Tropical Depression

Tropical Depression
Originally uploaded by borderfilms (Doug).

I've written over 51,000 words, so, technically, I've written my first book in a month. However, I'm not quite at the end -- which I'll have to do before the end of November...

from the "write, right?" dept.

I'm now over 47,000 words deep into my novel. And I have about a week to go before the end-of-the-month deadline to reach 50,000 words.

Trouble is I'm still more than 3,000 words away from wrapping it all up -- so this first novel is going to chime in at more than 50,000 words.

Who'd have thunk?

Cheers!

Writey Writerson

from the "words don't fail me now" dept.

As of today (Saturday, Nov 21), my novel is over 37,000 words. 13,000 to go. And 13,000 doesn't seem like it will be enough to wrap up the story. We'll see.

I've taken two days off from writing but remain ahead of the average word count. Hope to slam off a few thousand today before I drive to Calgary. My pal Wendy has some household furnishings she's lending me... so I'm picking them up this weekend. This way I'll have something to move into my house with next Sunday.

Work is going well... settling in to the groove. And Edmonton is fine, although it snowed this morning. Blerk.

And so it goes...

Cheers!

from the "man of many words" dept.

Today is day 14 of National Novel Writing Month and (surprise, surprise) I'm already past the half-way point -- a day early! As I write this, I'm over 28,000 words -- which is nearly 5000 ahead of schedule. Yay, me!

What I'm written certainly isn't great, but there is now a decent plot, a few sub-plots and characters that I think are interesting. And I know how it ends!

Meanwhile, I've finished my second week at my new job. 50 to go. But who's counting! The weather has been bearable, if much colder than I'm used to. And, so far, no snow.

And I have a place to move into on Dec 1. Looking forward to having an actual home for the first time in a very long time. Dec 2006? Sheesh!

That's enough writing for one day. Time to go exploring!

Cheers!

from the "yee haw" dept.

Greetings from Calgary where I'm just wrapping up two days of training. The last few weeks have flown by and at times I can't quite believe I'm back in Canada and immersed in work again.

As of this morning, I've written more than 18,500 words of my 50,000 word novel. I'm actually ahead of the game, and hope to bang off another couple of thousand before I leave Calgary and return to Edmonton this afternoon.

I'm getting closer to having the housing dilemma solved. I should have word on that by the end of the week. It looks like I'll be living in a downtown Edmonton condo. I can walk to work, so no need for a car -- at least initially. And several people have offered to lend me all the bits and pieces I'll need to furnish it -- everything from forks to a bed.

I'll be without a car as of Saturday night, unless I decide to extend my rental. It's certainly handy, but expensive. There are some tax benefits, however.

At least the weather has been nice. No snow yet and lots of sun. So far, so good.

Cheers!

from the "nanowrimo" dept.

It's day five of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). To be on track for finishing a 50,000 word first draft, I need to write 1666 words a day. Sounds easy. It isn't.

At midnight tonight I should have written 8330 words. My count as of this morning: 8337! I've got a 7 word cushion!

And so it goes...

from the "bedtime story" dept.

You'd think that the biggest thing in life right now would be settling into Edmonton and the new job. But you'd be wrong.

No, the biggest thing right now is my participation in the National Novel Writing Month. The idea: write a 50,000 word first draft in 30 days.

I've been at it since November 1. And as of early on November 4, I'm doing OK. The average daily word count one needs to crank out is 1666. I'm at 5200 or so... which is just a little ahead of schedule. I need to do another 1400 today.

It's hard letting go and not worrying about editing as I write. But that's the point. It's a brain dump.

Other than the novel, I've been searching for a new home. Nothing to report there. But all is good. Day three of work begins shortly. Day four of novel writing begins right now.

Cheers!

from the "first night" dept.

I'm here. In Edmonton. On Hallowe'en.

The day began in Vancouver, where, despite a forecast of rain, it was actually a beautiful day. Sunny, blue skies and warm. Sigh.

I hung out in Deep Cove most of the day, and then headed to the airport for a late afternoon flight.

After an uneventful journey, I landed in Edmonton around 8pm. After picking up the rental car I drove to Trish and Graeme's home, not too far from downtown.

On the radio: Time Warp. Oddly appropriate.

Up first: working on my novel (day 1!), buying clothes for work Monday and perhaps dim sum.

The adventure has begun...

Cheers!

from the "I've heard this tune before" dept.

Old Man Winter Rides In Style

Well, it's time for another big change, even though these big changes no longer feel very big.

This is my last night in Vancouver for a while. And while my destination and new home for the next year isn't quite as distant as Guatemala or Ghana, Edmonton will surely be an adventure. Especially with old man winter set to pay a visit.

Also, it will be a medium-sized change going from the loosey-goosey world of tropical freelance writing to a structured job in a television newsroom.

But life is a series of adventures and a year in Edmonton is the next one.

It's funny that, after these past two weeks in Vancouver, I think that I will really miss this city. It's the first time I've ever felt that. But after 12 years here, I guess it does get into your blood.

And I'll be back for the Olympics. How could I miss that?

And with that, good night! The next post here will be from Edmonton. Please stay tuned!

Cheers!

from the "scary stuff, kids" dept.

A San Pedro Hallowe'en:

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