The stuff that matters

It's not the page count that matters, but rather the word count...when you're editing, anyway.

I mean, I personally try to keep my pages per chapter hovering around twenty pages, but it doesn't always work out that way. For instance, chapter five in my book clocks in at about thirteen pages while chapter twenty-five hovers around thirty pages(maybe more...edits and all that) . I cringe everytime I look it over, but I haven't gotten to the point of truely knowing what to cut to make it more compact.

This is where research comes in.

I've learned a few tricks since last time I tried to trim chapter twenty-five, but seeing as I'm still working on wrapping up chapter sixteen, it'll be a while before I can tackle it again and put those tricks to use. Sixteen is taking so long because it too needed a trim(the original word count escapes me at the moment, but I'm pretty sure it hovered around 7k), and a scene transplant. It's looking better now and I'm just about finished, give or take about seven pages.

I spent most of last sunday working on it while freezing rain coated the world outside my window in a slippery coat of ice. Which is why I neglected to post a blog. I was elbow deep in edits.

To be honest, I probably should've been elbow deep on soapy dishwater. Dreary days make me want to either clean, write, or work on artsy stuff. Last sunday writing won out over the other two(shocking, I know), but this sunday I'm back in the kitchen trying to create a little order while a pot of spagetti simmers on the stove and a chill wind rattles the windows.


 All in a day's work, right?



~Sun and Moon

Break time!

Chapter twenty-eight is finally done! I'll be sending it out to a couple beta readers within the next few days for final tweaking, but for now, it's done.

FINALLY.

Out of morbid curiosity I went back through my old blog posts to see just how long I'd been working on this darned thing. The answer? Longer then I've ever spent on one chapter by about several months. As my birthday is right around the corner, I won't have this book done by then(darn it), but this summer is looking pretty promising for beginning book two(which is still without a title...ugh). I now have just two chapters left to tweak(and a new scene to write for one of them), and then I'm done with "New Beginnings" for a while. 

Of course, I'll still need to do another round or two of edits to trim out extra words and such. But for now it is done.

On that note, I'm off to work on a few art projects and catch up on some much neglected reading. My three day break officially starts today, so work on chapter twenty-nine will begin wednesday. I hope to have another art post that day, so I better get cracking.


~Sun and Moon

Anyone have a flashlight?

Well, I have a new phone to replace the one I lost last sunday(which I still plan to continue to look for as you can't buy the darn thing at all anymore). I don't like it, but it works and that's really all that matters. Plus it was only about fifty dollars and people who are broke shouldn't complain, right?

Right.

Anyway, it took me a while to calm down(about two days...ugh), so I didn't finish chapter twenty-eight like I thought I would. I am, however, on the last three pages. I have two small snags to fix and I'm good to take a break before plunging into chapter twenty-nine. They aren't really all that major, but I still want to fix them. It's like they say: life is stranger then fiction. It doesn't have to make sense cause it actually happened. In a book it must make sense though, or your reader is going to be having words with you.

One of those snags I need to fix is exactly that. Something small that doesn't make sense. It might get over looked on the first read thru, but not the second. I don't know about anyone else, but I want to write books people will put on their bookshelf and read until the binding is about broken and the pages are tattered. That means smoothing out the parts that make people wonder where you left your common sense. 

Today I'll be doing just that(working on the snags, not looking for my common sense). If all goes well, I'll be taking a break soon and then starting twenty-nine sometime this week. Also, keep your eyes peeled this wednesday for another art post. I have a handful of sketches, a Work In Progress, and a piece I finished up just this morning. It should be fun. And very colorful, but mostly fun cause only the newly finished piece has color right now. That might change, but for now we'll have to wait and see. :)

I've gotten to the point where I can see a light at the end of this tunnel. Which is good seeing as my batteries are about drained. Anyone have a flashlight I could borrow? Mine is starting to flicker. 

~Sun and Moon

Lost and found

You know, I had a blog post all planned out for today. It was written up on a piece of note paper, but not typed into the computer yet. I left it unfinished too, but that was fine as I had plenty of time to wind it to a close before I needed to post it. I left it beside the computer, knowing that it would be there when I needed it as I went about doing other things.

I have since lost my blog post.

Now, it's been a crazy day today. Family events and visiting relatives(my grandma came up from Arizona), and of course a lot of good food. However, it hasn't been all that crazy and while I'm pretty tired after all the fun and such, I shouldn't be wondering how the heck I lost a piece of paper I spent so long scribbling on.

Oh well, at least I didn't forget today was Sunday like I did that one time. I'm late, but I think its forgivable considering the circumstances.

Chapter twenty-eight edits are going slowly at the moment, but as I'm still at the "review it and make notes" stage, that's to be expected. So far it looks like it may need more of a rewrite then I thought, but nothing truly drastic.

In other news, I just bought a program called "Mavis Beacon teaches typing" to help me get my speed up without having to watch the dang keyboard. I used it a long time ago as a kid(I was twelve), and it worked pretty well until I quit for stupid reasons. I'll be installing it and going for a test run sometime in the next week or so.

In the meantime, the much awaited Pets Expansion for Sims 3 is coming out over the next few days. I don't know about you, but I plan to get my writing work done early so I can play guilt-free. Not only are there cats and dogs to play with, but horses and even a unicorn(if you can find it). Here's hoping I can snag a limited edition copy before they run out.

And on that note I'm off to get a treat and relax. My dad gave me some coffee syrup and I'm itching to mix up some coffee milk. Its been ages since I had any and I'm not about to wait any longer.

Later, guys.




~Sun and Moon

Progress is a wonderful thing

I had a blog post all written up for today, but that was before I FINALLY finished chapter 27.

Yup, that's right. Both the rewrite and the basic edits are done at last. Today I'll be getting to all those art projects waiting in the wings and then I need to do some serious cleaning. At some point I hope to go on a bike ride, but that depends on how deeply my bike is buried in the garage. It might be a wonderful day for a long ride, but battling massive wolf spiders for possession of my bike is not my idea of fun.

Maybe I'll walk to the park instead. Hm...

On another note, I've been putting off breakfast so I can get the last tweaks done, so I'm starving. I guess decisions will have to wait until after I've rustled up some grub for my growling stomach. Oh well, no loss. My three day break starts tomorrow and I plan to enjoy every minute of it.

Later, guys :)




~Sun and Moon

Glitches

Have you ever heard of the awesome computer game called Sims 3?

Ok, if you just said no then I have straight jacket in my closet you may want to try on for size.

Seriously though, you should check it out. The game is kinda self explanatory. You spend your time controlling the people you create and making them do various things depending on what expansions you have for the game. It's a lot of fun, oddly enough, and it can eat up hours of your time depending on your level of addiction.

I am most definetly addicted.

Of course, like all games, it has its glitchy moments. However, when I first got the game and installed it, it was mostly smooth sailing. Then we had the whole virus issue in april. Since we didn't know how much damage had been done, I uninstalled and reinstalled the base game with all its expansions.

Which. Took. Forever.

Once I started it up, everything seemed fine. Then I decided to go and get the Grim Reaper off of the Sim Exchange. I downloaded him, tossed him into my game and started playing. Again, everything seemed fine. That is, it did until one of my sims went to china and came back with Pangu's axe.

The problem?

The map loaded, and lo and behold, I suddenly had two identical sims. And then the game crashed.

I have since removed the Grim Reaper from my game.

It reminds me of my writing lately. First drafting was mostly smooth sailing for me, but once editting started, I began to find myself bogged down more often then not. This latest chapter has been especially sticky.

I've created several versions of the middle pages for chapter 27, and none of them fit. Now, unlike with my sims game, I don't think a total reboot is going to fix that. Nor will pulling the ornery characters in question from the chapter. Instead I need to find a smooth path that winds around the potholes without getting everyone splattered with mud.

In other words, I need to let my characters do their thing without interfering so darned much.

So far, I think I may know a way to manage it. That, however, will have to wait for tomorrow. Right now it's way past my bedtime, and this post is late enough as it is. I have my spare notebook by my bed along with a pen for late night notes, so for now I think I'll sleep on it.



~Sun and Moon

I know I came in here for a reason...

Today is sunday, right?

Yeah, that was my thought not five minutes ago as I logged onto Blogger to see what other people were up to today. Actually, that's how the past week has been. Unreal, hazy, and easily forgotten as I pick apart yet another knot in chapter 27.

Yup, that's right. I'm STILL working on it.

Slowly it's starting to come together as I figure out what is too much information for the reader, and what is just enough. That's what happens when you introduce a new character so late in the game and you know everything about her.

Ok, maybe not everything.

Still, this part in the chapter came up and suddenly I knew this person had to be there. She's mentioned several times earlier in the book, but this is the first time she actually makes an appearance. And then, just as suddenly, I knew exactly who she was, and why she might be more then she seemed.

Now I have to convey all that baggage without telling the reader outright. On top of that, I need it to be sad, and tense, and painful all at once. This is not the first time a character has dropped fully formed into my head, but she's the only non-lead character to do so thus far. It's been very interesting to say the least.

And by that, I mean she's being a pain.

Well, I better get back to it. Besides, I have a tall glass of chocolate goat's milk* in the freezer and its calling my name.


~Sun and Moon




*(Don't knock it till you've tried it. I'm lactose intolerant and I hate soy milk and all that fake stuff on the market, so I drink this instead. Goat's milk is rich and yummy, and makes killer chocolate milk. I dare you to give it a try.)  

Still under construction

The apartment is nearly clean, and edits for chapter twenty-seven have been underway for the past week. I wish I could say I've been making wonderful progress and that I'm almost done with the darned thing(the chapter, not the apartment), but alas, no. Instead of moving through to the sticky part in the middle of said chapter, I got stuck on the beginning.

No joke.

Yup, that's right folks. For the past week I've been stuck on one darned paragraph that refused to cooperate. The whole reason it had to be redone? It was too over the top. Just a little. Ok, maybe more then a little. 

Monday I spent about six hours hammering it out, but still wasn't happy. I'm still not sure, even after getting some wonderful feedback from my beta readers, that I'm happy with it now. It still sounds...off to me. Or maybe its because the original words have been in place for over a year? Either way, I'm setting it aside to come back to later. Maybe then I'll see it as a good fit instead of as a hasty bandage.

 

For now, however, its time for me to get back to work. 

~Sun and Moon

Leave no dish unwashed

Over the past week I have realized I am in desperate need of a time machine. I concidered cloning, honest I did, but decided it was too messy and unpredictable. Nope, time machines are the only way to go.

Unfortunately, they're awfully scarce in Ohio. If you find one in working condition, please let me know.

On another note, I still haven't had a chance to do more then read over chapter twenty-seven and make notes as I've been on a one woman rampage to finally get my apartment in order. So far my livingroom, art studio/study/guinea pig room, and the tiny spare bedroom(read: large closet sized room) are all looking pretty snazzy. The bedroom and the stairwell outside our door is another matter. However, it's too hot to work on the stairwell and our cat, who isn't feeling well, has taken over the bedroom. Since I don't want to disturb her I'll be pulling out my laptop and curling up in the livingroom to get some serious work done at last.

Or at least that's the plan.

There's apple crisp cooling on the stove and my hubby is waiting for me to serve it up(why he won't serve himself until I cut it first is beyond me, lol), so I better get cracking. Bedtime will be here soon enough and I have work in the morning.

I was serious about that time machine, by the way.



~Sun and Moon

     

Loving life

Today is a lazy day. 

Or rather, it was supposed to be. Instead I cleaned my kitchen, did all the dishes except for one(it really needs to soak for a bit, trust me), vacumed, swept what little hard floor we have, gernerally picked up stuff, and did some laundry. I had some good music blasting and sang along as I scrubbed, rinsed, swept, and basically put things to rights. 

Oddly enough, it was awesome. 

I now have a clean house for my husband to come home to. There's time for a nap, and even some artwork before he gets home....well, maybe not the nap. 

As you've probably guessed, I've finished chapter twenty-six. The new ending is still a little raw, but all my betas who have read the new ending love it and that's good enough for me(I can always tweak it later). 

Today is also the last day of my usual three day break between chapters. Tomorrow it's back to work, and I'm hoping the new changes I've made are the right ones. It'll all show up one way or another when I buckled down. This will be my second attempt to finish chapter twenty-seven. I have to admit, I'm a little nervous, but excited too. 

I'm almost done. 

That's right. There are just three chapters after this one and none of them need the kind of rewrite twenty-seven does. With a bit of luck, I'll spend maybe a week on each of them. 

For now, however, I'm still on my three day break and I've been working pretty hard. It's time to go slip into my little art studio for a bit and get lost in lush color and clean lines....or I could try for the nap. 

Hm...choices, choices... 



~Sun and Moon

Time is flying away

Another week come and gone, and I feel like I'm standing still as it blows by.

I woke up this morning to realize it was monday and I hadn't posted a single word for my Sunday blog post. I haven't been late in a while, but I have a good reason. Or rather, I have a reason that makes sense to me.

Actually, its two reasons. 

First of all, I lost a guinea pig last Monday. She had been sick and I'd been trying to get her to pull through with no success. The last of my breeding stock, her death put a definite end to my small breeding operation. I now have a small herd of five guinea pig misfits I either can't bear to sell, or simply won't because I don't trust anyone to understand their quirks like I do. My website died out last year and the online ad I maintained was deleted just yesterday. I'll miss waking up to new babies running around the cube and coroplast cages I built, but its time to let go and just enjoy the ones left to me.

And my other reason for slacking off and forgetting to post yesterday? Well, I had the most amazing day with my husband goofing off and talking about everything and nothing at all. There was a wrestling match(I won), video games(I lost), steak for dinner, and a movie to round out the night.

It was awesome.

I even got some editting done, and chapter 26 is slowly coming together as a new character makes her debut just as things wrap up. It still needs lots of work, but I have the time.

And on that note I think I'll turn in. My pillow is calling my name and I'm about to fall asleep at the keyboard.

G'night folks


~Sun and Moon
 

Progress at last

Things are finally starting to look up around here. I've managed to fixed a scene that was bothering me and even started on working on a new ending for chapter twenty-five. There's new artwork on my desk tonight waiting for a final touch up before it gets a mat and a frame, and I have tomorrow off with my husband for the first time in a long while. 

I even managed to get a full night's sleep last night. 

Yeah, things are definitely looking up. I'm still stumped on how to rework the ending of chapter twenty-six, but I figure I'll come to that when it's time. Until then I have plenty to think about as one of the books I've been putting off while I work on this trilogy has decided to drop some new facts in my lap. Thank goodness for notebooks kept by the bed and the street lamp outside my window. 

For now though, it's time to get back to work while I can. Here's hoping all this forward progress doesn't come crashing to a halt anytime soon. I'm enjoying this ride too much to be getting off now and I have more stories to share then just this one. 

And on that note, I'm out of here. Chapter twenty-five is calling my name and I need to get to work. 

Later :)


~Sun and Moon 








P.S. Happy Father's day :)

One step forward, two steps back

"Take your time. I get paid by the hour."

That's what I tell people when I've just finished ringing them up and they can't seem to find their cash/check book/credit card. And it's true. I do get paid by the hour. That's not why I say it though. 

You see, when those words pass my lips the customer usually smiles or chuckles and then goes back to looking. However, now they know the pressure is off. They know I'm not standing there wishing they'd gotten everything ready while I was ringing up their groceries. And I've discovered that when they're more relaxed they tend to find that elusive cash/check book/credit card a lot faster.

Don't worry, there's a point to all this rambling.

If you look in on my blog regularly, you'll know I've been having problems with the chapter 27 rewrite. Well, maybe "problem" is a bit of an understatement. Its been the most frustrating chapter so far and then some. But in the rush to get it done and out of the way, I didn't realize the real problem.

Sometimes you have to go back in order to go forwards.

There were a couple spots I wasn't truly happy with in chapter twenty-five, and again in chapter twenty-six, but since I was in a hurry to get them done, I brushed them off and ignored that nagging feeling. 

Well now that neglect and rushing has come back to bite me one. Just like those folks who were in such a hurry to get to the next store that they just tossed their cash/check book/credit card in their purse or pocket instead of putting it were it belonged, I tossed some words down and ran on to the next chapter. Now I've wasted a week fumbling for the words I needed when my characters are still waiting for me back in chapter twenty-five wondering where I left my brain.


Nothing makes you feel stupid like your characters giving you the silent treatment. Trust me, it sucks.

So after I tracked down my brain and groveled to my characters for a bit, I returned to chapter twenty-five. I still feel stupid, but at least my characters are talking to me again. Tonight I go back to chapter twenty-five one more time to a proper polish on it before heading to take another look at chapter twenty-six. With a little effort, I should be back to chapter twenty-seven by the end of the week.


Nothing is for sure, of course, but hopefully I've learned my lesson. Unfortunately, only time will tell. In the meantime, have you seen my wallet? I seem to have lost it again.


~Sun and Moon
 

Slow and steady does it

As I'm working on chapter twenty-seven(and wondering how long it's going to take to get it finished so I can move on to chapter 28), I keep hitting these snags. I've probably rewritten the fourth page half a million times already, and it's still not quite right. Part of it is the piece of me that clings to the original words because they've been there so long and they're comfortable. The rest is me just wanting it to be perfect as possible and refusing to settle for less then the best I can do.

After working on the same page for nearly a week, I feel like it's nearly there. Like it just needs the right words, the right push, and it'll all fall into place for me. So while I probably have at least another week's worth of work to put into it until I can call it close to ready...I'm making progress.

It's hard not to rush ahead, though. Because while I'm making progress, it's taking me longer then I thought it would. Plus I keep thinking about the fact I'm just three chapters away from being done with edits. I keep getting all excited....and then I start screwing up and it's back to square one.

I have to admit though, I've peeked ahead a few times. Mostly to reassure myself the last three chapters won't need work quite on the scale this one does. So far, so good, but I've said that before and been wrong, so we'll just have to wait and see.

In the meantime, there's a new scene to fit into chapter twenty-five, cover art for "New Beginnings" to finish, and my apartment could do with a good cleaning. I took a break from edits today, but tomorrow its back to work on chapter twenty-seven. Hopefully I'll be able to leave page four behind at last and move on to something new.

Keep your fingers crossed for me, ok? I'm off to get some sleep. Goodnight, folks.


~Sun and Moon

Penny for your thoughts

Getting opinions for my work can be an all day thing. Fortunately, most of my beta readers work at the same store as me. This was especially good yesterday when I found myself stuck waiting for my husband to finish his shift so we could go home. 

Instead of pouting when I couldn't find someone else to take me home, I tracked down two of my beta readers and asked them to have a look at a scene change I was thinking of doing in chapter twenty-five(yes, I know I'm supposed to be working on chapter twenty-seven, but this scene had been bugging me for a while).

While I was doing that, another person I work with saw the papers and asked what it was. My reply was a little garbled as I was(and still am) sick and had run out of cold medicine halfway through the day, but I must've managed to make some kind of sense, because she decided to read it too.


So I now have several opinions on that scene. Mostly they're positive, but seeing as the original scene was VERY polished and I threw the alternate one together in an hour's time late at night after I'd had some nyquil....it wasn't whole hearted. 

Beta reader One(no names, sorry) thought the alternate was better. Or, it would be once I fixed two mistakes that she pointed out. 

Beta reader Two said it would be very good if I blended the changes in better. A lot better. As in take the new bits and transfer them into the polished chapter seamlessly.


Coworker who took time to read pointed out an unrelated error(I had forgotten to add "the" at the right spot...on BOTH copies. How embarrassing!), and then said she liked them both. I didn't get a chance to clarify things for my fuzzy sick person brain before my husband was ready to go, but that's ok. I got what I wanted.


So today I'll be getting back to work on chapter 27 as well as giving that new scene a good polish. Hopefully tomorrow I'll have something to show for it. In the meantime, it's time for lunch and the leftover chicken lo mein in my fridge is calling my name.


Now where did I leave that little bottle of hot sauce...hm...




~Sun and Moon

Is this thing on?

First of all, I would like to apologize for the late blog post. It wasn't until I got back from work this afternoon that I realized I had forgotten to post yesterday. 

Vacation can do that to a girl.

Yes siree, for the past week I've just been relaxing with my husband and being an all around bum. And it was awesome.

Unfortunately, it's time to go back to work and I don't just mean for that lovely thing known as a paycheck. Chapter twenty-seven is still waiting for those edits and will need a major rewrite. I also have a million little things to do around the apartment as well as a couple of new drawings waiting to be finished. Of course logic tells me I should've done all this while I was lounging around the house during my week long vacation. 


Then again, where's the fun in that? 


So it's back to trying to find enough hours in the day for all the little things while I do my best to whip my book into shape. The good news is that I'm almost done with this last all around edit for this book. Soon I'll be able to set it aside and move on to Book Two. 


I hope.


Anyway, it's waaaay past my bedtime, so I'm off to bed before my husband wakes up and realizes I'm still typing away over here. 

Goodnight all :)





~Sun and Moon

A day on the farm

Well, it's been a rough few weeks, but the edits for chapter 26 are finally done. Today I'll be getting to work on chapter 27 after I get my sore butt out of this comfy computer chair and get some cleaning done.

Why am I so sore? Well, my husband managed to get his dirt bike fixed a couple weeks ago and yesterday we loaded it into the bronco and took it out to the farm for a test drive. It was an awesome day of hot sun and fresh air. While he rode around one of the far pastures, I spent my day chatting with one of the boarders in the barn as she cleaned stalls and scrubbed out water buckets. We topped it off with hotdogs and hamburgers fresh off the grill along with chips, salsa, salad, and greens. It was wonderful. 

But after helping my husband take the top off his bronco and haul a dirt bike into the back with no ramps....I hurt. 

All that walking around I did probably didn't help either. Thus I feel pretty beat up, but hopefully that won't keep me from cleaning the kitchen and maybe getting some artwork finished. If so, well....there's always tomorrow.

Right?


~Sun and Moon 

To cut or not to cut, that's the dilema

I still haven't finished chapter 26.

Were you surprised?

On second thought, don't answer that. Instead, I'll explain why I still have a muddle of halfway edited chapters and hopefully you won't roll your eyes and tell me I'm nuts.

Or at least try not too, ok?

Anyway, remember that virus that I wrote about in my last post? Well, no sooner then the next day, it was back. But not the same exact one. No, this one was another variation that was even smarter then the last. It took my husband and his friend several hours to get rid of it, during which it actually took over our computer, forcing my husband to have to pull the plug to shut it down.

*sigh*

The next day it happened again. We got rid of it.



So far it hasn't shown back up, but it seems it's only going to be a matter of time before I see it appear on my screen to invade my computer once more. 


On that note, I've been sticking to sites we're sure are still safe, and trying to get editting done in between work and getting art ready for next month's sale. To top it off, I managed to catch a cold over the past few days.


Of course, even if everything hadn't gone so splendidly these past few days, I'm not sure if I would've made much progress. I decided to snip yet another piece from one of my chapters and now as I find myself trying to smooth out the rough edges from my latest cut, I wonder if I should have cut it at all.


Not something you need to be thinking about when you're full of dayquil and cough drops.


So the offending chapters are getting sent off to a friend of mine to make sure I didn't just shoot myself in the foot, and I'm off to get some real work done on chapter 26 while I can still think to type.


If this post sounds a little odd, don't worry. I'll be back to my usual, drug-less self by next Sunday. Until then, I'm off to tackle those edits and take a nap until my husband gets back to help me with dishes.



~Sun and Moon

Get a hobby....please

Some people really need a hobby.

Now, I'm not talking about me. I have hobbys. Probably more then a sane person should. No, I'm talking about the idiots who spend all this time creating viruses and trojans and the like so they can set them loose on the internet for others to stumble across.

Yeah, those people.

Because of someone like that, I lost the better part of my day trying to figure out why Windows was insisting I had all sorts of spyware, malware, and every other bad computer thing infecting my system. Thanks to a computer savy friend of my husband's, all my computer problems had been cleared up, but by then my entire day was shot and I ended up spending the rest of the evening playing games online.

So because of all that, chapter 26 still isn't finished and the other chapters I'd realized needed tweaking are untouched. Tomorrow I might be able to catch up on the writting I missed today and make some progress on the pile of cleaning that I have yet to get through. Thank goodness my vacation is only about two weeks away. At this rate, I'm going to spend the whole time cleaning and writting.

Which is exactly how I had hoped I wouldn't be spending it.

On the upside, I finished a new piece of artwork(not the one I was supposed to be working on, but oh well), did some weaving on my little lap loom, and cleaned the livingroom while watching "Penelope" and "Ever After" on my husband's PS3. Other then the false alarm with the bogus virus, it was a good day.

Well, my husband just woke up and asked why I was still awake, so I should probably head to bed. That, and the fact I'm about to fall asleep at my keyboard, tells that this is probably a good idea. 

G'night all :)


~Sun and Moon

Late again *sigh*

Well, this post is a little late, but better late then never, right?

 Anyway, chapter twenty-five was finished thursday afternoon. It's still a little rough around the edges, but it'll do for now. I'll be taking another look at it wensday and giving a final polish, as well as taking a peek at chapter twenty-three. If nothing goes wrong, I'll be finishing up the initial edits for chapter twenty-six right about then. In fact, I might be able to call it a wrap by friday and spend the weekend going over the twelve or so pieces of artwork I hope to sell in May.

There are about five chapters to edit(including number twenty-six) before I can do a final brush through and call Book One done and take my week off before tackling Book Two. I already have the beginnings for both chapters one and two written out and ready to go into the computer, and chapters one thru ten have been outlined. New characters are starting to pop up in my head, and if I'm not careful, my supervisors are going to catch me scribbling notes for those scenes that insist on being written down right then, thank you very much.

Trying to take care of a customer? Too bad. Attempting to zone your area and neaten up in general? It can wait, because that new saytr character from an unknown chapter wants to talk to Kris and the information for his race has to be written down in my little note book this very minute.

Yeah...I'm not crazy, I swear.

And on that note, I better get back to work.


~Sun and Moon