Cherie Priest's Blog: It's awards season, so here comes the shameless self-promotion, page 36

Once is enough to make me attack

Here’s today's progress on my modern pseudo-noir young-adult mystery with murder, medical blackmail, pop culture myth-making, missing persons, and a digital Hail Mary that's become an international sensation:
Project: Princess X
Deadline: January 1, 2014
New words written: 1988
Present total word count: 12,790 words



Things accomplished in fiction: Do NOT try to out-maneuver a girl on the phone. It can only end in tears ... and you working for pretty much free, probably.

Next up: Coffee with the new guy. May doesn't know it yet, but he already believes her crazypants story. She doesn't have to try so hard to convince him. But if she knew why he's coming along for the ride, she really, really wouldn't like it.

Furthermore: This might actually be the best word count I've managed on this project yet. It's not fantastic, but it's ... well, it's traction, at any rate. Maybe I'm finally finding my footing.

Things accomplished in real life: Daily jaunt around the neighborhood with the dog; paid some bills; went grocery shopping; went to lunch; not much else.

Yardwork other: After two weeks straight of rain and miserable hot temperatures, things cleared up yesterday - so the yard is now mowed and the hedges are all trimmed. Well, most of the yard is mowed. But the garden and the beds desperately need to be weeded, and I need to trim/edge everything so it looks tidy. Right now it looks like the mess it well and truly is. Oof.

Garden other: The heat and rain cost us some of the tomatoes, and some of the beans, I think. Everything else seems to have weathered it all just fine. I hope.

Animal-related other: If there's anything more charming than a happy dog rolling around in the grass then I just don't know what.

Number of fiction words so far this year: 113,275

Look it's me writing on the wall

I'm back! And still running around like a chicken with my head cut off, as has become traditional in the wake of out-of-town trips. Four days away from the office, and things can really pile up; but I did want to hop on and make mention of a few things.

TO WIT.
The following.
Ahem.
* * * * *

First of all, InConJunction was a lovely time, spent with lady-pugs in tutus and the Enterprise's Chief Cosmetology Officer (among other fine persons). I feel the need to mention this, because I am crap at doing convention write-ups - and I don't want anyone to get the wrong idea. It was groovy! I am 100% glad that I went!



Superlative convention experience aside, this is also because of an off-site bookstore meet-up arranged by the convention.

At this particular meet-up (mentioned in the previous post) ... I caught up with (I am not making this up) my very first best friend! We met in second grade, teamed up and conquered through third grade ... and then I moved. We both moved. Several times. We tried to stay in touch with letters and the like, but when you're a kid, well. You lose touch.

We hadn't seen each other in 30 years.



In that time, we have become very wise and mature. As you can plainly see.



BONUS FUN: Nancy brought letters and stickers exchanged between us in the 80s. (Click that first link if you'd like to see how little my handwriting has improved, though my spelling is up a notch. A small notch.)
* * * * *

THE HUMBLE BUNDLE . Still trucking! And tune in later this week for a Reddit AMA including yours truly (among a number of the other authors). Be gentle. It's my first toe-dipping onto that site.

* * * * *

And then there's Scalzi's convention harassment post. I've co-signed it. It's a good idea, and one that had frankly never occurred to me - in short, conventions should have some policy on the subject. Furthermore, this policy should be public and easily findable on the convention website.

Going forward, I will regretfully decline invitations to events that don't meet this criteria. I haven't yet checked out the events I've confirmed for through the rest of this year and next, but regardless, I'll meet all outstanding commitments. Like I said, this is a "going forward" thing.

Though it'd be hella-nice if everyone would get on board.

* * * * *

And I believe that X-number of things make a post. Voila! I'll be back tomorrow (it is to be hoped) with proper word metrics and the like.

Thanks for reading!

Where I'm going and where I'll be

All right folks, FIRST thank you to everyone who's shared the word and dropped the bucks on the HUMBLE BUNDLE for it is pretty much rocking the house right now.

Anyway. NEXT UP.

Tomorrow morning bright and early, I'll be headed out to InConJunction in Indianapolis, Indiana. And even if you're not going to catch the convention itself, you can catch me, personally, this Friday at 1:00 p.m. - at Indy Reads Books. I'll be kicking around that fine store, signing anything you bring me, and generally making myself available for questions or abuse for an hour or two.

[NOTE: This is predominantly a used book store, though they've been kind enough to host this event. (And they tend to host others, too.) There may or may not be any stock for purchase, so if you want a book signed and you don't already have it in your possession ... you will probably want to pick it up elsewhere beforehand. Yes, I know. Totally the opposite of how it usually works, but that's all right. I'm flexible!]

So. Long story short, don't expect a whole lot of blogging for the next couple of days. Expect a somewhat larger measure of tweeting , and maybe even some Facebooking - depending on how cooperative my phone's app is feeling.

Right! Well then.
Thanks for reading, and I'll catch up to everyone on the other side.

Oh Lord it's hard to be humble...

...But it's pretty damn awesome! For you see, all you fine and lovely readers - there is a BRAND NEW HUMBLE BUNDLE of FABULOUS eBOOKS featuring YOURS TRULY and boy I'm really going to town with these all caps, aren't I? Well. Yes.

BECAUSE THIS IS 100% WEAPONS-GRADE AWESOME, THAT'S WHY. Awesome for ME. Awesome for YOU. YES, YOU.

The Humble Bundle is a collection of SIX BADASS BOOKS, presented DRM-FREE and in just about ANY FORMAT you can imagine.

Within this KILLER ASSORTMENT, you will find Little Brother by Cory Doctorow, Boneshaker by moi, Spin by Robert Charles Wilson, and Shards of Honor by Lois McMaster Bujold. Pay more than the average donation and you’ll ALSO receive The Last Unicorn: Deluxe Edition by Peter Beagle and Just a Geek by Wil Wheaton!

So perhaps you are asking yourself, "SELF, HOW DO I GET MY HANDS ON THESE SWEET, SWEET eBOOKS?"
People, it is SUPER EASY.
HOW EASY?

THIS EASY:
(1). GO TO THE HUMBLE BUNDLE SITE , where you can click on any of the icons for a free preview of the works you'd like to acquire.

(2). PAY WHATEVER YOU WANT. Separately, this collection of awesomeness would run you around $70. But not now! YOU SET THE PRICE.

AND THAT'S IT. Best of all, while you're at it - you can choose to donate some - OR ALL - of your purchase price to charity!

The charities on the receiving end of your generosity are these guys: the ELECTRONIC FRONTIERS FOUNDATION , the CHILD'S PLAY CHARITY , and our very own SFWA .

Go check it out! Poke around, read through the free samples, and PLEASE CONSIDER THROWING A FEW PENCE INTO THE HAT. Even if you don't dump it all into the authors' coffers (which is TOTALLY YOUR CALL), these worthy organizations need your support!

So by all means - share this post. Link it around. Retweet, FB-share, and all that great stuff - if you could be persuaded to do so. It's a great cause, and by "great cause" I mean "look at all those SWEET-ASS CHARITIES just waiting for your DIGITAL DOLLARS and also I just put a new roof on my house which was hella-expensive, so, yeah..."

And a million thanks in advance, to all of you who take a chance on this bundle! Likewise, thanks to the HB folks for all their hard work, and thanks to the wonderful people at Tor who made this happen: You are amazing! All of you!

Now go on! Get clicking! Get sharing! And get ready to settle in for some AMAZEBALLS READING for the next however-long-it-takes-you-to-read-that-many-kickass-books!

Don't hold your breath but the pretty things are going to hell

Here’s today's progress on my modern pseudo-noir young-adult mystery with murder, medical blackmail, pop culture myth-making, missing persons, and a digital Hail Mary that's become an international sensation:
Project: Princess X
Deadline: January 1, 2014
New words written: 1009 [Oof. Crap.]
Present total word count: 10,802 words



Things accomplished in fiction: The website reveals become curiouser and curiouser. In a good way. If the information provided is correct, then the truth is out there (and it's time to stop believing the lie). But May is up against the limits of her technological know-how, so she's going to need help.

Next up: "Trick" is sort of helpful.

Furthermore: Crappy word count inDEED. No one's fault but my own, though I did get about 2/3 of the website "scripted" yesterday, whilst sitting in a coffee shop. Like a hipster, yes. Whatever.

Things accomplished in real life: Daily jaunt around the neighborhood with the dog; paid some bills; went to Walgreens to restock medicine cabinet; went to lunch with husband; got some groceries; supervised a Greyson playdate with some neighbor kids in the yard (always makes his day, I tell you); got rained on a bit; did some housework-type chores; started planning for InConJunction - which I'm leaving for on Thursday.

Other: Saw The Heat and This is the End over the weekend. Enjoyed them both, but The Heat pretty much blew my tits off. Wonderful flick - funny as hell. The End was exactly what it was supposed to be, which is to say, a stoner movie with lots of dick jokes. It also includes the only contemporary depiction of Heaven I've seen that made me really, really want to go there.

Yardwork other: Hacked the butterfly bush jungle into submission, but it's been damp off and on, so I haven't performed the much-needed detail work yet. Will try to get to that later this week, before I leave town. Or not. We also got (and ate) our first zucchinis from the garden, and the peppers and tomatoes aren't too far behind.

Animal-related other: This morning on Greyson's walk, we discovered a fledgling woodpecker in the grass beside our path. (In a not-much traveled part of the neighborhood; he'll be fine.) His parents were attending to him, and the little guy had all his feathers ... so I left him alone. I mean, I left him alone after I cooed over his cute widdle face for a minute or two, while mom and dad looked own with SRS bird-frowns. Speaking of birds, it looks like we might not have more purple finches on the porch after all. They got halfway through building a nest, and then my husband and his buddy sat out there and chatted for a few hours. Their meddling presence seems to have chased the birds off. [:: sulk ::]

Number of fiction words so far this year: 111,287

A little party never killed nobody

Well, that last post sure sent my traffic through the roof. [:: waves at all the people ::] I seem to have a few new readers scoping around, which is always nice - but I feel it's only fair to warn you: I write a Real Post once in a Blue Moon. Most of the time, it's just word metrics, pet pictures, and excuses up in here.

Look!
Here comes an excuse now!

No, I don't have any new words to report on Princess X...not because I haven't written any, but because they're all in a notebook right this moment. And sadly, notebooks don't come with word counters.

I to got thinking about it, and realized that everything will go much more smoothly if I just sit down and script out the webcomic/website material that laces through the novel. That way, I can slot it into place when I reach the appropriate chapters.

Prior to this, I've been stopping and shifting brain-gears every time I reach a comic break, and it's been slow going. Aggravating going. Resisting the urge to chuck your laptop across the room...going.

This new approach will definitely work out better in the long run, but it means a little sidetracking for now, that's all. So. Yes. Well. The metrics must wait.

[Aside: Without giving too much away, there's a mysterious website/webcomic at the center of the novel, feeding the protagonist bits and pieces of information about a real life crime. Rather than describe the content of the website - which would be SUPER boring reading, IMO - it looks like we'll have an artist create it, instead. Or that's the plan at the moment, I believe; but don't hold me to it, as publishing is an arcane and peculiar science, and plans are constantly open to adjustment.]

Anyway, I'm taking a few days to sort out this particular thread, so I can proceed more easily down the line. Word metrics should resume on Monday afternoon, if I can get my shit together by then. If not, well, I've got some cat and dog pictures hanging around on my phone...and it looks like the purple finches are back, rebuilding their nest on the porch...so there's always animal paparazzi in the queue somewhere...

Maybe It's Just Us

I began writing this post back when the original SFWA hullabaloo started up - but I never published it. Now seems like a good time to finish it up and hit "post."



I have been very lucky. I've been writing genre fiction as a professional for about ten years, and my experiences in the field have been overwhelmingly positive - particularly with regard to my fellow pros. Truly, I have met some of the most fabulous, friendly, brilliant, and all-around amazing people ... many of whom have gone on to become dear friends. Some of these dear friends have gone on to do great work within the SFWA - the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. I am a member, myself - having joined when the Marvelous Mr. Scalzi took over the presidency a few years ago.

So to be clear, I am not writing this post to crap on the SFWA or anybody in it.

To sum up the situation for those not in the know ... some old dudes said some dumb things about women, via a piece published in the SFWA bulletin. Then, when they were called out for having said these things out loud, in front of God and everybody, they cried "censorship!" Because some people don't know the difference between being censored - and not having every pontification greeted with wild cheers.

I don't know anything about how the bulletin comes together, so I don't have an opinion on how the article reflects on the SFWA as an organization. I think the matter ought to reflect most poorly on the old dudes in question, since they're the ones who spouted the silly opinions. I mean, hell - let 'em say their piece in public. It puts them on my radar as "people to avoid." I appreciate the heads up.

There have been times when I could've used a heads up. Mostly when it comes to conventions.

Like oh, say - that time I was with some other guests, posing for a group photo ... and the day-drunk gent behind me snaked his hand onto my ass but goddammit it was time to smile. I would've appreciated a heads up about him. See also: the fellow panelist who yelled in my ears until they rang, and then put his hand over my face (yes on my face) to prevent me from answering a question. (It wasn't my turn to talk. The next turn wasn't mine either. I didn't get a turn. No use trying to take one.) For that matter, maybe someone could've clued me in on the writer who leaned in for a selfie with me ... and tried to nibble my ear.

You know. That kind of thing.



Look, a guy can say something sleazy - and I can fire right back. I have no problems holding my own against inappropriate commentary; it's almost always clear-cut and I'm a fast talker. No, I won't come back to your room for a private party. Yes, I'm married. No, you can't have my number - phone or room or any other number. Don't let the door hit ya where the good Lord split ya, etc.

But the touching stuff ... so much of it comes with plausible deniability built right in. Hand on your leg under the panel table? Accident! He was reaching into his pocket for a tissue. Surprise back rub from a relative stranger while you're holding a drink and talking to friends? Only trying to say hello! Accosted with a very personal full-body hug from behind? Apologies! He mistook you for someone else!

Because ... I mean, anything's possible, right? I'm pretty clumsy. I make mistakes - we all do, and I don't want to come down like the Fist of God on some poor guy who just needed to blow his nose, or some fellow whose wife's ass bears an uncanny resemblance to mine. Sure, this other dude is all up in my personal space, but it's kind of crowded in here, maybe he didn't mean to rub his arm against my boob. Either of those times. My boobs aren't very big. They're easy to miss.

Besides, I attend these events as a professional. It's my job to be Nice and Warm and Approachable. Therefore, I get Approached.

So it's easy to wonder if maybe it's just me, sending out the wrong signals. Getting the wrong approaches. And God knows if I do bring up my discomfort, the odds are very, very good that I'll hear, "I'm sure he didn't mean it that way." "He's just trying to be friendly." "You're overreacting."

With enough repetition, enough reinforcement ... (enough dismissal) ... any reasonable person would start to think, "Well, I'm the common denominator, here. I guess it is just me."



So now, in a more direct way, I'll talk about the situation that prompted me to finish this post and put it out there. Long story short: an established, prominent editor has been outed as a serial sexual harasser. It's not a great surprise, frankly; he has a longstanding reputation for the behavior. Hell, when Tor first brought me on board back in 2002, my fellow writers quietly warned me about him. He was obviously a Known Quantity, and had been for years.

Since then, I've met him a couple of times. He was nice to me during those brief encounters, and not in a weird way - but I was on guard because in the back of my head, I knew. And even though nothing weird happened, I was worried that it might, and I was worried about the fallout if it did - particularly because I was younger and newer then, and this was a man old enough to be my father, and he was a respected professional in my field, in my own publisher's stable.

So for real: What the fuck would I do if he creeped on me?
Probably nothing.



Now here: have a funny gif.



It's just us, talking quietly in the bar, in the green room, in the corner of the party at 2:00 a.m. after a friend has asked you to run interference because that one weirdo will not. stop. touching. her. And baby, we do talk. To each other, if not always in Formal Reports - because experience has told us, repeatedly and insistently, that our perception of our own experience is incorrect.

(Experience has also told us that speaking up will get us ignored if we're lucky, retaliation if we're not. Maybe we don't want to deal with it. Maybe it doesn't seem like it's worth the trouble. Maybe we can let this one go, have a glass of water, and move on to the next panel. After all, it's probably just us.)

So we talk. We compare notes, raise our concerns, and we look for patterns because knowing the patterns will protect us. We find out that maybe the one guy has vision problems and it turns out, his wife's ass really DOES look just like mine, and we were wearing almost exactly the same outfit that night. No one else has any iffy stories to recount and he seemed mortified by the whole thing, so that one was probably an honest mistake. Good to know. But the day-drunk who felt me up during picture time - I wouldn't sit next to him on panels, if I were you. He gets handsy, and when he can't get handsy - he takes off his shoes off to play footsie behind the tablecloth. Right. Filing that bloke away as a creep.

When we don't report, when we don't come forward in an Official Capacity, this is what we do instead. We form social antibodies. We inoculate our friends, the newer women who aren't used to this shit yet. It feels like the only thing we can do - the only thing we can really do, since a Formal Report might be your word against his. A Formal Report might not believe us, and might even come back to bite us one day for all we know. It's a small industry. People talk. We don't want to look like a "problem."

But posts like this one, by Elise Matthesen will make it easier for me to speak up in the future ... not just because it lays down a practical road-map of how to go about it. More than anything, it will help prompt me - remind me - to shake off the surprise, the second-guessing, and the general sense of uncertainty (am I overreacting?) that I always feel in case maybe I should let it go, since it's probably just me.

Because it's not just me. It's not just us.
And the truth is, it never has been.

I gazed a gazely stare at all the millions here

Here’s today's progress on my modern pseudo-noir young-adult mystery with murder, medical blackmail, pop culture myth-making, missing persons, and a digital Hail Mary that's become an international sensation:
Project: Princess X
Deadline: January 1, 2014
New words written: 1349
Present total word count: 9793 words



Things accomplished in fiction: The website reveals previously undisclosed information, which more or less confirms the conspiracy. Dad's not the only one who's been keeping secrets, but he's the one getting yelled at.

Next up: More webcomic scripting; a trip to Trick's place.

Furthermore: Blargh. Not a great word count. But I got to a good stopping place, and now I need to figure out what the website reveals next. I should probably just sit down and script this in its entirety first - so I can drop it into the chapters where necessary. So why don't I? Eh. I don't know. Maybe I will.

Things accomplished in real life: Daily jaunt around the neighborhood with the dog; cleaned up the bird corner of the yard and did a lot of watering; tended to the garden (though there's more weeding to be done); ran the new garden hose along the house (more of an ordeal than it sounds like); not much else, as the dog alarm clock failed me once again and I got up later than I intended.

Other: The only other thing of note I did today - I wrote a thank-you note to Wendy Davis, because of badass reasons. If you feel moved to do likewise, you can send such things to this address: The Honorable Wendy Davis, Texas State Senate, P.O. Box 12068, Capitol Station, Austin, TX 78711-2068

And also: This, y'all. Suck it, DOMA.

Yardwork other: Didn't get to the butterfly bush jungle yet. It's been hella-hot and muggy; I'll try to tackle it later this afternoon, when things start to cool off a bit.

Animal-related other: Greyson has discovered groundhogs. As far as he can tell, they are AMAZING MAGICAL CREATURES that surely would appreciate being pounced upon and licked by a dog such as himself. Because he's a little dumb, that's why.

Number of fiction words so far this year: 110,278

not vicious or malicious just lovely and delicious

Here’s today's progress on my modern pseudo-noir young-adult mystery with murder, medical blackmail, pop culture myth-making, missing persons, and a digital Hail Mary that's become an international sensation:
Project: Princess X
Deadline: January 1, 2014
New words written: 1023
Present total word count: 8444 words



Things accomplished in fiction: The mystery deepens. The internet declines to give up its secrets. I mean, its interesting secrets. All the crappy stuff is within easy reach.

Next up: Okay. NEXT we'll Bring forth a useful new character. Didn't get that far today, but he should appear tomorrow.

Things accomplished in real life: Daily jaunt around the neighborhood with the dog; went and got my hair did; OMG YOU WOULD NOT BELIEVE how much yardwork; conned husband into helping me with yardwork cleanup; got stung by bugs and stabbed by thorns a lot; answered some important emails; phone call from mom.

Other: Not a huge word count, no - but in my defense, it is HELLA-HARD to shift from 19th century gothic lit-horror to modern tech-noir teenager monologue. I'm just sayin'. I'm also having to basically "script" a webcomic as I go, which is a whole new skill for me, and I'm probably not doing it right - but it's a very different way of thinking, and I have to fold that in, too.

BONUS OTHER: The rest of the week is looking pretty quiet, knock on wood. I hope to get some real traction going. We'll see how that works out, eh?

Yardwork other: We've had some "difficulties" with some super-stubborn lamb's ear (fuzzy groundcover) that refuses to either (a). die, or (b). flourish. By which I mean, it just rots in place and makes a nasty mess of the bed - because we don't have the world's best drainage up in here. So I dug it all out today; and likewise I pruned back the red quince; trimmed the beautyberry; dug out some silverleaf groundcover that I loved - but the dogs think it's the best thing ever to pee upon so oh well, it died; cut back some amazingly overgrown and messy and tangled daisies that were threatening to take over the world; cleaned out a shit-ton of weeds from back behind the rose tree and around it; pruned back the rose tree a little; installed a lovely black ironwork trellis behind the rose tree - because there has been some indication that it'll climb, if I give it something to climb upon; also installed a second trellis next to the "Swamp Thing" clot of sprawling vines, to give it yet another trellis to take over (it's already utterly consumed two yes that's TWO others, which are now buried somewhere within it).

Next in yardwork other: We have a pair of butterfly bushes that (a). were damaged by the roofing work, are (b). eaten up with choking vines, and yet (c). have exploded until the pair of them are roughly the size of our SUV. They need to be lovingly pared back. A lot. When that's done, I'll head back to the nursery and see about replacements for some of the stuff I excavated today.

Furthermore in yardwork other: Just kidding, but you KNOW you love yardwork other.

Animal-related other: Because some of you asked about Greyson's little health scare, well, here you go - he woke up one morning with a huge lump on his neck. It turned out to be a problem with his salivary gland, and not DOG CANCER or anything, but it took us a few days to find that out. The vet drained it, and that - combined with medicine - means the lump is now almost completely gone, and it never seemed to bother him, anyway. He's fine. No worries or anything.

Animal-related other, REDUX: It's looking very likely that one of the Cemetery Kittens will get a new home this week. The other has no looming adoption prospects that I know of (though obviously, that could change) ... so when I'm 100% confident of which kitten went home with my neighbor and which kitten remains, I will post about it. And I will cover the adoption fees of anyone who wants to bring home the other kitten. They're both little girls, by the way - with weird little kinky tails, darling dispositions, and an excess of dog-friendliness. Should anyone feel inclined to give such a tiny adorable thing a good home. Cough cough.

Number of fiction words so far this year: 108,929

My job ain't a job, it's a damn good time

Okay! So! The house is once again houseguest-free (after nearly a week of fun with out-of-towners), and I've got a Draft Zero of Maplecroft cooling off, and the copyedits for Fiddlehead have been sorted out, and I've lunched with relatives who were passing through, and...and...and everything is pretty much back to "normal" around here. For now.

And you know what THAT means: WORD METRICS!

I know, I know. Not everyone's idea of a thrill ride, but hey - you want to know what being a writer looks like? It looks like word metrics. It also looks like a cat trying to lie down across your wrists while you're trying to type, but that's just the price of telling a story.

Next up, we have I am Princess X - my first official foray into young adult fiction, courtesy of Scholastic. I've spent the last day or two going over the sample content, tidying it up and re-familiarizing myself with What's Going On before launching forward into Finish This-Here Draft Mode.

And now I'm ready to get moving again.
Ergo...

Here’s where I'm at on my modern pseudo-noir young-adult mystery with murder, medical blackmail, pop culture myth-making, missing persons, and a digital Hail Mary that's become an international sensation:
Project: Princess X
Deadline: January 1, 2014
New words written: 7421
Present total word count: 7421 words



Things accomplished in fiction: Introduced our major players and their major conflicts. Story: UNDERWAY.

Next up: Bring forth a useful new character. He's kind of an ass, but I like him.

Things accomplished in real life: Daily jaunts around the neighborhood with the dog; lots of yardwork; grocery shopping; laundry; phone calls with family and business folks; resolved a scary dog-lump situation with Greyson that turned out to be no big deal, so I won't go into it; oh crap, I don't even know what all else. I've been a terrible blogger as of late.

Other: Not sure how long this project will actually turn out to be. There will be some overlap with artwork and whatnot (there's a website of tantamount importance to the story, so this one may well end up being "illustrated" after a fashion, which will be cool) ... but I'm setting the finish line at 60k for now. It's nice to have goals. Even arbitrary ones.

Other (aside): I won't add the 7400 words to this year's count, because they were all composed last year. Yes, the wheels of publishing ... slowly do they turn.

Number of fiction words so far this year: 107,906