’s Nightmare” at https://killzoneblog.com/2020/11/stuck-a-writers-nightmare.html. Not all writers. If this sort of stuff plagues you, try trusting your creative voice and writing into the dark.

See “Women and Crime Writing: We’ve Always Been Detectives” at https://www.thepassivevoice.com/women-and-crime-writing-weve-always-been-detectives/. And see PG’s take.

See “26 Real Animals That Shouldn’t Exist, But Do Anyway” at https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/real-animals-that-should-not-exist. Want to write realistic aliens? Take some hints from these creatures. Or your dog. Or your cat. In modern parlance, they are “otherly abled.”

See “What Is the Geometry of the Universe?” at https://www.quantamagazine.org/what-is-the-geometry-of-the-universe-20200316/.

The Numbers

The Journal…………………………………… 940 words

Writing of The Ark (novel)

Day 10… 4361 words. Total words to date…… 31495
Day 11… 3312 words. Total words to date…… 34807
Day 12… 2142 words. Total words to date…… 36949
Day 13… 1344 words. Total words to date…… 38293
Day 14… 2355 words. Total words to date…… 40648
Day 15… 4311 words. Total words to date…… 44959
Day 16… 4884 words. Total words to date…… 49843
Day 17… 2335 words. Total words to date…… 52077 (Done?)

Total fiction words for November……… 28509
Total fiction words for the year………… 391787
Total nonfiction words for November… 5960
Total nonfiction words for the year…… 171800
Total words for the year (fiction and this blog)…… 563587

Calendar Year 2020 Novels to Date…………………… 5
Calendar Year 2020 Novellas to Date……………… X
Calendar Year 2020 Short Stories to Date… 13
Novels (since Oct 19, 2014)…………………………………… 50
Novellas (since Nov 1, 2015)………………………………… 8
Short stories (since Apr 15, 2014)………………… 214
Short story collections……………………………………………… 31

4 thoughts on “The Journal: A Change to the Journal”

  1. Wow. 51. There’s a goal!
    I don’t care what time the Journal comes out as long as it does. I always read it, don’t always comment.
    Thanks for it!!

Comments are closed.