A Relentless Pursuit

Nebulous November

Tue, 01 Dec 2009 12:16:15 GMT

Gone one week visiting family, and didn't get a lot of writing done this month, but I'm still overall pleased with how things are going. Got myself to a good breaking point until I resume book 5 writing in January, started in on 'Delarun' section 4, and though my word total wasn't great, it was enough to get 2009 totals squarely in the 4th place position (for yearly totals from 1997 onward). Not bad!

Nov 1 - Finished book 5, ch 6
Nov 4 - 10, Sacramento trip
Nov 15 - Started section 4 of 'Delarun' - 'The Sentinel'
Nov 15 - Finished 700th post celebration picture, 'Lords of Winter'
Nov 15 - Made 'money' avatar
Nov 20 - Finished 'Under Construction' image for 'Renewer Rising' community
Nov 23 - Created intro post for 'Renewer Rising' community
Nov 26 - Finished 'reading' avatar
Nov 29 - Made Silvershore structural map

As for December, I plan on it being more of the same. More art stuff, maybe finally conquering that scary Delarun structural map, more writing in 'Delarun,' perhaps the short story 'The Trial of Tilnon,' and maybe some prep-work for when I go back to book 5 (but I'm awful about procrastinating on that sort of stuff). That is, when I'm not putting up Christmas decorations, dealing with appointments, or just plain celebrating!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:02:03 GMT

2009 is flying away and it's t'DoL's birthday again already, eeee!

The most disturbing bit about this, is that by the time of the Geren books, while it's been a year for ME, for Geren and t'DoL it's only been...a little over a month, ahem. Best get moving faster or I'll die of old age before I get anywhere! =D (At least I was hopping about on other places on the timeline in between.)

Writing The Great Wave novella this year has now got me wondering if the Bivordians ever figured out a way to calculate t'DoL's birthday by their calendar...I expect he avoids that nation that time of the year! ;-)

Happy Birthday, Vrnyden!

Obliging October

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 18:11:57 GMT

Not a huge list for October, but one I am very pleased with.

Oct 10 - Finished book 5, ch 2
Oct 17 - Finished book 5, ch 3
Oct 20 - Finished book 5, ch 4
Oct 25 - Finished book 5 map #1
Oct 28 - Finished book 5, ch 5
Oct 28 - Passed the 100,000 word mark for 2009 writing!
Oct 30 - Finished 'catching snowflakes' winter sidebar image

Thanks to getting myself up to the beginning of chapter 7 in book 5 with Sunday's writing, I am calling it quits on that for the rest of 2009. That's because I'm up to the 'bloodbath' bit and the nastiest parts of the book, so I'd much rather leave such work for the bleak month of January, and enjoy my favorite holidays beforehand whilst working on something lighter. Section 4 of 'Delarun' and the short story 'The Trial of Tilnon' are probably what I'll be turning my attention to next...that is, after I get back from my trip to see family in California. Between that and the catch-up afterward, half of November will be gone in a flash, and I'll be coming right up on t'DoL's birthday again. =)

Also a quick announcement: I've added the short story 'Heritage' to my Portal Page. It's aimed at people who read 'Beside the Bookcase' which I wrote for Shanra's birthday a little over a year ago. Short, but sad. (Look for it in the 'General Audience' section, just below 'Beside the Bookcase.')

Special September/Announcement

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 10:40:17 GMT

Feels wonderful to once again have a monthly summary list that isn't pathetic!

Sept 2 - Fourth apheresis donation of 2009
Sept 5 - Finished hyarmi-cubs autumn sidebar illustration for shouts_of_joy
Sept 13, Red-letter day - Wrote prologue for book 5, Emissary's Sacrifice!
Sept 13 - Made Tarish image for Triune characters pages
Sept 16 - Started writing 'Heritage'
Sept 17 - Third whole blood donation/met my 2009 goal!
Sept 18 - Finished Triune community overhaul/prep work
Sept 21 - Finished writing 'Heritage'
Sept 22 - Made Portal Page illustration for 'Heritage'
Sept 27, Red-letter day - Writings for t'DoL pass the million word mark!
Sept 27 - Finished book 5, ch 1
Sept 30 - Finished 'One Million Words' celebration picture (started Sept 7th)

Between starting book 5 and reaching the million-word mark at last, September has proven itself quite the unforgettable month. Very pleased with my kick-off of the autumn/winter writing season! As for October, I plan to keep writing in book 5 until I get stuck (or chicken out), get 'Heritage' polished up and added to my Portal Page, and maybe do some writing in 'Delarun' if book 5 gets balky.

As for the announcement, hitting the million word mark was the excuse I needed to pay LJ to get rid of the 'adaneth_djd' name, which I've been itching to do for years. So now this writing journal has a name more befitting a writing journal, and it sure feels good! I've been doing more 'friending' with my shout_of_joy commenting account name, since I spend over 95% of my time logged in under that. So if you're interested in my being able to read/comment on your own posts (if they're locked) please friend it back sometime.

WOW!

Mon, 28 Sep 2009 01:23:32 GMT

Cross-posted from shouts_of_joy because Sunday was a HUGE red-letter day!

I did it, I did it, I did it!

Finished the first chapter of book five AND passed the long-anticipated million-word mark, of writing done for the love of t'DoL. Wow!

Gonna go pinch myself now! ;D (Then comes the food treats and money squandering, and all sorts of fun...maybe I can even be done with sleeping on the floor soon, now that it's finally starting to resemble autumn around here!)

Comment-locked because comments in multiple places befuddles me completely! Please leave any comments at my main LJ post

Yippee!

Mon, 14 Sep 2009 12:39:42 GMT

Cross-posted from shouts_of_joy because Sunday was a BIG red-letter day!

Sunday was wonderful:

Made good progress on my ongoing art project, and also finally made a human mug-shot for my Triune characters page, since I've already got 5 hyarmi ones and 4.5 avarii. Glad my scheme with the beard worked and saved me hours of hair-pulling!

Got a delightful phone call from my aunt, who is having a great time rereading the first Geren book and spotting things she hadn't particularly noticed before.

Some great progress with my book 5 outline notes, which I had left in disarray after finishing book 4 last winter. Got some chapter titles chosen too--no way I can write without those!

But best of all, Sunday was the day I kicked off the autumn 2009 writing season...by writing the prologue to book 5! It has been well over a decade I've been looking forward to putting that scene in words; still can't quite believe I've done it!

(Small print for any potentially overly-excited book 4 readers: I won't be going straight into book 5 chapter 1 just yet, but it is getting closer!)

Comment-locked because comments in multiple places befuddles me completely! Please leave any comments at my main LJ post

Swift August

Wed, 02 Sep 2009 00:51:33 GMT

A quite pathetic accomplishments list for this month as well, since thoroughly cleaning my apartment in advance of my mom's visit hardly deserves an entry below. The visit itself was a fantastic time, though I certainly got nothing creative done!

Aug 2 - Reached significant milestone with Poser t'DoL figure
Aug 5 - Finished edits/rewrites of section 1 of 'Delarun' - 'The Slave'
Aug 17 - Finished second editing run-through of Hope's Passage
Aug 25 - Three-year anniversary of shouts_of_joy (over 650 entries, yay!)

September brings me to the long-awaited end of summer (YEEHAW!!), and sometime in the month, the beginning of writing season. (But first I need to recuperate from my mom's visit!)

I'm not sure yet precisely what I'll dive into first, but the things at the front of my 'plate' are the short story 'Heritage,' the fourth section of 'Delarun,' and the kicking off of the fifth Geren book, Emissary's Sacrifice. (I feel like I have to pinch myself awake just writing that!)

I am so looking forward to being creative again, to doing and being what I was made to do and be. Come, autumn!

Inert July

Sat, 01 Aug 2009 16:24:39 GMT

Thanks to my creative energy getting fried by the really awful sleep I had on my Virginia vacation, my summary list for July is a definite nominee for the 'pathetic' award.

July 6 - Third apheresis donation of 2009
July 24 - Finished first editing run-through of Hope's Passage
July 31 - Finished edits/rewrites of section 3 of 'Delarun' - 'The Traitor'

Didn't really get myself into any art-related stuff until the tail end of the month, but at least that ball is finally feebly rolling. For August, I'd like to wrap up 'Delarun' edits and do my second Hope's Passage run-through, but proportionately more of my time will be consumed with beating my apartment into shape in preparation for my mom's visit from August 21 - September 1. So it will probably be another fairly unproductive month, but at least it's the last full month of summer!

Vacationing June

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 10:33:41 GMT

Feels a bit funny to have a monthly summary post with nothing at all on my summary list! Nothing for June, since I was either on vacation or preparing for vacation or recouping from vacation the entire month. A great way to blow away one of the non-writing months of summer, that's for sure!

At least I've made some mental progress with 'Delarun' during the month, on sections 4 & 5. Found a neat way to tie section 5 more closely to the Geren books, and I might actually get Hileko to make an appearance in section 4. That will be fun, though I'm not sure if I'll be doing any more 'Delarun' writing before 2010.

As for July (and August) I've decided to keep my expectations low. I want to be able to get into the autumn writing season as soon as I can, and not be delayed by any unfinished large editing projects. So for this summer, I just want to focus on editing in 'Delarun' and Hope's Passage. Other than that, I'll be working on various art projects, which I'm sure will devour my time and limited energy quite nicely, once I actually get caught up enough to start them!

Meandering May

Mon, 01 Jun 2009 09:14:02 GMT

Not quite as much of a list this month, since I relaxed once I hit my goal of finishing my novella The Great Wave in time for Mother's Day.

May 5 -Finished fifth of five illustrations for The Great Wave
May 8 - Finished writing The Great Wave!
May 14 - Second whole blood donation for 2009
May 16 - Started 'Delarun' floor plan
May 17 - Started section 3 of 'Delarun' - 'The Traitor'
May 25 - Passed the 20,000 word mark with 'Delarun' writing
May 25 - Finished section 3 of 'Delarun' - 'The Traitor'
May 29 - Finished 600th post celebration picture for shouts_of_joy
May 31 - 600th post at shouts_of_joy!

Very pleased with my writing word total so far this year: 71,900 words! Well on track to at least hit my goal of 100k by year end, yippee!

Well, June is definitely going to be a non-writing month, though I might do some 'Delarun' editing. Thanks to Frogmouth and wireless internet, I might actually get to post on my main journal during my first vacation this month.

That's a trip to Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks from June 1-9. I've got a poll up on my main journal here if you'd like to express a preference over what sort of photos I post. After I get back from that trip, I'll be home about a week and a half before heading off to Virginia. It is going to be quite the month, that's for certain.

And now for--avarii country!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

Sun, 10 May 2009 12:39:59 GMT

A Happy Mother's Day to my wonderful mother--and hopefully a pleasant surprise as well! The surprise is the reason I'm putting this post here, instead of my main LJ.

My second novella, The Great Wave, is dedicated to you, and ready for you to read whenever you'd like.

I wanted this one to be yours for a couple reasons. Firstly, because it focuses on t'DoL more than anything else I've written to date--and it has a happy ending.

But mostly, because I wanted a big way to thank you for what you did for me last June. I haven't forgotten, and I won't forget, all the things you did to make my very first birthday alone (since you were visiting for my birthday in the major depression year) to be a much better experience than my first Christmas alone, which was one of the most miserable days of my life. You were so kind as to remember how awful that was for me, and to do and think of all sorts of things, from 2000 miles away, to make sure my first birthday alone last year was better. And it was, it was a good one, thanks most of all to YOU (though of course the Towners, Johnsons, coworkers, etc had a part as well).

I'd really wanted this to be ready for YOUR birthday last autumn, as it would have been most fitting, but that proved impossible. So here I am, on Mother's Day instead!

Wishing you a wonderful day from 2000 miles away

And hoping this surprises you

And cheers you up.

Happy Mother's Day, Mama!
I Love You!

(Can't forget the small print: The Great Wave can be accessed through my Portal Page (on the very bottom) or though its cover page. Those who have read Nothing Gold Can Stay and want to tackle another novella will have to wait until my mother has read it! =)

Agitated April

Sun, 03 May 2009 21:53:15 GMT

A somewhat jittery, stressed month overall, knowing it's the last full month of writing season I can count on until October, and chafing at every delay. And wow, was it a fast month! Two weeks long, it felt (at least until the internet fast). Still, very pleased with all that I got done:

April 2 - Finished map of the nations for The Great Wave
April 3 - Finished first of five illustrations for The Great Wave
April 4 - Second apheresis donation of 2009
April 6 - Finished writing 'Defender'
April 9 - Finished second of five illustrations for The Great Wave
April 15 - Tax Day Tea Party protest at the capitol
April 19 - Finished third of five illustrations for The Great Wave
April 23 - Passed the 50,000 word mark for 2009 writing
April 24 - Finished in-story illustration for 'Defender'
April 25 - Reached goal of 30 stories on my Portal Page!
April 28 - Passed 20,000 word mark with The Great Wave
April 29 - Finished fourth of five illustrations for The Great Wave

Another April accomplishment that doesn't have a single date attached is more mental progress with the Shado novella 'Discoveries' (which I'm thinking might end up verging on short-novel length). Just as 'Delarun' and 'Great Wave' have connections to Geren book 5, I was inspired with 'Great Wave' writing to set the framework for 'Discoveries' somewhere in the gulf of time between Geren book 5 and the sequels, looking back on earlier events. Much more meaningful to tell the beginning of the Shado's story with the culmination of book 5 in mind.

As for May, my first objective is to finish up The Great Wave and its final illustration. After I spend some time wildly celebrating finishing my second novella =D depending upon the weather, I might return to working on 'Delarun,' though I keep dithering over which section I'll tackle next: 3rd, 4th, or 5th, most likely 3rd ('The Traitor') or 5th ('The Sacrifice'). It will also be nice to work on art projects that are not 'Great Wave' related as well, and just have some fun on that front.

Regardless of the weather, I won't be kicking off any big editing projects this month, as I'm going to be gone on vacations most of June. Editing Hope's Passage and any editing work in the Geren books will have to wait until July.

Happy Birthday, Christina!

Sat, 25 Apr 2009 13:20:52 GMT

'Cause you're the best sister-in-law in the whole world that I'm capable of imagining, I wanted to do something more for your birthday this year. I realize the timing is a trifle sketchy, since little Samuel is due to be born any day now, if he hasn't been already (and there's rumors of a 'plague' on your Twitter posts). So please don't feel compelled to rush.

And don't worry, you've got a 'real' gift coming too! =D

But I had to dedicate 'Defender' to you, because you have been such a huge blessing, even from 2000 miles away, over the last few years. Your pouncing on my stories shortly after I put them up is the best sort of encouragement in the world. That you go back and reread my Geren books/sundry stories at times...that's the other best sort of encouragement in the world. I'm a rereader, and that people can get more out of second visits to my books tells me I'm succeeding at least a little.

But enough about me. Any mom with four (soon-to-be-five) kids at home under the age of five deserves admiration and accolades far more than the unneeded sports, music, and acting stars that get far too much attention. You are a marvel! And your sacrifice is an inspiration and a blessing. Maybe the little ones won't really appreciate what they've received until they hit 20 or so, but they are certainly blessed.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this story. No crying at the beginning, or at the ending, though I can't make the same promise for the middle. ;)

When it suits your schedule, you can access it through my Portal Page or right here. (Those who read 'Nothing Gold' and are interested will have to wait until Christina's read it first =)

And again--

HAPPY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CHRISTINA!

And I hope you have a marvelous day and a fantastic year ahead! Love you!

Pruning and Planning

Sat, 11 Apr 2009 14:48:53 GMT

Been having fun with 'spring cleaning' on two of my LiveJournal accounts in the last month or so. Lots and lots of tagging over at shouts_of_joy, with altogether too much fun revisiting the 500+ entries over and over again, and lots and lots of pruning here. shouts_of_joy has been and remains my main journal: daily stuff, vacation posts, photos, and most everything goes there now. This place is just a writing journal, but I'll keep doing the monthly round-ups too, as I really like those.

So I went through and deleted around half of the entries at this place in a couple clean-up sweeps. It was quite interesting the first time through, revisiting my first entries in 2004. Almost everything on the other side of the major depression year of 2007 felt like I was reading about somebody in a story, not me. Most memory is quite severed, but obviously I did make those posts, long ago before the dark year.

Kept the distinctly writing and writing-related art posts up, birthday and gift posts too, things like that. It will be easier to find things that way, and spot connections, than searching in my personal journal with its 365 entries a year. Though I'm finding I like shouts_of_joy best for that as well.

So that's what's been going on lately--and now for some writing-related babble so I don't delete this entry in a few months!

Now, as I mentioned a few days back at shouts_of_joy, I finally finished writing 'Defender'! (And have been celebrating the milestone since. =) It's a bigger accomplishment to me than just finishing a 'normal' short story, as it's both one of the oldest stories on my What's cooking... page, and one of the most troublesome to write I've had in a while. I think the only story that will prove older and definitely harder will be 'The Deceptions of Hu-Havenn,' which also goes back in my mind to around 1994 or so. And I certainly am not touching that anytime soon. Right now I'm just reveling in the happy disbelief that I got that 15-years-of-brewing tale down on paper AT LAST!

I'm going to be late, but whenever 'Defender' joins the stories on my Portal Page, I will have arrived at the goal I mentioned setting for myself in shouts_of_joy on April 3, 2008. I didn't make 30 stories on the Portal Page by April 3, 2009, but I'll be off that target by less than a month.

Certainly the increase is going to slow down a lot (The number 50 sounds immensely distant). Not only because I don't have old stories to polish up and add anymore, but because I won't be moving so quickly with new stories. Chief reason for that is that I've got novellas forthcoming--The Great Wave, which is well underway, and later on Discoveries (the Shado-novella) as well. And they certainly take much more work than a short story! (Not to mention the 'Delarun' novel.)

And, of course, sometime in autumn 2009 is when I hope to turn my attention to book 5. This reprieve/vacation/break-for-working-on-other-things has been a great blessing, but I can't metaphorically cower under my bed forever! Besides, once I manage to get through the first quarter or so of that novel, I am going to be having the time of my life. So many years of anticipation, coming to fruition at last!

But no point celebrating that 'giant egg hatching' until I get there. Editing 'Defender' and writing more in The Great Wave is the first order of business at present (and their illustrations), with more work on 'Delarun' and perhaps groundwork on Discoveries coming along later. I'm really itching to give the first section of 'Delarun' and its prologue a good editing, but the shorter works-in-progress get first priority.

Magnificent March

Wed, 01 Apr 2009 01:01:09 GMT

Ah, what a fantastic month with all the things I got done! Tonight's writing in The Great Wave puts my total year-to-date at 42,000 words, which makes me feel a lot better about my progress than a month ago. At this rate, I'm back on track (with a writing 'year' of 8 to 9 months) to reach my goal of 100,000 words for 2009. I really want to get there, because doing so will put my 'love song' over the 1 million word mark, and trigger much food-scarfing, money-squandering, silly-dancing celebration. Certainly looking forward to it! =D

Mar 1 - Finished section 1 of 'Delarun' - 'The Slave'
Mar 3 - Started writing 'Defender'
Mar 4 - Made Hileko-cub with bubbles sidebar illustration for shouts_of_joy
Mar 7 - Finished in-story illustration for 'Of Insults and Arguments'
Mar 12 - Finished in-story illustration for 'The Secrets of Fynydov'
Mar 15 - Made t'DoL-wings animation in Poser
Mar 17 - Started writing the novella The Great Wave
Mar 21 - Finished Portal Page illustration for The Great Wave
Mar 21 - Made t'DoL avatar for shouts_of_joy
Mar 22 - Finished Portal Page illustration for 'Defender'
Mar 24 - Finished map of northern Bivord for The Great Wave, added to Map Mania
Mar 29 - Finished t'DoL-wing luggage stencil project
Mar 29 - Passed the 10,000 word mark with The Great Wave writing

As for April, it's the last full month I've got before writing season gets butchered by the heat sometime in May. I want to use it plugging away at The Great Wave and hopefully finishing 'Defender' as well. I expect those will keep me busy, but if not, there's always 'Delarun' to pick up again. Doing my five planned illustrations for The Great Wave will keep me hopping on the art side of things too, not to mention all the other stuff on my list!

Welcome, April!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Tue, 31 Mar 2009 11:11:39 GMT

Happy Birthday, desertsunflower!

May the day be a lovely one and the year ahead be blessed!

Fantastic February

Sun, 01 Mar 2009 00:45:28 GMT

Well, my writing totals year-to-date might only be a pathetic 20k, but everything else about February was fabulous.

Feb 6 - Finished book 4 edits, ordered paper copies
Feb 12 - Finished Delarun topographical map, added to Map Mania
Feb 14 - Finished Delarun regional map, added to Map Mania
Feb 16 - Started in-story illustration for 'Dispossession'
Feb 16 - Finished 15-16th Anniversary essay: 'What was I thinking?!' unlocked at Beginnings
Feb 17 - 16th Anniversary day! =D
Feb 20 - Finished adding 48 tags across 520-ish shouts_of_joy entries
Feb 20 - Posted Stories bubbles to celebrate 1 year since finishing 'Nothing Gold'
Feb 22 - Made hyarmi & avarii footprints divider image for shouts_of_joy
Feb 22 - Passed the 10,000 word mark with 'Delarun' writing
Feb 24 - Finished in-story illustration for 'Dispossession'
Feb 24 - First apheresis donation of 2009

As for March, not quite sure yet. Once I finish the first section of 'Delarun' I may skip forward to write section five, or section four--or may start something else entirely. Seems like the stories I most want to start are the ones that have been fighting me for quite a while: 'Defender' and 'The Great Wave.' I haven't kicked off needed research for 'Discoveries' (the Shado novella) yet, though it is steadily weaving together in my mind. It's going to be fun to spend so much time with the Shado, whenever I start writing that.

As I mentioned in shouts_of_joy, I was delighted to come up with ideas for 17th and 18th anniversary essays, but I think I'll wait until summer heat kills writing season before I start on the prep-work for the 17th anniversary one.

The biggest milestone of the month for me in terms of affecting immediate future projects was Feb 24, and I posted about what it meant for my art projects in shouts_of_joy. I've got a few I want to work on: illustrations for the stories 'The Secrets of Fynydov,' 'alternate,' and 'Of Insults and Arguments,' as well as a book 4, chapter 29 illustration. I'm in no rush and might hop around between them, especially since the 'alternate' illustration will be a huge exercise of masochism and fighting computer-smashing temptations...

Stories 'Bubbles'

Sat, 21 Feb 2009 00:33:43 GMT

February 20th brings me to the one-year anniversary of finishing my (so-far only) novella, Nothing Gold Can Stay. And so that was motivation for me to get something done I'd batted around in my head for months (aside from rereading the novella for the nth time--that's fun too!).

Stories bubbles! A diagram showing the links (strong or weak) between the stories and novels I've completed so far. I'm not sure how easy it will be to update this chart, but it was a treat working it out and making it. I didn't include ~~my short gift dialogues up on FictionPress or~~ most tales embedded in my Geren books, but everything else should be on there.

April 2009 note: Went ahead and added gift dialogues (called 'GD') as some of them have connections that have proven helpful to me.

Makes for a rather messy-looking spiderweb, doesn't it? =)

Last updated, September 20, 2009

Sweet 16

Tue, 17 Feb 2009 12:11:40 GMT

The 17th of February brings me to the 16th anniversary of first 'meeting' t'DoL. Now, I wasn't planning to do anything for this anniversary, unlike the 15th, which was the biggest milestone and celebration of my life. The only reason I'm remarking on it is because I was very tardy with one of my 15th anniversary essays.

So yes, the essay titled 'What was I thinking?!', which I'd intended to finish for my birthday last June, is finally done (for now, until I add book 5 stuff years hence). I was determined to finish it in time for my 16th anniversary since I'd massively failed with the 15th.

Soooo, if you've commented on 15th anniversary posts like 'Defender Rising' and you're 1) struggling with insomnia, or 2) want a laugh at some of the stupid/inane plot twists I'd considered, then you're welcome to drop by my Beginnings page and take a look. It's the second from the bottom.

On a related note, I know I'd mentioned last year the possibility of writing essays about Geren and the Shado. I did do the Shado one, though most everybody avoided it for fear of being eaten, I guess! But I just wanted to note here that I won't be doing a Geren essay anytime soon. Maybe for the 18th anniversary or the 20th, assuming I've finished book 5 by then. Geren has always been indissolubly linked with his 'destination' in my mind, so any Geren essay that doesn't focus on the end of book 5 and beyond is incomplete at best or an outright fraud at worst. So in case anyone was wondering about that potential essay, that is where I'm at. =)

HAPPY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Fri, 13 Feb 2009 12:11:31 GMT

Best of birthday wishes to the fabulously talented and prolific saiena! May your characters be compliant, your menagerie healthy and happy, and your year full of good books, great music, good times, and all-around delights. Okay, so that may be a bit much, especially the characters part! ;) But I hope the next year of your life is a wonderful one!

Happy Birthday, Becca!

'Delarun' diddling

Sun, 08 Feb 2009 00:21:32 GMT

Well, one of the side-effects of looking all over the internet/eBay for a replacement book 4 completion gift...is that I find all sorts of things that don't work for that, but I'd really, really like to get anyway. Not terribly good for the wallet, no, though at least as of my typing this, I've only gone and purchased one thing. (So far...)

And that is the statue photographed above, which I was able to get at almost half-price on eBay, thanks to the previous owner receiving two as gifts. Just couldn't pass it up!

As I've ogled it, I've increasingly realized that it reminds me of 'Delarun' in a couple ways. It could fit with section 2 in one sense, or with section 5 in a rather different sense. Fun! =)

I may as well lay the sections out here, as I'll be randomly talking about them for some time to come, I expect. Each section is a different pov, a different story, all linked by location: Delarun. I plan to write little 'bridge' bits between the sections to better link them all together in the sweep of time and broader events, but I haven't decided whether to just use a 'historical' omniscient tone, or have it be Geren chatting with Delarun's 'door-keep' as he makes his way inside between the prologue and the epilogue. I'm leaning toward that latter option, but I plan to write those bits last, so there's no rush deciding.

1. 'The Slave' 162 - 228 AK
2. 'The Friend' 276 - 388 AK
3. 'The Traitor' 357 AK
4. 'The Sentinel' 371 - 400 AK
5. 'The Sacrifice' 408 - 437 AK
(Epilogue) 'The Master' 440 AK

I've been having fun with section 1, because it spells out the beginnings of things--the building of Delarun, how it got its name, and how its Master got saddled with his title, for example. And it's a treat being so far removed from the awful events of 439 AK in book 4. There's no Dominion around in 162 AK, (or servants of the Goddess) and it sure feels lovely!

I don't think I'll be writing these in order, either, and it's nice to have such freedom. I know section 2 will be by far the longest, followed by 4 and 1, I expect. Section 3 will certainly be a short story. It is highly amusing to me that the protagonists of sections 2, 5, and 3 have been in my head for many years (section 1's character probably just goes back to around 2001 or so) and yet they still don't have names. At least section 2's lead got a picture drawn of her dated August 4, 1996, though it's so embarrassingly bad I'll refrain from scanning it!

And to close this rambling post, I'll say that the last couple weeks of intense book 4 editing have brought clearly to my attention just how much I've come to both enjoy and need editing as I work on a story. The constant rereading/tweaking that I do as a write a piece really helps with maintaining continuity of tone and of consistency in details. I haven't let myself do barely any with 'Delarun' so far, lest it take away time from book 4. But now that that is behind me at last, I can finally start shredding and improving what I've written so far, and get deeper into the story, instead of constantly being yanked away to do book 4 business. Yay!

Special day today...

Mon, 02 Feb 2009 12:00:44 GMT

Happy Birthday, Shaiel!

*runs*

Jubilant January (and December too!)

Sun, 01 Feb 2009 13:30:39 GMT

Well, doing two months in this 'round-up' post, since as I mentioned in November, I didn't get much done in December, due to my vacation. But January certainly made up for that!

Dec 4 - Finished winter sidebar image for LJ
Dec 5 - Finished winter avatar
Dec 5 - Started book 5 trailer-avatar
Dec 6 - Started on book 4, chapter 38
Dec 8 - Finished book 5 trailer-avatar
Dec 13 - 27 Off to California!

Jan 3 - Finished book 4, ch 38
Jan 10, Red-letter day - Finished book 4, The Subverted War!
Jan 17 - 500th post at shouts_of_joy!
Jan 19 - Finished San Diego trip entries at shouts_of_joy
Jan 20 - Started 'Delarun' trailer-avatar
Jan 21 - First whole blood donation for 2009
Jan 24 - Finished 'Delarun' trailer-avatar
Jan 24 - Started writing The Chronicles of Delarun
Jan 24 - All book 4 chapters ready for ARG!, started whole-book edits
Jan 25 - Started section 1 of 'Delarun' - 'The Slave'
Jan 27 - Unforgettable eagle experience
Jan 31 - Winter outing: Lake Pepin bald eagles (babbling and photos upcoming at shouts_of_joy)

Well, January was a fast month, and a full month, all at once. Any month in which I finish a novel and start on another has a big gold star stuck to it! =D

For February, my first objective is to get book 4 editing done so I can mail paper copies to family. I've got various craft and art projects to work on, and I want to keep writing in 'Delarun' unless my creativity chases off somewhere else. Still feel like I'm on the ebb tide of the huge exertion of finishing book 4, and it will be nice to (try to) take things easier for a bit.

Down and Up

Sat, 24 Jan 2009 16:43:25 GMT

The 'down' first--back on November 13th I'd posted in shouts_of_joy about my 'second chance' with my reward for finishing book 4. The customizable sculpture I'd fallen in love with years earlier, my fears it would no longer be available by the time I did finish the book, then discovering in November that the place that originally sold it wasn't doing so any more--and then the other place I found where I thought I could get it.

Yes, 'thought.' On Saturday night after finishing book 4 I placed my order...and on Monday the 12th I got an e-mail back from them saying it was discontinued. Sigh. Well, I wasn't too surprised, though definitely disappointed. My fault for taking forever, but I was a bit irked they hadn't updated their page and didn't do so right away afterward. Looks like it's finally gone now, though.

At least that's given me the excuse to ogle all sorts of things in hopes of finding a replacement book-completion-gift. But choosing something that -- a) I really like b) Is relevant in some way to book 4/my 'world' and c) Is affordable -- hasn't proven simple at all. Getting two out of three isn't hard...and I did find this drop-dead gorgeous statue that was, unfortunately, over $17,000. So much for that!

Side-effects that one doesn't foresee are interesting things. In this case, it was the fact that forcing myself through the concluding chapters of book 4 by brute willpower and with no emotional return but misery exacerbated my usual dislike of writing into something much bigger. I wasn't sure how many weeks or months of recuperation I might need before I could stand the thought of writing anything again and my brain quit associating writing with the torment of book 4.

Well, the 'up' is that my 'muse' has finally bit on something. Of course it wasn't any of the things I had planned for it in the short-term, though I thought I might casually kick it off sometime this year. And that is the Delarun novel. I've been slowly fleshing out its structure and size on my 'What's cooking...' page over the last number of months, and then in early January was struck by what would make the perfect dedication for that novel.

And then the framework snapped together one day while I was trying to get my creativity interested in my next 'scheduled' project by reading over my 'Great Wave' outline--it bounced off and gave me the structure for the Delarun novel instead. It's going to be fun for me, five different stories/novellas linked together and covering about 280 years on the timeline, and weaving in the connections with the Geren books and other stories.

So I'm not complaining! It will be nice to have a 'side-novel' project running for a couple years while I work on book 5. And there's no hurry whatsoever, seeing as the Delarun book is aimed at folks who have read all five Geren books, and ties in closely after the ending of book 5. Seeing as I haven't started that yet, so I have no audience for 'Delarun' yet, there's no rush at all! I'll use it as an 'escape' from grimmer projects. And it will be nice to finally give a home to some fragments and characters that have been floating in my head since college.

So that's where that's at. Finishing up book 4 edits, keeping the creativity happy by starting in on 'Delarun' (wrote the prologue today) and hoping that my 'muse' will want to try something else again soon, once it remembers not all writing is end-book-4 awful. Of course, it will probably go chasing after the Shado-novella next, but at least I need that in order to finish book 5!

The END!

Sun, 11 Jan 2009 02:31:56 GMT

I cannot believe it. Book 4 is DONE. At last. At last, at last, at LAST!

So let me take the metaphorical podium and strew some thanks and gushes around. Gotta start with God. Thank you, God! For getting me alive through this thing, for helping me fill in the huge chapter 24-37 gaps that were almost completely blank to me from 1993 through 2007. Thank you for giving me the strength to get through the brutal scenes where I just wanted to run away; thank you for answering my prayers and giving me the courage when I was too terrified to type a word. And thank you that I won't have to write anything this costly ever again.

Second round of thanks follows up and reinforces what I said in my Gratitude Post in November of 2007. Those who showed kindness to me during the darkest months/year of my life--well, it's only fitting they're on the book dedication for the book that has cost me the most to write, brought the greatest struggle, and laid out the darkest days for my characters too. They didn't make it alone (those that did), and neither did I.

Of course, can't have a book get finished without tossing up the little statistics table I first made for my brother when finishing my first book in 2001.

Comparative Statistics
Title	Hope's Passage	Hu-Hua's Cry (book 1)	The Abdication of Harai (book 2)	The Shadow of Sorrow (book 3)	The Subverted War (book 4)
Number of pages	120	191	212	214	283
Number of words	89,000	134,110	148,190	147,970	204,600
Inception	Dec 26, 2004	Jan 21, 1995	Apr 27, 2001	Sept 22, 2002	Apr 7, 2004
Completion	Nov 19, 2006	Apr 22, 2001	June 23, 2002	Dec 28, 2003	Jan 10, 2009
Number of days writing	over 94	over 126	over 98	over 96	over 133

Last but certainly not least--access! I know at least some of you have champed at the bit to get to this. Here's where I'm at.

Chapter pdfs readers
If you've read 'Allegiance,' 'Vigil,' 'Bookcase,' & etc, and want to dive in or resume, just let me know what suits your schedule! Right now I still have to get chapters 37-39 ready for the ARG!, but I expect I'll get that done before anyone gets through a couple dozen chapters. If you don't have time for short stories, you certainly don't have time for this 200,000 word monstrosity. No rush, mind!

Paper copy readers
I'm afraid those family members and friends who read the paper copies I make are going to have to wait a little bit longer. I need to get chapters 37-39 bashed into shape, then do the final whole-book edits before I drop over $100 on paper copies. Just can't stand doing that until they're reasonably error-free. I am determined to have these ready before my brother's birthday in March, because that was when I handed out book 3 paper copies, 5 years earlier. I don't want to exceed that 5 year milestone!

It's going to take me a long time before I'm emotionally ready to tackle book 5, but my personal goal is that it takes far less than another 5 years!

A Relentless Pursuit

Nebulous November

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Happy Birthday, Vrnyden!

Obliging October

Special September/Announcement

WOW!

Yippee!

Swift August

Inert July

Vacationing June

Meandering May

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

Happy Mother's Day, Mama!I Love You!

Agitated April

Happy Birthday, Christina!

HAPPY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CHRISTINA!

Pruning and Planning

Magnificent March

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Happy Birthday, desertsunflower!

May the day be a lovely one and the year ahead be blessed!

Fantastic February

Stories 'Bubbles'

Sweet 16

HAPPY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Happy Birthday, Becca!

'Delarun' diddling

Special day today...

Happy Birthday, Shaiel!

Jubilant January (and December too!)

Down and Up

The END!

Comparative Statistics

Happy Mother's Day, Mama!
I Love You!