I have 15 pages left to write to get to 50k. I’m not sure if that’s going to be “The End” or not, but I intend to finish AbNo tonight. I hope. I don’t really have to sleep, do I?

I’m kind of thinking this is the beginning of the climax, but I’m not absolutely sure. We will see.

NP: George Winston, Forest

NW: Absolutely Nothing, chapter 31

Only got two pages done last night… it was a combination of not feeling well and not really wanting to write. But that’s ok, I’m still going to make it to 50k by tomorrow night.

Sent off two submissions last night as well. We’ll see what happens with them!

Oh, and for the record, I hate wordcounts.

Got to 170 last night (almost typed 270; while that would be nice, I highly doubt it. *g*)

It’s coming along quite nicely, I think. There are a few spots that need some work, but I only need to write 30 more pages by Friday and I have 3 days to do it in, so… it’s doable. I’m not sure I’m going to be finished with it really, by Friday, though. Oh well.

More later…

sadness always comes after joy, you know? I will say for the record that at least I was pre-warned this might happen, and I really appreciate the warning. But still. This sucks.

Because of printer problems, Cosmos Books will not be publishing The Tenth Ghost or Heart’s Desire. They had to cut their list wayyy back, and unfortunately I was one of the cuts. Thus is the life of a small publisher, I’m afraid.

So, what did I do? did I mope around a bit because my plan just got shot to pieces? And I was doing so well, too.

actually, I remembered ROC was accepting email queries, so I dusted off the Heart’s Desire query and sent it winging out into the ether. I have my doubt they’ll take it; it’s more a DAW book than anything, really, but I figured it wouldn’t hurt to try ROC first. I was rather proud of that query.

So… what to do about The Tenth Ghost… hmm. I *could* see if Sandy at Writers-Exchange wants to publish the print version as well… I really should, actually. I like the company, and I have a feeling the print version would sell better than the ebook is selling. Heck, since it’s going to be a series, I might as well.

I will admit, selfishly, that I just wanted it out in hardback… *sniff* *g*

Okay, in reality, this doesn’t put me back too far. I still have books on contract, and one out.

And after all, what good is the road if it’s not a bit rocky in places, right?

Trying to be optimistic…

Jen

So I come home from work today and Chris is home already, and I start to call Sprint and he says, “You didn’t even look on the table, did you?” And I look on the table, and there’s a box. And a goblet-type glass. And I think, “Oh, no…”

Someone went to Burger King. (Anyone who has been in chat the last few nights knows what I’m talking about already. *g*)

Someone bought me a light-up Gandalf goblet. *sigh*

Okay, in fact, it’s not that bad and the light-up bit comes out. (grin) But remind me not to sell my rights when the movie guys come calling, ok? I do *not* want Sid and Peterson’s Practical Guide to Hell light-up watches at Burger King. really. I don’t. Honest.

Just t-shirts. And Action figures… but author approved.

yippee!!

Well, I did good tonight. Got to 162, that’s 20 pages for today and a little above target. Now I can go to bed and sleep well.

total wordcount so far: 40,500 words. 9500 to go by Friday…

I only got to 142 last night before I went to bed. But! Made it to 150 before lunch, wrote 4 pages at lunch, and currently sit at a nice rounded 157. Goal for the day is 160, so I shouldn’t have any problem.

Although it would be nice to get this done early, I doubt it will happen.

I ended up getting to 135 last night before I went to bed. That’s a really good day’s work, I think, and I really didn’t sit down for a horribly long time, either (at least it didn’t feel like it.)

Today, goal is to get to 150, so I only have 50 more pages to get to 50k by Friday. This is doable!

That will also mean it’s a short book, but I think I can expand it a lot in the rewrite. I’m planning to work on the sequel to PoS in December, and revise this one in Dec/Jan. If I can expand it to oh, 80-90k, which I might be able to do if I explore some of the subplots, it could be my first professional submission. We’ll see!

I could, though, now that I think about it… hmm. Nah. I won’t even say it.

I now officially have 69 pages left to get to 50k. I wrote… let’s see… 21 pages so far today, am still not really sleepy, so I might try for 25. I doubt I’ll make it to 30. That means if I write the same amount of pages tomorrow, I’ll hit my weekend goal of getting to page 150!! That will be the first goal I’ve hit writing this book…

Things are on track. And I just discovered that this ties in quite neatly to my various other vaguely connected novels; I have this secret society of Healers who figure in about four of five different books… they’re endowed with some fearsome powers, but have rules to follow as well…

This might also help me write TDR, now that I come to think about it. Hmm…

You know, I’ve posted too much here today.

Portable Writing Devices

I want to know what you use, why you use it, and why you decided to use your

product over any other. What are its perks? Disadvantages? Would you

recommend your product to anyone else or tell them to find something else to

use?

This is for a Vision article. I’m going to write about QuickPads (both the

old and new version, provided they send me the right software on

Monday–don’t ask.)

I’d like to hear from:

AlphaSmart owners

Other QuickPad users/owners

Palm users

Visor users

Any other PDA devices–Casseopia(sp?) comes to mind; I’m sure there are

others…

Pen and Paper, of course…

Laptop users

Portable typewriters, even. Anyone?

Has anyone tried writing on those Email devices? (Like the Mailstation?)

Anyone else? Anything else? Give me your thoughts! Email me at:

jenstclair@hollylisle.com with your replies. Thanks!