Where'd August go?

Gak! An entire month without an update. I'm truly sorry. The truth is, I just haven't had a heck of a lot to talk about. I spent some time away, spent some time doing other things, blah blah.

Here's the sort-of-good news: I've spent a decent amount of time plotting the sequel to Practice to Deceive, and I've even started writing. I'm not in the proper writing groove yet, but I'll get there, I imagine. I'm also noodling around on a few other things at the same time. Basically, I'm procrastinating a bit, trying to decide what I commit to next. It may be the sequel, it may be something else. I shall go where the muse takes me.

In the meantime, I'd encourage all of you to visit Kitty Mayer's new site, which went live a week or so ago. I've raved about it before. So far it looks like my suspicions are correct and that yes, there are people willing to pay for masking-related content (surprise!) so congrats again to Kitty. I have another suspicion that she's making a lot bigger profit than I am on Practice to Deceive - but ah well, not all of us can be female or have admirable figures!

At the same time over on YouTube Jasmine Moarly has returned, another 'genetic girl', who's picked up a CFX mask. I haven't got it in me to talk in this post about the advances in silicon based masks but suffice to say, they're getting better all the time. I think inside my lifetime... we could see some incredibly realistic masks. We'll see... and with that inspiring thought, here's Jasmine's latest video, where she 'pranks' her girlfriend (or maybe... pranks us).

Kitty Mayer is back...

... and at last, she's built a pay site! I could probably go dig up blog posts where I said exactly this, but I am so, so glad that a female mask enthusiast has finally done the right thing and said "Hey, maybe I shouldn't give all these goods away for free!" Viva capitalism!

Ahem.

Long-time readers probably recall that Kitty is a bit of a legend, having really been one of the first 'genetic girl' maskers to hit the 'scene' and we were all a bit devastated when she went into semi-retirement. Well, great news because she's back and posting new material. There's one catch: you need to pay for it. But just once, and that gets you access forever. Brilliant.

It would have been easy (ish) for Kitty to go with the whole subscription thing, but I'm positive that this method is going to pay off for her (literally) and she'll see floods of happy customers. I'm definitely going to be one, myself. Who wouldn't want a gorgeous female masker in their lives?

So go! Get yourself over to KittysKornerVIP.com and get signed up, already! If you sign up before September 1st, you save!

Practice to Deceive - so what did you think?

Well, this weekend will mark about three or so weeks since I put Practice to Deceive live on Amazon and later, Gumroad. A heartfelt thank you to all of you who've put down money and actually rewarded me for writing the book - I deeply appreciate it. No, I'm not about to buy a house or a new car, but sales are sales, and every one is welcome!

That said, apart from a couple of Amazon reviews and the odd email... I haven't heard much from people about, well, whether they liked it or not. I'd love to know. And for a few reasons.

1) I'm a little torn on what to embark on next. I have an idea for a female-led masking book, maybe a serial, about a con artist/cat burglar who gets in way over her head. I also have plenty of ideas for a sequel to Practice to Deceive, as well as my half-finished other books. The question is... where to go next? Your reactions to Practice to Deceive might help guide that.

2) Whether I write the sequel next or not, I'd still love to know what you thought of the book; did it work for you? Was it exciting, arousing, thrilling, titillating - all of the above? Where did I mess up? Where did you desperately want more?

3) Last but not least... I really could do with those Amazon reviews! There is, quite frankly a lot of dross in the sub-sub-niche of transgender fiction, and I'd love to get noticed by some people there. I know, of course, that part of the trick is to publish more stuff (and I'm working on that) but in addition, a great review or two will help me stand out! So if possible - go ahead and review the book? Even just a few lines would be great.

If none of that works for you, I still want to hear your opinions! Get in touch, leave a comment, whatever - drop me a line. And again if you bought the book, thank you!

Practice to Deceive now available as a PDF

Last week I pushed Practice to Deceive to Amazon Kindle, and this week I'm expanding to PDF format via Gumroad.

PDF is a near-universal format these days, so if you have any reservations or concerns about buying the Amazon Kindle version, then this is a good alternative.

As a bonus, because Gumroad's terms are a little better than Amazon, I'm turning those savings over to you. A whole dollar saved! Yes, if $8.99 was just too rich for your blood... pick up Practice to Deceive at Gumroad for $8.

(Oh and sorry you don't get a cover embedded on that version. Had to compromise somewhere!)

Practice to Deceive (AKA Housesitting) now available on Amazon Kindle

I'm proud to say that my first masking novel, Practice to Deceive (known for a long time as Housesitting) is now available to buy for Amazon Kindle. Here's the cover art:

The book is available from just about every Amazon site - here's a few links:

Buy Practice to Deceive at Amazon.com - $8.99
Buy Practice to Deceive at Amazon.co.uk - £6.17*
Buy Practice to Deceive at Amazon.ca - CDN $8.99
Buy Practice to Deceive at Amazon.de - EUR 6,68
Buy Practice to Deceive at Amazon.fr - EUR 6,68
Buy Practice to Deceive at Amazon.co.jp - ￥ 800

You don't need to own a Kindle to read Practice to Deceive! You can download free Kindle reading apps for your PC, Mac, smartphone or tablet. (I proofread on my iPhone!) More details here. You can also download a free sample of the book (or read it online) to see if it's your kind of thing.

I will be looking into releasing the book on other platforms and formats, but for now, I just wanted to create this post to allow everyone to know the book was live and able to be bought. I hope you enjoy!

UPDATE: Practice to Deceive is now available as a PDF from Gumroad for $8. If you have any concerns or problems with the Kindle version, there's the (first) alternative!

* Sorry my fellow Englishmen, I tried to get the price to a round number but Amazon doesn't mention they add VAT to ebook prices after submission!

Housesitting is awaiting publication, and is now called...

... after much deliberation... the final name is...

Practice to Deceive

I just submitted the final 'manuscript' to Amazon Kindle Publishing. It should be live (and able to be bought) inside 12 hours or so. I'll check tomorrow, and assuming it all went well, I will update with an official BUY NOW post. However if you search for the title (or 'Ghostly Writer') you should find it. If you buy it before I make my post, I'll give you a virtual hug.

With a publication date of June 29th, I'm sure no-one's surprised when I said it was coming 'in June'  it ended up being practically the last day of June...!

BTW, I do intend to publish in other places so you have various options, but Kindle's probably the biggest marketplace so I thought I'd start there.

Feels weird to have done this! More tomorrow....

First novel (AKA Housesitting) out this week

I have my cover (well, almost), I have my title (well, almost) and I've done my due diligence. A little late in the month, I know, but Housesitting will be out to buy on Kindle this week - before the end of June.

More soon.

Edit: In case you missed it, the novel is now on-sale.

First Kindle book live (no, not that one)

I'm dipping my toe into the waters of e-publishing, and those are deep, fast-running waters. Metaphors aside, I wanted to basically try out Kindle publishing to see how the process worked. It seems to be relatively simple, so I went ahead and threw out my first 'book' (even though it's just a short story).

Some of you will have already read 'Her Smile' - it was first released when MaskFiction.com existed, so it's probably 13 years old. However, it may be new to some of you. And now you can buy it for 99c (in the US, at least) and a similar price all over the world. So click, if you're interested:

Buy 'Her Smile' from Amazon.com

Buy 'Her Smile' from Amazon.co.uk

What this means for Housesitting is that I'm one step closer to getting it onto the Kindle, at least - although that's not the only place I expect to publish it. Good news right? We're getting really close...

I will say one thing as an aside - if you do actually buy Her Smile, even if it's just to be nice or whatever - please leave a review! You can create a new Amazon account if you feel embarrassed or whatever. (I think you might even be able to use pen names on reviews.) Ultimately it'll help my sales and to get the book known. Fair warning: this is the 'mild' level of begging. When I do publish Housesitting, you'd better believe I'll be desperate for reviews...!

Practice to Deceive (AKA Housesitting) excerpt: dressing for success

Practice to Deceive (AKA Housesitting) tells the story of Billy, a young teenager who has an unusual obsession: he likes to cross dress... as his mother. When Billy is left alone for a week, a realistic mask and his uncanny disguise skills allow him to actually become his target - but even while exploring a double life, Billy is still a teenager with teenage responsibilities.

In this excerpt, having completed his transformation into Linda once more, Billy begins to dress for a meeting with Kate's parents.

Remember, by reading this excerpt you may spoil yourself for the final novel.

Practice to Deceive (AKA Housesitting) excerpt: fantasies at school

Housesitting (working title) tells the story of Billy, a young teenager who has an unusual obsession: he likes to cross dress... as his mother. When Billy is left alone for a week, a realistic mask and his uncanny disguise skills allow him to actually become his target - but even while exploring a double life, Billy is still a teenager with teenage responsibilities.

In this excerpt, Billy tries to keep his mind on the mundane realities of school life, when his fantastic other life is so much more distracting...

Remember, by reading this excerpt you may spoil yourself for the final novel.

Practice to Deceive (AKA Housesitting) excerpt: home from school to mask

Housesitting (working title) tells the story of Billy, a young teenager who has an unusual obsession: he likes to cross dress... as his mother. When Billy is left alone for a week, a realistic mask and his uncanny disguise skills allow him to actually become his target - but even while exploring a double life, Billy is still a teenager with teenage responsibilities.

In this excerpt, an excited Billy begins to transform himself from a teenage boy into a mature, older woman - his own mother. (This is just one of the transformation scenes in the book.)

Remember, by reading this excerpt you may spoil yourself for the final novel.

Getting closer

My readers are still reading Housesitting, so I sit and I wait and I hope for feedback. I've had some great feedback already that I've already acted on - one scene is staring at me defiantly, waiting to be hacked from the main narrative (which may end up in a 'deleted scenes' section, or something), and there are other things I'm thinking about.

But really, I just want to get this thing published.

I've been thinking about various options for publishing; I will definitely be using Amazon, no question on that, so there will be a Kindle version. I'll probably also use another couple of services - Lulu.com is possible and I've found at least one that will sell a watermarked individual PDF. While I know the mask fiction reading community is very small, there's a little bit of paranoia in me that fears the possibility of piracy, because let's face it - everything's pirated. Ultimately I can't do a lot about it except trust you, but in a community that's just about 100% anonymous, that's a big thing to ask.

Anyway. I've got a lot going on personally so I can't guarantee publication soon, but I'm crossing my fingers that I'll get some more feedback, polish off the thing and get things moving.

In the interim - be very happy to hear your requests for excerpts. What will get you to buy this thing, I wonder....

Editing, he thought, is tricky

Editing Housesitting has been an on-off task the last couple of months, but now I'm trying to get serious.

For me, editing involves re-reading what I've written (which is pretty obvious I guess, but it's step one) and then usually seeing if anything jumps out at me as being grammatically shoddy or just clumsy. Bad habits are easy to get into while writing, and it's hard to see this stuff in the heat of the moment.

Housesitting contains a lot of inner thoughts, as it's a very personal story, told almost entirely from one point of view. Because of that, I guess I felt it was necessary to delineate the main character's thoughts a lot. In some novels, writers use stylistic tropes to indicate thoughts. Frank Herbert, for example, famously had all of his characters think in italics. As there were lots of telepathic conversations in the Dune series, it made some sense.

I've done the italics thing myself, but I'm not a fan of it. I'm also not a fan of consistent 'muttering under the breath' or actual sentences being quoted as thoughts. So while writing, I found myself using the words 'he thought' a lot; but over time, and especially while re-reading, I discovered that I'd started to use it as punctuation, almost. Looking over the 'final' draft it's apparent now that frankly, most of the time when I use the phrase 'he thought' it's not needed.

So now, I'm editing the whole thing to try and remove it wherever it doesn't seem to be necessary. Take this random example with 'he thought' included. Billy is fantasizing about being exposed to... well, you'll find out:

He knew this was dangerous too, foolish even, but the idea of being exposed here somehow fitted with his fantasy scenario, where in front of Kate, his deception known, he would reach up and strip away his wig. She would gasp, he thought, her hand raised to her face in shock, but he wouldn’t stop there, he would dig his fingertips into his scalp, and find the edge of his mask... and pull downwards. Kate’s eyes would widen even further, she couldn’t possibly believe what she was seeing - and then the mask would be off, Linda would be gone, Billy would be exposed - 

It's easy to miss, but somehow, subtly, that he thought breaks the flow of the paragraph. It's also completely unneeded; I've already established, through words like 'knew' and 'fantasy scenario' that we're inside his head. So the same para without the 'he thought':

He knew this was dangerous too, foolish even, but the idea of being exposed here somehow fitted with his fantasy scenario, where in front of Kate, his deception known, he would reach up and strip away his wig. She would gasp, her hand raised to her face in shock, but he wouldn’t stop there, he would dig his fingertips into his scalp, and find the edge of his mask... and pull downwards. Kate’s eyes would widen even further, she couldn’t possibly believe what she was seeing - and then the mask would be off, Linda would be gone, Billy would be exposed - 

... works a lot better, no? It's subtle, for sure... but it helps. Of course, this doesn't mean every instance of 'he thought' is being cut from the book. There's plenty of places it's required. But, hopefully, by making sure through good writing that the reader knows we're inside the character's head... I can stop telling them that's the case every few paragraphs.

Timelines are funny things

Today, out of the blue, I realized the timeline on Housesitting was out of whack. Or at least, I thought it was.

Funny thing: Housesitting, in very first form, was written in 1999 or so. One of the main characters - the mother - was supposed to have acted in a half-remembered TV show from the early 1980s. Today I realized that couldn't work, if I still wanted her to be the age I wanted. Luckily, moving the fictional TV show ahead by 10 years or so didn't affect the plot at all.

Moving up the timeline so the story takes place in the 'present day' has also opened up things considerably, plot wise - to allow things like smart phones, the internet, laptops and so on, very few things that were so pervasive in 1999!

Time flies, right? I never expected to be finishing up a short story from 1999 in novel form...

Reader draft of Housesitting... now sent

I just pushed 'send' on an email sending what I'm calling the 'reader draft' of Housesitting to a select number of people. If you didn't get a copy please don't be offended (or ask for one)!

This is a very important step to publication. I finally got the book to where I wanted it this week (thanks to a long plane ride and a dark corner to write it!). It turned out I rewrote and added to a number of scenes throughout the book, got a few continuity details ironed out and, I hope, brought the overall quality upwards. With the gestation of this thing taking roughly 5 years it's unsurprising that a lot of the changes happened near the beginning of the book, but I think now the characters at the beginning match the characters at the end.

While there may still be some revisions and rewriting - there's a couple of scenes I'm looking at to potentially cut entirely - the current word count is a shade over 130,000 words, which is crazy long, really. I've got more thoughts on this and will probably bore you on it later, but suffice to say, the 'shape' of a book like this is a bit wacky... longer in places than any normal book would be, and when you combine that with my plot... well it gets long.

We'll see what my readers think. And once they express an opinion, the hopefully short ride to publication begins....

... so where the hell is it, then?

Over three weeks ago I told you I'd finished the first draft of Housesitting (which, day by day, is less likely to be called that, just FYI...). So where the hell is the book, right?

Well... life got in the way.

If I'd sat down and consulted a calendar I'd have realized that March was always going to be insanelu busy, and lo, it was - and even in the times/places I was hoping to sneak in a bit of editing and rewriting, it didn't happen.

Something else weird happened, too: when I actually started looking at the book, for a while, I kind of hated it. Went through a period of "What the hell have I done" and general guilt and self-loathing.

However, then I managed to get it onto my phone (via Kindle) and got it readable. And now, you know, I'm starting to see where I need to edit and how I need to tighten it up, etc etc. Which is good.

Still a road to go. But I'm about ready to get back on it. Perhaps another date will motivate me.

Housesitting: finished... a first draft

About 6:30 this evening in a Starbucks, drinking a terrible 'skinny' Vanilla Latte, I finished the first draft of Housesitting.

I guess I finished a novel.

Here's how the final word count looked:

Green for go

As you can tell, I slipped a bit past my more extravagant projections. However, I don't think for a minute this is the actual word count of the final book. Next up is rewriting and editing. While I've rewritten bits and pieces of the book while I've gone along (and in a few places, huge swathes) the next time will be the first time I can look at the whole thing, as one piece, and edit with the entire plot in place.

The ending was tough. Not just because endings are tough ("What, I have to finish now? But they're talking! Can't I just let them talk?") but because it veered left and right, and I really wasn't sure how it was going to go. I'll admit it could have been shorter. Hell, it might end up being cut to ribbons. We'll see.

So what's next? Well, I'd expect editing and rewriting to take a couple of weeks at least. When I'm done with that, I'll probably be sharing it with a few people who I trust. And then... we dip into the crazy world of electronic publishing for the first time. And you'll be able to buy a copy.

Between now and then, as and when I find bits of the book I feel comfortable sharing, I'll probably throw them up here. So stay tuned. Questions are welcome obviously... oh and while I have you...

... can anyone think of a better title?

Oh and by the way! Only two days after deadline, how about that? Given the week I've had, I honestly think that's very little short of miraculous....

4 scenes, nnnghh

How did I add a scene? How? Well it's not so much a scene as it's an expansion of an idea, I guess, but it's leading to a scene and it's a transformation, which means it'll be long or at least detailed and nnngghhh dammit I am so close to done...

... but I won't rush it and I'll be done when I'm done, if only I wasn't so damn tired I'd be finished tonight.... But still. Who knows. Maybe tomorrow. Maybe on deadline.

And do I write the epilogue..? Grrrrr

Soooo close...

Five scenes to go. Well they might not be whole scenes, maybe parts of scenes. Five index cards, basically. And look what we have here:

I'll be a bit over 125K at first draft, but I know I'll go down again when I edit. And before March 1st. Well, maybe. Tomorrow's a crazy day, writing will be sidetracked. But it's so close I can smell it.

107K; bored of Housesitting word counts yet?

Two weeks (almost) and about 12,000 words done...

As you can see, closing in on another made-up word count. 110K is so last month. Impressed that tonight's writing got me to exactly 107K though.

I'd love to tell you the ending is right around the corner, but it's not. I will say that the last half of the last act is coming right up, which includes some shocking revelations, some very kinky material and hopefully at least one slam-bang-thank you ma'am sex scene. I say 'hopefully', I know it's coming. I'm more 'hopeful' that it's good. Funnily enough I always worry!

Anyway. 12,000 words in two weeks is a steady pace (strictly speaking it's 13 days, I guess) but it's not record breaking. It's been a busy couple of weeks and my usual writing habits got disrupted a few times. Hoping this weekend to really put a dent in the final section and start on the downhill slope.

Of course, I have 13 days to go until my self-imposed deadline. I don't feel confident I'll get there, but you never know. Sex scenes tend to go long, and I've got one more transformation scene too, which could be a doozy... we'll see. I'll be pretty close I think. And close counts in novel writing. And horseshoes. And hand grenades. Because I said so....

Hoo-boy... 95K on Housesitting

This weekend was really, really frustrating writing wise - right up until it wasn't.

I have a lot on my mind work-wise at the moment, and a bad mental state regarding other stuff outside of your control isn't conducive to good writing. It didn't help that today I ended up making two round trips to my favorite coffee shop (once to retrieve my wallet from home) and when I finally got there, ready to write, found they'd closed early for the Super Bowl. (WHAT?! People need coffee!!)

Anyway, I found a niche in a chain coffee shop, plugged in, sipped my brew, and finally it started to come together.

Boom. Over 4,100 words. I was actually so close to 95K earlier tonight I wrote a quick scene just to get to it. A good day.

Do I think 110K will mark the end of the book? No, no I don't. I have at least three major, huge scenes left to go, and they tend to average 3-5K... that plus other 'stuff' and I'll be going beyond 110K, I'm sure of it. But hey! It's all good stuff going in at the end, including, I'm pretty sure... my first ever threesome. Uh-huh. We're cranking it to 11....

The end of Housesitting is not nigh...

... but it is, as of this morning, plotted.

Late last night, brain fried and unable to write, I found myself plotting further along towards the end of Housesitting. I had several endings in mind already:

• The 'happy' ending.
• The sexy, possibly (probably) twisted ending.
• The sequel setup.

How to get them all together into one place, naturally, without forcing it too much (although, I use coincidence as much as any other writer) was the tricky part.

Particularly the 'possibly twisted' ending. Reading my plotting notes again and again I just didn't see how the characters I'm writing now would possibly end up there, knowing the things that will happen to them in-between.

I could also see, quite possibly, people throwing the book away in disgust at what I had planned, frankly. You can ask me just what this situation was, post-publication.

So, I had to resolve all these things, pull some plot strings together and not make it seem entirely contrived. And I think I have it. I managed to get an extra subplot in which I'm looking forward to writing (which also, bonus, makes sense), I managed to resolve a big subplot in what looks, in plot form at least, to be pretty elegant... and I managed to even resolve the 'possibly twisted' ending into what I hope will be a good, emotional payoff.

There's a strong temptation when you plot, sometimes, to just stop writing. It's easy to do. You've 'told the story' - it's right there on paper. Of course, you can't show it to anyone and expect them to appreciate it. The fun is in the details.

Now of course, I'm staring at all this plot and my head is spinning over word count. But at least I have a map to get to where I need to go. An ending! Hurrah!

Another day, another word count - 86K on Housesitting

Judging by the complete lack of comments on these updates, I don't think I'm thrilling any of you with my tales of gradual progress on Housesitting. I can't say I blame you, but indulge me - these check-ins are a great way to keep me honest, and marking progress feels good. So here's today's update:

As you can see, I re-adjusted the overall word counter, so I'm back creeping towards that healthy green again - I'm in the sickly yellow-green period right now. Happily though, I fully doubled today's word count (and did the same yesterday in fact) so progress is being made. Today was something of a slog but as long as I have the words down, that'll do for me. (I also re-read some of the more recent stuff and it didn't totally suck, which is always good.)

Still not sure if 110K is a reasonable expectation for the total word count, but I don't hear anyone complaining yet. (You might when you read it, who knows.) Want to give you value for money, folks.

Alright, time to get back to it.

Cut

Sometimes I cut things and they seem so nicely formed - like you're putting a really good piece of wood to one side. Rarely I keep them. Sometimes I'll throw them out here. So, this isn't in Housesitting, but something like it is:

Standing, she moved in front of him again. He saw her bend over and begin to pull at the zipper on the side of her boot, slowly moving it downwards. He loved to watch that; the gradual reveal, the slow tease that he knew Linda did so well. She pushed off the boot with her foot, then repeated the process and tossed them away. Now he could see her legs; clad in fishnet-styled pantyhose, like some sort of magician’s assistant, ready to show him a trick. 

“You like?” 

He nodded, again and again. There was something inherently kinky about fishnets, and whenever he saw them he couldn’t help but think lustful thoughts.

 Back to it...

Ding ding, 75K... and with Act III to go

Some good writing sessions on Housesitting the past two days. Found a new spot that I really like, and that always helps. Anyway, it meant this milestone was breezed past this morning:

Ah, those heady days when I figured I'd be done by this point! Not true, and soon I'll be resetting that counter to a more realistic figure - because as the post title says, I'm about to begin Act III of Housesitting. Some big moments have come and gone in Act II, which was plotted, in the dim and distant past, as the ending of the book - but then I just had so many more ideas.

Act III is actually the most loosely plotted part of the book so far. I have a rough idea of where it goes, and thankfully I have an ending, but how I get there will be interesting. There are a few big questions I have to ask, and I'm trying to answer them organically rather than in the interests of plot.

That probably sounds like pretentious rubbish, so let me clarify. I have a few plot points to resolve before I get to the end of the book. What I'm trying to do is actually have them make sense in the context of the book, and make them feel like natural events that these characters would drive, rather than making it feel like I'm shoehorning the characters into a plot. That is actually tougher than you'd think. In some cases - in a few cases actually - there's been a feeling as I'm writing of "No, wait - that wouldn't happen, that character wouldn't do that" and it's changed the book's course.

These are Writer Problems.

Anyway - to the other big question, will I finish by March 1st? I am really not sure. If I had to guess right now, 40K more words isn't even going to surprise me. At my own preferred pace of 1K words a day, I can neatly make that deadline. But strictly speaking my deadline was to publish, not to finish. So... that's going to be harder. Even when I'm actually 'done' there's still probably going to be a period of editing and rewriting. So... don't hassle me too much if March 1st comes and goes, and you're not reading the finished product.

But feel free to hassle me if it's not written by then at least!

Right, back to examining Act III and plotting more shenanigans.

This is how we do it; 70K on Housesitting

A good morning and a good scene. All dialogue, but felt right - and got me to where I wanted the scene to be in an unexpected but natural way.

And brought me here, too:

The 75K target is utterly bogus now, I know that, but for whatever reason I'm waiting until I pass it before I reset. If I had to take a guess right now I'm heading towards 100K, but honestly, I'm not even sure. More on that later.

Scratching at 65K on Housesitting

I'm at just below 65,000 words on Housesitting. It's been a busy week/ten days and I did not get as much writing done as I'd like - in fact I guess if you look at my last entry, I've averaged 500 words a day, which is below what I want. That said, it's going fine, and I'm still moving forward.

Dealing with some tricky scenes recently, trying to ensure character reactions feel 'true' and the plot doesn't feel contrived. I've thrown myself one big curve ball which I'm trying to figure out, to ensure that the plot resolves in a way that makes sense and also, frankly, is kind of sexy....

In the meantime though - going back today to rewrite a big scene that's pretty pivotal. Hopefully it'll turn out well. Wish me luck. Back soon.

60K on Housesitting

Christmas was never going to be a great time for writing - family commitments, blah blah blah - but to make it worse I got sick and had even less energy or motivation. Bah. Humbug.

Still, I'm proceeding, and that's all I wanted to note in this entry. Passed by 60,000 words total on Housesitting today; still going strong. I am now 100 percent certain that the finished book will be bigger than my target (75K) but I'm going to get there before I make a guess at what the final total will be.

Also for the record: 58 days to deadline.

Happy New Year!

Wherever you are and whatever you're doing, I hope you had a fun or relaxing New Year's Eve, depending on your preference.

And whether 2012 was 'one for the books' or an 'annus horribilis' then I hope 2013 is a great year for you and your family. Wishing you all the prosperity and happiness you can handle.

New Year's Resolutions? Just one: finish Housesitting and publish it as an ebook. Oh, and sell a copy. Or two. Anything else will be a bonus!