HTRYN: Lesson 1 Accomplished

Because I haven't done too great a job working a consistent writing schedule into my life what with making the DDJ into a career, I decided to sign up for Holly Lisle's "How to Revise Your Novel" course. It's a six-month-long intense look at a finished draft and weekly lessons to take that steaming pile o' crap to the manuscript you wanted and that you can submit for publication without infinite tweaking. I've got three drafts that are truly good stories but are atrocities in their current condition and need significant work to get them out the door. I wanted a structure to accomplish that work and some help in pulling together all the various skills I've acquired and advice I've heard over the past decade of writing.

I just finished Lesson One. Seeing as how this class started Turkey Day weekend and, as I mentioned, the lessons are weekly...well, you can do the math. It was hard but good work (a line-by-line reading of the draft, without changing a damn thing and only noting where everything falls to pieces in several different areas). And I just started in to Lesson Two, which requires yet another line-by-line reading of the draft. I'm very very glad I chose to do this course on the 85-page novellette that I want to turn into a long novella or short novel instead of the 100,000-word novel I finished last year before I started my job. Mind you, I want to fix that novel, but I think I might've abandoned the course with the enormity of that task with this sort of intensity.

Tomorrow is really the last day of my vacation I have to make significant progress on the rest of the course lessons to date. Here's hoping I can complete Lesson Two.

4 Things on a Sunday's Eve

Felt like mixing things up instead of posting a routine progress summary (and I have nothing coherent to say for more than a few sentences at a gulp). Here's the odd smattering of thoughts as this week winds to a close.

1. Wrote 1,141 very painful words today, but at least I'm over the block of starting this big turning point chapter. My total word count is 86,865 (43,865). Chugging right along, no matter how much it hurts.

2. Found the squick in Carter's Sade essays. A quick bit of information that any parent of small children likely understands: most reading of shorter things like magazines and short stories is probably going to be happening whilst the parental unit is sitting in the dubious privacy of the bathroom, making use of the facilities. Thus, a discussion of how Sade's characters indulge in coprophagy is even more uncomfortable than it would be outside of said room. (For those of you not familiar with the term or rusty in your Latin, beware before wandering off to Google. The information you get could very well be NSFW.)

3. Found in the latest issue of Discover: evidence of the government's very twisted sense of humor. In the 50s, unwitting patrons of a particular west coast brothel were subjected to a secret governmental experiment involving LSD. The code name of this experiment? Midnight Climax.

4. And one last writing tidbit, I guess. I wrote a funny that probably won't make it to the final draft as it's tone is clearly grounded in this cultural moment and sounds out of place in a cultural moment 90+ years in the future: Barrett's charm could only be described as an acquired taste, but she found his current attitude on target for stupid awards the likes of which she'd never consider Barrett eligible. Hmm. Sorry if that was one of those "you had to be there" things.

Progress: It's Bad, But It's a Chapter

Man, the draft is getting way rough in the end here. But it's still progress and I'm now well under 20K left to write. Definitely doable in this fine month of July. I'm rather bummed about it, but I had to push my deadline back to the end of July. I had hoped to make this month the Month of Short Fiction, but it looks like August is going to have to have that title. Oh well.

Deadline: July 31, 2008
Today's Words: 1,437
Total words: 83,917 (40,917) I think, anyway...forgot to write that down and the program is closed, too lazy to boot it back up

Musical stylings: Ion
Munchies: The remainder of my egg salad from lunch with crackers.

Mean Things: Cryptic messages from the MC's best friend; forcing said BFF to sit ship with her love interest to serve as bait (don't worry, they'll get over it in a hurry, but that's next chapter)
Placeholder of the day: Not quite a placeholder, but the chapter is really a lot of exposition of the "hey, let's all sit around and discuss the badguys next move and how we think we can avoid it" variety. Just talking heads. Will need to address this in revisions.

Amusing Tidbit from Kellie's Day: Drew is real keen on this concept of "fireworks." Little guy can even say the word very very well. He just doesn't quite get that he has to wait for the sun to go down.

Physical therapy contortions: I got The Lecture last week because I'm not doing my stretches and exercises at home. I'm trying to find a good time to do this that doesn't take away too much of my writing time, but it's hard, mostly because the best time is right before bed after I've done my writing, but that's usually when my body is protesting the most, thus making the idea of further straining the poor thing unwelcome. But things are actually getting worse than they were, so I obviously need to make an adjustment somewhere. Silly goofy joints.

Progress: I Has Some

Managed to squeeze 844 words out of me today on the new DDJ computer. It arrived yesterday, and I spent last night getting everything set according to my wants and needs. There's a couple of bugs trying to get worked out still, but it works and it's quicker than the last one. All signs point to better days in computer land.

I also managed some progress last week that I never posted, so my total word count is 81,957 for THUMB. This thing is nearly a finished draft. Go me. Oh, but the computer snarl set back my deadline again. Rather than run myself too ragged, I decided to hell with it and shoved the deadline back to July 31. I can do this. I WILL do this.

But now I must sleep.

Quick Update

I managed to write 1,074 words today during my usual work hours. I won't get anymore done tonight as we have to clean the house a bit and pack up for going camping until Sunday afternoon. Of course, the words I wrote today finished half of a new chapter I realized I needed to add, so I still need to write 7.5 chapters to get to the end of the draft. July 7 is still very feasible to finish, though.

We're heading out to Canyon de Chelly tomorrow morning, with various stops along the way. The weather's a tad cooler up there, so we'll come back refreshed and ready for another round of 100+ heat.

Progress: Green, Growing Things

I decided to push my deadline back to give me Independence Day weekend for more writing. I think it's do-able, though my progress yesterday (0) and today (not too shabby) aren't exactly inspiring me. We're going camping Thursday through Sunday, so I took off work this week to give me time to write when I'd usually log my hours. Not happening so much. I actually had to work anyway yesterday, and one last battle with the RWA newsletter occupied most of my morning today. Sigh.

Deadline: July 7, 2008
Today's Words: 1,214
Total words: 77,717 (34,717)

Musical stylings: Aes Dana
Munchies: Mmmmm...chocolate

Mean Things: Lost in thought in hydroponics; Dude, the computer knows what's up with your will and you don't
Placeholder of the day: I did a hand-wavey "we've been underway for several days" bit that, while OK for a character's inner dialog, was used solely because I had lost all sense of the timeline

Amusing Tidbit from Kellie's Day: Drew loves to sneak in some nekkid time after he emerges from my mother's pool and we strip off his Li'l Swimmers in preparation for dressing him. It's especially cute because Dakota, my brother's Belgian Malinois (sp?), thinks this is the perfect opportunity to do a little butt sniffing. Drew doesn't find the experience very pleasant.

Physical therapy contortions: Hip is throbbing, wrist is hurting to the point where I can't really sign my name so well anymore. I may need to rethink my computer ergonomics and PT stretches a wee bit.

Progress: Finally, A Crazy Action Scene

Deadline: June 30, 2008??
Today's words: 2,592
Total words: 76,503 (33,503)

Musical stylings: Aes Dana and Collide
Munchies: Cranberries and chipotle-lime cashews

Researched via Quickie Wiki or the Google Boogie: I used my internets for good, old-fashioned procrastinating today
Mean Things: Lying computers, arguing with a stranger in front of friends, leading friends to believe you're about to commit suicide when you'll do no such thing
Placeholder of the day: Pretty much all of the last 1000 words is based on information that I realized 500 words in that I hadn't yet introduced, so I'm going to have to retcon that; not really a placeholder, but in that same vein

Physical therapy contortions: My right wrist has been in agony all day despite the bundling, and now my left hip is screaming. I migth forego the contortions today.

Progress: Good Couple of Days

I've missed posting the last bit of my progress a couple of weeks ago, so you'll just have to take my word for it that my wordcount below is accurate. I got a lot done last night and this afternoon, but my energy petered out after dinner, so I didn't get to finish the chapter I started today as I had hoped to do. I'm sure I'll be able to do so tomorrow, assuming my wrists take the night to ease up on their claims of aggrieved status. I'm going to need to buy another wrap and bundle 'em both up until this bout of joint whininess passes.

Deadline: June 30, 2008??
Today's Words: 2,028 today (1,298 yesterday)
Total words: 73,911 (30,911)

Musical stylings: Aes Dana, Cult of the Hidden Nerve, The Nature of Light, and Atlas Plus
Munchies: A square of a yummy "exotic" chocolate bar

Researched via Quickie Wiki or the Google Boogie: Pound to Kilo conversion, but I didn't use it
Mean Things: Forcing the love/hate issue, solar flare emergency
Placeholder of the day: "But we're all safe, surrounded by [X tons?] of water,"

Physical therapy contortions: I'll work on those while I watch Transformers.

Progress: What a Day

I knew the day was going to be different when I woke up at 5AM for the usual potty break and quick snack before the alarm goes off and found my son snoozing on a pile of blankets on the automan in the living room. He crawled back into bed with me for about 15 minutes, then wandered back to his room (refusing to let me escort him) to doze until closer to 6:30. My son, he is odd. Gets it from his father. See the amusing tidbit, though, for the other oddness of the day (regrettably, I can't foist this one off on Daddy).

Deadline: June 30, 2008
Today's Words: 970
Total words: 67,311 (24,311)
Musical stylings: More ambient stuff
Munchies: More cheddar rice cakes

Mean Things: Threatening to bring in the lawyers, more pompous patronizing BS, lashing out at friends because you can't thrash the one who deserves it
Placeholder of the day: More vague words about policy this and SOP that

Amusing Tidbit from Kellie's Day: I neglected to blog about this, but several weeks ago, I managed to lock Drew in the car in the Safeway parking lot in the 80 sunshine. I had tossed the keys into the diaper bag after shutting off the car and, on my way to get Drewbie out, I hit the powerlock on the driver door in what I can only explain was a brief flashback to the days when I drove around by myself and would lock the car on my way out the door. I flagged someone down to call the cops so they could either open the door themselves or dispatch a locksmith posthaste. I managed to keep my cool, and Drew seemed to be having a blast despite the car getting up into the high 90s (he kept saying "stuck!" over and over and laughing). Being surrounded by people willing to help and then the cops understanding the situation helped immensely. It was quick work getting the door open and, of course, once Drew was unbuckled, he wanted to run around and play inside the car for a bit as if the whole ordeal had been fun of the first order. I hugged him and laughed the thing off as best I could, making big plans to get spare keys made and so on.

Then today, it happened again, only in much less worrisome circumstances. And, of course, both Drew and I handled it worse. This time, though, it really was Drew's fault. We were getting into the car to go to my mom's for some swimming. Drew decided it would be fun to play in the car. He even got the keys in the ignition and started the car with a little help from me. AC on, music playing, I kept the door by his car seat open as he flicked the power locks on and off and pretended to drive. Eventually I got him into his seat and buckled in. I shut the door and went to the driver's side, only to find the door locked. And that's when it hit me: he had last power locked the doors before I corralled him, and now the car was sealed up tight with the diaper bag (read: my phone, and we only have cell phones, no LAN lines).

Feeling like ten times an idiot, I trotted across the street to get help, and had a grand ol' self-effacing time explaining what had happened, and that, silly me, six years of higher education never come in handy when you need it most, and you can only fight the blonde so much before it wins and so on. They lent me a phone and I called the same locksmith who got me out of this mess the first time.

Then the monster dust storm hit. Drew was fine, of course, sealed up in the car. With the car running, however, I had to keep the garage door open and deal with sand and grit blasting me. I would've ducked into the house, only Drew was very upset at being stuck in his car seat and listening to Tori Amos instead of watching Finding Nemo.

Well, suffice to say that, first thing tomorrow morning (well, not quite; running the car for a half hour without going anywhere and cranking the AC used up more gas than I had thought), Drew and I will wander to said locksmith and make several spares of this damn car key: one for the house, one for my mother, one for Daddy. This WILL NOT happen again. It's one thing to feel inadequate as a parent because of my own insecurities and issues with perfectionism. It's quite another to have evidence shoved under your nose twice in two months.

Physical therapy contortions: Still to come.

Progress: Three Updates in One!!!

I've neglected to post my progress for a few days, mostly because I was fall-over-tired by the end of each night's run. So here it all is in one chunk.

Deadline: June 30, 2008
Today's Words: 450 (+ 39 yesterday + 642 on Monday)
Total words: 66,341 (23,341)
Musical stylings: Various dark ambient music recently gathered from iTunes and Webbed Hand Records.
Munchies: Cheddar Rice Cakes

Researched via Quickie Wiki or the Google Boogie: Hawaiian names
Mean Things: An adminstrator with a stick up his butt getting called on it, and corrected in front of his direct reports
Placeholder of the day: "by docking with Hamilton Station, you agreed to abide by the Space Council's policies concerning departure procedures" That needs to be reworked to sound much more official and pompous and boring and legal-rific, so I will have to hunt down analogues in today's world at a later date.

Amusing Tidbit from Kellie's Day: Drew is all about band-aids lately (he calls them "help" for his "ows") and, unless I lock the bathroom door, will climb onto the counter and dig them out of the medicine cabinet. This means it's not unusual to find band-aids in unlikely places before I remember that said door is unlocked and rectify the situation. Apparently today Drew decided that a stain on the floor translated into an "ow" and necessitated a band-aid.

Physical therapy contortions: My joints are unhappy with me and my neck is kinked. I might give myself a pass tonight so I can sleep without whimpering.

Progress: Back After an Unplanned Break

I didn't think I was going to be able to get any writing done last night. I've been so tired lately and figured I'd hit the sack shortly after Drew went down for the night. But, true to form recently, I had just enough energy to guarantee I wouldn't be able to fall asleep, and not quite enough to do much more than play Final Fantasy X for a bit. Well, after getting my butt kicked in the game and losing about twenty minutes or so of playing time, I got irked enough that I jump-started my energy drive and decided to write a page or two to ease back into the thick of the story. Six pages later and two hours later, I finally had to crash. Hence I'm posting this after the fact.

Deadline: June 30, 2008
Today's Words: 1482
Total words: 65,210 (22,210)

Musical stylings: The Birthday Massacre (a current band that sounds like a more electronically polished female-led version of The Cure)
Munchies: Leftover boneless wings from our Chili's takeout dinner

Researched via Quickie Wiki or the Google Boogie: African names (I'm trying to demonstrate the multicultural feel of the world by using a different ethnicity whenever possible)

Mean Things: Name-calling among friends, arguing in public
Placeholder of the day: That grabbing a different ethnic name for secondary characters as they appear is good short-hand for the diversity of folks in space for my world, but probably not the most effective way to do things; yet another thing to keep in mind for the revisions

Physical therapy contortions: None as I fell into bed (only to take over an hour to fall asleep, dammit)

Progress: Back After a Break

I didn't report my two abysmal totals from last Monday and Tuesday before Mark's parents arrived. It was just too pathetic (306 words total). Plus no time, what with preparing for company and a camping trip. (A report on that should be forthcoming tomorrow.) And I was quite surprised I was able to write as much as I did tonight. I've been in blah down mode today and just doubted the story would come at all. Granted, I don't think much of what I got, but progress is progress toward a finished draft to then slice and dice into something actually resembling a novel.

Deadline: June 30, 2008
Today's Words: 1,508
Total words: 63,728 (20,728)
Musical stylings: Tori Amos
Munchies: None, but I'm about to grab a granola bar

Researched via Quickie Wiki or the Google Boogie: Half-hearted search to find a cystic fibrosis factoid half-remembered through the fog of my undergrad years
Mean Things: Talking scientific jargon to a layman, nasty genetic reveal that doesn't harm anything but is freaky-deaky
Placeholder of the day: More vague hand-wavy stuff about the business of setting up the medical clinic because I don't want to be bothered with those details right now. I will research that later (that's another post, too).

Amusing Tidbit from Kellie's Day: This is actually from yesterday. I somehow got into a religious debate with the physical therapist as my appointment wound down. They had apparently been discussing it all day long, my therapist roped me into a bit, and I trotted out my theory that free will prevents the Bible from being the literal truth. Said theory did not go over well. I'm pretty sure that was the first time I offered that idea outside of the context of close, like-minded friends. I'd be more interested in hearing someone actually get into it with my logic rather than be offended by the entire concept and half-jokingly tell me my idea makes me Not a Christian. But that's not the amusing part. That happened when I got back in my car and the CD cued up the next song: "God" by Tori Amos (why, yes, I have recently resurrected my Tori Amos kick).

Physical therapy contortions: Done and done, though I still can't bring myself to futz with my scar tissue all that much on my own. This, I need to fix.

Progress: ...And I'm Spent

Funny how getting to a college library at noon on a Sunday will not land you in the middle of rush hour for finals crunch. I nabbed a spot right next to an outlet for the laptop. Such areas, I gathered, were prime real estate. Later, lots of laptop-laden students wandered past me, looking for other places to plug in. In fact, my spot was snatched up just about as soon as I put my bag on the table and stood up to break down. I imagine this will be an excellent spot for me during the summer months.

Deadline: June 30, 2008
Today's Words: 2,148 in 3 hours (which is not lightning fast, but still fatigue-inducing when it's not the norm)
Total words: 61,914 (18,914)
Musical stylings: The usual playlist
Munchies: Sweet&Salty peanut granola bar

Mean Things: Longtime friend becomes fortune-hunting scum while sharing the fun rumors the antagonist has been spreading about the MC; unrequited lust
Placeholder of the day: "As for what it was she stole, that's where the rumors start to vary wildly." (If only to keep me from coming up with a few plausible items that might have warranted all the fuss while still putting the MC on-notice that the antagonist is on to her.)

Amusing Tidbit from Kellie's Day: I miss the college campus atmosphere. Something about all those buildings and students going to and fro that makes me feel at peace with the universe. Plus, I get to hear conversations both fascinating and mind-numbing. Of the latter variety, I overheard two kids who clearly had some experience in higher math (they exchanged pleasantries about Differential Equations--DiffEQ) but were a bit lost when it came to the chemical nature of what I'm fairly certain was a thermodynamics lesson. Some highlights:

"Uh, this says 'liquid crystalline phase.' What is that?" (This would have been more entertaining had they been working on a laptop.)

"Do you know what a polymer is?" The partner's immediate response: "No."

Physical therapy contortions: Much later tonight, after steak dinner

Progress: Squeaking in a Few Pages During a Family Day

Sort of an informal progress post today. Sneaked in 700 words while Mark and Drew were in the shower. We had a lot of family time today and now it's time for more time with the hubby. Tomorrow ought to be a red-letter day for me as I will abscond with the laptop and ensconce myself in one of ASU's libraries until I bore of the locale or the words beyond the hope of recovery (or until 4PM, whence I shall return home for family time and a yummy steak dinner with the hubby). Here's hoping my wrists don't freak out while having to use the laptop's keyboard for the first time in ages.

Progress: Ready to Steamroll Through Act 2

I was trying to start a pattern of taking Wednesday night off from writing to just play in the form of reading or video games, or perhaps using that night to go to sleep early and make up for the toll of the week. This was intended to give me a mid-week break (Sunday evening being another one, though Drewbie's naptime on Sundays is a writing time, so the day wouldn't be a total loss) to help me write the rest of the week. Didn't work so well for last night. Sat down to write and lost about fifteen minutes staring at the computer screen, mind empty, not even aware that time was really passing. Called it quits pretty quickly after the second trance-like state that sucked ten minutes away. I'm very excited I get to sleep in tomorrow morning.

Deadline: June 30, 2008
Today's Words: 628
Total words: 59,066 (16,066)
Musical stylings: Same ol' playlist
Munchies: Still recovering from dinner out at My Big Fat Greek Restaurant, but I'm going to indulge in my popcorn while I watch BSG after I sign off

Researched via Quickie Wiki or the Google Boogie: I finally had to name the character with the "Name Here" placeholder from before; since I had Greek on the mind, I went hunting for Greek names
Mean Things: Constant well-intentioned warnings that prevent my MC from just getting out the front door to start the day

Amusing Tidbit from Kellie's Day: The stretch of I-10 between Tucson and Phoenix is not exactly safe. While I see a lot of stupid driving that makes me tense up and examine the road from my avoidance routes on a regular basis, one of the least reassuring things I've seen occurred this evening. A big gas truck was hanging out in the left lane with absolutely no traffic to speak of in the right for a football field in each direction with his lights off during the darker side of dusk. And he swerved dramatically at least once. I passed him on the right as quickly as I could and kept an eye on him in my rearview until I was too far away to see him. I have no desire to gain first-hand experience of a big huge explosion or messy highway collision.

Physical therapy contortions: Will do tonight during BSG (and I know I will as the show isn't holding my interest as it used to).

Progress: Another Chapter Done

I took last night off to get all my ducks in a row for [redacted]. Hopefully I'll more news to report on that score within the next few weeks. Keep your fingers crossed. (Yes, that was cruel of me, wasn't it?)

I had anticipated writing one more scene for this chapter, but the scene I finished today went on a bit longer than I anticipated. Plus, I realized it made more sense to have the next scene in Elzie's POV.

Deadline: June 30, 2008
Today's Words: 1,448
Total words: 58,438 (15,438)
Musical stylings: Halfway through I turned off the usual playlist and did some more wandering through Magnatune
Munchies: One square of chili-infused dark chocolate

Mean Things: Saying things that needed to be said at the wrong time and in the wrong place using the wrong tone, Hot encounter that ends in a solitary cold shower
Placeholder of the day: "Our next stop is Kerri's colony, right?" I might've finally named this colony which isn't actually a colony anymore but a boarding school on a somewhat remote space station, the location of which I still haven't pinpointed and keeps changing depending on what I think the story needs at the moment. Ah, the revisions will be a joy.

Amusing Tidbit from Kellie's Day: We're so on top of things that we (read: Mark) took care of our taxes over a month ago and have already received and spent our meager refund. This is pretty much standard operating procedure. April 15th is just another day for us. So much so that when I went to mail a package, I was hanging out in the suicide lane, waiting for a chance to turn left into the post office, wondering why in the hell everyone and their brother seemed to be turning right into the lot and thus ruining every single break in traffic I might've used. Then it hit me that it's Tax Day. So I pulled back into traffic and headed over to the UPS Store which was blissfully empty. And also conveniently located next to Cold Stone Creamery. I treated the Drew Monster to a kids cup of cotton candy ice cream (he marched right up to the counter and pointed to the bright blue confection and said, "Oh, mine!" Then he pointed to the chocolate and said, "Your.") which melted rapidly in the 90+ degree heat he insisted on sitting in instead of the store.


Physical therapy contortions: The left arm is starting to numb out on me, which means I need to focus on the neck exercises tonight. I will actually do the stretches tonight as I still have to eat a little something to take my pain med. I want to get back in the habit of doing the stretches after I finish my writing and before I do this post. Tonight, however, I opted against that in order to write more words. Unfortunately, it still translates into staying up later than I had intended. Of course.

Progress: Excuses, Excuses, Excuses

Pardon the silence. I got lost in a few angsty wanderings this week, wallowing in the knowledge that not only am I not perfect, but I verily suck at various aspects of my life at the moment. Most of the mental gymnastics will be revealed to be the perfectionist in me lashing out, but some of it is real enough and needs to be improved. If the past has taught me anything, it is that my subconcious will sort out the real issues from the junk ones.

Onto the good stuff. I'm doing the writing earlier so as to enjoy another nice meal on the patio with the hubby. We're trying to make this a habit, and the hubby has graciously agreed to keep El Boyo Diablo out of my hair this evening so I could get some writing done. That might become habit on Sundays, as well.

Deadline: June 30, 2008
Today's Words: 952
Total words: 56,990 (13,990)
Musical stylings: Again, the same ol' mix
Munchies: Just water, dinner's yet to come

Fun with typos: "Mushy vegetables and slightly dry tofu didn't make for a gourmet meal but made for an readily edible compared to the blackened catastrophe they had tried to swallow the last time Chelsea cooked when furious." This is the result of about three different ways I tried to write this sentence, and there is evidence of all three scattered about it.
Mean Things: Terse dinner conversation thinly veiled as something civil
Placeholder of the day:"I need to speak with you regarding a few maintenance issues that came up today, and I need to catch an expert before he signs off tonight if you greenlight my ideas." Now, there's a reason Rafe did not specify, as I'm pretty sure he's lying through his teeth to beat a hasty retreat from the Dinner of Doom for himself and two others, but I'm sure I can come up with someone that sounds better and that might actually be real. The Second Act, after all, needs some details to portray a ship in repair.

Physical therapy contortions: I have a confession to make. Each time in the past week that I've blogged I'd be doing my PT after signing off, I never did. I need to get better about this, and I will, but I might give myself tonight off. I did a lot of walking today, and my hip pain has flared up for the first time in nearly a month.

Progress: The Notes Helped

Getting all thinky about this chapter last night and throughout the day really helped me write it. I finished the first of the chapter's three scenes tonight, and it went well, I think. At least, well enough for a first draft that takes me to The End.

Deadline: June 30, 2008
Today's Words: 1,342
Total words: 56,038 (13,038)
Musical stylings: The usual suspects
Munchies: Yet another home-made trailmix (yummy dry roasted almonds with more dried cranberries and chocolate chips; this time I added cheerios to the mix)

Researched via Quickie Wiki or the Google Boogie: n/a
Mean Things: More lies among friends, spacewalk with a distracted pal
Placeholder of the day: Pretty much every single detail about installing a communciations array. It went along the lines of this: "Three more wires, five diagnostics, and two connection optimizations later, Barrett declared the comm array successfully installed." Oh, and some vague hand-wavy stuff about magnetized boots and gloves to get from the tip of a ship's spire to the air lock in the middle. Just about everything except the dialog screams "RESEARCH THIS FOR REVISIONS".

Physical therapy contortions: Going to do those in bed while watching The West Wing (we're nearly done with Season 1; we've only got Season 2 after this as the show that was airing was irking me when Season 3 was released on DVD). I'm really surprised I got so many words tonight as it is. My shoulder is acting up to the point that I'm pretty sure my arm is going to be numb tonight or tomorrow. It's so achy and weak right now, and that's forty-five minutes after taking my NSAID. (As if on cue, the tingling just started. Friggin body.)

Progress: Go, Speed Writer!

No progress yesterday, and I thought I was going to have to write off tonight, too, as the hubby and I needed some chill time together over a nice meal on the recently acquired borrowed patio set. But I knew what I needed to do to finish a chapter, so I raced back to my office while Mark and Drewbie did the shower thing and dinner was in an inactive prep mode and managed to finish that chapter. I so totally rock.

Deadline: June 30, 2008
Today's Words: 646
Total words: 54,696 (11,696)

Musical stylings: The movie Robots trickling down the hall to my office
Munchies: Was in the process of marinating pork for dinner

Researched via Quickie Wiki or the Google Boogie: No time for that tonight!
Mean Things: An overly attentive computer system playing hair metal with relevant lyrics
Placeholder of the day: Vague interior decorating ideas that quickly turned to a conversation my MC tuned out so as not to reveal that I know nothing about such ideas at the present moment

Physical therapy contortions: Still to come tonight, after the delish meal

Progress: Breakthrough

Deadline: June 30, 2008
Today's Words: 1,153
Total words: 54,050 (11,050)

Musical stylings: The usual suspects
Munchies: tangelo and vanilla almonds

Mean Things: The lengths some psychopaths will take to ensure a genetic heir
Placeholder of the day: I've referred to a character in a retelling of events as "the doctor" but I'm thinking this might be someone I already know and have a use for elsewhere in the story. It stays as "the doctor" until my brain sorts it out.

Physical therapy contortions: My appointment today was better than Monday's, though my therapist keeps finding new tight spots spreading out from my scar. Joy.