I am alive.

Thanks for worrying!  :)

This year has probably been the busiest year of my entire life.  I have been so busy.  But I am getting back to my novel.  I will be getting our little writers group back together.  I have already gotten the commitments from "the guys."

Also, I got a new calling in church a couple of weeks ago.  EARLY MORNING SEMINARY TEACHER!  Wow, I had better finish my book by the end of the summer.  Otherwise I'm not sure I ever will. 

I am going to also sit down and write my davey short.  I am excited to finally pull all of these little fragments from my brain and combine them.  Hopefully it will be good.

Lastly, I have been growing into a political animal in the past few months.  One of the reasons I haven't been writing.  I am very concerned about many of the current directions that our country is headed.  So, you might start to see more of that hitting this dialogue.

Anyway... Be back soon!

Too much going on?

I know it has been a while.  Sorry 'bout that!

I am currently hovering over the 45,000 word mark.  Wow that is a lot of words.  But I am still not even close to my goal.  Keep typing, typing, typing.  Yeah, I know.

In other news I have arranged and begun a writing group.  There are 5 of us.  It was really fun to meet last week and discuss one of the first scenes that I have written.  The really cool thing was that as others discussed my scene it was a revelation to me.  I learned SO MUCH.  I got lots of good feedback and I knew exactly how to "fix" the broken parts, so to speak.

Also, at work, I finally got to officially  move into Plaza One.  I now work eight hours a day on the twenty-second floor of a skyscraper.  It is really weird when you ears pop going to work.  I doubt that I will ever be used to it.

As a treat for those few people who have followed this irregular blog I am going to post something for you today.

*Drum-roll*  Under this very large cotton sheet is the most recent version of my world map.  Many things on this are changing and this is most definately not going to be the same by the time the book is done.  But I wanted to post this to demonstrate the level of commitment I have for finishing my book.  Enjoy the map.  I know I do :)

P.s. The H is a silent one in honor of my wife.  She rarely makes the H sound.  You should hear the way she says Human! :)

Later!

It's about time for a quick check-in

Yesterday I wrote 2423 words. Wow. I did it in three "sessions" but that is a lot of words. Unless you have tried to sit down and write a huge work of fiction you won't be able to realize how much that takes out of you. The scene wasn't anything really amazing but I think that it turned out well.

What is the secret you might be asking. Well, I will tell you. B.I.C.H.O.K. That is the answer.

Oh, you don't know what that means? Oh, well it is one of Howard Taylors brain-farts. It litteraly means: But In Chair Hands On Keyboard. So, there you go (you have to say that last bit with a greek accent :)

Word Count is approximately 43,000 words and growing!

On a side note. A totally geeky one. I have officially become friends on facebook with Brandon Sanderson, Howard Taylor and Dan Wells. I know it's dumb. But heck someday we might actually be friends and be able to discuss upcoming work together. Who knows!

I will post again soon.

It has been a while!

First let me check-in.  I have just under 37,000 words.  Yeah, it hasn't been a very productive few months.  I decided to focus on my family over the holidays and found that the days just slid by. 

Fortunately I have had this growing irritation in the back of my mind.  Growing to the point that I couldn't put off writing any longer.  So, I began.  I decided that I needed to change the starting point of my novel.  I needed to introduce my main antagonist early.  As a matter of fact, I decided that he should be readers first taste of the story.  The scene in a small way introduces my plot, it introduces main characters and the driving force behind them.  It sets up several of the promises that I want to make to my readers.  It was just a much better beginning than I had originally written.

So, I am excited.  It was really fun to write. 

Also, I began a small, private, writing group that meets in my home.  This should be a wonderful way to put the heat back on me to continue writing.  Since it is such a solitary task I think that it's important to find ways to bring other people into the process.  It makes is so much more exciting to know that people are going to read your work and get a pulse for how my baby is coming along.  I don't want a Frankenstein creature after all -- just a killer.

Perhaps I will post my first scene once I have polished it a bit.  Later!