It is a sign. Somehow, the Flying Spaghetti Monster has touched my blog with His noodly appendage. My word count tracker has bit the dust. Of course, the odds of the FSM Himself having anything to do with it are about the same odds as any number of really unlikely type miraculous/horrible events being caused by similarly mythological creations. Such as My Little Pony. She has nothing to do with rainbows, I swear.

In any case, an update. I've been working on a different project lately which must, for the moment, remain unnamed. I've also been clearing space mental and physical to make a final push on the novel. I'm aiming for a final first draft for September. Once the ball starts rolling, I'll post here with (hopefully) an updated and working word tracker. Huzzah!

Apparently, I haven't been blogging as regularly as I'd hoped...

Some more done on the book, but not a whole helluva lot. I'll get on it once the semester is done in another week or so, and see what I can get done over Christmas break. My ogre has been grumbling, and I noted a rather large and spiky club behind her desk the other day...

I've finished transcribing the previously completed sections of the novel, and even added another sentence of absolutely shiny new prose! Now the slog can begin in earnest. I'm not sure how this next little bit will go, but I'm hoping that the impetus of revisiting the entire first six and a bit chapters over the last while will help lead me ever onwards and upwards. I'll try to update a bit more regularly as well, at least every time I finish up another chunk of text. I've got some pretty thorough outlining done for the latter half of the novel, so I've got a good idea where things are going - now it's just a matter of urging Trevan et al on their merry little way.

Quick question to anyone reading the blog - would you like to read another small excerpt, say from the tournament in Chapter Five? If so, leave a note here. If not, no worry (or it could just mean I'm my own reader, or somesuch...).

Word Count:

70,708 / 150,000 (47.1%)

Chapters Done: 1-6 + Prologue

Pages: 224

Into Chapter 7 now, but not a lot of time for writing so far today. Off to a house warming and hoping to get some more writing in tonight before bed. However, I've passed the 70k mark, so wanted to make a quick update.

Word Count

70,171 / 150,000 (46.8%)

After a marathon afternoon, I've managed to complete Chapter 6, meaning 20 pages the last two days. Wow, if I could keep up this pace I'd be done by the end of August! But I've only got four more pages of completed draft, so I imagine the pace won't be quite this high for much longer...

Word Count:

69,592 / 150,000 (46.4%)

Pages:

220

Chapters:

1-6 + Prologue complete

June and most of July have been largely a wash, for any number of reasons both legitimate and not, the most glaring being that I am an absolutely terrible (or is that very good?) procrastinator. I have, however, been doing some more work on the novel, and I'm finally finished Chapter 5 and into Chapter 6, with the first two scenes completed and one long scene left to type. The "kinda" above is in reference to the tournament ball. I've written two and a half pages of it so far, but it's not quite done. It was stalling me a bit - or I was allowing it to stall me, equal weight either way - so I've decided to bypass it for the moment and try again once Chapter 6 is finished. Or once the first draft is done. Or...

Here are my current numbers as of 12:30am on a work night:

Word Count:

65,143/150,000

Pages:

207

Chapters:

1-5 + Prologue, Chapter 6 halfway complete

I've also decided to try using a word count bar again, although I've no idea if this will work. If not, I'll probably edit it right out...but here goes:

Kingmaker

65,143 / 150,000 (43.4%)

Ooh, I likes it, precious...

I'm a little over halfway through transcribing chapter 5 into the computer, but I've come across a pretty major consistency issue that I am having to deal with before moving on. Basically, I've been referring to the tournament as taking place over two days throughout the novel so far, but as I've been re-reading chapter 5 - which was initially written to be a short story in the same world with the same characters - I've come to realize that everything there was written around a one-day contest, with morning and afternoon sessions. The changes themselves aren't huge, but it meant that I had to fill in the evening of the first day with some more happenings. So, here I am, writing about a royal ball (once again, something alluded to in previous chapters), and having fun getting into the inner workings of an 18-year old dealing with his first major social event, fully in sight of enemies both known and suspected, and the woman he loves. Now, I must go channel my Grade 12 prom - back in a few days with another update...

Current Word Count:

57,735/150,000

Chapters:

5/15 + Prologue

Pages:

183

I had to put the exclamation mark there, because I managed to get through finally - 59 pages later, all told. I've already done the extensive posting thing earlier today, so here's the meat of the thing:

Current Word Count:

52,867/150,000

Chapters:

4/15 + Prologue complete

Current Page:

168

I'll be collating Chapter 5 tomorrow most likely, and getting to work on those pages left for entry there - it should take a considerably shorter amount of time than Chapter 4. Now, bed.

I'm spending the day up at SFU, as Sue has begun a new position here and I can use the quiet to get a bunch of work done on the novel. Oddly, it seems that I now get more done here in my office than I ever get done at home, although it was completely the opposite when I first began graduate school. I guess my careful cultivation of anti-social behaviors has finally alienated all of my friends up here - or it could be the fact that it's semester break, and I'm the only one in my office...

Still working on Chapter 4, although I now have it down to about 15 pages left, which is a relief. I'm hoping to finish it up today, which means that I can finally add in the 15 or so pages of Chapter 5 I have typed, and then get going on the rest of that chapter. Of course, the remainder is written in tight, messy crab-hand, so it might take a bit longer than transcribing the large, flowing (but still messy) writing in my large journal has taken. We'll see. So here's the "Rithmatic" part of my post...

Current Word Count:

47,887/150,000

Chapters:

4/15 plus Prologue

Current Page: 153

I've also read a couple of books this week (well, two and half). I finally finished up The Space Opera Renaissance, which is an excellent anthology, although a little uneven through the first half. It is, however, a monster, coming in at 941 pages of small type on large pages - took me the better part of two weeks to get through it. Since then (Thursday), I've read Robert J. Sawyer's excellent Rollback, a near future examination of alien communications via SETI on the surface, which is actually an examination of inter-generational relations on a very human level - great stuff, and Jo Walton's Farthing, which as an alternate history take on a murder conspiracy in post-WWII England - an England which made peace with Hitler in 1941 and is tending toward fascism itself. A cover blurb compares it to Fatherland, and I'd have to agree, although with a heavy dose of Agatha Christie in the mix - a very cozy little mystery with huge implications, and an implicit critique of current political tendencies in the West. Both highly recommended - I've actually just placed an order for Walton's follow-up, Ha'Penny, and I'm hoping it arrives as soon as I've finished reading Cory Doctorow's newest, Little Brother, which is released tomorrow - more on it soon.

Working up on the hill today, and I've got a bit more added on. I've had to rewrite several sections, as I changed the nature of an event that occurs in Chapter 3, initiating something of a trickle-down effect on all that comes after...but it's important for some foreshadowing of events I'll be adding in Chapter 11, so.... Currently up to 148 pages typed in, and word count us up as well.

Word Count:

46,006/150,000

Chapters:

4/15 (still)