I have had to go back and add a couple of short scenes in the previous text of Nemesis.  I needed some scenes from different points of view than Mercy's, both to establish that I can shift point of view in this book (and those to come) and to relay some information to you, the readers, that I couldn't through Mercy's eyes.  These added scenes are in the very beginning of Chapters 2 and 6, which have been updated here.  Please go back and read these, if it won't confuse you too much to backtrack, and let me know if the addition of this material works or does not work for you.

Thanks.

Since neither book will just shut up and let me write the other one, I have two WIPs going. That makes it kind of tough for posting, or for those of you reading, to easily find and read all chapters associated with a particular WIP. So I've done some reorganization around here to try and make it easier.

From now on, all chapters from McClairen and Callista's book (working title 'McClairen') will be tagged mcclairen, and all chapters from the space pirates book (working title 'Nemesis') will be tagged nemesis. I will put the tags in the sidebar, so all you have to do is click on the appropriate tag, and all entires associated with that WIP will pop up in chronological order. Newest to oldest, so scroll back to get to where you last left off, and start reading from there.

Other than starting yet another journal, I couldn't see a better way of doing this. Let me know if it works for you.

Also, a note on Nemesis - I added a prelude and reworked Chapter 1, so the old Chapter has been removed, and the new version is being uploaded.

Ok, so what I had planned for chapter 20 has been split into two, possibly even three chapters.  I could wait and post them all at once, but why?

Here's

Sorry for yesterday - I was working on a chapter I can't post yet. 

All right.  Shortly, this journal is going to go friends only.  What that means is, you will only be able to read the entries if you, too, have a livejournal account (free) and have this journal friended.  It doesn't take very long to create one, and if you're one of my less tech savvy RL friends and you want me to create one for you so you can read these entries, that is doable, too. 

If you already have an LJ, you know what to do.  If you don't, go here and create one, then friend me.  I will friend you back so that you can continue to read chapters.

I've just decided I don't want the entire book, as it's clear I'm going to be posting all of it, available in the vast spaces of the internet and all that encompasses, so a little bit of security is in order.

Whew. 10,954 words. Not bad for the first week. I'm sure I'll write more today, but after last night and this morning (I've been at the keyboard since 7:30, and it's now 11:00am.), my eyes are fried. Besides, I just finished Ch. 3, and it ended in a different spot than I thought it would according to my outline. So now I have to restructure Ch. 4 in my head.

See, I knew this would happen. I still have at least 2000 words this weekend if I'm going to stay on schedule, and we have company coming all day tomorrow, and I have to clean house sometime today in preparation. Ok, no problem. 2000 words is about...3 hours. I can carve out that much time, surely.

3,833 words between today and yesterday. Not bad. I may write more later tonight, since my personal goal is technically 2,000 words per day.

So, a snippet:

( *** )

I hope I haven't missed any of my f-list who are participating in NaNoWriMo. Please let me know if you happen to read this, and I don't have you listed as a friend. :)

So how is everyone feeling? When is everyone planning to start? Tonight at 12:01, or tomorrow? I'm going to start tonight, I think, if answering the door for trick-or-treaters doesn't exhaust me earlier.

If you surf the NaNo forums, you probably already know about this, but I wanted to post it here, just in case. Someone made this incredible spreadsheet that tracks your progress -- total words done, needed to finish, projected finish date, etc, etc. Truly, it looks like an awesome tool, so here's the link to d/l it: NaNo Report Card

I only wish I had a version that wasn't limited to the month of November, to keep track of all my WIPs throughout the year. Sadly, my knowledge of Excel is rudimentary at best.

Well, good luck to everyone. Feel free to drop me a comment if you need to chat, vent, soundboard ideas, etc. :)

A week and a half before NaNoWriMo is set to begin. I really need to get busy outlining, or I'll be frelled come November 1st. I mean, I have the basic story in my head, but I better have a clear path to follow. Note: "clear" does not mean "detailed". I learned a looooong time ago that I don't work well from detailed outlining. I tend to diverge about two pages in and throw the whole thing out the window. But if I have at least a road to follow, one which allows for divurgences now and again, I'm good.

For example:

( Outline )

And that's it so far. I make little notes of things I know I want to do, but might forget. I sometimes make notes on character descriptions, so I don't have to scroll through pages of manuscript to find so-and-so's eye color. However, since I don't think my chapters are going to be ten thousand words apiece, I have much more outlining to do before November. I really want the whole thing outlined. That way I'll know how much more I'll have to do come December/January.

NaNoWriMo Project:

Genre: Contemporary Fantasy

Title (working): Starlight & Shadow. (It has been suggested to me that Shadow & Starlight has a more accepted phonetic sound. Any opinions?)

Character(s): Isadora 'Dori' Ambrose, the main character, a young woman who discovers she's much more than she ever knew. Her father, Thomas Ambrose, her best friend Helena, a host of other humans too numerous to name. Then the villains of the piece, the Sidhe: Queen Damaris Ellethian, of the UnSeelie Court, the many many Sidhe loyal to her, and those who are not, including Niklos Morieth, a Sidhe warrior who will play a large part in the story.

Setting: Our world, with a few little changes, such as the addition of the world of Faerie lying very close to our own.

Basic Story: Dori is the heir to the throne(s) of both Courts of Faerie, through a forbidden bloodline. (Dori's parents were never supposed to have been together -- they broke all sorts of laws when they had Dori.) The Great Sundering of the Court millenia ago have weakened the magic of the Sidhe to a dangerous point, but the proud members of both courts refuse to recognize that they were stronger together than they have ever been apart. (Both courts being the 'evil' UnSeelie, and the 'good' Seelie. But the terms good and evil in my world are a little more gray than one might think.) So, the book begins with Dori's existence being discovered by Faerie. Her father had whisked her away to the human world when she was born, and has hidden her heritage from her and everyone else ever since. As you can imagine, the book revolves around political intrigues, Dori coming into her own, magic, mayhem, murder, and love. Should be great fun to write. :)

Ok, so here it is, my writing journal for the upcoming NaNoWriMo. I'll be posting wordcounts, outlining tips/ideas(until November, when the writing starts), frustrations, possibly links to helpful writerly pages, and whatever else I think might be helpful either for me or other participants.