happyTotal words: 17,412.
Reason for stopping: I have finished chapter five, and now it is time for bed.
Music: totally random shuffle; lots of country music.
The cats: all feline locations are currently unknown, which probably ought to worry me a bit.
So I finally got the chance to return to Ashes of Honor, which is good, since that means everything is going according to schedule. And as expected, I opened the file, looked at the text, squinted a little, and promptly wrote an entirely new chapter one, following it up with a shiny new chapter five (which would have been chapter four, if chapter one hadn't become chapter two). My total inability to write the first chapter the first time I try continues unabated!
I am really, really happy to be back in Toby's head. She's a comforting place for me to be, messed-up and bizarre as she can sometimes be. I've known her for a long time, after all, and this is our sixth book together. That, too, is a little bit strange, and a whole lot wonderful. Six books! Back when this was a short story and I was an aspiring novelist, who would have guessed? It really is amazing.
Next week is the WorldCon in Reno, but for right now, it's me and Toby and the gang, and we're going on a wonderful adventure, again, and I couldn't be any happier. Honest.
August 8 2011, 05:56:15 UTC 5 years ago
I know exactly how you feel. I've been with my characters for thirteen years now and getting back into the head of Laurel, the main character, is a very comfortable, familiar, sometimes relaxing thing. I love getting back into the groove with other characters, the give and take and loving insults and verbal banter and cutting phrases at forty paces and all that. My novel-in-progress started as a short story in which many characters were different people altogether so we've all come quite a ways and we're not sure if we love this part of the journey yet or not, but we've liked where we've been, more or less. Here's to future fine sailing into riches and honor and fabulousness! With cats, of course. Never go anywhere without them.
August 8 2011, 19:05:18 UTC 5 years ago