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.

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105,000+ now.   Story is coming together nicely, though I’ve found some problems to be chainsawed out in revision.

For anyone who’s going to DragonCon, I got my panel schedule today (yesterday?  I’m writing at full speed; I don’t know when I get what or what I did with it…)  and am hoping to pick up a reading or signing time or both again this year.  I’ll be on a couple of panels with Esther Friesner, which will be fun.

The current pair of socks (the last of the “summer socks” for this year) are on the heel flaps.  Red, with a white stripe below the rolled top–the usual short-sock pattern.  The foot section will be blue and white striped, and the toe will be red with a one-row white stripe.  I hope the navy blue yarn I ordered comes in tomorrow or Thursday so I can start the foot as soon as I’ve turned the heel.  I’m wering the 4th of July socks now (blue top and heel, red and white striped foot, blue toe…)   If it doesn’t, I’ll go on and start the next regular (taller) socks.

But it’s after midnight again, so bedtime for the summer writer.

The book has moved from the backstretch, where it was interfered with by sprinter-bred short story attempts, and is now on the turn toward home, though I can’t claim “homestretch” just yet.   It’s running smoothly at this point–10,000 words this past week, which is quite nice (the 3000 word day made my fingers hurt; I’m pretty much limited to 2000 on the day after day thing.)   I’m a little over 89,000 words right now, and it will reach 90,000 words today.   Getting that short story concern out of my mind really helped.   I can now hold the existing story (and what I know or surmise about the part that’s not written down yet)  in my head and see better where it wants to go, like a jockey who’s finally worked a horse out of a bad pocket and has open track in front.    The story-horse is on the bit, eager to get to the finish line.

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So tonight the ms. stands at 70,000+ words.   This is after chunks removed and chunks added over the past few weeks.   Front end writing toward the end, and backfilling gaps both.  More chunks remain to be removed, but I’m waiting on the larger ones until I’m closer to the end.   There’s quite a bit of back-filling to be done; some of the writing has been fairly skeletal…the skeleton needs muscle, tendons, skin, and clothing.   Aiming at a finished length of ~120,000, which means 50,000 to do between now and the end of August.  Doable as so much is fleshing out the scenes and the transitions between scenes  (drat–I just has an opossum on the window-screen beside me.  Young one, but well past the cute stage.)  The story itself is moving well into the final stages.

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There are days I wish I were Granny Weatherwax and think of knitting stockings like that, but my present form is more that of Nanny Ogg, who in other ways I don’t much resemble.  Yet.  Anyway:  Stuff has been going on, of several forms and various levels, and you folk have been neglected.  My apologies.  The neglect, or partial neglect, will probably continue at least another two weeks.  Things that Ought to Have Been Done have Not Been Done because things that Ought Not to Have Been Done were done (partly by others, partly by me) and got in the way of the Ought to Have Been Done ones.

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First, for those wishing for a print form of DEEDS OF HONOR.   A POD version will appear.  I don’t know when yet, or have the details, but sales were good enough in the first couple of weeks of the e-book to trigger the “How would you feel about a POD version?” question from the powers that be.  And I said “Sure, fine, let’s do it.”    More when I know more.

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In the first book of all–Sheepfarmer’s Daughter–there is a comment about the colors worn by Sofi Ganarrion’s cavalry troop and by Vladi’s polearms company.   I can’t find it.   I thought it was in this chapter…then in that chapter…it’s just a casual mention, but…where?   I know it’s there, but I have conflicting notes from another time…and I’m writing a side-story from Crown of Renewal that involves a cohort of Ganarrion’s people, and need the colors.  (If the editor likes it, that story will be in an anthology called Shattered Shields, coming out from Baen.)

So I’d very much appreciate it if someone who’s got the time could  answer that.

In the meantime, revisions are almost done (somewhat slowed by needing to get this story out of its snit and finished.   I’ll post about its intransigent nature later.)

Crown of Renewal, by a nose, despite all the obstacles in its path as reported in breathless gasps by Crown’s disheveled jockey: Read the rest of this entry »

It’s been a very trying race for Crown of Renewal‘s jockey, as we were blocked,  forced back, had mud kicked onto us, tried to find holes…had those holes abruptly filled by another horse’s big broad butt,   were bumped hard, found other holes, some of which led nowhere at all except to more bumping and fending off other jockeys’ whips.    In fact, all the other horses in the race were trouble:  Fickle Fate,  Interruption,  New Assignment,  HellVirus,  Bad Timing,  Pain in the Neck,  Complication, Accident, Family Crisis.  All ridden by jockeys with the intent of ruining Crown‘s race.  Read the rest of this entry »

After multiple false starts, the braid is well on its way…and it gets easier as it goes along.    It would have been nice to be here a month ago…no, two months ago…but all the braids back then tangled into impenetrable knots.   And all because I kept starting at the wrong point.    If you mistake the beginning,  nothing else fits.

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