That Was Fast

Yeah, I put it back.

After a day to think about it, I decided the other title had the same problem I was having in the new novel (working title Rusted Cage, if anyone's keeping track) -- too passive. I spent a week writing stuff for people to do to my hero (who just sort of sat there) and then finished up by changing the blog title to a song about a dying man.

When my subconscious wants to send a message, it's not exactly subtle...

I've been up early this morning, spent most of it trying to keep my hands warm and writing new scenes where my hero actually, you know, does stuff.

Wrong turns abound in life. Most are easily correctable, and quite often, the best course isn't the one we think it should be. At least it's not like that six months I spent as a mortgage banker.

Bloody Sudoku Moments

Yup, it's that time again, and early this time. The old Sudoku moment.

I'm a recent convert to Sudoku, but thoroughly hooked nonetheless. Like anyone with a gambling/drinking/reading problem, I'm in it for those moments of triumph, those dizzying heights to which my soul soars when the numbers all come together and I let loose my mighty cry, "SUDOKU!"

And yeah, that can be embarrassing on public transport.

But for every dizzying high, there are the lows. You look at the field of numbers and realize that three can't possibly go there. But that means the five over here wrong too. It's not as bad as losing the rent on a horse, selling your wedding ring in a bar for more drinks, or reading the next Dan Brown novel, but it sucks.

My characters are little jabbermouths right now. My hero's turned out to be smarter than I would've thought, and the villains and schemers around him are prety crafty themselves. They're driving things along just fine without my help.

So of course, I forced a situation, and wrote myself into a corner.

I'm out of that corner now, but it did involve unraveling three chapters and going back to the last time I was on track.

We're once again up and humming...

Those Magic Moments

98,500 words

Yup, those magic... SUDOKU moments. I've had a few days of wheel-spinning, something's-wrong-here puzzlement. Now I know why.

Better yet, I know how to fix it.

Turns out I wrote my climax and half the denouement last week. So now I'm writing the bits that go before the climax so that I'll know what else needs to go in the denouement and be able to type The End.

That day is coming, and soon!

In other news, we went to Mount Grey, where the souls of the South Island's Maori dead go to start their journey to Cape Reinga and thence to the afterlife.

In our case, a pleasant walk and lovely picnic were had, this life adhered to.

The picnic was at Lake Janet:

Which offers lovely views:

I didn't bring my camera, so had to kype these off the web. Sorry.

Second Honeymoons

77,ooo words (and every one a joy)

I've been suffering through the hard times waiting for this. The Sudoku Moment has been fully unravelled, and I'm once again as excited as a little kid. Tension's really high, things are happening, and I get to be the first one to read about em!

Yesterday I got write to the end of the rewritten chapters and stood with my toes hanging out over the edge of the new stuff. The Tiny Dynamo was at work, and I had the house to myself.

Oops. Temporary block.

Ah well, I hopped on Old Coppertop (my much-battered elderly mountain bike) and rode the 10k into town. I'm not the sort who can exercise for the hell of it. Elliptical trainers, stationary bikes and treadmills all make me think of hampster wheels, and just, you know, riding the hell around strikes me as more or less pointless.

So I 'invent' errands. This one involved how very, very badly I needed to repurchase my favorite Social Distortion album. I've had maybe four or five copies of the damn thing, but every time I lend it out of my sight, it's gone again. I don't mind, not really, but it *does* mean I keep buying the same few things over and over and over again. It's all just stuff.

Except I couldn't just buy that album. No, I saw an old Love and Rockets that some girl spirited away in the wee hours one morning and had to have that as well. And then there was some new stuff: Chixdiggit, Deisel Boy and one I didn't have by Me First and the Gimme Gimmes. If you haven't checked those guys out yet, they're great fun.

Exercise is expensive.

By the time I got home, I knew where I was going and, ass safely and firmly wedged in Lazy Boy (how'd they know to name it after me?), I went there.

Except there's still more there to go to, and I wrote til I fell down last night. So it's back up early for more of the good stuff. Ooh yeahhhhh... Straight in the vein, baby.

I have to get back to it, because the Tiny Dynamo won't tolerate being a writer's widow today. The sun's out, and I've been threatened with tennis. My lanky reach really should put me at an advantage, but the Dynamo is so damn small and darty.

It's like playing against a cloud of leprechauns!