So, I am back from Dragon*Con and I have SO much to do.  I need to outline Nicholas, gut the first part of Blood, rewrite the first part of Nicholas, and then gut and rewrite the Cai short story as well. 

If I actually buckle down and work on these things, I could be busier than sin for quite a while. 

The plan is to start with Nicholas, write the tentative outline this weekend, and then start real work on it next week.  I have a "sixty-day" plan, where I'm hoping to get it mostly done in the next two months, by working on it pretty much every day, barring any trips or anything like that.  (And, since we have a trip, I'll miss out on a day, but I'm hoping that being away from home will enable me to do what I did in Miami and work extra lots while I'm there, parked in a library or something.  So hopefully I won't lose too much progress.)  Of course, this is all predicated on believing that Nicholas is a 100K-120K novel, and that I can manage 2K words a day or so.  If that ends up not working, I'll adjust my schedule accordingly.

My editor finally got back to me, and between his first impressions and the stuff I got from the writing panels that I attended at Dragon*Con, I have a head stuffed full of ideas.  I'm putting Blade on hold for a while, both because it's a sequel and I don't need to be working on it while I have other ideas-- no sense in writing a sequel when I haven't sold the first book yet-- and because I have to let it percolate a bit.  I think that the changes I'll be making to Blood will change it, as well, so I'm going to do them first, and work on it later.

My editor's words made such a huge difference.  The practical experience of having someone actually sit down and tell you "this doesn't work, and here's why" is very different from "this is what you should do after you write a book."  Anyway.  I need to get to work.  Of course, at the moment, I have to go chop veggies for dinner... but after that, I get to sit down and write outline-y goodness.  And then read books about writing a mystery, and pray that my tentative ideas play out in the big novel. 

Switching over from the old version of Word to the new version seems to have screwed up my novel, and I am not enough of a Word egghead to be able to figure out the formatting issue.  It is, of course, driving me insane.  Stupid reason not to work on a novel, but there it is.  It was so distracting that even though I had gotten caught up (in Blade, incidentally) on where the story was and what I needed to do to it, I couldn't compose myself enough to actually write on it.

Stupid.

I worked on Nicholas again instead.  Which isn't a complaint, it's just...  I want to work on Blade again.  It's irritating me that I am not, because I am much farther along with that novel than I remembered (I am nearly to the funbits!  The climax!  The slog of the middle is almost over!) and I would really, really like to just be done with it now, please? 

Naturally, that's easier said than done, especially when the formatting has gone all wonky.  FEH!

I am thisclose to doing a copy/paste into notepad and making a new Word document.  Of course, I want to know what went wrong so I can avoid it in the future-- which is the only reason I have not done that-- that's the easy way out.

At least I have a backup plan in case I can't fix it.  And, of course, there is always the last resort-- the shout-out in LJ of "help!"  Because LJ has all the answers.  *grin*

Anyway.  I have a basic, bare-bones plot for Nicholas, and I am considering writing an outline.  I have gotten far enough into the story to have gotten "backstory" in my head from most of the big players, and it's a lot of fun.  I really like that world.  It's come together well, and I am pleased. 

So, that's where that stands, and I'll probably start putting together the Nicholas outline tomorrow.  And start kicking around an actual title.  "Nicholas," while the narrator, isn't the focus of the book-- the murder is.  (Duh, right?)  Hopefully getting the outline together will help me come up with a title.

Last week was pretty hectic, as the visit from my friend turned into this huge and massive energy suck, because everything that could go wrong did.

Still, I did manage to squeeze some writing time in, and I also managed to do some research.  A visit to the gun range later, and my main character in Nicholas now carries a .45, because that is totally the gun he would carry.  (Not incidentally, it is also the gun I would carry if I could, but I don't have my concealed carry permit yet.  Yet.)  I also got the joy of shooting a Caltech .223, which was incredible! and fun, and now I want to go back to the gun range a lot more, but damn if ammunition isn't expensive.  Feh.  Still, I think if J has his way we'll be going a bit more regularly than we had been, which is a good thing.  :D

I am writing a paranormal mystery.  Me.  Who'd've thunk it?  Thank goodness for Dragon*Con next week, because I need some guidance with that.  I am so unprepared for the genre it's not funny.  I don't even read many mysteries these days, though I have increased my intake since I have started writing this one.  Speaking of, yes, I am going to D*Con!  (Hopefully.  It is the plan, anyway, barring unforeseen complications.)  I have a schedule, preliminarily, and I am all kinds of excited because I have two panels with a certain author that I have a love/hate relationship with, and one panel with Anne McCaffrey on my schedule. 

Yes, you read that right.  The Weyrlady herself.  Dude.  I cannot wrap my head around it.

I will have my notebook with me.  I am debating bringing a book to have her sign.  I have a very old copy of DragonSong that it would be nice to have her sign, but it's a panel and I don't know the rules about that.  Still.  Can you say SQUEE?

Yay DragonCon.

Getting back to work slowly after that break.

It has been slow going.  Oddly, Blade has not been my primary focus-- another novel has leaped up and grabbed me, and I am just letting it take the center stage, for now.  I do not really like that, since I want to finish the trilogy, but I figure as long as I finish things, I will work on whatever I feel the need to work on.

I am also letting up on myself as far as considering things work-- I know that reading is important, but I used to not consider reading work.  Now, I have started to incorporate reading (both novels and research books) as part of necessary work, and thus don't feel as badly as I used to when I am not actively working on the novels. 

This upcoming week, I will have company, so I don't know how much work I'll have going on, but I'm hoping to be able to bounce ideas off the friend who is visiting, and thus keep momentum going, even if I don't actively write.  :)  Plus, just some introspection time is always good.  I need to build room into my schedule for that, too.

Overall-- the writing is going to keep going as long as I keep my butt in the chair and keep forward progress.  I just need to know at the end of a week that I have made forward progress.

This week? I got some reading done on Blade, some writing on Nicholas, and some good work done by creating "The Muse's Gift," a Yahoo group for writers.  :D  So, this week was a good, productive week.  I am pleased and proud.

Some ideas are bubbling that might help me get back on track.

This is a good thing, and I am hopeful.  We'll have to see where they go-- but here's hoping that they go up.  *G*

Back online after a massive shut down.

I got a rejection from my short story, alas, but I will be making some recommended changes and trying again.  :)

In the meantime I am just trying to keep going with the story.

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Only 1K today, but I am hoping to get more done this week.

Got a lot to do tomorrow (chores-wise) so I may be a little slack then, but I shall get more done!  I will likely trek up to C's work and hide out there and work some.  It will be good for me to get out of the house anyway.

My editor is supposed to get back to me this Friday!  That would be a good thing.  Fingers are crossed, anyway.  :)

I sent Bone Tooth, my Cailorenne shapeshifter story, to Realms of Fantasy today!

I am so excited and hopeful.  But, that is just the first of many.  For now, back to work on Blade of the Chosen!

I have been so busy doing housework and cleaning and errands that I haven't gotten any work done on it this week.  Bad on me.  Hopefully tomorrow I'll have some time to get some work done. 

So...

Yesterday I managed ~3,000 words, and today I repeated that most excellent accomplishment!  I am hoping to do it again tomorrow!  (Provided, of course, I can get to C's work.  I seem to be more productive there.  We shall see.)

I am giddy over getting the 6k, even if I don't get another word written.  I've gotten more work done this week than I usually do in a regular week at home.  Which is shameful, really.  I might not be able to do 3k words a day at home, but I certainly could average over 1500, and I think I'll start aiming for that again.

At any rate, this "writing retreat" has definitely kick-started the writing, and that makes me happy.  I should be to Chapter 17 by tomorrow, and that is a very, very good thing!  :D