In today’s Journal
* Quote of the Day
* The Novel Wrapped
* Author Angst
* SpaceRons
* Of Interest
* The Numbers
Quote of the Day
“We have have been discussing how writers, editors, commentators, and academics have embraced rising calls for censorship and speech controls…” Jonathan Turley
Well, my short novel wrapped yesterday at a little over 28,000 words. I was fine with that. Honestly, this one felt more like a really long short story than a novella or novel. (grin)
That makes an even dozen novels this year so far, including novels 5-10 of the SF FOH series, two SF-westerns, the last novel in the regular Wes Crowley series, and the first three novels in the Wes Crowley Gap Series.
I should have a baker’s dozen by the end of the month. I’ll write at least one more novel in the gap series before I switch back to something else. All I know at present is that a man named Pinchot (the elder brother of a previously killed Ranger) will show up and things will happen.
Spell-checked the novel and sent it off to my first reader. My intention is to take off today and maybe the whole weekend. From past experience, I suspect that will only work out for today. (grin)
There’s an article on “Author Angst” in today’s “Of Interest.” I read it. The only way to get past the “angst” the author of the article is talking about is to realize your opinion isn’t the only opinion in the world. Even if you think what you’ve written is horrible, someone out there will love it. And a boatload more will like it.
Disclaimer: The only time I’ve experienced “author angst” is when a lightning storm hit and I hadn’t backed up my half-finished novel and it disappeared. Now THAT’S angst. Pretty much anything else is just stuff. (grin)
SpaceRons
A few days ago I linked to an item in “Of Interest” about yet another billionaire going into space. To that link I added a question: “Anyone else tired of watching multi-billionaires play astronaut?” (grin) This morning the term SpaceRons sprang to mind to describe guys like that. And I mean “guys.” There must be some female billionaires out there, but I see no women indulging in this silly, self-aggrandizing behavior yet.
Anyway, in response to that question, my like-minded friend J.G. sent me this in an email from Texas:
“At this time, 7.9 billion of us on Spaceship Earth are circling the sun at 66,000 mph. The entire outer surface of our ship (we’re not in a tiny pressurized cabin) is, for the most part, quite comfy while the ship wobbles and rotates doing a thousand mph, regulating seasons and regenerating itself.
“Our altitude? It’s relative to everything else in the universe so it’s immeasurable. Therefore, it’s hard to get excited when “space billionaires” ride a bottle rocket up 50 miles for a few minutes in nothing more than an infomercial.”
GREAT response to my stupid question. Thanks, J.G. (grin)
Talk with you again soon.
Of Interest
See “Turn On E-Mail in Teachable” at https://www.deanwesleysmith.com/turn-on-e-mail-in-teachable/.
See “Getting Past Author Angst” at https://authorspublish.com/getting-past-author-angst/. I didn’t laugh at this, but I probably would have if I’d read it.
See “How to Use Vellum on a PC” at https://self-publishing-academy.teachable.com/courses/180455/lectures/2712691.
See “The Most Significant Choice Of Your Writing Career” at https://www.thepassivevoice.com/the-most-significant-choice-of-your-writing-career/.
See “Gallup Poll: Only 21 Percent of Americans Trust Newspapers” at https://jonathanturley.org/2021/07/15/gallup-poll-only-21-percent-of-americans-trust-newspapers/. Dystopic story ideas, and more on censorship.
See “Selling and Distributing Your Book: What Self-Published Authors Need to Know” at https://www.thepassivevoice.com/selling-and-distributing-your-book-what-self-published-authors-need-to-know/.
The Numbers
The Journal…………………………………… 580 words
Writing of WCGN3: The New Mexico Territory (novel)
Day 1…… 1191 words. Total words to date…… 1191
Day 2…… 1206 words. Total words to date…… 2397
Day 3…… 3876 words. Total words to date…… 6273
Day 4…… 2559 words. Total words to date…… 8832
Day 5…… 1561 words. Total words to date…… 10393
Day 6…… 3007 words. Total words to date…… 13400
Day 7…… 2488 words. Total words to date…… 15888
Day 8…… 4307 words. Total words to date…… 20195
Day 9…… 3356 words. Total words to date…… 23551
Day 10… 4615 words. Total words to date…… 28166 (done)
Total fiction words for July……… 46908
Total fiction words for the year………… 575587
Total nonfiction words for July… 10620
Total nonfiction words for the year…… 136410
Total words for the year (fiction and this blog)…… 711997
Calendar Year 2021 Novels to Date…………………… 12
Calendar Year 2021 Novellas to Date……………… 1
Calendar Year 2021 Short Stories to Date… 3
Novels (since Oct 19, 2014)…………………………………… 65
Novellas (since Nov 1, 2015)………………………………… 8
Short stories (since Apr 15, 2014)………………… 217
Short story collections……………………………………………… 31
Disclaimer: In this blog, I provide advice on writing fiction. I advocate a technique called Writing Into the Dark. To be crystal clear, WITD is not “the only way” to write, nor will I ever say it is. However, as I am the only writer who advocates WITD both publicly and regularly, I will continue to do so, among myriad other topics.
Referring to SpaceRons, I’d like to add to what J.G. has pointed out that not only are we circling the sun at 66,000 mph, the sun itself is circling our Milky Way galaxy at an average speed of 448,000 mph, and the Milky Way is moving through the universe at an astounding 1,300,000 (1.3 million) mph. My take? 50 miles (or even 100 kilometers) in what amounts to not much more than a bottle rocket, and basically just for the attention, doesn’t even rate a “meh.”
Preach it, Russ! 🙂