Tin Man: Pirates Metrics 52

Tin Man: Pirates of the Nonestic

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Tin Man: Pirates of the Nonestic

New words: 1426
Total words for part one of draft: 57099
Total words: 66815
What I hate about my writing: Actually this is a hate on my computer system. I don’t know why I can’t seem to keep Firefox running with multitabs. This is a very annoying situation that I can’t find an answer to fix.
The Good: I got my word count in forty-five minutes, so I’m not pushing for the full hour today since I have so much else to do.
The Bad: I’m all caught up to the end of my notes and I can’t figure out DG’s head right now. Which is a nice shift; Cain has been the annoying closed-minded one for this story.
Fave Cain line: “Mr. Hodges won’t be eating with us tonight. Put him to bed, please. And you might want to spread the word how handy my wife is with a skillet.”
Fave DG line: “Pregnancy craving, but if you’re going to be nasty about it, you won’t get any cookies.”
Fave Betsy line: “He had his chance, and to put it frankly, he blundered into hot water. Actually, hot is too mild. Volcanic-vent heated water is more accurate.”
Fave Jenkins line: “Every time I think I got a grip on stuff around here….”
Fave Dani line: “Well, if you don’t want me to be part of the conversation, why didn’t you leave me where I wouldn’t hear it?” Dani cackled. “It’s not like I have a choice in the matter right now.”
Fave Hodges line: “You bitch!” He held her arms so she couldn’t swing the skillet again. “You worthless slave slut! I will have that and my money out of your hide!”
What I'm looking forward to: Making-up smut.
What I'm not looking forward to: I have to get through DG’s current issue crisis, the supper sing-along, to the make-up smut, and then the flashback scene. Which will work out great, if I get past DG’s current issue crisis.

Tin Man: Pirates Metrics 51

Tin Man: Pirates of the Nonestic

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Tin Man: Pirates of the Nonestic

New words: 963
Total words for part one of draft: 57099
Total words: 65389
What I hate about my writing: Not getting the whole time yet again.
The Good: I’m ahead in the longhand notes, so far. I have gotten to Jenkins’s reaction.
The Bad: Need to get the whole hour tomorrow.
Fave Cain line: “And how long do you think that’ll last if you get into a magical showdown with the Gnome King? People saw the light show at the Tower a thousand spans away!”
Fave DG line: “You can all take a walk off the plank! I didn’t ask for any of this and I’m tired of everyone acting like it’s my fault that I don’t like it! All I wanted to do was get out of my Kansas hometown. I worked my ass off to afford a trip around the world. Then I got thrown into a tornado, and everything I thought was true blew up in my face like an atomic bomb! And EVERYBODY acts like I should be perfectly happy with this and go sit on a shelf in a goddamn dress and fucking tiara. That’s not me! That has never been me!”
Fave Betsy line: “Who she really is.” Betsy pointed to DG. Jenkins turned to look. “She’s the freaking runaway princess of the Outer Zone!” Jenkins turned his disbelieving expression to Cain. Cain nodded unhappily. “After everything we’ve done, we’re going to hang for something we didn’t do.”
Fave Sprite line: “Still helping.”
Fave Jenkins line: “Pirates, aye, but you don’t.” Jenkins scratched his head again. “Isn’t that the really good rum Geoffery gave us?”
What I'm looking forward to: Making-up smut, once I get to the right spot for it.
What I'm not looking forward to: The real life stuff I have to do tomorrow. Stress, stress, stress; not good for writing.

Tin Man: Pirates Metrics 50

Tin Man: Pirates of the Nonestic

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Tin Man: Pirates of the Nonestic

New words: 801
Total words for part one of draft: 57099
Total words: 64426
What I hate about my writing: Waking up late. Actually, I think most of what I hate in life can be traced back to waking up late.
The Good: Introduced Dani and made it to Chapter Twenty.
The Bad: I only found thirty minutes for writing. Hopefully tomorrow will be better.
Fave Cain line: “My job is to keep you safe. The choice is yours, Princess.”
Fave DG line: “I thought I was more than just a job to you.” His eyes winced, even if the rest of his face didn’t move. “But we promised to help and we’re going to help.”
Fave Betsy line: “I need a drink.”
Fave Shaman line: “You never ask for anything now. Told no so many times, you’ve accepted denial as punishment. The gods not punish you, woman-child. There are no divine scales to balance. Denial is used to control what is feared.”
Fave Dani line: “You’re the brightest one in your clutch, aren’t you?”
What I'm looking forward to: Jenkins’s reaction to the truth. *Giggle* And more from Dani.
What I'm not looking forward to: Cain did a half-step in a direction I didn’t foresee, but of course makes perfect sense. How could he not have a problem with what DG and Betsy are proposing to do? Which will lead to make-up smut, I can see that. …. Okay, who’s been talking to the characters behind my back?

Tin Man: Pirates Metrics 49

Tin Man: Pirates of the Nonestic

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Tin Man: Pirates of the Nonestic

New words: 977
Total words for part one of draft: 57099
Total words: 63625
What I hate about my writing: I do not understand why it is so much slower to write on the keyboard. It shouldn’t make a difference, yet it always feels like it does.
The Good: I’m almost to the introduction of my last character, who didn’t get a cast picture. Oops. Well, I still have to get to the Granites, but they have pictures.
The Bad: I tweaked the soundtrack and finally listened to it on the morning commute and realized I will have to tweak again. I think I just need to rearrange some of the tracks and not go hunting for more.
Fave Cain line: “No, she ran away.”
Fave DG line: “Well, no one told me there was a formal ceremony to quitting! Announcing it on the Other Side works just fine!”
Fave Betsy line: “What is it with me and royalty? Do I have a magnet or something?”
Fave Sprite line: “Harder now, yes. Necessary, yes. The Captain does not not do necessary because it is hard.”
Fave Shaman line: “That he caused it is a minor detail.”
What I'm looking forward to: Jenkins’s reaction to the truth. *Giggle*
What I'm not looking forward to: Flashback scene. It’s an important flashback, and normally I don’t freak out over them. But this one is bothering me for some reason.

Tin Man: Pirates Metrics 48

Tin Man: Pirates of the Nonestic

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Tin Man: Pirates of the Nonestic

New words: 2001
Total words for part one of draft: 57099
Total words: 62648
What I hate about my writing: Not getting to work on it because Mom feels chatty when stuck waiting.
The Good: Chapter Nineteen and I’ve introduced the Shaman.
The Bad: This is a hinge chapter. Everything the reader thinks they know should change by the end of it if I do my job right.
Fave Cain line: “Should we be nervous too?”
Fave DG line: “It’s not sentient, it doesn’t have a mind to influence or to tell it what to do. But it sensed that I don’t have a clue on what to do and blew a big raspberry at my suggestion to reassemble.”
Fave Betsy line: “I have learned several pieces of news today that have made me cranky and I haven’t killed nearly enough people to make me feel better. So do you want to rectify that situation, Hodges? Or do you want to keep breathing?”
Fave Spencer line: “Aye, I’m sure. Same figurehead, same configuration of sails. I swear to it on my father’s pearls.”
Fave Sprite line: “I like Inga better.”
Fave Jenkins line: “And I say I’m glad I’m not her husband or her father.”
Fave Hodges line: “We nearly died for that broken bauble?”
Fave Shaman line: “Betsy-me-girl comes to beg for help, and she brings witnesses to see her beg.” She sat down at the table and DG could see that her eyes were covered with a milky film. “Now that alone should make the Shaman pause.”
What I'm looking forward to: Getting to the point where Cain can share his survivor’s guilt story with Spencer.
What I'm not looking forward to: Eep, getting closer to the flashback scene.

Tin Man: Pirates Metrics 47

Tin Man: Pirates of the Nonestic

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Tin Man: Pirates of the Nonestic

New words: 507
Total words for part one of draft: 57099
Total words: 60647
What I hate about my writing: Not getting the full hour.
The Good: I was able to keep going on the longhand writing, and have gotten it to Chapter Nineteen. And stuff broke for Spencer earlier than anticipated, which means I will probably have to shove some things around for him.
The Bad: There’s a break in the smut for some plot. Well, not really for the characters; I’m taking a break to concentrate on plot.
Fave Cain line: “Sometimes, you can’t. Sometimes, all you can do is save your own worthless hide.”
Fave DG line: “It’s okay. We understand about survivor’s guilt.”
Fave Betsy line: “Shite, so much for that hope. Take care of him and we’ll take care of the ship.”
Fave Spencer line: “Not them. Back home.” His inhale caused his whole body to shake. “I couldn’t save them. I was supposed to save them!”
What I'm looking forward to: Meeting the Shaman.
What I'm not looking forward to: Eep, getting closer to the flashback scene.

Tin Man: Pirates Metrics 45

Tin Man: Pirates of the Nonestic

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Tin Man: Pirates of the Nonestic

New words: 832
Total words for part one of draft: 57082
Total words: 58606
What I hate about my writing: Catching up with myself is bad because I don’t get my daily word count.
The Good: I went ahead and divided the working draft into two parts. Reason one, not to lose any data through user error. Reason two, so it doesn’t get so big that Word freaks out.
The Bad: Holy crap, how long is this novel going to be?
Fave Cain line: “Was that the signal?”
Fave DG line: “Now I’m glad we did that exercise in gym,” she muttered.
Fave Betsy line: “And you’d think they’d grow a brain and stop underestimating me.”
What I'm looking forward to: Getting everyone back on the ship.
What I'm not looking forward to: Getting everyone back on the ship for the ship battle.

Tin Man: Pirates Metrics 44

Tin Man: Pirates of the Nonestic

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Tin Man: Pirates of the Nonestic

New words: 441
Total words: 57774
What I hate about my writing: Not getting my full hour in. I only managed thirty minutes today.
The Good: I have split Cain’s POV into two chapters. So now I have made it to Chapter Eighteen.
The Bad: I have 108 typed pages of single-spaced story. I think I will need to split the manuscript working files so I don’t accidently delete something.
Fave Cain line: “You need better people skills.”
Fave DG line: “You can use my skirts.”
Fave Betsy line: “You forget, I’m a pirate, not a whore!”
Fave Slate line: “Your way of life is coming to an end; I will see to that!”
What I'm looking forward to: Adding more Cain thoughts to the situation. It’s hard to figure out how to do that in a high-stress situation and keep the momentum going.
What I'm not looking forward to: Having still one pack of this sized paper to use in the small binder before I can get a new notebook. I hate this binder. :p

Tin Man: Pirates Metrics 43

Tin Man: Pirates of the Nonestic

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Tin Man: Pirates of the Nonestic

New words: 1690
Total words: 57333
What I hate about my writing: The amount of research I throw into a project.
The Good: Made it to the ball! Made it to Chapter Seventeen. And I dug my astrolabe out of the freezing storage room.
The Bad: I’m caught up with myself nearly again. I need a few actions and descriptors to throw into the dialogue between Slate and Betsy and probably some observations from Cain, but past that I’m at the end of the longhand notes.
Fave Cain line: “You sailed with the Navy, right? Not just a desk job over the whole thing. You may have visited our home on a voyage.” Cain offered Slate his widest grin before pulling DG away. “Beth is signaling for a rescue, I think. Pleasure meeting you, Commandant.”
Fave DG line: “I hate this, being on display. I hate it!” Her freverent whisper didn’t go further than him. “All of the snobs thinking they’re better than everyone else because they have a title, and they’re certainly better than me. And it’s so entertaining to wait for me to screw up.”
Fave Betsy line: “Actually, I thought you’d be too busy accepting the ass kissing to notice me.”
Fave Slate line: “I’m insulted you think that I’m too stupid to find out your alias.”
What I'm looking forward to: Swashbuckling! Yeah, I know seventeen chapters into a story with pirates and I’m just now getting to swashbuckling stuff. If it makes you feel better, there’s more swashbuckling to come after.
What I'm not looking forward to: Having to put the story aside for other things I have to do. :p

Tin Man: Pirates Metrics 42

Tin Man: Pirates of the Nonestic

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Tin Man: Pirates of the Nonestic

New words: 1380
Total words: 55643
What I hate about my writing: Not timing my life really well so I have to squeeze it in.
The Good: Well, even when I wasn’t typing, I wrote longhand notes. I still need to describe the Steward’s House through Cain’s eyes, but dialogue and actions are swinging right along.
The Bad: I’m having to lurch back into writing habits.
Fave Cain line: “You do realize that everything that happened in the O.Z. for the past sixteen years could be presented as just political crap?”
Fave DG line: “Are you a pirate or a boy scout?”
Fave Betsy line: “Look, you don’t ask about the past, anyone’s past, ever. I could ask so much about you and Mr. Cain, hell, just about how you are used to fashion that doesn’t appear to match your lover’s station.” DG felt the blood draining from her face. “And how he’s suffering from serious trauma. But I don’t. I can’t. And asking questions like that, letting things slip that you really don’t know, will get you killed.” Betsy turned now, her face twisted with anger and concern. “Don’t do it.”
What I'm looking forward to: The battle at the Steward’s ball. This may end up being back-to-back Cain POV chapters. I’ve already had to do it a couple of times with DG.
What I'm not looking forward to: Ship battle. I hope I can keep the excitement going.

I also got some reference art done! Go me. Betsy's ball gown


DG's ball gown


Steward's House and Grounds layout


Steward's Study, second floor.

Tin Man: Pirates Metrics 41

Tin Man: Pirates of the Nonestic

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Tin Man: Pirates of the Nonestic

New words: 0
Total words: 54263
What I hate about my writing: When I don’t get it done at all.
The Good: WE GOT A NEW PRESIDENT!
The Bad: What time I had to waste was spent watching the Inauguration, not typing. Oh well, I’m counting it as a holiday.
What I'm looking forward to: The Steward’s ball. I think I may use a chapter break to get us there really soon.
What I'm not looking forward to: Fight scene. I always feel they’re subpar.

Tin Man: Pirates Metrics 40

Tin Man: Pirates of the Nonestic

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Tin Man: Pirates of the Nonestic

New words: 0
Total words: 54263
What I hate about my writing: When I don’t get to do it. I spent the day reading Faulkner instead.
The Good: I read heaps of Faulkner that I should have already had read for the paper.
The Bad: I still don’t have thesis for the damn paper. Faulkner better be glad I don’t have the ability to raise the dead, cause I’m tempted just to throttle him.
What I'm looking forward to: The Steward’s ball. I think I may use a chapter break to get us there really soon.
What I'm not looking forward to: Fight scene. I always feel they’re subpar.

Tin Man: Pirates Metrics 39

Tin Man: Pirates of the Nonestic

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Tin Man: Pirates of the Nonestic

New words: 1390
Total words: 54263
What I hate about my writing: I’m all caught up again.
The Good: I didn’t get the whole ARGH-haven’t-worked-it-out-already freeze this time.
The Bad: I have noticed I’m not doing much in time jumps for transitions. And that make descriptions more full, but it’s probably adding to the word count. But there’s so much to describe.
Fave Cain line: “I miss my badge.”
Fave DG line: “Scarlett O’Hara I’m not.”
Fave Betsy line: “I’m just a constant source of disappointment for someone. Today’s your turn.”
Fave Quincy line: “You are a lucky, lucky woman.” He glanced at Cain’s face growing even redder before his eyes dropped down the Tin Man’s body. “Very lucky.”
What I'm looking forward to: The Steward’s ball. I think I may use a chapter break to get us there really soon.
What I'm not looking forward to: Fight scene. I always feel they’re subpar.

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Tin Man: Pirates of the Nonestic

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Tin Man: Pirates of the Nonestic

New words: 442
Total words: 52873
What I hate about my writing: I didn’t time my day right at all and only got fifteen minutes before going to have a good time with some friends.
The Good: I had a refreshing day off.
The Bad: I have to squeeze in my writing tomorrow between the other stuff I must do as well.
Fave Cain line: “What do you have in normal pants?”
Fave DG line: “Not if it means squeezing me to death in a corset and high heels.”
Fave Betsy line: “You look like I’m dragging you to an execution. You don’t want to get all dolled up for your man?”
Fave Quincy line: “I have every possible clothing need covered, Sugarcane. Just tell Quincy what else you need?”
What I'm looking forward to: The Steward’s ball.
What I'm not looking forward to: Faulkner, ugh. Don’t get me wrong, I like him better than a lot of the so-called classic writers. I just don’t like trying to pick his work apart.

Tin Man: Pirates Metrics 37

Tin Man: Pirates of the Nonestic

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Tin Man: Pirates of the Nonestic

New words: 1812
Total words: 52431
What I hate about my writing: Not getting enough time to do it first thing in the morning.
The Good: I finished before Battlestar Galactica! WOOT! And got to Chapter Sixteen.
The Bad: It’s not really bad, but I sure didn’t expect Quincy’s part to explode like it has. Too bad this part is in DG’s POV, because Quincy helping Wyatt Cain with clothes is funny as hell.
Fave Cain line: “He’s lying.”
Fave Jenkins line: “Already done.” He twisted around, spotted Cain and DG standing unobtrusively as possible, and handed over a small money bag. “And take ‘em clothes shopping, Captain.”
Fave Betsy line: “What did you do?” A red line appeared across his shirt sleeve. “Where are the pieces?” A slash ran across his other cheek. “It’ll hurt less if you just stay still.” The material covering his knee split to reveal another red line on his skin. “What did you do?”
Fave Sprite line: “Orders, Captain?”
Fave Pyrite line: “The wedding?” He wilted under her glare. “Well, I figured that “back off or I’ll gut you like a fish’ was friendly pirate banter.”
Fave Quincy line: “Captain Bobbins! Sweetpea, how long has it been?” He embraced her, landing kisses on both her cheeks, before inspecting her attire. “And why did you come looking like that?”
What I'm looking forward to: The Steward’s ball. It’s not going to be what most balls have been in the fandom.
What I'm not looking forward to: Digging my astrolabe out of the pirate garb. The problem is getting to the pirate garb.

Oh and Quincy is played by Hollywood Montrose also knows in real life as Meshach Taylor.

Tin Man: Pirates Metrics 36

Tin Man: Pirates of the Nonestic

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Tin Man: Pirates of the Nonestic

New words: 1150
Total words: 50619
What I hate about my writing:
The Good: YES, I got in fifteen minutes! Thirty Forty-five minutes A full hour! But the word count is low because of the time spent fixing the formatting in Chapter Twelve. I’m also crossing fingers that I’m describing the docking procedures for a sailing ship correctly. I got enough words though, and now on schedule to reach 70,000 words on Feb. 1st.
The Bad: Letting my transition issues derail me for so long and not realize I was sliding right into my “avoid it and it will go away” strategy. I needed to get all my players into position before the next scene and that was giving me fits.
Fave Cain line: “So much for buying pants.”
Fave DG line: “Did you let me sleep in on purpose?” He nodded and she stood up on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek. “You’re too good to me.”
Fave Jenkins line: “The Isle of Yew is nice this time of year. Take a few weeks; I can pretend to be retired.” Now she turned her blistering glare on Jenkins. “No? Then can you at least promise me not to try to kill Slate until after we found your treasure?”
Fave Betsy line: “I won’t start anything with him. It’s not my place. I can’t promise on the outcome if he starts anything with me.” She took a deep breath and her bland voice returned. “The capital city of Rinkitink was destroyed by pirates and the Island Navy commissioned another warship in response. So Slate has what now, twenty?”
Fave Sprite line: “Different. No look without permission ever. But your hearts screamed, no choice but to feel. Better now. Mate heals heart.” She patted his chest. “And I never tell what I see. All crew have secrets, even Sprite.”
What I'm looking forward to: See Thomas Slate mentioned, but he doesn’t get introduced until Chapter Seventeen. So more immediately looking forward to, the introduction to Nick Pyrite.
What I'm not looking forward to: The fear I’m going to bore people with clothes in the scene with Quincy.

Tin Man: Pirates Metrics 35

Tin Man: Pirates of the Nonestic

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Tin Man: Pirates of the Nonestic

New words: 0
Total words: 49469
What I hate about my writing: Okay, now I’m just blaming my inability of getting my ass in front of the computer to type on the arctic cold hitting my region. At least, there’s no snow.
The Good: Damn, I got the longhand notes finished with the scene with Nick Pyrite and all the way to introducing the minor character Quincy.
The Bad: Why didn’t I find any time to actually TYPE? Yeah, I’m getting a little stressed about it.
What I'm looking forward to: Introducing Thomas Slate. His name has really been dropped, and I think I need to have Cain make some deductions about what he’s observing that he keeps to himself.
What I'm not looking forward to: Getting back into the rhythm. It’s going to be really hard after this week.

Tin Man: Dragons and Ninjas 2

Yeah, I’m working on a soundtrack, sorta. I already had four songs picked out from my YouTube video collections, though only one ended up in the text. So I decided to start trying to get character themes together and see what would happen.

• ”Home” by Breaking Benjamin – overall novel theme
• ”Suffer” by Echoing Green – DG’s breakdown and Cain’s torture
• ”Save this Fairyland” by Angelzoom – Going into battle
• ”I Turn to You” by Melanie C – DG and Cain’s love theme
• ”It Doesn’t Matter” by Alison Krauss and Union Station – DG’s theme
• ”Ordinary” by Train – Zack’s theme
• ”Just Like You” by Three Days Grace – Ichiro’s theme
• "What If" by Creed - Cain’s theme
• ”She Blinded Me With Science” by Thomas Dolby – Glitch’s theme (Just cause now I have the image of Glitch trying to sing it)
• ”The River Sings” by Enya – Raw’s theme
• ”Avarice” by Disturbed – Zero’s theme
• ”Hold Out Your Hand” by Nickleback – Jeb’s theme

Looking for theme songs can be fun when they fall into your lap. When they don’t, it’s an aggravating search.

I’m still in searching for mode; not really ready to start putting the songs together in a folder yet. And it’s possible that I’ll listen to the song and go nope, won’t work.

Tin Man: Pirates Metrics 34

Tin Man: Pirates of the Nonestic

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Tin Man: Pirates of the Nonestic

New words: 0
Total words: 49469
What I hate about my writing: ARGH! What the hell is wrong with me this week?
The Good: More longhand notes, so I’m not falling away from the story.
The Bad: I’m also ignoring the reading I have to do too. Hell, I think I need to change the alarm clock back to 2am.
What I'm looking forward to: Introducing Thomas Slate and Nick Pyrite.
What I'm not looking forward to: I really need to get off my duff and make the map of where all the islands are in relation to each other. An city map of Kingsport would probably be a good idea too. Why haven’t I done this? My drawing skills suck.

Tin Man: Pirates Metrics 33

Tin Man: Pirates of the Nonestic

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Tin Man: Pirates of the Nonestic

New words: 0
Total words: 49469
What I hate about my writing: Not getting to the typing! Typing is what counts!
The Good: I didn’t completely ignore the story; I wrote in longhand.
The Bad: No typing at all.
What I'm looking forward to: Introducing Nick Pyrite and Thomas Slate.
What I'm not looking forward to: Figuring out a poison that didn’t kill Betsy. Where did I put my Deadly Doses book?

Writing Goals for 2009

Cherie Priest had a post (I’m slowly catching up on my blog reading) in which she had gave her final fiction tally for 2008, which was under her goal amount, and she also said how she reached said goal amount. 1000 words a day times 365 days = 356,000 words for the year. Totally doable goal for a year, so I’m borrowing it for 2009. I just have to remember that only fiction counts.

So let me do some math. 32,923 words written as of December 31st. Add that to 365,000 and I get 397,923 as the number I plug into the marathon tracker. Having technical difficulties setting that up, moving on.

Projects! There’s so much bouncing in my head, in my notebooks, in my computer that wants to get done! This is where my Writing Project list comes in so handy. I already have so much on it, I don’t need to go looking for something in the idea folder. Maybe that should be a goal for 2010—pull an idea out of the idea folder.

First Draft Finished
Biker Mice From Mars: Wars Are Won By Those Who Dare: Turbo
Biker Mice From Mars: Evil Jack: For Worse

Finish with Publication or Submission
Tin Man: Dragons and Ninjas

Write
Tin Man: Pirates of the Nonestic
Strix

Boy, do I still have stuff listed after that, but I don’t want to over plan. Seriously, if over planning is my weakness, I’d much rather wake up in June and say “I finished all that; what’s next?” Plus there’s the nonfiction to consider too. Bloody nonfiction getting in my way. ‘Dems the breaks, cherie. (And I have no idea why Gambit suddenly sprouted in my head.)

Besides with the epic tale Tin Man: Pirates of the Nonestic is shaping to be, I’ll probably kill my word count on it and whatever Strix shapes into.

Now off to be responsible and cook food and finish reading so I can get on with more responsible things.

Tin Man: Pirates Metrics 32

Tin Man: Pirates of the Nonestic

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Tin Man: Pirates of the Nonestic

New words: 183
Total words: 49469
What I hate about my writing: Not really a hate, but more of an observation. Working for fifteen minutes and then working on something else for fifteen minutes, works when you bouncing between cleaning and reading and writing. It doesn’t work when it’s cooking you have to do on the plate.
The Good: I got some typing done, but only fifteen minutes.
The Bad: Where the heck is this chapter going?
Fave Cain line: “I hear ya. Though speaking of sleeping,” he pointed his thumb back toward his quarters, “I’m trying to let Thea have as much as possible.”
Fave Spencer line: “None shall pass me but the Captain or Mr. Jenkins.”
What I'm looking forward to: Introducing Nick Pyrite and Thomas Slate.
What I'm not looking forward to: Trying to figure out the mistake I made with the soundtrack. I don’t think I picked the right songs for the jobs to dock the ship.

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Tin Man: Pirates of the Nonestic

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Tin Man: Pirates of the Nonestic

New words: 1472
Total words: 49286
What I hate about my writing: When I wake up late, and then spend most of the day on the other chores and not my writing. I hate doing that to my weekends.
The Good: It took until 11pm, but I have done all my Weekly chores for this week, Saturday chores, plus my hourly readings of Faulkner, Morrison, and my hour of writing.
The Bad: Oh crap, I have reached Chapter Fifteen. I only have eight paragraphs written for Chapter Fifteen.
Fave Cain line: “Hardly, if being with me reminds you of a nightmare.”
Fave DG line: “I’ve been wanting to do that since the first time you bent over in front of me.”
What I'm looking forward to: Introducing Nick Pyrite and Thomas Slate.
What I'm not looking forward to: Waking up tomorrow. I need to get up at the same time I get up Monday through Friday so I can get everything finished before bedtime.

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Tin Man: Pirates of the Nonestic

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Tin Man: Pirates of the Nonestic

New words: 2138
Total words: 47814
What I hate about my writing:
The Good: Wow, Chapter Thirteen is shorter than I thought it was; because, I am through with it and onto Chapter Fourteen.
The Bad: I may very quickly reach the point where my typing catches up to my writing, and everything slows down when that happens.
Fave Cain line: “That’s because someone swung on a rope and slammed his feet into my back. You didn’t see who it was?”
Fave DG line: “I saw you drown.” She ignored his protests meant to soothe. “And I hadn’t told you. And then they were attacking me. No magic left and I hadn’t told you.”
Fave Sprite line: “I tell Captain she’s fine. Good-night.”
Fave Hodges line: “My turn now.”
Fave Aedan line: “I told you I’d suffer no one else between your legs!”
What I'm looking forward to: Introducing Nick Pyrite and Thomas Slate.
What I'm not looking forward to: Dealing with the change that I must make to my priorities. I’m going to have to set writing back to do the school work so I graduate. It annoys me that time doesn’t stop so I can write.

And I still need to research on my song lyric question.

Tin Man: Pirates Metrics 29

Tin Man: Pirates of the Nonestic

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Metrics
Tin Man: Pirates of the Nonestic

New words: 2791
Total words: 45676
What I hate about my writing: That it’s over for today and I have to do some other things that I have been ignoring.
The Good: I finished the first supper sing-along! I love cut and paste.
The Bad: Now, I’m worried about the stylistic choice I made to put in the narration along with the lyrics. I may have a look at a professional version and change it.
Fave Cain line: “That’s the same for all criminals. What’s in it for me.”
Fave DG line: “I can sing; I just prefer to sing something everyone knows. But if you insist.”
Fave Jenkins line: “Now you put her on the spot. Maybe Mrs. Cain can’t sing.”
Fave Betsy line: “Couldn’t go for anything cheerful, could you?”
Fave Sprite line: “But I like ‘Dark Lady.’”
Fave Spencer line: “We always sing for supper, Mrs. Cain.”
Fave Hodges line: “Most of us have been singing shanties for your entire life.”
What I'm looking forward to: Introducing Nick Pyrite.
What I'm not looking forward to: Battle scenes. Have to keep them exciting and showdown-y and keep them straight for the reader.

Holy crap, I just really looked at my percentage done. I haven't even hit the middle yet. Mathematically according to the number of scenes, that would be the first ship battle coming in six scenes to type. I don't even reach the climax until scene 40! Okay, obviously I spent way too much wordage on getting DG and Cain into the predicament they are in. Or conversely, I can't guesstimate the word count from a Master Story Summary worth shit.

I'm not upset, just really, really surprised by it. According to the Excel Marathon sheet, I will reach 70,000 words on January 27th by my current speed. Now I have to consider the possibility that yes, I will, but the story won't be over then. That realization hadn't hit me in the face before now. It kind of stings.

Tin Man: Pirates Metrics 28

Tin Man: Pirates of the Nonestic

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Metrics
Tin Man: Pirates of the Nonestic

New words: 1156
Total words: 42885
What I hate about my writing: I’m ignoring everything else again.
The Good: I finally finished the smut and Chapter Fourteen.
The Bad: Chapter Fifteen starts with scene 22, Day 7. *Snort* I wasn’t interested in looking back at the Palace when I brainstormed the whole thing (DG and Cain and pirates way more interesting), but now I’m thinking of how it must be for those left behind. Had to cancel the Victory of the Eclipse anniversary ball—hard to have it when three of the heroes aren’t there, PR nightmare—Prince Aedan wondering where his reluctant suitress is, Ahamo and Glitch and Azkadellia having to deal with the irritated Queen, and Jeb off on a mission for Azkadellia. I have no plans for thrusting that into the middle of the story, but it hasn’t been a good week for anyone.
Fave Cain line: “You all look like it was just talking.”
Fave DG line: “This is a friendly conversation. But I’m guessing you haven’t experienced much of either, so it’s no wonder you’re confused.”
Fave Sprite line: “Everyone has symbol, just need to find it.”
Fave Hodges line: “How proud would your parents be of your profession, orphan boy?”
Fave Spencer line: “By keeping my wits while everyone else was lost theirs.”
What I'm looking forward to: The answer to what happened between DG and Prince Aedan. Actually I’m looking forward to the readers asking for clarification on it, since at this point only four people know (and the other three are fictional!). If I do my job as a writer right, the reader should be going “current plot interesting; okay, they’re on a ship with pirates after a treasure; but what happened at the Winter Festival? GRR, why won’t she say!”
What I'm not looking forward to: The next smut scene. Hopefully, all the fighting coming up in the next few chapters will get DG and Cain’s brains out of the gutter for a while. Or at least, delay until the weekend when I can write non-stop.

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Tin Man: Pirates of the Nonestic

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Metrics
Tin Man: Pirates of the Nonestic

New words: 590
Total words: 41729
What I hate about my writing: Trying to write smut at work does not work.
The Good: I got thirty minutes done, better than nothing.
The Bad: Today was not a good day. Woke up late, got to work late, work was swamping, bad commute thanks to the weather, computer got hung up and I had to reboot, and while waiting for it to reboot I got sucked into Disney kid movie. My heart just wasn’t in it after that and I ended up going to bed late too.
Fave DG line: “I have the feeling Hodges will find something else to complain about.”
Fave Betsy line: “I trust Sprite on those ropes better than the rest of the crew.”
Fave Sprite line: “What’s Kansas?”
What I'm looking forward to: Have about thirty minutes are so to actually sit alone with the notebook and finish the smut scene. Cause fantasizing it when I can’t write does not help the words get to the paper.
What I'm not looking forward to: Trying to make it to the bank before it closes. At least the weather is better today. I won’t have to fear my tires skidding off the wet pavement and causing mass death and destruction to myself. I had two close calls yesterday, this was a very real fear, and probably a contributing factor why I didn’t want to put my brain into describing the ship again because I got a few details wrong the first time.

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Tin Man: Pirates of the Nonestic

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Metrics
Tin Man: Pirates of the Nonestic

New words: 1576
Total words: 41139
What I hate about my writing: Taking so long to warm up.
The Good: I’m thrilled with how things are coming together.
The Bad: Am I going to bore the readers with all the ship stuff? It’s sort of the only mode of transportation for the majority of the work.
Fave Cain line: “There’s going to be trouble?”
Fave DG line: “That’s all you need me for? To act as a magic battery?”
Fave Jenkins line: “They’re pirates, man. You’d be daft not to expect trouble. And I had to tell them you’re a magic user the Captain needs to find the route.” He gestured toward DG. “And if you can’t turn them into toads, don’t let them know. I had to tell them something to make ‘em keep their hands off. Otherwise, they’ll assign you the one job they think a woman should have.”
Fave Betsy line:“Look, there’s no reason for us to be at odds. I realize that I’ve forced you to help me, but I don’t want it to be an unpleasant experience.”
Fave Sprite line: “Kingsport tomorrow. The waters sing it.”
What I'm looking forward to: Finishing up the handwritten smut so I can get to the fun piraty stuff in Kingsport.
What I'm not looking forward to: Washing dishes. Of course, I didn’t get that finished this weekend.

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Tin Man: Pirates of the Nonestic

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Metrics
Tin Man: Pirates of the Nonestic

New words: 1833
Total words: 39563
What I hate about my writing: I keep forgetting about the one thing they can’t take off and I need to put it in the descriptions so the reader doesn’t forget about it like I do.
The Good: It’s rolling along now, roughly, but still gathering steam. I have now reached Chapter Eleven in typing, Day 5 since the story started. The whole adventure is covering a month, and I have no idea how many chapters are actually going to be involved when all is said and done. I have forty-nine scenes, but some scenes are getting broken up depending on where I want to put a cliffhanger. Writing draft is still on Chapter Fourteen, but I think I’ve gotten over the hump with that. Got through awkward flashback to nightmare that I wanted to touch on, got through DG’s admission, now I think I can move to something I’ve personally wanted to do ever since seeing the miniseries and I can tie back to Cain’s question on DG’s song choice before ending the chapter.
The Bad: I’m going to strangle my computer slowly and enjoy every second of it. I don’t know what is wrong with Firefox, but it keeps freezing up as I try to read my tabs. None of my other programs have as much “Not responding” crapola as that one program does. It’s not a virus, because I just finished the virus scan last night. But when I take a fifteen minute break to read a few webpages and I spend it waiting for the program to switch to the right tab or load the link I selected instead, cue foaming at the mouth and sitting on my hands cause I will beat my hardware to death if I don’t.
Fave Cain line: “I guess rendering you unable to make sentences is a job well done.”
Fave DG line: “If you get a chance, give me my clothes. Otherwise, I’m not leaving the bed.”
Fave Jenkins line: “Aye, and I appreciate that. You wouldn’t believe the bellyachin’ that comes from this lot.”
What I'm looking forward to: Properly working Firefox!
What I'm not looking forward to: Cleaning the kitchen and getting meals cooked for the week. It’s a new experiement that will hopefully work to save me money and keep me eating healthy.

Tin Man: Pirates Metrics 24

Tin Man: Pirates of the Nonestic

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Metrics
Tin Man: Pirates of the Nonestic

New words: 1396
Total words: 37730
What I hate about my writing: Trying to rewrite a scene that I wrote in the wrong POV while typing it. I think I will have to come back to this one in edits.
The Good: I love this scene between DG and Cain, but I originally wrote it as a continuination of the previous scene that was in DG’s POV.
The Bad: The scene needs to be in Cain’s POV. So I’ve been dropping out DG’s written thoughts and trying to add in Cain’s. But it so hard to get into Cain’s head. I ended up adding more stuff to most of Cain’s POV that I didn’t originally write in just about every scene. It’s like I have added a second step to this scene.
Fave Cain line: “And you seem to think the O.Z. should drop you into the Deadly Desert for it. If you hadn’t let her out, and you still ended up being the only one with enough magic to stop her, would you have fought her?”
Fave DG line: “You don’t love me. Nobody loves me! My own parents threw me away!”
Fave Jenkins line: “He means in the hull,” Jenkins explained. “I’ll come wake ya when it’s time to start breakfast.”
Fave Spencer line: “Gives me something to do between leaks.”
What I'm looking forward to: Finding a place to use this line from Cain: “Do you know why I was a good Tin Man? Because no one I went after got away from me.” It may actually get put into this one or a later one. And then getting to the smut in Chapter Fourteen.
What I'm not looking forward to: Trying to add more depth to this scene later. Stretching out the smut in Chapter Fourteen so it’s an actual chapter.

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Tin Man: Pirates of the Nonestic

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Metrics
Tin Man: Pirates of the Nonestic

New words: 1962
Total words: 36334
What I hate about my writing: Taking so long to get to it.
The Good: I named all the pirates. In a visual medium, you can get away with labeling them pirate 1, 2, etc. and then just give them different looks. Does not translate to written media. So they all have names now. *Chuckle* Depending on how well you know pirate history, they are familiar names.
The Bad: It took practically all day (okay, so I was distracted by TV and it usually best when computer wants to hang up to walk away for it to sort itself out) but I have a working diagram for the You and What Navy. The bad part is how long it took, but I’m glad to finally have it.
Fave Cain line: “Cocky much?”
Fave DG line: “I don’t plan on messing with anything. I don’t want us to sink.”
Fave Betsy line: “No, about the Sorceress. I asked him if it was true she had the fashion taste of a dominatrix and he turned beet red and refused to answer. So did she?”
Fave Sprite line: “Still on my journey, and Captain needs me still.”
Fave Jenkins line: “Can’t blame me for trying to keep your head out of a noose.”
Fave Spencer line: “I hope it pleases.”
What I'm looking forward to: DG and Cain’s fight. There’s a good reason behind the spat. And it ends well.
What I'm not looking forward to: Trying to fix the Chapter Thirteen heightened tension.

You and What Navy

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Tin Man: Pirates of the Nonestic

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Metrics
Tin Man: Pirates of the Nonestic

New words: 1449
Total words: 34372
What I hate about my writing: Not having a definitive ship diagram. I don’t mind making changes to reality, I was actually planing on addressing changes the characters would have made themselves. But I can’t say the ship has a capstan when it doesn’t. So do I pay for the plans or not?
The Good: In the typing, I’m up to Chapter Nine. In the writing, I’m up to Chapter Thirteen. Now I have no idea how long it’s going to take to get pass Chapter Thirteen given the snag I just hit.
The Bad: I really tried to take the day off. It didn’t work. I tried to get the You and What Navy firmly entrenched in my head, including the movie research that I had been putting off for a while. It didn’t work either. So now I’ve moved on to typing because I can’t seem to work on anything else. Hopefully tomorrow will be more normal.
Fave Cain line: “Aren’t you going to help your man?”
Fave DG line: “I’m not a witch!”
Fave Betsy line: “Now the word pirate has so many negative conotations,” Betsy grinned, “I prefer freelance procurement specialist.”
Fave Sprite line: “Sad man very stubborn, Captain.”
Fave Jenkins line: “My vote had always been sail to the other side of the world.” He crossed his arms. “Not that you ever listen to me.”
Fave Spencer line: “There’s another thing, Captain. Cooky lost a bar fight.”
What I'm looking forward to: Trying to make my first sailing ship layout. I don’t want to have to buy the plans, mainly because I don’t want to wait or go back and do more editing than I have to do already.
What I'm not looking forward to: My plot point has hit a physical setting snag. Character-wise, the event is necessary, but it needs to leave Cain and DG (and practically every other crew member) suspicious and unable to prove the suspicions. The boat ain’t big enough for what I was envisioning. *Snarl* Now, I have to go back and re-choreograph what I didn’t have all that choreographed in the first place.

At least, I got Sprite casted. Rachel Convey, also seen on Enchanted.