For our second winter giveaway, we're just going to stick with what works: the random drawing. Leave a comment, potentially win a book. Specifically, potentially win A Local Habitation, the second book in the October Daye series. Come in at the beginning, and you'll have time to get fully caught up before book four comes out in March! Or get a copy to give to a friend! The Rosemary and Rue drawing is also still going, and will remain open until a winner is chosen on Sunday afternoon.

Just comment here to be entered in the drawing. A winner will be chosen Tuesday afternoon. Game on!

Words: 3,639.
Total words: 3,639.
Reason for stopping: chapter one is finished at last!
Music: mostly modern folk.
The cats: Lilly, bed; Thomas, floor by my feet; Alice, unknown.

Chapter one of the sixth Toby book is finally done! I hate first chapters. I have like, a 20% success rate with first chapters—almost every first chapter I've ever written has had to be chucked out the window and replaced with something else by the end of the draft. Sadly, this doesn't mean I get to start books on chapter two and go back later to fill in the "how we got in this hand basket" part of the narrative. But oh, how I wish I could.

The really fascinating thing about starting a book this far into an ongoing series is how vague I have to get in posts like this one, because otherwise, I'm giving away who lives, who dies, and who has been transformed into a piece of garden statuary for mouthing off to the Queen of the Mists one time too many. But it's so nice to be making progress, and it's so nice to finally be getting my teeth into this adventure, which has been simmering patiently away on the back burner for ages while I fought my way through One Salt Sea.

Today we're going to jump high, cheer loud, and look pretty, y'all.

Word.