Hey Folks,
Man, October flew by. Already. There are a LOT of interesting if a little spooky articles in “Of Interest” today. Don’t miss it. You might want to get your favorite beverage ready before you settle in to read. (grin)
Happy All Hallows Eve, everybody. Enjoy. And please be safe. If you actually eat all that extra candy you bought… well, you know. (grin)
We live on a side road on the edge of a very small and very socially/religiously segmented (cliqueish) town. And we aren’t part of the primary societal/religious segment, so we don’t get trick or treaters.
Frankly, I miss the little spooks and goblins, especially considering how scary I must look to a young kid these days. But on the upside, we don’t have to buy candy. Especially extra candy. So I guess it’s all good. (grin)
***
An appropriate thought, maybe, for Halowe’en…
I know my birthdate, blah blah blah. But birthdates are for others, not for the principal. Birthdates give others an excuse to feel good about themselves as they ply the principal with good wishes, gifts, etc.
And that’s fine. Hey, I’m human. Good wishes and gifts are easily among my favorite things.
But on the whole, given the choice, I’d rather know my expiration date. It certainly would be more useful.
The birthdate gives me no truly valuable information. And although I’m mostly immune to sly glances and furtive looks, it informs me of nothing but how much others believe I’ve changed and how many years I’ve struggled in my ongoing endeavor to Just Keep Breathing. Some would say annoyingly so. (grin)
The expiration date, on the other hand, would at least enable me to leave no works unfinished. And for me, that’s far more important.
***
To the Hovel at 6. As usual, I cycled back through what I wrote yesterday, but I added very little. Then I knocked out 1300 words. This one definitely is in the closing stages.
Took a very short break. In fact, I stayed inside the Hovel, rigged an exhaust fan and turned it on, then went back to the chair.
Got another thousand words by 8 a.m., then up to the house for a half-hour or so.
Back to the Hovel at 8:30. Got one more session of around a thousand words and hit The End. Then I took a brief break and cycled back over what I wrote this morning. Again, very few changes. This one is history at 9:30.
It’s early, so I thought about looking around for something else to write. But tomorrow begins a new month (defined by Ambrose Bierce as “the eleven-twelfth of a weariness”). (grin)
Talk with you again soon.
Of Interest
See “Back to Writing” at https://www.deanwesleysmith.com/back-to-writing/.
See “The Real Reason Clowns Creep Us Out” at http://www.thepassivevoice.com/the-real-reason-clowns-creep-us-out/.
See “Medallion Press Files for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy” at http://www.thepassivevoice.com/medallion-press-files-for-chapter-7-bankruptcy/.
See “Written in Stone” at https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/gravestone-linguistics. Graveyards and obit columns are also a great place to get character names.
Also see “Bone Bread” at https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/what-people-eat-during-siege.
Finally, see “Chicken Feet and Grave Robbers: A Cop’s Halloween” at https://www.leelofland.com/chicken-feet-and-grave-robbers-a-cops-halloween/. As you read this one the second time through (I recommend two readings) check out the descriptions he uses.
Fiction Words: 3259
Nonfiction Words: 530 (Journal)
So total words for the day: 3789
Writing of The Case of the Disappearing Worm (Stern Talbot 9)
Day 1…… 3703 words. Total words to date…… 3703
Day 2…… 2317 words. Total words to date…… 6020
Day 3…… 6283 words. Total words to date…… 12303
Day 4…… 4118 words. Total words to date…… 16421
Day 5…… 3259 words. Total words to date…… 19680 (done)
Total fiction words for the month……… 41804
Total fiction words for the year………… 378530
Total nonfiction words for the month… 18010
Total nonfiction words for the year…… 151106
Total words for the year (fiction and this blog)…… 529386
Calendar Year 2018 Novels to Date………………………… 8
Calenday Year 2018 Novellas to Date…………………… 3
Calendar Year 2018 Short Stories to Date……… 11
Novels (since Oct 19, 2014)………………………………………… 34
Novellas (since Nov 1, 2015)……………………………………… 7
Short stories (since Apr 15, 2014)……………………… 193
Short story collections…………………………………………………… 31