Stay On Target

212/234.

And the back has had it again, need a few more days off.

Good thing season 2 of the Witcher is coming out to keep me entertained right?  And all the other TV I need to watch like Wheel of Rand's Nightmare Jumper-Sweater-Thing-That-Eats-Souls Episodes 2 through 8.  And Squid Game.  And Arcane.  And the Great.  And Succession.  And...pfft...

For as difficult as this has physically been I really have spent all of my brain juice on this edit, without doing much else besides the occasional foot-soccer-ball game or Hearthstone video...haven't even been playing Football Manager, which is like...a miracle...

You guys didn't like do some group séance dark ritual shit to cure me of my Football Manager addiction and then accidentally give me a herniated disc did you?  Cuz...dude...not cool...

Anyway, very close to done with this Longest Round and moving on to the 3rd draft, which is already 1/3 done because of the Do What You Can When You Can mindset we're working with this go around.

Though I DO think I'm going to rewrite the last scene so its different characters instead of what I have now...which could take a few extra days and might add...who knows how many pages...but I think the new plan is a lot better and will be much more fulfilling for you readers.

I'm still trying to figure out how what was supposed to be a prologue to FM7 (oh, spoiler alert, post school story wrapping up, the books are going to have prologues and epilogues from the wider world, typically of a more antagonistic nature) has turned into a 240ish page novel...a really fucking awesome 240ish page novel, but still...

My name is Richard Raley and I might have a world-building, secondary-character motivation problem...

Pretty Useless Again

Can't type a lot.  Just...FYI.  Back is fucked again and stuck in bed.

Second draft of Everchanging Dilemma is also stuck at 2/3rds finished.  Have to be able to sit to work on that last third, so no bueno.  What I have done is print out the 2/3rds I have and I'm doing the third draft on that with my trusty red pen Cart Before the Horse Style.  Once I finish that, if I still can't sit for long, I suppose I'll change things up further and hand write the last School Story again just to keep busy on the idea that eventually all of this WILL get out to you guys.

So...everything is awful.

But I'm doing what I can!

Sorry I'm getting slapped around again, trust me, I'm 10x more frustrated by it than you are.

Now I need to go lie down.

12/12 Update:  162/223, typing lying in bed with a portable keyboard and a tilted tablet leaning against a pillow so I don't have to bend my neck.  Behold my dedication!!!

12/14 Update:  196/229, closer, but this last bit needs a lot of work...

Quick Notes Pre Thankgiving Edition

1.  Fuck turkey!  That's right, I said it!  Fajitas for Thanksgiving, woohoo!

2.  After doctor + groceries/pharmacy I am beat to hell again backwise and will be struggling to sit in a chair for the next week so expect more limited progress on the edit.

3.  That said, do feel like it's shaping up nicely and we're about 1/3 of the way through it.  Actually, it's such a comprehensive edit this time around that I don't think I need my "character" edit and will be skipping it.  Also as stated before Evelyn POV does not bleed into everything as much as KH, so easier that way.  I actually find writing Miss Strange easier than either Tyson (who makes my anxiety flare) or Vicky (way way too happy, plus EVERYTHING with Welfs is like fifty layers of politics deep so every comment or line of dialogue is this massive minefield).  Maybe even Darth Eva too.  Evelyn is...done with this shit and YOUR shit and ALL the shit, especially as we find her in this novel-lite.  Which nicely matches my mood at the moment...

3.  Better second X-Ray found thoracic scoliosis with 20% curvature in my spine.  Don't know the cause yet.  Wasn't there when I was a kid.  Could just be the weight for so long.  Also had a nasty fall in the bathroom 6 to 8 years ago.  Of course there's also the Betrothal story about me falling out of the car (oh yeah, true story!) only like I said, not there in childhood so doubt it was that.  Could be the weight loss not helping, since the bones and muscles and ligaments are getting all moved about and really sensitive, but...

4.  So...MRI, CT Scan, and an Orthopedic consultation are in my near future as long as insurance agrees.  Doc is worried about possible nerve damage and the like, herniated discs and all that.  Joy!  Guess I'll keep downing Tylenol and bathing in Biofreeze for awhile yet.

5.  But at least I don't feel as crazy as I did having these symptoms no one seemed to know why I had, so that's good.

6.  3 books came out yesterday I want to read, like my To Be Read pile isn't big enough already!  Granted the one plus of not being able to use a gaming controller is that I spend a lot more time reading and AM actually finishing a book a week once again, miracle of miracles!  Granted the new Outlander novel is probably 20,000 pages so...might take longer.

7.  Finally did some movie watching.  Shang Chi was great.  Raya and the Last Dragon was...weirdly similar and worse for the comparison.  Also made for 12 year old girls who read nothing but YA novels.  Which...fine if you're a 12 year old girl, they should have things they like, but...I am not one, so...that with the comparison made Raya a pretty poor two hours of my time.

Was thinking about it and the best way to describe Shang Chi is to call it the best Star Wars since Force Awakens (which had world-building problems, but we had hope in those days, before the dark days, before the Subverted Expectations Crisis).  Anyway, family saga, mom believing in the light, father pulled toward the dark, Father vs Son, Brother and Sister reuniting, great evil that wants to be released and suck people's soul/force out...totally works as a Star Wars movie.  With some amazingly shot fight scenes.

8.  Okay, back has had enough, going to lie down and read.  Enjoy your family and friends, eat up, and dodge the Rona!

11/27 Update:  85/203.  Very much a novel at this point, if another smaller one.

11/30 Update:  105/209.  Halfway there.  Again, sucks how difficult and painful this is due to the back being a bastard, and how slow it's going compared to the 20 hour edit hell sessions I wish I could put in, but we are making progress.

12/1 Update:  120/213.

12/3 Update:  141/218.  It keeps getting bigger, it's gonna eat me!!!

Everchanging Dilemma Mini Tease #1

“She’s not showing yet,” Eva commented. “Her belly at least, everything else…would it have been that difficult to give her some panties?”

“Well established fact that the medical community does not believe in underwear, Reti.”

Eva blinked. “For the patients...right?”

We Continue Gingerly

Not stupido but arm is dead.  Back is...well, I'm figuring out how to cope better.  Using a portable keyboard helps.  Finally have my doctor appointment for more news on Monday.  Probably need a couple days at least to recover from more waiting room chairs.  Did do some editing today, 45/186.  One forth of the way, basically.  Then we move on to the next stage and start cutting.  Then formatting.  Then copyedit and...yeah.  Should be able to do a lot of that on my Kindle in bed at least...

That's all for later though.

Now I'm going to watch Wheel of Time and probably cry over how they've mangled my absolute favorite fantasy series from when I was a teenager (I imagine if you've read Wheel of Time and the King Henry Tapes that you might have put many of the influences it has on this series together by now...).

Well...at least we got Dune!

And here's hoping its not TOO bad...if they just managed like...Witcher quality...I suppose I'd take that...

Also season 2 of The Great to watch.

Huzzah!

Update:  First episode was rough, with some questionable changes, but not unwatchable.  Rand's ?wool? sweater, however, will haunt my dreams for the rest of my days.

Update 11-20:  56/189.  Doubt I'll get any work done tonight...booster seems to finally be kicking me in the balls with some serious brain drain.