Done!!!!!!!!!

It's been a hell of a week. A thousand things pulling at me, a hundred demands, money problems, lost contracts, helping my daughter pack, my son's 19th birthday, bad news, and just one damned thing after another (not that my son's 19th birthday is a bad thing, mind you).
So this morning I was supposed to take my darling daughter to the bus so she could go to the anime convention in Boston and then on to her new apartment in Philadelphia. The costume wasn't ready, melt down time. I sent her back to bed (this was around 7 am), went to my computer, and hammered out 18 pages to the glorious, messy end by ten am. 412 in rough form, and believe me, it's very rough. Fabulous, bloody, sexy, messy, and rough.
Now to whip it into shape.
However, I think it needs to rest just a wee bit. And considering we've got to cram our ancient van full of Kate's furniture and head down to Philadelphia on Sunday, I think I better take a day or two off.
However, I'm going to print the rest of it off and carry it down with me. Maybe. Or maybe it just needs to sit and brood, all on its own, while I'm gone.
Sigh. Reno, a supporting character, took over a bit, and I'm going to have to slap him down. He can star in his own book -- he needs to behave in this one.
But I'm done, I'm done, I'm done!!!!

Home again, home again, jiggety bob

It's morning. Had to pick my daughter up at the bus last night (one of the reasons I chose this particular town for my marathon) and after she yakked at me about Prince of Tennis (don't ask) she finally went to sleep and I finished my chapter. So a total of 71 pages in a little more than two days -- not too shabby. I usually go fast when I'm the final stages, and we're just set for the big mountaintop showdown.
I would have liked to have gotten it all roughed in, but it wasn't to be. I worked loooong hours -- I usually nap a lot during these marathons but not this time. So I head home in another hour (gotta wake the kid), stopping to pick up summer tires in Montpelier, home to deal with the new crises that developed while I was gone (plumbing, son's car, husband's truck, MIL's trust) along with the usual suspects.
I'll finish the draft on Tuesday, I expect, up in my cabin if it's not too frigging cold. We had snow flurries last night, and more expected tonight.
Ah, Vermont! Gotta love it.
Page 368 and counting.

Working stiff

So midday on Sunday. Went through a twelve pack of Tab, Gackt is whispering in my ear via the MP3 player, we know where the hidden shrine is (and the stockpile of chemical and biological weapons). Straight sex and violence from here on. Page 342 and counting.

Yum. I'm afraid I'm desperately in love with a supporting character I've introduced. We'll see how this book works (ICE BLUE) and then go from there.

This is the cover copy (from a book not finished -- can you imagine!) It needs some changes -- he's not powerfully built -- he's lean and mean and dangerous. But I like the sound of it.
****

Trust can get you killed…

Summer Hawthorne considered the exquisite ice blue ceramic bowl given to her by her beloved Japanese housekeeper a treasure of sentimental value—until somebody tried to kill her for it. Now, the assistant museum curator will do whatever it takes to keep it from the wrong hands, a decision that puts her in the crosshairs of a dangerous chase involving a fanatical cult as well as faceless shadow players with a cryptic agenda……and a man whose incredible eyes and powerful build hints to past as mysterious and dangerous as he is.

The priceless relic is about to ignite a global power struggle that must be stopped at all cost. It’s a desperate situation and Takashi O’Brien has received his directive: everybody is expendable. Everybody. Especially the woman who is getting dangerously under his skin as the lethal game crosses the Pacific to the remote and beautiful mountains of Japan, where the truth can be as seductive and it is deadly…

****

Now if I can just make the book live up to its potential.

Back to work!

Back in Motel Mania

So here I am in another motel, trying to finish the rough draft of this book that I love so much. Nothing seems to have gone right during the last two months -- my mother had to be moved, my sister broke her arm quite badly, and a thousand smaller time-sinks and disasters keep clawing at me.
But now I'm here and no one can bother me unless the house catches on fire, in which case I'll answer my cell phone.
In the meantime I'm comfy in a Comfort Inn suite, my laptop on my cool little lap desk (so it doesn't weigh down on me), Tab by my side, Gackt on the mp3 player, a poster of Gackt in dreadlocks on a horse (believe me, it works) for inspiration, with various munchies (whole grain goldfish, fruit, heart-healthy nuts) available.
To page 303. I realized that I don't need to get to page 400 -- this is a complicated book and will need a bit of shifting, expanding, etc. And a number of my other contemporaries, like NIGHTFALL and MOONRISE, were under 400.
The thing is, I tend to write fairly tightly. Not much for long, lyrical descriptions except for sex (Yum). Smart dialogue, fast action, blood and violence. You really can't pad something like that.
But oh, I am still so in love with this book.
(And still celebrating the fact that Logan ended up with Veronica Mars and we get another season).
10 pages so far today.
Back to work.

Cinco de Mayo

Which means tacos for dinner. I use any excuse -- latkes for Hannukah, lamb for Easter, and I keep trying to remember about that bean thing you're supposed to eat for the New Year. I do love to celebrate, no matter whose tradition.
But in the meantime, I've been working. Taka, my hero (I finally figured out what to call him -- his name is Takashi O'Brien and he's half American, half Japanese and the most gorgeous man) has finally realized he's not going to kill the heroine. It took him almost half the book and three or four tries to realize he can't go through with it, but things should zip along nicely at this point.
In the meantime I'm at page 254 -- for some reason this book is proving to be a crafty one, playing hide and seek with me. It's a good thing I love it to pieces or I'd get very cranky. But during all this I'm worried about my elderly mother (almost 92), my daughter (21), my son (almost 19), my sister (age 62), money, and everything else people usually worry about. And oh, damn it, I gained 8 pounds!
But I just had my 58th birthday on Tuesday and ate too much cake, so that's probably my excuse. Hello, South Beach!

I've got to work out a road map for the last third of the book. Just a general one -- a sketching of important scenes and things that need to be settled. I write by the seat of my pants so I'm not going to plan too much, but I think I need a sign or two pointing me in the right direction.

At least it's finally spring!