• Still not fixed …

    I know the blog has not reverted back to its original form yet. The Web guy is still working on it. Hopefully, it will be fixed sometime this week …

  • ·

    ‘Tis done … for now …

    3 Comments

    So I finished the rough draft of Assassin 2 yesterday. Huzzah! 😎

    It clocks in at 86,000 words and change, and 35 chapters. By a rough draft, I do mean rough. My dialogue is stilted, my descriptions are boring, and the chapters get progressively shorter as they go along. Seriously, right now the last chapter isn’t even 1,000 words long (most of my chapters are at least 3,000 words). 

    Plus, my ending really sucks since I can’t exactly decide what to do with this one character. Should she be a cop? Thief? Another assassin? I’m still thinking about that.

    But there’s sex and violence and lots of bad guys who get what’s coming to them. Even better, I’ve got most of the story down. Now, I have something to work with, instead of just a blank screen mocking me. Usually for me, it’s easier to revise and edit than write something from scratch.

    But it’s done, and I’m taking a break this weekend. Wheezley and I will probably go see Hellboy 2 at some point, and A-Team DVDs and TBR pile, here I come! :ww:

    What about you guys? Anyone got big plans this weekend?

  • · ·

    Wish list …

    6 Comments

    I’ve often wished for bionic wrists when pounding out my latest rough draft, including now while I’m working on Assassin 2. I wouldn’t mind having a color laser printer, either. 😎

    My aching wrist got me to thinking about what other writers wish for. I’m sure being able to quit your day job or hitting a list is on many writers’ wish lists (mine included). But what other things do folks long for? A new computer? Cool office gadgets? More writing time?

    And what do readers wish for? More books by a favorite author? Discovering a great new writer? Cool reading gadgets?

    Leave a comment and tell me what’s on your wish list. You already know what’s on mine. Na-na-na! :ww:

  • 889 and counting …

    Finished Appaloosa by Robert B. Parker. I read the sequel to this, Resolution, a few weeks ago and decided to read the first book. And hey, it’s a western. I love me some westerns. 😎

    In this one, gunfighter Virgil Cole and his friend Everett Hitch are hired to be the law in the Old West town of Appaloosa and apprehend Randall Bragg, a ranch owner who killed the last marshal and his deputy. Along the way, there are shootouts, showdowns, and a tense skirmish with some Indians.

    I thought Virgil and Everett waded through the bad guys a little too easily in Resolution, and I expected more of the same in Appaloosa. But I was pleasantly surprised. Appaloosa is a much better book than its sequel, and the two men are really challenged by Bragg and his various minions and machinations. But Virgil and Everett face everything with the stoic grit that’s the trademark of Parker’s characters.

    The chapters are short, as always, and filled with Parker’s wry dialogue and bare-bones descriptions. But the story moves along at a fast clip, and the chapters where Virgil and Everett chase down the escaped Bragg are really terrific.

    The only quibble I had was with Allie, the woman that Virgil falls for. To put it bluntly, Allie is a floozy who sleeps with whatever man can do the most for her at the present time. She takes up with Virgil, then makes a pass at Everett. She gets kidnapped by some men Bragg hired and sleeps with the leader. Then, near the end, Allie sleeps with Bragg after he regains control of the town from Virgil and Everett.

    Virgil knows all about Allie’s affairs, but he just can’t seem to break away from her. People in dysfunctional relationships (particularly men in love with women like Allie) pop up quite often in Parker’s books. And I never understand why the men like Virgil don’t leave the women like Allie. But love is a powerful emotion that makes people do all sorts of interesting and crazy things. Which, I think, is Parker’s real point in the end.

    So thumbs up.

    Up next: Something from the TBR pile.

    Books in my TBR pile: About 13.

  • Baby, it’s cold inside …

    3 Comments

    You know it’s frigid in your office when you walk outside to do an errand, and your sunglasses steam up from the temperature change. 😎

    Seriously, my office is always like an icebox. I’m wearing sandals today, and my toes are a lovely shade of blue. Brrr!