At not quite 3700 words, I pushed my pirate hat back on my head and looked across the room at Lisa Burton, my robot assistant. She wore her Serang costume and twirled the huge guandao about.
“I think I accomplished what I set out to do today. The Fulminites are terrifying, and no root monsters were killed in this adventure.”
“You killed the Fulminites though.”
“Did I, or did they do that themselves?”
Flattop, the root monster, sat beside my iPad. “Whew! Modders all go splat, but okey dokey at the end. Then get to throw hailstones.”
“I thought you guys deserved a bit of fun.”
“I like how Fēngbào came out,” Lisa said.
“He’s a god that Serang knows about. He brings the monsoon… violently, I might add. Not a lot more than that, which is kind of the Lanternfish style. No in depth legends to slow the story down. He just is what he is and brings the rain.”
“And thunder, and lightening, and waterspouts, and wind that can level a city…”
“Okay. He’s kind of over the top, but that’s also Lanternfish style. I worried about this scene for weeks, but sometimes you just have to put on your pirate hat and hack away at it. I can change it if my critique group thinks I need to, but it’s hard to change something that doesn’t exist.”
“Speaking of your group, did you get the final section of Grinders sent out?”
“Yup, it’s on the way to them. I’m not going to worry about it, until I hear back from them. You did some good work today, Serang played an important role on Kiriwina.”
“Modders like those names. Kiriwina, Matacucu, and Rakiura.”
“I pulled some of them from a map of the Pacific Islands, and changed some with Google translate. That’s how I came up with the name Fēngbào, too.”
“Modders not know Booble slate.”
“It’s okay, buddy. Only I have to know that.”
“So how come Serang didn’t get all torn up in the explosion like everyone else?”
“I don’t need her to be wounded, and maybe she wasn’t as close to the epicenter as the others were. Don’t think about it too much.”
Lisa sat down the weapon, then picked up the bamboo flute. “I’d love to be able to play this thing for real.”
“You have been, haven’t you?”
“Robot girls don’t have lungs, genius. I’ve been holding it to my lips then playing back a soundtrack.”
“It helped me with my writing. Maybe you can play that Kill Bill number one more time.”
“You know that was played on a pan flute and not one of these, don’t you?”
“You fake it well. Maybe that’s all any of us can do. I hope I fake my stories well enough to make people enjoy them.”
***
Back to the office tomorrow, but 3600 words, and a difficult section out of the way is a good day every day.
Well done, Craig!
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Thank you, and thanks for sharing.
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Reblogged this on anita dawes and jaye marie.
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Ah, the talent and wisdom to sustain such production! Kudos, Craig!
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Thanks, Billy Ray. How’s the new house coming?
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Move-in ready next week! Thanks for asking, Craig, and I’m truly impressed with your work. 🙂
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Thank you, sir.
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3600-plus is awesome, and I’m a little scared of your robot assistant!
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Lisa puts her little electric soul into all her work. That poster is a recycle from the promo of Voyage of the Lanternfish. I try to use them more than once since they’re paid for.
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That’s a great word count.
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I usually do well if I just quit thinking so hard about specifics. Writing helps build fences, then I have to stay inside them from that point.
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Sounds like the adventures are building steam. I like the idea of a monsoon god. He could unleash a lot of power.
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And does, but the crew has to run from him. There is no battling with him. It would be like attacking Godzilla with a cocktail fork.
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LOL. Great comparison.
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Been spending a lot of time in the cabin lately. That’s great.
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I’ve done a lot of writing this year, and let the cabin posts slip away. That was a mistake, because writing about my efforts this way was always more popular than me just writing for the audience.
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Sometimes the writing announcements get forgotten to make more time for book writing. How long do these posts take to make?
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I free write them, usually after I wrap up for the day. That way everything is fresh and I’m still into what I worked on. Never spent a full hour on one before.
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Reblogged this on Loleta Abi Author & Book Blogger and commented:
Another glimpse at author life!
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Thanks again, Traci.
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You’re welcome, Craig!
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That’s a fantastic word count, Craig! Well done! I love reading about you and Lisa in the writing cabin 🙂
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Thanks, I’d forgotten how much fun these posts were to write. Must do more of them.
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Another fun post, Craig! I love the addition of Flattop in the writing cabin with you and Lisa. Sounds like you had an awesome day writing. I’d be thrilled with that word count. And congrats on getting Grinders sent out too. You are on a roll!
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Lisa is keeping the root monsters in the vegetable crisper. One or two at a time I can handle. I was pretty happy with Flattop’s line about Google Translate.
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And no root monsters were harmed. Awesome word count.
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Thanks Teri. I feel good about the scene and it accomplishes what I need.
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Awesomesauce!! I love this! I never thought about robot girls not having lungs. 🙂 Congrats on getting over a hump!
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Yup we’ve had an ongoing argument about one of Lisa’s pinups that involves bubble gum. Can’t do it.
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Definitely sounds like a very successful writing session.
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I’ve had a couple of good ones, and there is a three day weekend ahead of me.
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Ah, classic Lisa Burton.
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Thanks.
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You did great, Craig! I enjoy your interaction with Lisa at the cabin. You’re getting a lot done.
😊👍
BTW, the sale went well. I sold 52 ebooks and 4 paperbacks. I’ve done better in the past, but I’m okay with that.
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I think that’s pretty good, personally. My experience is all over the board with those, but that’s better than my last attempt.
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I think the key is to wait 3-5 months between sales, make sure it’s a worthwhile bargain ($0.99 ««« $4.99), and then promote like crazy everywhere. 😉
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Makes logical sense. I may have to dive in again. Now that I have series, I can play with book #1.
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Pingback: Five Links 12/14/19 Traci Kenworth – Where Genres Collide Traci Kenworth YA Author & Book Blogger
Root Modder is fun 😛
Good job!
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Thanks. People seem to enjoy them when they appear.
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