For it is the drum of drums - it is the song of songs

Without going into too much detail about Projects That Never Happened, suffice it to say Jacaranda was originally pitched as a five-part comic. But because I really liked the story, I sat on it...and sat on it...and one day a very fine fellow at Subterranean Press reminded me that I hadn't written anything for him in awhile, sooooo....

...So I pulled out my notes, dusted them off, and still really liked what I saw. With a little rejiggering, it'd work just fine as ordinary prose! High fives all around!

The editor agreed - so now (as announced a few months ago) it's going to be a novella; and as of today, I'm almost ready to dive into it. I say "almost," because I have some errands to run tomorrow, and may not get a chance to begin in earnest until Sunday or Monday... but here's the word metrics template anyway.

[:: drumroll please ::]

Here's today's progress on my poltergeist-plagued hotel horror story, wherein everyone’s favorite steampunk Texas Ranger joins forces with a goth-as-hell gunslinger-turned-padre who may (or may not) have supernatural powers:
Project: Jacaranda
Deadline: March 31, 2014
New words written: Zilch!
Present total word count: Nada! words



Things accomplished in fiction: Nothing at all!

Things accomplished in real life: Morning jaunt around the neighborhood with the dog; cooked a huge lunch; went to eye doctor to (a). drop off my previous glasses frames for new lenses, and (b). pick up some new trial contacts because it sure would be nice to not wear my glasses sometimes, once in awhile; took the dog for an afternoon jaunt around the neighborhood, accompanied by the husband this time.

Other: The deadline on this one is technically the end of March, but I very much want to have a draft done around New Year's - with a final product delivered a little later, but still well ahead of schedule. I have two other books to write next year, too, and I have to really budget my calendar.

Other 2, Electric Bugaloo: Yes, this is a Clockwork Century story. However, it will top out around 45,000 words or so; and it is not part of the primary arc (which concludes with Fiddlehead). This tale is set fifteen years later, in southeast Texas.

Four-legged other: Greyson viewed his afternoon walk with deep suspicion, but once he realized we weren't going for a car-ride, he warmed up fine. [:: sigh ::] This is gonna take awhile, y'all.

Number of fiction words so far this year: 169,606