Total words: 48,180.
Reason for stopping: I have finished chapter twelve. Now is the time of sleeping.
Music: mostly Pink, Dar Williams, and Ludo. Still.
The cats: Alice, demanding I stop typing and love her. Others, unknown.
...well, that happened. And yes, the temptation to write just another two hundred words and break the 10k barrier was very strong. I have suppressed it by reminding the little voice that asks for such things that we're on track to break 50k on Wednesday (I get Tuesday nights off), and that's pretty damn awesome. Ashes of Honor is projected to be "average length" for a Toby book, which means between 101,000 and 112,000 words. Probably somewhere in the middle. So hey, I have almost half a book! Woo-hoo!
In the text, I can say without spoilers that Toby and Quentin have reached Tamed Lightning, and everything is going about as well as can be expected at this stage in a Toby book. So I get to have April O'Leary-flavored goodness for at least five minutes before everything goes to hell.
Finding the balance between "look, if you're reading book six in the series, I really hope you've read the first five" and "previously, on October..." is fascinating, and incredibly difficult. Every book, I get people who complain that there's too much back story, and people who complain that there's not enough; I have to find the ragged edge between them and skate along it like my life depends on it. I think I'm getting better at it, but there's so much background now that it's still occasionally very hard.
I'm making my goals; the book is moving along at a decent clip; while there will doubtless be extensive rewrites and at least one crying jag, I expect to have a finished first draft by the end of October.
Yay.
September 13 2011, 04:42:39 UTC 5 years ago
September 13 2011, 05:32:27 UTC 5 years ago
I got the phone call this morning to say it was in at the bookstore, and even though I was only working a half-day it was the longest. wait. EVER. until the end of my shift.
It's a gorgeous spring day here so I'm going to sit in the sunshine, possibly with one or more of my own cats, and read until my eyes fall out.
September 13 2011, 14:24:20 UTC 5 years ago
September 13 2011, 06:19:58 UTC 5 years ago
Actually, I think you do it as smoothly as I've seen and better than the majority, it is indeed a very tricky path to walk with a sheer cliff on one side and a thousand foot drop on the other.
September 13 2011, 14:24:35 UTC 5 years ago
WORD.
September 13 2011, 12:06:15 UTC 5 years ago
I don't get people who complain about backstory in a series. If it's info you already know, scan past it for petesakes. It's not there for you - it's there for people who came in late to the game. And if you scan past it, you get to the really awesome stuff quicker. Sheesh.
September 13 2011, 14:25:01 UTC 5 years ago
September 13 2011, 12:22:04 UTC 5 years ago
September 13 2011, 14:25:12 UTC 5 years ago
September 13 2011, 12:45:32 UTC 5 years ago
September 13 2011, 14:25:25 UTC 5 years ago
September 13 2011, 14:03:27 UTC 5 years ago
September 13 2011, 14:25:37 UTC 5 years ago
September 13 2011, 15:32:33 UTC 5 years ago
September 13 2011, 15:53:24 UTC 5 years ago
Thank you!
September 13 2011, 16:35:14 UTC 5 years ago
I think you have the perfect balance between backstory and assuming people have already read the previous books. We the readers need little reminders sometimes, but we don't need a complete rehash.
September 13 2011, 16:44:24 UTC 5 years ago
September 13 2011, 16:45:48 UTC 5 years ago
September 13 2011, 20:08:13 UTC 5 years ago
I'm sure I speak for many gathered here when I say: I trust "the end of October" will not come until long, long after the *completion* of this particular book! =:o}
Fret ye not. We'll read it whenever it arrives, with gratitude and joy.
September 13 2011, 20:14:32 UTC 5 years ago
September 13 2011, 20:56:57 UTC 5 years ago