I wound up with a bachelor’s weekend again. This is when my wife traditionally goes to Nevada to visit her brother for the Super Bowl.
As per usual, I am watching the dogs and hanging out here. I really enjoy these weekends, because I can work on my projects without a lot of interruption. Or so, I thought.
I’ve been moping around lately about Lanternfish. This project has a lot of moving parts, but I’ve been through this before. I know that if I only make a few commitments, the pieces will start coming together like they should. That was my big goal for the weekend.
I tried to work on it, but the dogs weren’t having it. I’ve never seen them so needy, so I assume they’re missing Mom. They each needed up in my lap, one at a time. As soon as one was happy, the other one needed me. We chased the squirrel.
Two fat bulldogs acted like treeing hounds and they got the stupid thing cornered. Then they started coming to the door to get me to help. Since this is just my crabapple tree, all I have to do is walk out and the squirrel makes a run for it.
We repeated this action a couple of times, until I decided I wasn’t getting anything accomplished. Days when I can do what I want are kind of rare birds.
Ultimately, I sequestered myself in the room I used when I had to work from home. My goal was to start adding those little stitches that start to bring the Lanternfish cast back together.
Naturally, I did this by breaking them down even further. Diego Palumbo went on a field trip without his wife. He’s looking for things he can interpolate into predictions she can magically make for the Hollish army. This has worked well, so far, but now they need more. The ultimate goal was to place the old green signal lantern on the cliffs beside the sea. Readers of HMS Lanternfish will know this is how they communicated with the ship.
That’s where it all went a little crazy. Diego is not a hero in the traditional sense of the term. He’s a con man, and a coward, so when he ran into trouble, I had to handle it a bit differently. I also wound up adding to the cast, but I hope to minimize this new character.
The whole thing kind of baffled me, because my target points were simple enough, but when I ended today, I had 4000 new words.
Of the three different stories going on right now, the Palumbos are supposed to be the shorter ones. I liked the way it came out, and Diego wound up learning a lot more than he anticipated.
Next on my checklist is some actual warfare for James and Lanternfish. It’s time to start getting deep into the action. This will be followed by a more tranquil section for Serang and her army. She will make a major discovery in that chapter.
I’m off on Monday, so if I can get that far over the weekend it will be super indeed. To do that, I’ll have to resist jumping over to Lunar Boogie, so we’ll see how it goes.
Honestly, all new words count, so it really doesn’t matter which book they apply to.
I may even schedule an evening writing session. Depends upon how I’m feeling about it all. That’s more of the beauty of the rare bachelor weekend.
Wish me luck.
Since history shows that no matter how frustrating your writing challenges become, you pull it out. Happy Weekend.
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I think I’m just belligerent about it.
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Well, whatever works. 😁
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Good luck, Craig! You’re making progress even if it’s not the progress you expected, so as far I’m concerned, it’s a win. And do things ever go the way you expect them to? I thought I’d pound out a chapter today but got phone calls from EVERYBODY instead. There’s a plus to that. Everyone knows I’m still alive now:)
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They never go according to plan. Somehow it eventually gets finished.
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Good luck with the writing challenges. There’s always a squirrel causing trouble for an author somewhere.
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Fact.
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Congrats on reaching 4000 words against all odds. That’s pretty amazing, Craig. I wish I could claim the same, but with one thing after another, the day disappeared. Happy writing tomorrow!
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Seems to be one step forward and two steps back. I have a lot to work on with critiques.
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Congrats on achieving 4000 words and wish you luck for your super Monday.
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Thank you.
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4K is a nice chunk. You’re right, it doesn’t matter which WIP the words come in. They both need them.
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That’s how I look at it, too. Either place and I get to feel productive.
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The best-laid plans. Pets always seem to have their own agenda. Still, a terrific word count.
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Good luck!
(It hardly seems you need it, as you always work it out and your name’s on many covers.)
😉 You got this!
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It wound up being a productive weekend. I have today available, too. Don’t know if I’ll work on anything just yet.
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Glad you are enjoying your Bachelor’s weekend and pulled off a good word count. Hope tomorrow goes well for you.
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It worked out pretty well. I have some loose ends to clean up, but haven’t decided if I’ll tackle them right away.
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4K words is awesome, Craig! My cat gets that way every time i sit down to write. I can be doing anything else around the house and he’s not interested, but whenever I want to work on the book, he gets needy and whiny.
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It’s amazing how they get.
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Despite having very needy bulldogs, you accomplished a lot. I’d be really pleased with 4K. And it’s great that you’ve mastered the art of working on more than one story at once. Wishing you happy writing on Monday!
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I managed about 2/3 of that count yesterday. I might open my MS today, or I might just kick back for a while.
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Hope you had a successful weekend, Craig! I’m on an editing deadline, but I took time off to watch the big game.
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Quite successful, thanks.
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All the luck in the world. 🙂 … I’m currently hitting 2000 words, good words, on a regular basis … very chuffed with myself I am! 😀
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That’s a good pace. I have to get mine down sporadically.
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How lovely to get a weekend to yourself, Craig.
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Some won’t understand, but I enjoy these when they happen.
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I definitely understand, but my husband and boys won’t go anywhere without me.
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I get it. On the other hand, maybe you can go somewhere without them. Places like libraries are good for writing.
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Ah, one of those days when you have to remind yourself how much you love your dogs… I can relate. Well done on achieving as much as you did even with them having what I call, “One of those needy toddler days,” that day.
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That’s a good description of them.
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