Yet another novel mid-point reached

It feels rather like a see-saw. Every three months, regular as clockwork, I hit the 50K point in another book. Don't think I'm blowing my own trumpet here--it feels rather dark, to tell the truth. I don't know ... kind of too regular, if you get my meaning.

Anyway, it was a pretty cool feeling, but the sense of achievement is dulled by routine. In the old days, before I organised or structured anything, I wouldn't even know when I was halfway through the book. But I would sure as hell have been pleased with myself if I did. It was something I could feel proud of, writing a novel. But now ...

Well. Although I still feel good on completing my current book, whatever that may be at the time, writing has become one of the things I just do, like eating or reading or walking. It's hard to celebrate wildly when you feel like you've done it all a hundred times before, even if this is only your sixth novel.

Don't get me wrong--I'm still just as excited about writing. It's something I love doing. It has become my definition of existence. But the real magic, the sheer exiliaration of reaching another important waypoint along the road, has gotten lost somewhere. Maybe it's because I can't really call myself a beginning writer anymore. The most important milestones are the first ones, like first novel completed, second novel completed, first novel fully revised. But now I've breached them all ... well, the only big achievement I'm looking forward to in the near future will be the completion of my tenth book. And that's probably only because I'll get a shiny new pip to put on my sig line at Forward Motion. At the end of the day, the number ten doesn't have any real significance.

Actually, there are some things I'm looking forward to, come to think about it. First submission; first rejection; first publication. I'm aiming to submit Project Cold Witness by mid May, if all goes well. It's funny how I never got round to completing the last two fantasy books. Darkness in the Forest and Twilight I are still awaiting my return in cold storage, and one day, I'll go back and make them worthy of submission. But there's just too much work to be done, and I've moved on to the Cold Witness books. They're my priority.

I am determined to see Cold Witness and White Light through to the end. I'm going to do it right this time, because I believe that these are my first two novels that are really worth doing. I'm going to make them succeed.

*sighs* Well, a guy can dream, can't he?

Over 6,000 words this weekend!

Which means that I am nearly three days ahead of schedule. 50,000 words a month is a nice goal for me; not too strenuous, but not too easy, either. Funnily enough, although many writers despise the middle section of the book, I like it. The worst bit is always the section between page 100 and 200. After that, I'm on a roll. :)

Update on the Travellers: they've all shifted from Tunstall Forest now, and have divided up into two 'factions'. The majority have joined their down-and-out friends in Rendlesham Forest, forming a huge settlement of probably three hundred people, but a few of them have blocked the sand-road through Blaxhall Common and have invaded the heath. This is really serious. Come summer, they could burn down half the Sandlings from there if they start lighting fires. Grr. Grrrrr.

Later

Space.com reports that old Soviet Cold War satellites are leaking core material from their dodgy nuclear motors. Is it just me, or are there slightly unnerving parallels between RL and Cold Witness emerging here? In the words of Mr Kelsale, "I telled 'ee".

Weekly pics--round 9

As winter won't be around for much longer (the daffodils are already carpeting everything, and the birch buds are starting to blossom), I thought I'd post two of the best photos my brother took this winter.

Firstly, snow on a frond of dead bracken. You may recognise this from the graphic in my Comments stylesheet (or you may not). It's a nice picture, anyway.



Secondly ... no, I'm not going to tell you what it is. Guess. It shouldn't be too hard, but extra sweeties go to the person who can tell me the surface underneath is. :)



Oh! And I crossed the 40K point on White Light yesterday, after putting in a couple of hours of writing time yesterday evening. This March Madness thing at FM is just what I need to kick me forwards.

Photos (C) James Roddie (again) 2004

Subplots ... mmmm

I love subplots. The main plot of a book can be followed as a single, golden thread, but subplots add more spice, don't you think?

I've just started one now--or, more accurately, brought one into full fruit. The subplot in question is the Hooded Falcon/Cold Witness subplot in Project White Light. Basically, Johnny Campbell has returned to Cold Witness as an ORAFO field agent (that's the Office of Royal Air Force Operations), whose mission is to discover exactly what covert and illegal experiments are being conducted by the NSA on Orfordness. At the moment, he has little to go on. Common knowledge and gossip in the pub, a few UFO sightings ... but soon he gets a taste of the action himself. Hundreds of people from Orford, Sudbourne and Iken see a gigantic glowing disk slowly waltzing over the full length of the Island. But is it an alien spaceship, or is it something far more sinister and ultimately dangerous? It's up to Johnny Campbell, secret agent and all-round good guy, to find out.

I've got a really good feeling about this particular subplot. The main thread (that's Christina's stuff) was starting to get just a little dry over the past couple of days, but this is much better. Just think ... it's only a couple of chapters before I start interweaving the two plotlines. And the CUFORA UFO researchers will arrive soon, too. And Dr Hartman starts acting funny. And Lucy starts going mad. Groovy.

On the coursework front, I've decided not to beat myself up over it. Turns out that, although I'm quite a long way behind, I'm actually the farthest ahead in the whole class. There's no possible way I can get it all completed before Easter, so what's the point in trying too hard? Now I know it's an impossible task, the pressure's off. I can keep chugging along at my own pace.

Which means more time for writing. *predatory grin*

Note

Posted a longish snippet from White Light on the Roving Crits board at Forward Motion. It's the section I was referring to above. Lots of variety this time--a journal entry, several scenes from my more 'traditional' 3rd person, and a newspaper clipping from the East Anglian Daily Times.

Not much to report

Save that the Travellers have, at last, started to shift. The police stuck up the eviction notice a couple of days ago, and most of them have already gone. Only five or six caravans left, now. :)

Work on White Light is plodding along, as is work on Arciana. The dark god of Coursework is predominating!

Later

Posted a question on the Forward Motion main community discussion board. It's on worrying issues connected with authenticity and realism that have been bugging me for some time about the Cold Witness books.

More on Arciana's magic

Okay, I've done a little more on Arciana now. I think the most interesting thing I'm coming up with is the magic. As I mentioned before, it's based on the toxic element Rivium (which is chemically similar to Titanium, FYI) and its compounds. The lands around the Circle States Alliance are rich in very low-grade Rivium ore (Rivium Sulphide, known as Revite or Rivenspar, depending on who you talk to), and the CSA's main export is crushed Revite, which they sell to the northern kingdoms.

So here's the thing. Magic is performed by humans interacting with the Rivium compounds. If their minds are trained in the right way, they can telepathically direct any nearby Rivium to do things. Rivium can shift, manipulate, and change energy. Normal people will have a very low degree of magic ability, but those who are trained--those who attend the School of Applied Sciences in Eshesk--can expand their mind to such a degree that they can do almost anything (within reason, of course). But it all comes down to how rich you are, and how willing you are to die young due to accumulated Rivium sickness symptoms. There's no such thing as an old wizard in Arciana.

There's more. 'Wizards' (provisional term) will have 'staffs' ... but they're different. A wizard's staff will be made from a wood known as the Rivenelm, a rare tree that grows on the banks of icy cold streams in the Riven Uplands. These hills are totally saturated in Rivium, which makes the very water poisonous to drink. And the Rivenelm contains huge amounts of Rivium salts in its wood, which generates a powerful magical field. It's hard to cut down a Rivenelm tree. As you approach, the tree will subtly suggest to you that you don't want to cut it down, and if you persist, the tree will move to more direct methods of persuasion. For a wizard to gain his staff, he has to undergo a quest known as the Hunting of the Tree. If he can find a Rivenelm, cut it down, and carve a staff from its wood, he's worthy to bear it.

Naturally, any artefact partially made from Rivium compounds will provide a 'magical battery', so to speak, but the Hunting of the Tree has become a tradition. And magic can still be done even if the wizard doesn't own a Rivium sword, Rivenelm staff, or other artefact. In the Circle States Alliance (and certain other countries), a wizard can use the traces of Rivium compounds in the rocks and the water to perform his magic. The more ambient Rivium there is around, the more powerful the magic he can perform. There are legends that, in the blasted and poisonous lands surrounding Koiran's Belt, wizards can become as powerful as gods ... but nobody dares go there, as that string of craters is far newer, and the air itself is a slow poison.

I rather like this form of magic. It's interesting working out all the chemistry-related stuff, too. I've even figured out the exact composition of the waters of the Crater Sea--instead of Sodium Chloride, the salts present are various Rivium Halides, which taste very bitter. And, if you drink seawater, you can suffer from acute (but short-lived) Rivium sickness.

This is fun!

I'm alive

But only just. I think you're right, Joel--it must have been food poisoning. Either that or the worst stomach bug I've ever suffered from. I still have no appetite whatsoever, four days later, but the acute symptoms started to tail off on Saturday. Thank God.

Anyway, I got hardly anything done on White Light over the past four days. Two thousand measly words is all; reasonable compared to my 'old' track record, but not good considering I'm planning to get 50K on White Light plus coursework finished by April 1. I don't think I'm going to make it on both of them. One of them has to give, so naturally I'm cutting back with the writing. I think I'll restrict myself to one hour every night from now on (I usually do two and a half).

Still, there is a silver lining to the dark cloud. During my brief bedridden period, I started doodling on a blank sheet of paper, as you do. And before I knew what I was doing, I had drawn the outlines of a highly unusual fantasy world, named five of the countries, and started to think of a new (and hopefully reasonably original) magic system. I'm naming this new world Arciana, and I'm putting it in my worldbuilding folder along with the LOAFworld and the Inner Lands (that's the world from Twilight). Basically, the magic system is based on a poisonous metal known as Rivium. Rivium is largely mined in the Circle States Alliance, a string of islands around the edge of a vast (radius 150 miles) crater sea, made by the impact of a meteor a hundred thousand years ago. The meteor was made of Rivium compounds, so the surrounding lands are rich in the stuff, and the main export of the Circle States is Revite, or Rivium Ore. But the stuff's very poisonous, and after thousands of years of mining, it's starting to run out.

However, a place known as Koiran's Belt, a 500-mile line of smaller crater lakes, is believed to be saturated in the stuff. Due to the extreme levels of ambient magic, though, the area is ... unpredictable.

Obviously it's all a lot more complicated than that (the thought that springs to mind here is an obscure wizardly ritual known affectionately as the Hunting of the Tree), but I'm feeling really positive about what I've come up with so far. More here when I make some progress!

Weekly pics--round 8 (Amber special)

Apologies if I'm behind with crits (Kathleen, I think that's you, if you're reading), but I'm too sick to do much at the moment. Threw up eleven times last night, and now I've got diorrhea, too. Zero writing or coursework done (and the deadline is starting to become acute in the coursework department). Anyway, here are this week's photos.

Firstly, Amber's head in close up. This is an amazing picture my brother took a couple of months ago. I think the sepia tone really suits it. Makes Amber look a bit like some giant monster out of the movies, but it shows one of her many and varied expressions (mild boredom, in this case).



Second, Amber playing in the snow on Blaxhall common. She had tremendous fun that day, largely running for long stretches then charging back and spraying us all with snow.



And (aren't you lucky) I'm treating you to a third pic this week. This is an action shot my brother took of Amber when she was charging through the chestnut avenue in Tunstall Forest. Note the lead stretching back--if the shot had been a second or so later, you'd be seeing me being dragged through the frame, screaming for Amber to slow down. Heh. It's interesting having a dog who's actually stronger than you are, even if it can result in mild bodily injury at times. :)



Photos (C) James Roddie 2004

Has the whole world gone mad?

I mean, is it just me? Has the space-time continuum decided to hibernate, or something?

Basically, I seem to have the capability of reverse-precognition, which means that I can see things before they happen, but only realise I've predicted it happening after it's happened (checks previous sentence; yep, that's about right). It's resulted in more teeth-grinding than most normal people would imagine. Basically, a random scene or image will sleet through my consciousness, and I'll ignore it. My mind gets filled up with all kinds of weird stuff during the day. Later on, that image or scene or whatever will happen, or I'll see something fundamentally connected with it, and then I'll realise that I predicted it happening many hours earlier, but ignored it as I always do. And, every single time, I stand there stamping my feet and cursing myself for being such an idiot and missing the sign yet again.

This has resulted in some ... interesting incidents and misunderstandings, but that isn't the point. The point is, why do I never pick up these subtle little messages? I could become the world's greatest prophet of the Totally Random and Inconsequential, because usually I reverse-precognicate (or whatever) totally random and inconsequential things, with no more relevance to life, the universe, and everything than a rubber duck. No, actually, the point is this: which of us is the mad one? Me, or the universe?

And does anyone else know what I'm talking about?

Endnote on a completely unrelated subject: reached over 30K on Project White Light last night, despite coursework and other stuff. Yay! Nearly a third of the way through the expected length!

A peek over the hill

Okay, so I know I probably don't need to be thinking about novel number seven at this point, but I'll have finished White Light in another month and a half or so. And although Cold Witness is still to be fully revised, I need something to keep me moving forwards. I don't like the gaping void that lies just ahead. It has to be filled with a new project!

So, I basically have two options for my next novel. I can write another Cold Witness book, probably set a couple of years after White Light, but there are a number of problems that arise from that course of action. I'm worried about running out of new takes on the Cold Witness theme. White Light still runs on most of the same themes as PCW, but they're different in many important ways. How do I create yet another distinct Cold Witness book, a novel in its own right, different yet related to the other two? It can be done--I'm pretty sure of that. But it might take me a while to find the right solution.

My second choice is to move into something different. I've written fantasy, historical fantasy, fanfiction, science fiction, technothriller ... how about something else? Or maybe another go at one of my 'old' genres? I've still got the plan for Evil's True Form, a HistF set at Iken in the Dark Ages. The plot and characters are decidedly crude (I did the prewriting nearly a year ago), but it can be whipped into shape given a little care and attention. It's certainly as original a story as I'm likely to come up with, and despite the mind-boggling amount of research that would have to be done, I think it's a project that I would like doing. Corruption in the early Church. Demons and pagan magic running rampant over Saxon England. Churches moving in the night, devils ... you know the kind of thing.

Another idea I've always liked the sound of is urban fantasy--not necessarily in an urban setting, but in a rural setting. East Anglia would be perfect (in fact, all my current books seem to be largely set there). It can be cliched if handled incorrectly, but all I need is a new-ish idea.

But do I really want to move away from the Cold Witness series yet? After all, the time will soon come to start submitting Project Cold Witness to agencies, and then I'll be revising White Light ... maybe I should stick with this genre for a while. Despite the unlikelihood of the Cold Witness books really taking off commercially, I've got to consider the implications of constantly shifting from one genre to another.

Well, we'll see. I've still got a month or so before my current novel comes to an end.

The 25,000 word barrier has been breached!

Hit just over 25K last night, which means that the novel is now a quarter of its total expected length (which also means that it'll probably run over into 120,000, just like Cold Witness). Christina, Amy, Mr Sloan and Mr Akenham have just landed in England. I decided to have them staying for a few nights on the Woodbridge Base, largely to introduce the UFO-type subplots that run throughout the story. Johnny's been introduced, too, and there was a rather interesting scene in which Christina (that's ex-Johnny's-girlfriend Christina) rings up his flat, only to find out that he's been married for two years. Which is, as you can imagine, a shock, especially as Christina never really let Johnny go. They'll be interacting a lot over the rest of the book, so I'm interested to see how this particular situation develops.

That said, I think I may be starting to drift. There hasn't been a lot of direct conflict lately ... it's been more passive. So I should be right on track to up the tension.

Oh yes, and I've updated the page graphics over the weekend to create a new 'feel' for the site. Note new AR logo (the old one was nearly [gasp] six months old) and new page titlebar in line with the new nature/mountains with metallic border style. I've also added a little graphic in the Comments stylesheet. I've created four of them; one for each season, with different backgrounds selected from various photos. The current one is winter, and shows snow on a bracken frond.

Weekly pics--round 7

Sandlings-type pictures this week. I'm starting to run out of decent mountain vistas to show off. :)

First, a rather nice picture I took a couple weeks back. I was actually halfway up a tree at the time, looking up at the cobalt sky through the bare branches. The tree in question is a 200+ year old Beech tree at the edge of Rendlesham Forest. Some of the abundant graffiti carved into the bark dates back to the 1800s, but most of it was carved by the USAF airmen when they were posted in the area (these are the guys from Benwaters/Woodbridge Air Force Base, FYI). Some of the messages are rather humorous.



Secondly, the bluebell beechwoods at Chillesford. This is a Spring-type view from about a year ago.



Oh yes, and I've started reading two more blogs: E.M Walton (Forward Motion member erinKC), and Zette's Crazed Writing and Picture Log. I've decided to expand my area of blog-reading influence, partly because it's something else to do on a Friday morning, and partly because I'm a naturally nosy person and love to poke my nose into other people's business. :)

Photos (C) Alex and James Roddie, 2003-2004

Almost at page 100!

I know I said the other day that coursework would have to predominate from now on, but I can't keep my hands off White Light. I'm getting to the stage in the book where all the different characters are starting to be rounded up by the NSA. And, best of all, I came up with an awesome parallel to Cold Witness; Amy Peters, Christina's student, accidentally overhears a secret discussion between Christina and the NSA guy. As a consequence, she has to be brought into the circle of those in the know. As Colonel Foyle once said, you either know nothing, or you know everything.

Besides, the coursework isn't really that urgent. I know several people who are miles further behind than me (in fact, I'm not really technically behind--just clinging on with my fingernails).

RESULTS!!!!

Quick update--just got the results for my January A2 exams. Here they are:

ICT (2512 resit exam): 69/90 : B
ICT (2515 non-resit): 69/90 : B
Chemistry (Organic): 68/90 : B

I was hoping to get an A for the resit, but I'm pleased with what I've got. Hey, it's funny that they all came out virtually the same, isn't it?

Whew ... amazing stuff

I've been looking through the visitor logs for Stat Counter (that little thing over there to the right). Most of the page hits have been from me, testing out template additions etc, but there's an astounding number of 'other' visits. And it gives all the details, too. Joel, you live in Tustin, California, you're running a computer with Windows XP, a monitor set at 1024x768, and using Internet Explorer 6.0. Kate, you live in Salt Lake City, Utah, you're running Mac OS, monitor 800x600, and using IE 5. I can seeeeee you! *sings* The power! The power!

Ahem. Anyway. Lots of visitors came from the Forward Motion weblog index, a few from Evolution, and a couple from the link on my FM signature line. Most of them are either visiting from the UK (mostly that's me) or the United States (you two, probably). One came from Singapore ... and actually returned to visit another day! I had a visit from South Africa recently, too. And, even more amazingly, somebody actually reached this blog through my old website (that's http://www.roddie.demon.co.uk/ , a site I'm largely using as an image server now).

Stat Counter's fun. Amazing for a free service, too. It just goes to show ... you are not alone!

(I apologise for this post being slightly manic. It's probably the surprise at finding out that other people--some of them strangers, no less--could find my pitiful existence remotely interesting. I promise to be more coherent tomorrow.)

Note--posted part of White Light, Chapter IV, on the Roving Crits board at Forward Motion. More crit-worthy material here, methinks.

They blocked it!

I don't believe this. I largely access the Internet through the school network during breaks and free periods. And they have blocked my weblog! In fact, every domain name with .blogspot.com has been filtered. I can access my post editor and Haloscan comments, but the site itself is blocked. I simply don't believe it.

Don't expect me to be visiting your sites much from now on, folks. I'm afraid I usually can't get on the internet at home.

Later - crisis over

Blogs are now unblocked. Guess the network's just going nuts again. *grins* I remember a time when they blocked Google. They claimed it contained 'offensive material that might have an adverse influence on impressionable minors'.

Coursework gets in the way

Guess what? ICT coursework, and masses of it, due in by the start of the Easter hols. And I've only just started a new novel, too. Grr. Grrrrr.

Basically, I'm designing a database using MS Access. The program's almost completed; I'm just hooked up on a minor (but highly irritating) detail near the end. After the practical stuff, however, lies an ocean of write-ups and documentation. I'm talking gigawatt-range coursework here. About two hundred A4 sides in three weeks--and we're not talking about manuscript pages here, either.

Looks like I'm going to have to slow down on White Light, which isn't something I've been wanting to do. I hate it when I have to put the breaks on a new project. But duty calls ...

3...2...1...click

I'm suddenly feeling nostalgic; we just had the Year 13 leaver's photo taken. We won't be leaving High School for a couple of months, but this morning had a sense of finality about it. Time's flowing past too quickly for my liking.

By the way, the stat counter I installed last week is rocketing up. I check on my site most days to pick up comments, but I find it incredible that my site gets this much traffic. Maybe the counter's screwed up. Still ... any lurkers out there? Introduce yourself!

Good progress

Hit the 15K mark yesterday on White Light, which is great for just over a week of writing. Following some crits I received for the first part, I've remodelled the beginning to make it more consistent--and less infodumpy. Infodumpdom is the state of being that I'm constantly trying to combat. It's hard ... but rewarding. :)

Christina should be back to England soon, which will be fun. I've got a whole range of interesting chapters to come, including A STRANGE HOMECOMING, BROKEN LIGHT and RETURN TO COLD WITNESS. Cold Witness's daughter project, Project Grey Sky, will feature significantly in this book. And I'm really looking forwards to bringing Christina and Johnny Campbell back together, even if Johnny is now married.

Oh yes, and happy birthday to Kate, who turned 28 on Saturday. Whoo-hoo! Just wait until I'm older than you!

Weekly pics--round 6

Here's this weeks photos; two more pictures from my holiday up north.

Firstly, the Honister Pass. This is a route that we took while travelling from the Coniston region over into Eskdale and the Derwent Water area. We also took the Wrynose pass ... and that was one of the scariest things I've ever done. Hairpin bends combined with murderously steep inclines. It makes some of the Alp-type roads in James Bond and the Italian Job look tame.



Secondly, Langstrothdale, Upper Wharfdale, Yorkshire. This is one of my favourite places in the world, and has been so for many years. The hills are gentle in that region, but the river's lovely. The figure you see in the mid foreground is me, and the little white blob is Amber. She had fun jumping about in the river that day.



Photos copyright (C) Alex and James Roddie 2003

Sidebar updated again

I've shifted the Blogger and Haloscan ads to the sidebar, where they look neater. I've also added a site meter, but obviously it'll only track visitors since today. So all your previous visits over the past few months, dear folks, have not been recorded. :)

Thoughts on change

A friend dropped a comment yesterday that got me thinking: "Yeah, what's happened to your fantasy aspirations? Why all the rush of paranoiac cold war stuff?" Sometimes it takes an outside comment to get you looking at yourself in a certain way. It's something I've taken a lot of time figuring out.

My dream was always to become a fantasy author. I wrote two parts of the Life of a Falcon trilogy and started the third; epic fantasy, certainly, but largely TLOTR with different races and names. Hell, when you're thirteen it's difficult to write truly original fiction (if such a thing exists), and it's easy to copy whatever you happen to be reading at the time. But ... the truth is, I was obsessed with LOAF.

I have an odd theory to explain why we do things we like doing; everything has its own emotion tagged with it, totally unique, that we can re-experience if we go back to that place or do that thing again. That's always been the way with me. And that was how LOAF started; one February in 1997 on the battlements of Framlingham Castle, looking out over the mist-shrouded woods and fields. And I was assaulted by this emotion. It prowled up behind me and posessed my mind for the next five years, so powerful that it invaded my dreams, saturated my thoughts, and found its way into every corner of my existence.

Looking back, I think it was something that comes with childhood. The magic of toys or games had long since gone for me, but one last thing remained. Children have the remarkable ability to find wonder and story in everything. And so, in 1997, I grasped the last thing of this kind I could reach, and spun it into creation the only way I knew how: through writing.

Things have changed since then. After LOAF, I no longer wrote because I was posessed by some magical emotion--I wrote because it was what I did. I changed and evolved as I gradually grew up. After Darkness in the Forest, I started work on another fantasy novel because that was really all I knew; never did I consider that something else might hold the future for me.

I'm captivated by the mystery of Orfordness. So many big questions are left unanswered, so many secrets that will never come to light. This twenty-mile stretch of coastline has played such a huge part in the wars of the 20th Century, and many of its ghosts are still with us. Bawdsey Manor; Bentwaters AFB; AWRE; Cobra Mist; Cold Witness. I feel at home in the 1970's and '80's, even if I wasn't born until 1986. It is a world that can be thoroughly explored. I have found something more real than fantasy, a realm that I can literally walk out and find, photograph, and study.

And yet ... sometimes I still hear the whisper of that elusive feeling. In my heart, I know that fantasy isn't over for me. I still read a great deal of it, and respect and admire all fantasy authors; in fact, I still consider myself among that class. I don't call myself 'science fiction author' ... I know that, once I find a truly good idea, I'll be writing fantasy once again. The Cold Witness books won't last forever.

So maybe the change wasn't so complete, after all.

First chapter completed

Well, I've completed the first chapter of White Light. It's shorter than I wanted, but I need to keep down the amount of plot in the first third of the book--there's way too much stuff later on. I need to keep the section in America as short and sharp as possible, or the book won't start quickly enough. I also didn't get that much done yesterday; 800 words, which was actually quite good considering that the boxed set of the Lord of the Rings soundtracks came yesterday afternoon. It always takes me a good couple of weeks to break in a new soundtrack, but these ones are epic! I can't wait until the special edition of ROTK comes out!

Scene up on Roving

I posted the first few scenes of White Light, coming to a total of 2,700 words. Don't have time for more, but my word count has gone up to over 3,000! Pretty good for three coursework-filled days, eh?

Project White Light has begun!

I started writing it on Saturday evening, after spending most of the day finishing the prewriting. I really like the first scene I've come up with; it's a technical journal entry from the POV of Christina Elmwood (now a Doctor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology). I'll be posting it on the Roving Crits board within a couple of days, so keep an eye out for it if you want to see how the book starts.

I have a question for you regarding journal extracts in novels: how do you put them in? I mean, how do you integrate them into the manuscript (formatted in manuscript format)? This is something that's been bugging me for a while. So far, I've thought of two possibilities. Firstly, you can format the extract in italics (or underline, as in ms. format), but long sections in italics are often harder to read. Secondly, you can just stick it in and hope the sudden POV switch from tight 1st person to 3rd person at the end of the scene doesn't annoy the reader. There's probably a third choice--something like indenting it a centimetre further in, or something like that--but I don't know how I could incorporate that into a manuscript without sending future editors crazy. Help? Please?

Oh yes, and I've sorted through my photos folder and have uploaded a mass of them (cropped and zoomed to web-ready size) onto my image server, including some hilarious pictures of Amber capering in the snow. I've calculated I've got enough to show two pictures a week for six months until I run out. By then, I'll hopefully have some more (more accurately, I'll have swiped some off the photographer, my brother). What are your opinions on the whole weekly pics thing? Does it provide a nice change from me rambling on about the eccentricities of my work-in-progress? Is it the high-point of your week? I've heard (somewhere, can't remember where) that posting photos is the key to attaining a large reader base. Two regular readers, though, is a great start in less than six months. To be honest with you, I wasn't expecting this blog to last more than a week or so, and I certainly wasn't expecting anyone else to find it in the great vastness of the internet. And reading other blogs is fun, too, even if I don't always post comments.

Anyway, gotta go. I've got coursework to catch up on.