Friday, October 5, 2018

Truly a bad month, continuing to this very day.

Not personal for me more than anyone.

A brief political rant heads us off this month.

I wonder if anyone has any respect for honesty, especially under oath. After the Attorney General, charged with the responsibility of the Justice Department, lied to Congress and was still confirmed, some of us (unenlightened, naïve even) watchers considered it a fluke. Well, after the sham that Bart Kavanaugh just put not only the Senate, but credible witnesses and the American people through, and the Republicans to a one [possibly excepting Sen Murkowski (R-AK), since the vote hasn’t happened as I write this] have accepted this orgy of lying, self-entitlement and privilege the likes of which have seldom been seen outside fiction and “upper-class boarding schools.” In fact, they’ve rewarded it.

 I digress. I suspect that the bad taste of this ‘hearing’ will echo in the form of loss of respect for the rule of law, since at the highest level, there is no penalty for out-right defiance of laws that do not suit the moneyed,  and the privileged. In fact, lying to the Senate provides rewards: Appointment to Attorney General to further the white supremacist, evangelical belief that Sessions’ version of Christianity is the only true way, anti-immigrant policies that Jeff “I lied under oath” Sessions believes and wants to force all of us to live by. Confirmation (unless some miracle happens tomorrow⁠—please god, who- or whatever you believe her to be) to a lifetime seat deciding rules that brown and black people, and women, and all the rest of us, too, no matter what we believe, will have to live by.

 Or he could be impeached after the Senate has been taken back.
I don’t necessarily want Democrats to be in charge, but I’d like people who think for themselves, who are not bought and paid for by billionaires (I know, I know, some of my best friends…). That means repealing Citizen’s United, too.

 I hope I’ll be able to break the habit of giving the finger to the television because a director decides a shot of the orange menace will fill the empty space between my ears as well as it does his.

 But think back and tell me why any citizen would give up all that by telling the truth? When will that honor be restored? Asking for a friend…
/rant

Not as much writing, again; September was filled with angst and disappointment (see above). True Princess came back from my reader with her comments and suggestions (which were not a source of disappointment), most of which have been implemented.

 When I got it, I had just realized a minor difficulty in my world-building: that while I’d modeled my characters on earth-based humans, with attendant aging specifically, the world of Toile has a year that’s only 77% of an earth year. So the ages I included, whether called winters or years or whatever, were low by that amount. The place I found it was calculating the length of a pregnancy. The nine months or 270 days, approximately, of an average pregnancy on earth translates to almost an entire year on Toile: 243 of the 256 days, or 30 and a quarter otto'dars of the thirty-two in a Toile year. For other age comparisons, I made this handy chart for the Author’s Note, to help explain it.

Earth age|   8  10  15  20  23  30  31  40  70
Toile age | 10  13  20  26  30  39  40  52  91


I realized that problem just as True Princess came back, so I made the corresponding corrections to The Journeys Home, and sent it off to my reader.

The Lovers is finished, except for discoveries like the one above.

Latest updates on top. Older ones are below.
Updated  October 5, data from 30 September.

As of (10/1), the WIPs, along with my plans for them, are:
   •    The Faux Princess (Dragons Run My Life, Book One): 111 114 words. No major change.
    •    The True Princess (Dragons Run My Life, Book Two): 99 286 words. My reader returned it the 10th of September, and I made most of the changes she pointed out.
   •    The Journeys Home (Dragons Run My Life, Book Three): 127 860 words. It went to my reader on September 23rd.
    •    Blood Moon (A Beckie and Ian story) formerly Princess: 59 686 words. No changes. Obviously not complete.
    •    Low Places (A Beckie and Ian story): 107 506 words. Unchanged.
    •    First Indications (Dragons Run My Life, Book Four): 10 709 words.
    •    The Lovers (Dragons Run My Life, Book Three addendum): 44 281 words. Following Miri and Rhion, and Sanne and Gareth as they travel from Rendekebing  to Traenthe. Both this and Father Maman are complete except for things I or my reader find wrong.
    •    Father Maman (Dragons Run My Life, Book Four addendum) 20 539 words. A trip to seek out Tanial’s maman in Slot Minear.


From last month, here’s August’s update:
As of (9/1), the WIPs, along with my plans for them, are:
   •    The Faux Princess (Dragons Run My Life, Book One): 111 183 words. No major change.
    •    The True Princess (Dragons Run My Life, Book Two): 99 270 words. By the 21st, it was off to my reader again.
   •    The Journeys Home (Dragons Run My Life, Book Three): 127 887 words. Finished til the next round of comments. It was ready to go to my reader on the 21st.
    •    Blood Moon (A Beckie and Ian story) formerly Princess: 59 686 words. No changes. Obviously not complete.
    •    Low Places (A Beckie and Ian story): 107 506 words. Unchanged.
    •    First Indications (Dragons Run My Life, Book Four): 7 737 words.
    •    The Lovers (Dragons Run My Life, Book Three addendum): 34 773 words. Following Miri and Rhion, and Sanne and Gareth as they travel from Rendekebing  to Traenthe.
    •    Father Maman (Dragons Run My Life, Book Four addendum) 20 313 words. A trip to seek out Tanial’s maman in Slot Minear.


Here’s September’s work. Added 24 714 words, bringing the Y-T-D total to 166 106 words. 










What happened last month, then?

Overall, I wrote 24 714 words, just over 820 words per day. For days I did write, about 1370 words each of those days.

Aside from the dismay caused by politics, the change in time was the biggest thing to show up and it took two or three days to puzzle through. (Could I posit that my characters’ development was sped by the shortened year? No.) Then, figure out what changes were needed and make the changes.

As I said, The Lovers was intended to be about the same length as Father Maman, about 20Kwords. Finished, I managed to hold it under 45Kwords, barring any other changes that show up.

The plan was to get comments back on True Princess, Voyages Home and Father Maman. I’ve gotten True Princess completed, and Voyages Home is with my reader. Father Maman and The Lovers are both ready, but one big question I have is: would the three stories, Father Maman, The Lovers and First Indications, work better as a single book?

A look at this image, the time spans for the seven books that exist in one form or another,  may show the genesis of that question.

 The top line is Amerith; the second, The Faux Princess; the third, The True Princess, the fourth, The Journeys Home; the fifth, The Lovers, the sixth, Father Maman and the last, First Indications.

While CreateSpace has shut down, I haven’t made the time to move my books to Kindle Direct Publishing. In the plans for October.

I haven’t completely decided, but I may just drop Blood Moon and publish Low Places. I have been unable to decide where it should go, and as a result, can’t gen much interest in it.

As always, comments and opinions welcome.

The spreadsheet: Created by Svenja. See svenjaliv.com for more info and resources, including a free online word meter. All images are © 2011-2016 SvenjaLiv (http://svenjaliv.com).

Earlier updates

From last month, the July update:
Here’s April’s update:
As of (8/1), the WIPs, along with my plans for them, are:
   •    The Faux Princess (Dragons Run My Life, Book One): 111 114 words. No major change.
    •    The True Princess (Dragons Run My Life, Book Two): 99 253 words. A third version following the reader’s comments on the earlier version; earlier comments are now included. By the 17th, it’ll be off to my reader again.
   •    The Journeys Home (Dragons Run My Life, Book Three): 123 131 words; continuing this draft. Still incomplete, two threads to tie up. It will go to my reader by 8/17, after finishing and rereading.
    •    Blood Moon (A Beckie and Ian story) formerly Princess: 59 686 words. No major changes. Obviously not complete.
    •    Low Places (A Beckie and Ian story): 107 506 words. The new version back and changes made. Ready for publish one Blood Moon is done.
    •    First Indications (Dragons Run My Life, Book Four): 7 982 words.
    •    The Lovers (Dragons Run My Life, Book Three addendum): 17 216 words. Following Miri and Rhion, and Sanne and Gareth as they travel from Rendekebing  to Traenthe.
    •    Red Hot Maman (Dragons Run My Life, Book Four addendum) 15 646 words. A trip to seek out Tanial’s maman in Slot Minear.


From two months ago, here’s the May update:
As of (5/1), the WIPs are:
   •    The Faux Princess (Dragons Run My Life, Book One): 112 338 words. No major change.
    •    The True Princess (Dragons Run My Life, Book Two): 99 676 words. A third version following the reader’s comments on the earlier version; it’s back with my reader (April 25) to see what problems I’ve left in.
   •    The Voyages Home (Dragons Run My Life, Book Three): 113 529 words; continuing this draft. Still incomplete, two threads to tie up. In the hands of my reader (April 28), to see what problems she spots.
    •    Blood Moon (A Beckie and Ian story) formerly Princess: 50 924 words. No change. Obviously not complete.
    •    Low Places (A Beckie and Ian story): 107 784 words. After my reader’s suggestion the rethink the ending, again, added and subtracted words for net reduction of about three thousand words. The new version is back with her (April 25) to point out places that don’t match or still don’t work.

Added three new WIP. Titles are working titles only. More hours spent with Aeon Timeline, to lay out the plots for these:
    •    First Indications (Dragons Run My Life, Book Four): 1 394 words.
    •    The Lovers (Dragons Run My Life, Book Three addendum): 5 453 words. Following Miri and Rhion, and Sanne and Gareth as they travel from Rendekebing  to Traenthe.
    •    Red Hot Maman (Dragons Run My Life, Book Four addendum) 1 424 words. A trip to seek out Tanial’s maman in Slot Minear.

From a quarter ago, here’s January’s update:
As of (2/1), the WIPs, along with my plans for them, are:
   •    The Faux Princess (Dragons Run My Life, Book One): 111 909 words. No major change.
    •    The True Princess (Dragons Run My Life, Book Two): 103 135 words. A few changes. New version now in the hands of my reader, when she gets to it.
   •    The Voyages Home (Dragons Run My Life, Book Three): 94 601 words; Continuing this draft. Still incomplete, two threads to tie up.
    •    Blood Moon (A Beckie and Ian story) formerly Princess: 50 924 words. No change. Obviously not complete.
    •    Low Places (A Beckie and Ian story): 110 405 words. Added and subtracted per my reader’s comments. Returned the changed pieces for her review on January 28.


As of (1/1/18), the WIPs, along with my plans for them, are:
   •    The Faux Princess (Dragons Run My Life, Book One): 111 140 words. No major change.
    •    The True Princess (Dragons Run My Life, Book Two): 102 272 words. Comments on old draft received early in December, triggering another round of revisions, which continued through Dec 15. New version now (Dec 16) in the hands of my reader, when she gets to it.
   •    The Voyages Home (Dragons Run My Life, Book Three): 59 038 words; draft underway. Not done by mid-December, but one major point has been hit.
    •    Blood Moon (A Beckie and Ian story) formerly Princess: 50 924 words. Reduction in word count is due to leaving out double counted sections and annotations. A few words, but not much. Obviously not complete.
    •    Low Places (A Beckie and Ian story): 108 027 words. Got my reader’s comments back on Dec. 15th, and began addressing them.


As of (12/1), the WIPs, along with my plans for them, are:
   •    The Faux Princess (Dragons Run My Life, Book One): 111 491 words. No major change.
    •    The True Princess (Dragons Run My Life, Book Two): 104 131 words; minor changes in draft. Revisions finished October 23. My reader has her own life to worry about, so I haven’t sent it.
   •    The Voyages Home (Dragons Run My Life, Book Three): 52 045 words; draft underway. Parts of this story went very well; others were slower. Still have a couple major points to hit.  I still hope for mid-December to have the draft complete.
    •    Blood Moon (A Beckie and Ian story) formerly Princess: 54 313 words. I’ve committed to a direction but haven’t put much flesh on those bones. I will probably finish the draft of Voyages before coming back to Blood Moon, which will put it into January.
    •    Low Places (A Beckie and Ian story): 107 954 words; haven’t heard back since my reader has a life.

As of (9/1), the WIPs along with my plans for them, are
   •    The Faux Princess (Dragons Run My Life, Book One): 111 490 words. No change.
    •    The True Princess (Dragons Run My Life, Book Two): 106 324 words; draft is complete. On 9/1, received comments back from reader; problems. I’ve started a new version as a result. Plan for revisions to be done in September.
   •    The Voyages Home (Dragons Run My Life, Book Three): 22 255 words; draft underway, although on hold for now,  til True Princess is revised, as the changes will affect it as well.  I hope for mid-October to have the draft complete.
    •    Princess (A Beckie and Ian story): 51 508 words, the first breakthrough occurred; now to put some meat on the bones. Plan to finish draft in October.
    •    Low Places (A Beckie and Ian story): 109 912 words; sent the first half (57 000+ words) back on 8/15 to see if the issues have been addressed. On hold til those comments are back.
    •   Amerith (A Dragons Run My Life Addenda): 19 900 word; no change.
    •   Rhion Prequel (A Dragons Run My Life Addenda): 6 042 words; no change.
Amerith and Rhion have had no attention paid them; I’ll drop them from the updates.

As of (8/1), the WIPs along with my plans for them, are
    •    The Faux Princess (Dragons Run My Life, Book One): 111 490 words. Took care of the few questions and said, that’s done.
    •    The True Princess (Dragons Run My Life, Book Two): 106 324 words; draft is complete. Reread and revised, and sent to beta reader on August 5.
    •    Princess (A Beckie and Ian story): 49 336 words, the understanding of where the story is isn’t complete.
    •    Low Places (A Beckie and Ian story): 104 578 words; Received comments back, fixing is started.
    •   Amerith (A Dragons Run My Life Addenda): 19 900 words; last questions answered and it’s done.
    •   Rhion Prequel (A Dragons Run My Life Addenda): 6 042 words; done.

As of (7/1), the four WIPs along with my plans for them, are
    •    The Faux Princess (Dragons Run My Life, Book One): 111 343 words. To my reader on June 6; comments back and revisions complete. A few more q for the reader, and this one will be finished.
    •    The True Princess (Dragons Run My Life, Book Two): 94 750 words; draft is not complete. Two more scenes; I can see the end. The title has changed because I liked where the characters ran off to. Update July 6: Draft complete.
    •    Princess (A Beckie and Ian story): 49 370 words, began understanding where the story is; draft complete by July 30,
    •    Low Places (A Beckie and Ian story): 100 178 words; almost no work. First read to beta by July 6.
    •   Amerith (A Dragons Run My Life Addenda): 19 848 words; sent to beta June 6. Comments received and incorporated; Q’s back to reader by July .6
    •   Rhion Prequel (A Dragons Run My Life Addenda): 6 018 words; sent to beta June 6. Comments received and incorporated.

As of 6/1, the four WIPs along with my plans for them, are
    •    The Faux Princess (Dragons Run My Life, Book One): 115 518 words. Did the revisions, but need to reread, then to my reader by June 5
    •    The Voyages Home (Dragons Run My Life, Book Two): 62 162 words; draft is not complete. Now plan by June 30.
    •    Princess (A Beckie and Ian story): 51 000 words, no change; draft complete by July 30,
    •    Low Places (A Beckie and Ian story): 99 247 words; corrected most significant problems; revising. First read to beta by June 15,
    •   Amerith (A Dragons Run My Life Addenda): 19 848 words; proof and send to beta by June 5, and
    •   Rhion Prequel (A Dragons Run My Life Addenda): 6 018 words; proof and send to beta by June 5.


As of 5/1, the four WIPs along with my plans for them, are
    •    The Faux Princess: 110 651 words. Found even more holes with the aid of my reader; plug them with the revision to beta by May 15
    •    The Voyages Home: 37 735 words; draft may be complete by May 15, but more likely, the 30th;
    •    Princess (A Beckie and Ian story): 51 000 words, no change; draft complete by June 30,
    •    Low Places (A Beckie and Ian story): 99 053 words; found significant problems; revising. First read to beta by May 30,
    •   Amerith (A Dragons Run My Life Addenda): 19 854 words; proof and send to beta by May 15, and
    •   Rhion Prequel (A Dragons Run My Life Addenda): 6 013 words; proof and send to beta by May 15.

As of 4/1, the four WIPs along with my plans for them, are
    •    The Faux Princess: 108 807 words. Went over notes from my reader. Revisions complete by April 20; return to beta by April 30.
    •    The Voyages Home: 13834 words; draft complete by May 15;
    •    Princess (A Beckie and Ian story): 51 000 words, no change; draft complete by April 30, and
    •    Low Places (A Beckie and Ian story): 96 958 words; proof and send to beta by April 15.

As of 3/1, the four WIPs, along with my plans for them, are:
  •    The Faux Princess: 90 954 words was sent to beta reader Jan 30; notes came back by 2/12 and have lain waiting for Low Places to be complete. Goal is to have it ready to publish by 3/31.
    •    The Voyages Home: 8382 words; draft complete by April 30;
    •    Princess (A Beckie and Ian story): 51 000 words, no change; draft complete by April 30, and
    •    Low Places (A Beckie and Ian story): 81 365 words; failed to complete draft by Feb 15. The goal is now to have the draft by 3/15, and on to my long suffering beta reader by 3/31.


As of 2/1, the four WIPs along with my plans for them, are:
    •    The Faux Princess: 90 956 words, sent to beta reader Jan 30;
    •    The Voyages Home: 2500 words, no change; draft complete by April 30;
    •    Princess (A Beckie and Ian story): 51 000 words, no change; draft complete by April 30, and
    •    Low Places (A Beckie and Ian story): 65 932 words, still on track to complete draft by Feb 15.