I’m still writing Dark & Early 4 days a week and getting at least 1K in most days.  I’m on the verge of the climax but not quite there yet.  I’ve got Sig’s dreadful past figured out.  I know who contracted him.  I know what the Empress has planned.  I even know that Majel is closer than any of them suspect.

Yet I’m still not done.

And the book is just shy of 60K.  Yep, that’s twice as long as Lady Doctor Wyre.

There’s just so much more to investigate and explore this time around.  I’ve got Sig’s issues to deal with.  Lady Wyre’s learning more about the side effects of her invention.  Majel’s desperate enough that she might even consider letting her old enemy live if only so she can help her stop what’s happening.  Then there’s the worldbuilding necessary for Zijin.  I’m so glad that I’d already done quite a bit of research for Golden (although that was based more on the Tang Dynasty), so I had a good idea of the flavor and elements I wanted to build on.

I’m getting there, but deep down, I fear this book may never end.  I keep hoping that one day I’ll sit down and spew out 3-5K and finish the damned thing, but it hasn’t happened yet.

And I still have to get through edits before it’s fit for my editor’s eyes.

So the last few days of February are winding down and it’s all Sig, all the time.  I’m going to have to shelve the other novella I was hoping to finish by the 3/1 deadline because I don’t even have the first draft finished yet.

Sig is more important.  I *have* to finish.

After weeks of faking it, I might have finally “made” it this week.  *crossing fingers, throws salt over shoulder, makes sacrifices to all writing deities*

I didn’t get much done over the weekend between basketball, a trip to my Dad’s, and laundry.  I could have written some Sunday afternoon but I was feeling lazy and sleepy, so I just played Garden Rescue instead.  (P.S. one of the best purchases I’ve ever made – in sheer game time I’ve played this one for hours and hours.  Well worth the money!  Same goes for the Christmas Edition.  I’m obsessed with completing all levels with three stars at each difficulty!)

I might not have made a bunch of words, but the most important thing I did Sunday night was jot a few lines to start the next section so I didn’t have to think about what I was going to do Monday morning.  It’s a candy bar scene with Majel – one I’ve been waiting for a looooong time.  I knew it was going to be fun.  950 words yesterday morning, and then I got a little more last night to get over 1K.

This morning, I got up at my usual 5 AM but the puppy wanted to go out early too.  That put me 10 mins late getting into my office and then I had her getting into the trash, jumping up on me, shredding napkins, etc.  Generally making a nuisance of herself like only puppies can do while looking too adorable to actually scold harshly.  I only had about 350 words and I was NOT happy.

I was still in that candy bar scene but I wasn’t sure how I was going to end it.  I wasn’t sure how it was going to flow into the next scene I’d started but then decided I needed to move Majel’s scene up.  Then I had that interruption with the dog and I was mad.  Really mad.

But something clicked over lunch and boom.  I mean BOOM.  Sig’s life went to hell in a handbasket in a hurry.  I suddenly have a ticking bomb for the last Act of the book.  I know exactly what I need to do and how I’m going to get there.  I’ll need to go back and drop a few little threads for an upcoming event and maybe do a little bit of research, but that can wait until after I finish.

Yes, the end is in sight.  I knew if I could just get over that hump and get into the final showdown, things would pick up.  I’m about 95% sure I’m there.  Hold on for a wild and crazy ride to the end!

P.S. Although I did just get 2nd round edits on Her Grace’s Stable last night.  Isn’t that always how it works?  I’m hoping to turn them around quickly too.

I was hoping to finish Lord Regret’s Price by the end of January, but I’m not going to make it.  I am still moving along day by day, though.  I’ve been hitting Dark and Early 4 days a week and getting 1K almost every day.  Getting those first 700+ words first thing in the morning has made it so much easier to come back later in the evening and get another couple of hundred words.

This morning for the first time in MONTHS the words actually came easily.  *knocks on wood*  No pulling teeth, no sweating bullets, no working and then checking to see how much I have only to see I’ve managed 100 words.  Not the 2K+ days I used to have, but it’s such a relief not to have to fight and wrestle to get a sentence!

Plus I figured out some neat little things about Gil’s past that I never had before.

The end is in sight.  I’m on the verge of Act 3.  I just have to keep going, keep working, and fight through the valley.  I’m taking next Friday off to get my hair done, and the rest of the day will be a huge push to finish the book, if I haven’t already done it.  I need a few days off before coming back to work on revisions, and I want to submit by the end of the month.

Go, Sig, go!

I still feel like I’m faking it but I am hitting Dark & Early for the first time in months.  Alarm goes off at 5 AM and I write until I have to get the kids up at 6.  It takes me a few minutes to brush my teeth, make coffee, and get downstairs, but most mornings I can get 700-800 words before I have to get everyone up.

Getting that chunk out of the way first thing in the morning makes it easier to break 1K by working a little at a time at night.  I’m still feeling my way through Sig’s backstory and the core of his issues.  What is his price?  What’s he afraid of?  Who’s his House and what does that mean politically?  So many things.  It’s uncomfortable to write but I keep pushing every single day.

His theme song for this book is Even Deeper by Nine Inch Nails.  Help me hold on.

I’m guessing this book is going to break the 50K mark.  We’ll see.  I have a lot of plot to cover yet!

Lady Blackmyre’s edits are done and I have the official blurb.  I’ll make updates shortly (ETA:  Done!) to the series page and share the cover as soon as I can.  She’s going to look extremely good beside Lady Wyre!

I saw this on Twitter:  A telegram Dorothy Parker sent to her editor.

THIS IS INSTEAD OF TELEPHONING BECAUSE I CANT LOOK YOU IN THE VOICE. I SIMPLY CANNOT GET THAT THING DONE YET NEVER HAVE DONE SUCH HARD NIGHT AND DAY WORK NEVER HAVE SO WANTED ANYTHING TO BE GOOD AND ALL I HAVE IS A PILE OF PAPER COVERED WITH WRONG WORDS. CAN ONLY KEEP AT IT AND HOPE TO HEAVEN TO GET IT DONE. DONT KNOW WHY IT IS SO TERRIBLY DIFFICULT OR I SO TERRIBLY INCOMPETANT=

Oh yes, I understand exactly.  It’s how I’ve felt with Sig as I battled through Lord Regret’s Price.  I’ve done such hard work and have so little to show for it.  Every day is a struggle.  If I break 1K for the day, I celebrate.  It’s a huge day, because other days I might only get 100 words and feel like I’ve run a marathon.

I’ve felt like a failure.  Definitely incompetent.  I can only keep at it and hope to heaven I can get it done.

I can’t look you in the voice until I’m done.  But I am closer every single day.

In other news, I’m working on first round edits for Her Grace’s Stable and I’ve seen a mock-up of the cover.  HOLY SMOLIES it’s incredible!!  I can’t wait to show it to you!!

The tough get going.

So I hit the alarm at o’dark and early this morning.  Enough is enough.  Sig will be done.  I will beat him within an inch of his life until I finally hit “the end.”  Ironically, that’s not what he’s afraid of.  Not at all.

I’ve made a commitment to get this book finished, polished, and submitted by the end of Feb.  Earlier if I can finish it.

I have too many projects stacking up.  Sleep will have to wait for another year.

So Monday was my first day of “Faking It.”  I read everything I have for Sig.  I actually opened a file.  (Yes, it’d been at least two full weeks since I’d done that if not more, so it was a big step.)

Yesterday, I set a goal of 250 words in Sig.  I got 417.  I also completed Power 90 Sweat at level 3/4 and was able to get all the way through it, even though I’ve been hit or miss for months now.

Today, I did Power 90 Strength at level 3/4.  I cut my reps back to 10 (I was up to 15-20 on all sets) but kept the weight where I was before.  I was able to do everything, although I couldn’t get anywhere near as many reps on my max pushups.  Squats I did fine, but my knees were definitely tired going up and down the stairs the rest of the day.

Then I had some people just randomly start talking in my head.  The last time this happened, I ended up with Lady Blackmyre’s Her Grace’s Stable (coming soon from Samhain), so of course I had to listen.  I had no idea who she was (no name) but I knew immediately which story she belonged to.  It was just a few rough lines I’d jotted down for an anthology call months ago.

2,131 words later…

Isn’t that crazy?  I have to beat Sig within an inch of his life to get 250 words and I sit down in an hour or two tonight and have 2K on a different story.  But that’s the way it is sometimes.  I didn’t let my muse off easy either.  I *had* to get my 250 words for Sig before bed.

I wrote a bit and checked my word count… 98 words.  *headdesk*  I’m in the politics of Zijin and I’m feeling my way through several new characters and I don’t know that I’m playing them correctly yet.  Oh well, I can always revise it later.  It’s just slow going until I figure out who wants who killed.  (Although short story:  everyone wants Sig to kill someone.)  I refused to give up until I hit my words.  Finally, 334 words.

Movement.  Progress.