I am a master of a nothing place

I'm back! Not only from the weekend, but from a totally cracked-out rabbithole of research I fell down, in preparation for the Maplecroft followup. This followup is based loosely (oh, so very loosely) around some events that happened in Birmingham, Alabama, in the late teens/early 1920s ... and it turns out that I only loosely (oh, so very loosely) had any idea how crazypants the whole thing really was.

Now I have a better idea, and it's probably still just the tip of the iceberg - but hey, it's gotten me up and running, so I'll take it. I now have both a title, and a whole lot of messed-up history to mine. Two of my favorite things!

And oh yes ... I also have a beginning.

BEHOLD.

Here's today's progress on my witchy art-deco horror novel about Lizzie Borden thirty years after her parents' deaths - now featuring ghosts and non-ghosts alike, anti-Catholic conspiracy nuts, supernatural political shenanigans, the mafia, and a Bonus! space-worshiping murder cult hiding behind the KKK:
Project: Chapelwood
Deadline: October 1, 2014
New words written: 2783
Present total word count: 2738



Things accomplished in fiction: Got a solid start on reintroducing Lizbeth and recapping a bit re: what's happened since the events of Maplecroft. NO I WON'T TELL YOU WHAT THEY ARE. You'll have to wait for September for that.

Bonus accomplishment note: Did I mention the Official Publication Date yet? No? In my defense, I only just learned it the other day - so now let it be official: henceforth September 2 shall be known as Maplecroft Day. Mark your calendars! Or don't bother if you don't want to, because I will be reminding the crap out of you between now and then.

Next up: A letter from an old acquaintance with a favor to ask. Out of the blue, or so it seems...but Our Heroine is ready for it anyway, and her bags are already packed.

Things accomplished in real life: Neighborhood jaunt with dog; exchange with editor that culminated in me getting a sneak peek at something awesome but ARGH I'M NOT ALLOWED TO SHARE IT YET so that kind of was awesome, yet sucked; did a little grocery shopping; went to lunch.

Other: As per usual, the estimated final word count is just that - an estimate - and I will probably undershoot it at first, then overshoot it later. Or something like that. I'm actually pretty happy that I got such a good start on it today; usually, I find beginnings very difficult. I'm often lucky to get a thousand words down before I walk away, in order to try again tomorrow.

Encouraging other: LET IT BEGIN!

Number of fiction words so far this year: 36,194