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Monday, January 31, 2022

Is it Weird I Teared Up Over a Laptop?

My twelve year old Compaq Presario has officially fulfilled her last duty reformatting, organizing, and updating my writing files.  She'll stick around in the closet as long as I have a home, ready for emergency duty if required, but...she's earned the retirement ten times over.

She ran loud and hot, lost her disc drive just yesterday, had her wifi pulled years ago, still runs Windows 7, and never gamed a day in her life unless you count Solitaire.  She outlasted two other laptops, three desktops, an XBOX 360, and a PS4.

EVERCHANGING DILEMMA is the first novel I haven't written on her in some form of the process whatsoever.

A true changing of the guards is upon us.

A new fraught age of laptops with Football Manager and Wordle and...the terror before me!

We salute you, Old Betsy!

F

Thursday, January 27, 2022

Final "Everchanging" Stretch?

18 Month post surgery doctor appointments out of the way.  Still alive, yippy.  No panic attacks, yay?  Not stuck horizontal in bed today from the pain, double yay?

Physical therapy for my spine starts next week and sounds like that is a 2/3 times a week deal of pure torture, so we really have a small window to get this shit done!

But!

We ARE mostly done at this point.  Rewrite is done, all in the computer, I've been working on the third draft and only have, I think, 12 pages left to get through which I plan to do tonight.  After that we have the last 3 chapters of the fourth draft on the Kindle.  They're generally smaller than what came before, with chapter 3 being by far the biggest in the novel by a large margin.  (Chapter titles are:  Everchanging Body, " Mind, " Soul, " Task, " Dream, and " World btw).

First 3 chapters are actually locked at this point outside of typos.  Done done DONE.

After the fourth draft we have formatting.  Shouldn't take too long.  Might write an author's note for the general audience about what I've been dealing with and why I vanished for a few years.  Or not, haven't decided.  Then, "also by" and copyrights and "about the author" and all that fun official stuff.

Then beta reading and, a couple weeks later, typing in those fixes/corrections.

Then release.

So...very close to having a release date for you.

Little more work!

After that?  Probably finishing WAR TO END ALL WARS.  More writing, less blogging.  VICKY VON WELF AND THE MANCY MASQUERADE is also half done.  I think.  Both those novels keep getting bigger the more work I put into them.

But...small morsel appetizer of The Crazy very soon, main courses in the oven baking away.

Update #1:  Rewrite third draft done, chapter four is locked, and now we sleep.  Closer still!

Update #2:  Fifth chapter locked, now...really to bed!

Update #3:  It done.

Monday, January 24, 2022

Tease: Guess the Speaker Edition #4

“I’ve tried so many times to kill myself, Eva.  It’s really really hard.”

Sunday, January 23, 2022

So Tired, So Sore

But...the ending of EVERCHANGING DILEMMA is done and into the computer.  We are totally in editing with no new material needed and a ton of that editing has already been done.  Everything is moving along.  Obviously got all those drafts to catch up on for the last 10k now, but we're doing some damage.

Also, with the bed-desky-thingy I'm pretty hopeful about my ability to make progress writing new material going forward with WAR TO END ALL WARS and the Vicky novel, even if my back getting better and being able to use a chair for longer than an hour would be preferable!

It's late, brain is mush, my bed is calling!

Friday, January 21, 2022

Encanto Hot Take

Surface Pressure > We Don't Talk About Bruno

Mini Editing Update:  So I was able to get a lot of work done on my back yesterday (that's what she said!) with the bed desk thingy I bought, so much work I'm officially brain dead tonight for the first time in forever (just all the Disney songs up in this post).  Feels good.

I have like...7 pages left to type in?  Although, AGAIN, typing in handwritten  pages like this is a bit like a second rewrite in itself since I'm changing half of it and adding and mixing all over the place.  But very close to done.  It's a whole chunk of new material to end this puppy too.  Should end up over 70k words.  A weird scenario, since now 90% of the novel is in its 4th draft, but 10% of the novel is in its 1st draft, so...some extra work to do there.  I have actually started my "Kindle" edit on the first 90% and I'm like 20% through?  Disney songs AND math, just what everyone hopes to read about at 9PM!

Point is:  progress continues and thank you bed desk thingy!

Thursday, January 20, 2022

Ceinwyn

I always forget how annoying this woman is to edit.  You have to constantly keep pay attention to her lips and what that smile is doing, making sure its consistent moment to moment through her scenes.

No, no, Richard you had her start grinning a couple pages ago, you can't do it again.

ARGH!!!

Boo On Titles Update

Rewrite type-athon:  4/17  (doing about 2 a day at the moment, really hurting!!!)

Search Edit:  done

Formatting:  on hold until type-athon finished

Kindle Edit:  17%

Beta Read:  Coming Soon

Interesting fact:  there have been over 6,500 revisions so far in the editing process.

18 month post surgery doctor appointments next week and I finally start rehab on the back a couple weeks from now, so those might get in the way a little bit.

Random Note:  I finally uploaded a newer version of DREAD FORTRESS that I edited last year.  Probably about 3k words cut from the release draft and typo changes and the like, just stuff I would have done if I wasn't so sick with a flu while publishing that.  I think its a better read now.  Strangely enough I actually found myself cutting more from the Eva sections to keep her pace up instead of the Tyson bits, though his freak-outs were curtailed in places!  Amazon is weird about what editions they let people download but there might be a toggle for you to check to get the newest version somewhere.  If anyone knows then speak in the comments!

Outside of that...went ahead and set up a new pricing structure for the books going forward.  $3.99 for all side novels in the MancyVerse going forward.  FM1 to FM3 keep their $3.99, but FM4+ will be at least $4.99 if not more based on how long the books are, FM6 is $5.99 as an example although fuck me I hope that's the biggest novel I ever write!  It was a chunky boy!  Of course if you have Amazon Unlimited I get paid by page read anyone, so this doesn't effect you at all!

I'll also be updating all the "novels by" sections and things when I do release EVERCHANGING DILEMMA most likely since they're a mess and I'm horrible at everything but the writing and editing!

Update:  11/17 for the type-athon, new bed desk I bought coming in clutch!!!

Tuesday, January 18, 2022

"Page" One, Fourth Draft

 Going back to how works change draft to draft for those interested in the process, here is what our first "page" has become by my fourth draft:

In the illustrious one-hundred year history of the Institution of Elements, Learning Academy and Nature Camp, there were few greater failures than Isabel Soto.

Failure to stop her.

And, yes, failure to save her.

Not one single failure either.

Many failures rolled up into one human being.

Failures of such weight and magnitude that they could not be excused as a simple mistake.  Nor could they be easily brushed aside or ignored.  Nevertheless, they had tried that too, placing her in the same lockbox where all the other misshapen and ill-fitting broken toys from the many prominent societies of elemental civilization resided.

It had a copacetic name that place:  the Cleansing Sphere of Reform.

But Isabel Soto escaped.

And her misery congealed, still and dirty as gutter water, unreformed and unrepentant.  It multiplied and festered, malignant.  Isabel Soto walked a twisted, gnarled path with blood splattered over every curve and dead end.  Her life and choices grew darker and more desperate until…what could be done to rectify that cemetery of wrongs?  To heal those soul deep wounds?

And what hope was there for ethos, pathos, or logos to bridge a divide created by such frighteningly overpowering magic?

Evelyn Strange, Head of the Infirmary, didn’t have the answer.  All she could do for now was to maintain her always strained composure and carry on in her most unusual task.  Even that was difficult.  Frustrating too.  Extra frustrating for a woman well familiar with the emotion.  Her mind was sharp and her skills, both mundane and elemental, were honed and yet…it all eluded her.

She was not one to leave such answers to others.  One could easily claim her whole life was about finding answers, specifically to questions teenagers constantly asked of the world about how they could possibly make their lives more difficult by inflicting injuries upon themselves and their peers.  When Evelyn answered those questions, the kids stayed safe.  They healed.  They grew.  They learned.  They…turned into slightly less idiotic adults.

An improvement, if a small one!

Evelyn had hardened her heart year after year for her whole life preparing to answer those many questions, equally standing at the ready for the next emergency crisis of blood and bone or a lazy malaise of runny noses and sour stomachs.  Few situations at the Institution surprised her at this point—seven years keeping King Henry Price in check will do that for a person—yet seeing one of her kids in such a sad, deplorable state still somehow touched the empathy she’d tried so hard to bury deep.

Empathy mixed with rage.

Rage built along the same dual line as those twin failures.

Rage at what this child had done to her fellow mancers.

Rage at Evelyn herself, for not pushing harder when they might have prevented all that murder and mayhem.

Evelyn knew all the symptoms and signs, had seen the signs of that great enemy many times in the nearly two decades she’d served as Head of the Infirmary.

Anima Madness.  And all its recognized stages.  Dormant.  Progressive.  Dominant-Subverting.  Converted.

She had recorded them dutifully into her student medical database, forwarding all information to Administration just as the school bylaws ordered, but nothing more.  Keep them healthy and happy, Evelyn dear, that’s the job I place at your feet! the Lady had said upon Evelyn accepting her position those many years ago. 

Happy?  Me?

A cackle sounded.  Point made, point well made!  Can you at least restrain your natural inclinations and not make them feel too guilty while you stitch them back together?  For me?  And so I don’t have to deal with phone calls from angry parents?

Evelyn had…mostly.  For whole days.  Maybe a week here or there.

Okay, so she hadn’t strangled anyone yet…that qualified as restraint, didn’t it?

Funnily enough, I did restrain a few of them, but they brought it on themselves with all that whining!

Anima Madness might not have been in her purview, but it was inescapable.  Question without an answer though it might be, worse than Isabel Soto’s dilemma.  She’d petitioned for classes on the signs and symptoms, for educational pamphlets, for a club where the students could freely talk about how Anima Personalization affected their lives.  We have therapists for just this reason, Evelyn dear, and we wouldn’t want to unduly scare the children, would we?

Her hands balled up into fists at her side.  Evelyn knew she was…grouchy.  On her best days.  Curmudgeonly on her worst.  Winter War especially, when they let her kids hurt each other just for tradition and entertainment, so parents could beam over victories and crow during the Old Mancy party circuits.  But this newborn rage waling inside of her…

Evelyn felt reversed.

Inverted.

Not with days and weeks of peace either, but merely spare hours at best.

The why frustrated as much as the rest, but she knew exactly when it happened.

That battlefield.

Eureka.

A victory, they all crowed, as loud as those parents after Winter War.


Monday, January 17, 2022

Rewrite Done

3rd draft done.

Typing all that in and then formatting are next up but I'm going to be stuck in bed for a few days after that burst of writing, can barely sit on the edge of bed long enough to type this good news.

We're getting there!

Closer!

Thursday, January 13, 2022

Words I Overused Writing This Book

 I make a list of all the words that start annoying me during my edits and go through to remove/spice things up in the 4th draft, in addition to a list of passive/clunky words/phrases I always keep an eye on.

Here's that list for EVERCHANGING DILEMMA.

  1. deadpan
  2. know
  3. assured
  4. tease
  5. even
  6. ever
  7. grumble
  8. growl
  9. cackle
  10. gulp
  11. watch checking
  12. blood
  13. surely
  14. puke
Make of it what you will...


When Your Planned Long Term FM Save Goes WAY Too Well

 Usually you do Scotland and it ends in misery, try Norway this time, at least you'll have fun with Haaland for a decade on the National Team and Bodo/Glimt has some fun prospects, so you really have something to work...wait, what?!?!?!?!?



Tuesday, January 11, 2022

Right On Time

We are now in the I HATE MY WRITING AND WHY DO I DO THIS stage of the edit.  I also can't even look at another piece of fiction or narrative based entertainment without wanting to tear it apart...

This happens every go around and is part of the process, but my spine troubles turning what should have been a one month job into two months and counting is not helping.  But we ARE making progress, just...slow-like...

I've outlined the ending rewrite and have 800 words into it.

3rd draft is 135/160, with 100 pages entered into the computer.

After that is all done we have formatting, 4th draft, and the beta read.

So...end of February or beginning of March?

Assuming the back doesn't blow out again, obviously!  Pain's better, just an endurance issue at the moment.

Most difficult edit EVAR!!!

Update:  160/160, 105 typed in, and working on the rewrite

Thursday, January 6, 2022

Everchanging Dilemma Tease #2022

 Last one before release?

*crosses fingers*

---------------

“Now’s the time to use the restroom if you need it,” Ceinwyn might be enjoying herself too much.

No one moved.

“Or change your clothes…”

“I don’t have any other suitable wardrobe to change into,” Evelyn hissed, “I haven’t had time to wash my work clothes with the sedative sucker over there going into overdrive.  So unless you think me doing this in a dusty maid of honor gown from the back of the closet or one of my As-Slutty-As-Evelyn-Strange-Gets-Just-For-Vegas dresses is a good idea, you’ll have to keep smelling me.”

Ceinwyn was quite mystified by this.  “We have laundresses, don’t we?  And tailors…my laundry always does itself so we must…”

 “They’re mostly on vacation during the summer, Miss Dale,” Eva supplied without judgment.

They are?


Sunday, January 2, 2022

Typing-As-Fast-As-I-Can-Before-Back-Rebels 2022 Update

So...

2nd draft is done except for the ending rewrite, of which I've got one hand-written page and some sparse ideas and outlining.  I know the last line...so...there!  VERY IMPORTANT!

3rd draft is 90/160 for the printed pages so far and 10 of those have been entered into the computer.  10 point font, wide margins explains the number difference from the 2nd draft by the way.  Very happy with this novel.  Should start hating it next draft, good sign!

4th draft will take place on the kindle after I format and do all the typing, etc.  That will probably be the last one and mostly be copy-editing and hate-filled cutting.

I'm finding that maybe I don't need as many edits as I used to, because I'm so aware of my first draft bad habits (you get an ellipsis and you get an ellipsis and everyone gets an ellipsis!), because the 2nd draft is so complete, and because the 3rd draft is so cut throat with cutting material.  I've already cut over 5 pages worth of stuff here or there, including some damn fine jokes you'll never get to hear, but they got in the way of the action, how dare they!

So, we make progress, release somewhere post Super Bowl in Feb seems possible.

Back is "better" but I still have a lot of trouble sitting or standing for long periods and reaching or lifting the arms up.  But the pain is tolerable with Tylenol and my trusty Biofreeze, especially if I take a day off once a week and get a solid 8 hours sleep every night to let it rest.

They want me to do physical therapy before any MRI gets done, so that's going to be some hours out of my schedule and I have 4 other appointments/procedures following up from the stomach surgery since we're hitting the 18 month mark.

As far as that goes, I'm down to 212 pounds and I'm no longer considered obese, just a normal fattie, so...yay?

After all that's done and EVERCHANGING DILEMMA gets out to you lot, I'll start hitting up the next couple books and if things go well you'll get one of those before the end of the year.  Or if I go goldfish brain you'll get both of them next year followed by FM7...finally...shut up!!!

Speaking about FM7, a while back I had a bit of an epiphany (which I casually mentioned) and it will no longer be "Runaway Rumble" which is now FM8 and "The Last True Dale" or FM10 will be moving up and also be renamed "The Most Obvious Trap".  I'll go into more detail on why later, but it's really smart stuff and also...you should B happy about it.

And that's my back's limit still, love ya'll, let's have a great year and fuck Covid!!! 

Again...

Last time?

Please, 2022?