Umm, scratch that. How’s this sound?

3. Finish Heart’s Desire this weekend. Current wordcount: 63750. I can easily get to 65k tonight, no sweat. Maybe even more, depending on what else I get done.

I am going to be very optimistic and project the finishing wordcount between 78-80k. Maybe a bit more than that.

A snippet:

Sarah heard Lucas chanting behind them, and his voice wove into the background with the quiet movements of the Hounds and Michael’s steady breathing. She closed her eyes.

After a little while, she realized she heard someone speaking, as if from very far away. Sarah concentrated on the voice, but she could not make out any words, just a sense of urgency in its tone. She tried to open her eyes, but she couldn’t seem to move. The buzzing tingled across her whole body now, blocking her ears to sound and her mind to anything but the sparks of pain from the connection.

The voice grew louder, but she still could not make out the words. Something bumped into her back and threw her off balance. Tib yowled in her ear. And the buzzing vanished as the connection severed.

Sarah blinked and focused on a blade of grass an inch away from her nose. A hound whined above her, and a cold nose snuffled across her neck. Her fingers twitched with residual energy.

Tib yowled again, right in her ear. Sarah blinked. She saw Michael a few feet away, still unresponsive but not as pale. Gabriel sat on his other side, nursing a well-clawed hand.

Sarah saw the flash of Tib’s claws as he prepared to bloody her into consciousness and raised her head to fend him off.

“I’m… I’m awake. You don’t have to disfigure me, Tib.” Sarah sat up, reeled for a moment, then leaned against a tree. “Ouch. My head hurts.”

“As it well should,” Lucas said from the other side of the clearing. “You nearly died.”

“I thought you said it would work if Gabriel and I…”

“Yes, at full strength, perhaps, but neither of you are at full strength,” Lucas said. “I’m almost finished. Just wait for me there.”

And we continue…

Hmm. Just thought of something.

When I’m mad, or frustrated, or angry, or furious, I take out my anger and frustrations on my characters. *g* So if I say “Someone is going to die,” they invariably do.

But the question of the day is:

What do non-writers do? I mean, I’m sure non-writers have to do *something* to get past their anger or frustration or fury… but what? Anyone know?

Not that I’m particularly angry or frustrated today (yet), but I think someone might die anyway…

Well. By this time next week, I will (hopefully) have everything packed and ready to go in my truck. I’m planning to leave after the Board Meeting and head off to Bethel. I can’t wait.

This weekend’s going to be cleaning weekend, though; I obviously destroyed my chances at having the basement done by June 1. *g* Oh well. But this weekend I get to clean and tidy the house in preparation for being gone for two weeks (and this includes the basement, btw.) I’m going to do the laundry and start getting everything together.

Someone had better not try to stop me this weekend. I am in no mood for stupid yelling interruptions. (This is a HINT!!!) I want to get this stuff done so I’m not rushing around Mon-Thurs attempting to do everything at once.

So. Here’s the list for this weekend:

1. Tidy and clean up the house. This includes the papers on the front porch that have been rained on for days. This also includes cleaning the kitchen, living room and dining room, office and bedroom, doing the laundry, putting the clean rugs back down in the bathroom, and sweeping the floor (if I get to it.)

2. The Basement. Get It Over With. You Can Only Procrastinate For So Long. Seriously, if I concentrated on the basement and kept moving, I should be able to finish the bulk of it in a day.

3. Get to 70k, minimum, on Heart’s Desire. This, also, shouldn’t be a problem. Actually, I’ll probably get past that, since I only have 9k left until I reach 70k. That’s only 3k a day. Heck, that’s about an hour and a half a day, there, if I keep up last night’s pace. *g*

So. I’m not sleeping in, and I’m not paying attention to stupidity. We have to go grocery shopping sometime this weekend, but that’s all, and I’m not going to dawdle when we go.

I want to get this stuff done so I’m not stressing out at the end of the week, after all. That’s the most important thing on my list this weekend.

More later, I’m sure.

Geez. I wrote over 1k in less than 30 minutes. I think I need to revise my hourly wordcount, hmm?

And 61,010 is my final count for the evening. I’m going to bed early tonight.

I did it! I just hit 60k! Whooohooo!!!!

Oh, and Heart’s Desire is now at 58470. Goal tonight is 60k.

One good thing:

Came home to the usual afternoon storm. After it was finished, I went to get the mail, and found… MY JACKET!!!

Wow. It looks brand new. I mean, seriously brand new. And it’s the exact same jacket that was stolen, only minus the white paint and the missing teeth on the zipper.

I am complete again.

“What’s that around your neck?”

Sarah’s hand strayed to the ocarina. “I had a little run-in with some elves in the forest. Their Queen gave me this.”

“A run-in with some elves?”

“A musical contest, really, although the Queen said it wasn’t quite legal anymore.” The ocarina was warm in her hand. Sarah realized she would have to find a book to learn how to play it.

Lucas’ eyebrows rose. “She was right. They aren’t. And you… just happened to have a musical instrument?”

Sarah flushed. Now, it seemed silly. “I had a… kazoo.”

“A kazoo.” If Lucas’ eyebrows rose any higher, they would fall off his face. “I see. A kazoo.”

A small snippet that gives nothing at all away. *g* Heart’s Desire is now at 56630 words.

Why oh why do my archives keep vanishing?!?