Paksworld

…but I didn’t.  I remember now, I started to, was interrupted, hit the wrong button, and the post went *poof*.   The interruption took considerable time, and…eventually….I forgot.   I have no memory of what I actually said, either.  Once it’s out of my head and the little letters appear on the screen, it’s easily forgotten, especially with interruptions.   It may have been about progress, or a reminder that I’m heading off to DragonCon in early September or a comment on the weather.  Whatever it was, it’s gone.

So.  Had everything gone as planned, I’d now have 120,000 words in the file.   I don’t.  However, not to fret:  words are still trickling in, albeit more slowly, thanks to interruptions and a prolonged bout of weather-related sinus and general blah-ness.  Nothing serious, but the heat and the dust that rises with that amount of heat and a strong breeze (which may have thrown some various things at me, as well) knocked my energy down very low.   (A medical article I read pointed out that a particular multi-drug-resistant bacteria found on hog farms that caused unusual serious human infections after the Joplin, Missouri tornado a few years ago was probably transported by tornado–tornado as vector.

It’s now finally back below 100F again (albeit upper-mid-90s) and I’m feeling a little less sick today.    Well enough, in fact, to cook actual food again, properly.  A small chunk of meat, cooked with the previously sauteed onions, garlic, carrot, celery, some diced tomatoes and green chilis,  some corn and green beans, a slug of red wine, a few other flavorings.  It was good.  The rest of it will be good tomorrow.

Although I’m  a little over a week behind the original plan, there is buffer space built in (always, always, build in buffer space.  As much as possible.  Stuff happens.)   I expect to be done in plenty of time.    Certain elements in the story are falling nicely into place; others (as usual) will require having chunks lopped off, some shaping done, and a lot of  sanding.   What can I say without saying too much?   Hmmm.  These books are shorter than the Paks books, and a layer or two less thick.  Which makes spoilering easy and avoiding it harder.  The usual suspects from the Vatta books are all there and being themselves:  Great-aunt Grace, Rafe, Stella, Ky, MSgt MacRobert, MSgt Pitt.  Treachery abounds in opposition, but natural history is also in play.

For Dragon*Con, I still have just my preliminary schedule.   I don’t know which hotel they’ll put me in this year.   I’m planning to wait until I get my packet of information from them and a final schedule before posting about it here.  But I am going, and plan to be there Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday morning (mostly checking out Monday morning, of course)  so any of you who are going, do keep an eye out for me.  I have a new fancy vest that I may wear part of the time–got it in Oklahoma at SoonerCon and it’s a suitably gaudy item.   You’d have to see it to believe it.   It was a fancy vest to start with, and then someone embellished it.  And embellished some more.  I do need to put some gold buttons and chains on it, because although I *can* haul it together and use the hooks & eyes, it’s obvious that it’s just a bit (!!) small that way.

Back to the book now.   People are loading up supplies, guns, ammo, and planning to head out.   There may be heffalumps ahead.