It's going to take all my two weeks

I usually give myself two weeks to plot out a new book, but I rarely use every hour of every day for the process, allowing myself generous downtime to mull things over in my mind.  But this last one I'm working on now is going to take every hour of every day, I believe.  I'm fighting myself, trying to keep the story simple and yet bring in all the characters we've seen in the past.  I like a sparse character list, and so I'm mentally cutting scenes just to get rid of them, and then questioning myself because this is the last we'll see them and I know you guys want closure all around.  It's starting to feel like a "very special Happy Days" and I'm about ready to say the heck with it.  You guys get what you get, and you'll like it or go hungry!  -laugh-

So I'm looking at my half outline this morning, going over it to see where I can trim and where I can realistically bring someone else in without it looking contrived.  I'm using index cards for the rough plotting of this one, which is weird for me.  I've used cards before, and they were a godsend while plotting out Peri with her multiple story threads.  This one has that same feel of multiple threads, so I'm not surprised I've turned to them.  Soon as I have the flow of events down, I'll go back to my handwritten page per chapter, but for now, it lets me look at multiple items all at once, and that's what I need.

Wish me luck!

PS  Cage match at SUVUDU is still going on.  If you feel like voting, go vote.  I think you can vote daily.  Rachel is losing badly, and I'm not sure if it's that much fun anymore if it's turned into a few fans sitting around and clicking buttons all day.  Cale vs Morgan