For the dog, not me. I’m for the cheap wine, with some occasional gin in the warmer months. See, for example, my recent post on Instagram (@machciv). The story below follows immediately on that from my last blog post; I’d seen all of it, but was just too tired. Bad news at work, bad news at home… it piles up. Instead, let’s have three friends drink tea and nibble cookies on a rainy, Portland, Sunday afternoon!
Tag: love
Silverfeet
As long-time readers know, if I “go dark” right in the middle of a narrative, it’s a bad attack of RealLife. This was; again. And, it was onto someone who does not deserve it: God, the Fates… someone resents tf out of our naming our eldest dog Lucky Star. At eight years old diagnosed with sarcoma; two nasal surgeries followed by radiation.
Now, less than six months later, his breathing becomes labored. A week later, he is weak on his front legs. Monday, he cannot walk. Vet consult to consult to consult: I shan’t bore you with details. It might be a slipped cervical disc in his neck. Anesthesia for an MRI/surgery has a good chance of killing him due to his congestive heart disease. For now, we’re throwing prednisone at the wall and hoping it sticks.
After eight hours in the vet ER Tuesday, I’m not really in the creative mode. Fortunately, after my Lenten Exercises, it’s difficult to stop. I was able to put together what’s below the fold over two days. I’ve a quarter-page of hand-written notes about how to wrap up Part One. My wife and girls are off to a major, but local, swim meet this weekend; we three old, dying, dogs shall sit about the house and eye one another. I’ll type, too. I appreciate everyone for putting up with me. I’ll do better, soon.
“Why isn’t the plot here, yet?!”
Because I needed to put the third and final piece (eavesdropping and Mackenzie) into place, first. Now the rest of Part One can begin to unfold. Things are going to be fine.
In Part One.
F&A Cover
Formerly an exclusive on Gab.ai, where you can speak freely, below the fold is the cover of the my next novel. Monica is wrapping up her copyediting, so I hope to have a proof copy in my hands in no more than a week. A week beyond that should see it released to the wild. So honestly, call it two to three.
I really need to get back to writing Part Two!
Friends and Allies
Chose the winning design for the cover of my next novel: The Saga of Nichole 5: Part 1 – Friend & Ally. It still needs a little tweaking, so I shan’t roll it out quite yet.
In other news, I’m also getting back into the habit of writing. I have to: if I am about to publish a book called ‘Part 1’ I tanjed well better have a ‘Part 2’ lined up on deck and ready for launch. Of course, I don’t. Quite.
I hand-wrote about two pages of notes yesterday. That’s something for a pantser such as myself. Still, with all the RealWorld things I had to do about the house today, at least I was able to lay down a few words for Act I.
Retro Follow-up
My four ‘Retro’ posts seemed to generate some interest and it made me recall a TV Tropes page that a fan, from southern England, made of my visual novel some time ago. He did yeoman’s work in covering all four stories and all possible endings!
Spoilers abound – especially with the hidden text – but I think it’s a wonderful review of my first foray into writing.
0 AND 1
A good two days: even with the icepick, by drinking iced tea all morning until around 1230, followed by a switch-over to wine, I can up with 1900 word like this. I’ve lots of careful groundwork I need to lay down before… well…
Make haste slowly.
Blazing
Busy with sorting cover designs for Friend & Ally. Of course, that’s no excuse for not writing. What is was my neck: in trying to stop a piece of paper from falling off a desk at work, I’ve done something horrible to my neck. I wake up feeling fine, but if I tilt my head forward – as in, reading a screen, repackaging meds, snapping together IVs, prepping things in the isolation hood – for more than twenty minutes, it’s as if there’s an ice pick in the upper left of my neck. I come home tanjed near shaking and in tears from the pain. It laughs at ibuprofen. Friday night I took a Flexeril and a bottle of wine and this AM was less bad, at least to the point I was able to start laying down the story of Nichole5 Part 2.
I’ll admit that it started where I expected but ended up where I did not. I’d seen the ‘catching fish’ part. Everything after that… news to me! But great exposition and exploration of Nichole’s character. I wonder what they’ll say to each other in the morning?
The Second Bridge, Coda, pt5 (end)
Short? Sure it is. Abrupt? I don’t think so. Lampshade hung? I thought I did, both in the main story and this coda.
Consider: the “short” story of ‘The Second Bridge’ came in at 11.4k words. This “little” bonus ending is 4900 words. Sometimes, no matter how interesting these people are, I need to walk away for other projects.
To wit: my copyeditor has returned the 2nd edition of ‘Echoes of Family Lost.’ This weekend shall be spent implementing those changes. I tell you: no matter how you might prize your storytelling, when an editor hands back a manuscript – that you thought was fine – essentially bleeding red ink… it’s an incredibly humbling experience.
Thanks, everyone, for reading about Henge and her families. I hope you love them all as much as I do. After this weekend’s editing, we’ll be off again!
The Second Bridge, Coda, pt4
Question: is there anyone, besides me, stupid enough to think that I would wrap things up tonight? I really planned and wanted to. It’s all in my head! But it’s already 1.5L bottle of wine o’clock and tomorrow’s DayJob promises to be awful.
Part Five is it! I swear! Even if I have to wait three days and make it 10k words long!
machciv 