Chalk up Chapter 17

And now I am entering a new phase of the story with almost no idea what's going to happen next. I'm going to sleep on it tonight and see what I get in the morning. My writing group is moved up to tomorrow morning, so we'll see what I get then.

Okay, Chapter 16 is Done

Which means I think I am comfortable saying I've breached the boarder between the first half and the second half of the book. I know the first part of Chapter 17. After that, I have not played out too much of the action. I kind of go in spurts with the visualization.

This is the most enjoyable novel I've written. I guess I am more comfortable with this character-based type of writing than I would have guessed. I hope it shows in the writing.

On the Writing Side...

I managed to complete 2 1/2 chapters yesterday! It was the part I've been visualizing and it come out fast, even with a few read throughs to make sure I said what I wanted to say. I'm in the middle of Chapter 16 now. I'm pleased with that.

Nervous Breakdown

I finally got up the nerve to talk to my boss. After I put my food in the break room this morning, I decided I would not walk past his office without talking with him, or I knew I wouldn't work up the nerve to do it today at all.

Deep breath! Deep breath!

I went in his office. I asked since we had received word our one remaining study was concluding, what was on the horizon. (My 'day job' is as a tech and study manager in a sleep research lab at a VA hospital.)

He asked me to take a seat.

Oh, Goddess, that's not good.

Here's the gist of the conversation. He is eligible to retire in the fall. He's not actively started the retirement process, but he is looking for things 'outside the VA' to move into. He was honest that I 'wouldn't last long' at the VA if he retired because there was no need for me.

Groan!

Then he said he was working on something for me at a local hospital where his wife runs the sleep clinic there and he also sees patients. It's not been worked out yet, but they are expanding the sleep clinic and will need another 3rd shift tech and with differential it 'may' pay more than I'm making now (although I know he doesn't know how much I make). He asked if I would be interested and I said 'absolutely.'

He summed up by saying not to panic, and I promised to try not to.

Meanwhile....

PANIC!!!!!

That Was Fast

I just whipped out Chapter 14 in one sitting. I'd been thinking about it a lot and it came out close to the way I'd visualized it. I'll go over it again later and make sure it flows as well as I hope.

I've been SOOOO ready for Chapter 15. That is the chapter I was trying to write toward where I encountered so much trouble with Chapter 13.

Finals are done and summer quarter doesn't start until next week. (long break, huh?) Between now and then, I have some yummy, guilt-free writing time.

Finished Chapter 13

That was a tough one. I've been picturing what would happen a chapter or two down the line, and not sure how I was going to get there. The original ideas were not working, so I had to rerun the story a few different ways before I knew how to get where I needed to go. I hope it works. I THINK it does, but I maybe wrong. I'll re-read it later.

Meanwhile, I've got some ideas for the next chapter with the hero rattling around in my head. I'll have to get to them as soon as I can.

Changing in Word Count

After evaluating the various publishers, I think I am going to re-tool Deluge for submission to Love Spell instead of Tor. So that would mean 36-40 chapters, instead of just 30. I'll have to see how this story develops, but that is the plan. I'm trying not to let that affect my mental state, which is to let the characters tell their tale and not try to not force them into an arch just for the sake of the arch.

Just Chatting

I've only managed the first 3 pages of Chapter 13. I've re-written it four times, trying to get the right tone. I think I've got it the way I want it now. I'm looking forward to sitting down with it when I get a chance.

A new story popped into my head yesterday and I'm trying to set it aside and see if it holds my interest. I saw a young man walking in the hallway at my local college (where I'm studying computer programming for a mid-career change - as a backup if I don't get a juicy publishing contract before my boss retires and my current job goes 'poof'). The way he was dressed struck me as very interesting. He wore a worn tee-shirt with almost all the artwork washed off so you couldn't even tell what it had been and you could actually see the color of his skin through the washed-until-it's-guaze fabric. The shorts he wore had been jeans in a previous incarnation, and from the substantial fraying, the missing pocket and bleach stains (at least I'm assuming it's bleach), it is fast moving toward final disintegration. With all that you'd think I'd have just wrinkled my nose and moved on. But instead I got a flash of a character wearing that exact outfit. He spang fully formed into my head complete with storyline (a paranormal young-adult romance) and heroine he'll have to save from herself. Sigh.... I am eager to get to his story, too. I've already 'seen' a few scenes that I hope to get down ... as soon as I get the chance.

Earlier, I visited Holly Lisle's homepage. She has the problem I wish I had. Her deadline on a novel was moved up a year and now she has to complete 2 novels in a short amount of time, plus her world-building clinic. I would love to be able to have that life. To be able to quit this bummer of a job and write full time for a living. To have publishers so hungry for my work that I am just racing to keep up. sigh... again!

I just finished a final exam yesterday. I have one today. I have one more class to attend on Wed. night and then this quarter of over.

Summer quarter classes begin next week. No rest for the wicked, I guess.

That Was Fun!

I just finished Chapter 12. It was a big fight scene and I just enjoyed the heck out of writing it. I hope the readers are just as trilled by the matrix style fighting. I'm fast approaching the middle of the book (Chapter 15 is the mid-point) and there needs to be a big change in what's been going on. All the hints at trouble so far are leading up to discovering the major conflicts of the second half. I hope the reader will be blown away with the story, 'cause I am just giddy to write it.

I managed to get some homework done yesterday, but I have more for today plus a bucket full of household chores. I'll get 2 more hours for working on the beginning of Chapter 13 at my writer's group this afternoon, and then it is time to do 'real' work.