Author Journey (September 19, 2022)
Come on, everyone, we’re streaking! I have now written every day for nine days. That’s almost ten thousand words. It’s been a while since it’s flowed so freely, so please bear with me while I enjoy the moment.
September 19, 2022
Hot Topic
You would think the big news would be my current run on my novella RIP Tide, however, I have something else that I want to talk about here. For the last two and a half years, I’ve been working from home. At first, I was sharing an office with my wife because I was working during the night. Then, I moved to the basement and had a space at the back of the main room. That was fine for a while, but I regularly got interrupted when my youngest was home with the nanny. So, I moved into a small room in the basement.
The day job has decided that going forward I will need to be in the office for one day a month. Oh yeah! That’s right, I’m working from home, for the time being, so to celebrate and spruce the place up a little, I decided to get some fancy artwork for my walls. I spent a while researching what to get, what format, what size, etc. A lot of planning has gone into this. Anyhow, these are what I get to stare at while I’m working.
Both are on canvas and while Saeko may look bigger, her picture is one by one and a half feet, whereas my Hokusai is two by three feet. It’s certainly brightened the place up.
What have I been watching/reading?
With all that writing, you’d think my other activities would have taken a dive. Amazingly, they didn’t. I still watched ten episodes and read one manga volume. I’m as amazed as you. It feels really good to be productive on all fronts for a change and not just one of the other. The test will be to see if I can keep it going.
Anyhow, here’s a quick look at what I posted last week.
Record of Ragnarok gives us an alternate point of view on the events that led to Adam leaving Eden. Still the same fight though.
What’s that? You want more Olivier Mira Armstrong in Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. All righty then!
Fire Force season two finished with a bit of a whimper, but has it done enough to make us commit to another season?
Have you ever wanted to see a Hulk/He-Man mash-up? This episode of Masters of the Universe: Revelation thought we did!
And don’t forget the ecchi posts that are only available directly on my site.
Seven Mortal Sins spent a lot of time talking in this episode, but it also delivered on the ecchi front.
What’s this a girl other than Rin and Ui takes the limelight for a change in My Wife is the Student Council President!
I published the last of my three bonus My Dress-Up Darling posts and the season review. I already miss this show.
Work in Progress
So, last week alone, I wrote every day and it felt great. Every time I sat down to write, I just started writing. No staring at a blank screen, no procrastinating. It just happened. This is exactly how it was when I was at my peak. Back then, I was writing three to five thousand words a day so I’ve got a little way to go, but I also wasn’t blogging as much then so it’s not going to get as high. At least not yet anyhow.
I added almost eight thousand words to RIP Tide which actually brought me to the end of the story. It was always going to be a novella. The total word count is just under twenty thousand and after a little bit of editing, I think it will be much closer, possibly over. I often underwrite my first drafts. Part of me wonders if I shouldn’t try to get it ready for a release around Halloween, but then it will be lost in all the other Halloween stories and this isn’t a Halloween story, it’s a zombie story. It’s good all year round!
The Plan
Last week, I finally finished all my posts for 2022 with fifteen weeks to spare. I’ve also almost finished quarter one of 2023. Who knows what I’ll have accomplished in the next fifteen weeks? I need to ride this wave of productivity.
Posts
- 2022
- Author Journey – 38/52 (+1)
- Review Posts – 235/235 (+1)
- Review Pages – 131/131
- 2023
- Quarter One
- Author Journey – 0/13
- Review Posts – 63/78 (+3)
- Review Pages – 38/39 (+13)
- Quarter Two
- Author Journey – 0/13
- Review Posts – 6/78 (+1)
- Review Pages – 3/39 (+2)
- Quarter One
The bulk of my outstanding posts for 2023 Q1 is from one series that I’m planning to watch that hasn’t ended yet. It’s got a couple more episodes and then I am hitting the binge!
Writing
- MSR (Paranormal Harem Rom-com)
- Chapters – 0
- Words – 0
- Valiant Lineage (Epic Dark Fantasy)
- Chapters – 0
- Words – 0
- Black Death (Post Apocalyptic Shoujo AI)
- Chapters – 0
- Words – 0
- Asteroidea (Horror Science-fiction)
- Chapters – 0
- Words – 0
- Out of Time (Time-travel Murder Mystery)
- Chapters – 7
- Words – 7,423
- RIP Tide (Zombie Novella)
- Chapters – 17 (+7)
- Words – 18,261 (+7,638)
I’m happy with this as my baseline. If I can write one thousand words a day, that’s basically four novels a year. Yeah, I’d be delighted with that.
Final Thoughts
So, the first draft of RIP Tide is done. Not bad considering I had struggled to write anything for a couple of years now and then I started this one less than a month ago. I think the determining factor has been the return of a schedule. Plus the kids are very happy with their new school so that takes a lot of pressure off. There’s less fighting, less stress. Everyone is happier and miraculously, I’m writing again. It’s hard to really state just how much this pandemic has messed with us, but we can all agree it has sucked. Hopefully, we can all push on from here.
Anyhow, thanks for reading.
Congratulations on finishing RIP Tide! That’s awesome.
The artwork of Saeko is also awesome. It’s a great likeness!
One day a month in the office sounds wonderful. I should not complain at having to go in 3 days a week, because at least it’s not 5. But my budget is pretty annoyed at the amount I have to spend on gas.
I enjoyed reading your reviews of My Dress Up Darling. I miss the show, too, and I hope the new production that was leaked is a second season!
Thanks. I think starting with a shorter piece of fiction that I was planning as a one off helped me keep the wheels rolling.
I had been looking at the Saeko figurine, but the likeness isn’t great. At least with a picture, I know who it is. Every time, I turn away from my desk she’s smiling at me. It’s oddly calming.
I would be complaining at having to go in three times a week, but then my job is mostly me and a computer. I don’t have a great deal of need to see people face to face. I’m still annoyed that they want me to wear a shirt… lol!
I loved that show. It had so many wonderful messages. I just finished collecting the Harukana Receive books so I might turn my attention to My Dress-Up Darling next. If I didn’t have a load of other shows to catch up on, I’d watch it again.