Guns & Magic

 

by David Michael

 

 

As they walked away from the river, Margaret held onto Mr. Thomas’s hand with both of hers, still in shock, eyes wide, hair disheveled and falling about her face and smelling of bile, hardly conscious but not daring to close her eyes. The ringing in her ears drowned out the remembered sounds of Private Tishman’s last few seconds. But if she closed her eyes, she would see those seconds all over again.

 

Cold hands, like long claws had come out of the darkness behind her, closed on her arms and pulled her away from Private Tishman. She screamed and screamed, calling out for Miss Rose, but the woman had already disappeared back into the cave in the middle of the river.

 

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1136 words today. Hardly a banner day, but I figured I’d give myself something of a break.

 

Now that NaNoWriMo is over, I have to re-organize my priorities back to the ones that make money in a more direct fashion. Might even be able to get a start on that today.

 

I’ll do a “post mortem” of the month either later today or this weekend. I’ll definitely get chapter 7 posted today.

 

-David

 

I did it!

 

 

I wrote another 1024 (another good geek number), bringing my total for today up to 2428 words, and my Official Nano Word Count to 50,283.

 

Yay!

 

-David

 

So far, I’ve written 1404 words today. That brought chapter 7 to a close.

 

According to Nano’s word count validator, I have written 49,258 words. Almost there.

 

I have some more writing to do today. I’ll be back in a bit.

 

-David

 

PS Chapter 7 came in much longer than I originally thought it would. But I like it.

 

2480 words today. Appointment early this afternoon made me cut short. I’ll see if I can work in the remaining 500 words later.

 

Chapter 7 continues, longer than I expected. But I had a scene come to me while I was writing that I had never considered, and I think it turned out really well. *And*, I will be able to echo that scene towards the very end of the novel. So I’m quite pleased.

 

-David

 

3092 words in chapter 7. I’m thinking this chapter will wrap up tomorrow.

 

Chapters 6, 7, 8 & 9 aren’t going to exactly match the outline. [*] But I think they will cover the ground I want covered.

 

Like Morpheus says in The Matrix (and as I have a tendency to quote at times like this):

 

“There is a difference between knowing the path, and walking the path.”

 

Writing isn’t just about the destination. It’s also about the journey from beginning to end. Just as much for the writer as for the reader.

 

-David

 

[*] Actually, now I think about it, only chapter 1 & 2 really match the outline as written. On the other hand, I consider myself to still be following the outline. It’s like I’m interpreting my own outline. Ah, well, it’s happened before.

 

by David Michael

 

 

Rose helped Chal settle Margaret into a sitting position against the fallen trunk of a tree. Then Rose propped her rifle against the trunk beside the girl, and slipped the pack off her shoulders and let it fall to the ground at her feet. She picked up the rifle again, checked it out of habit, and looked back down at Margaret.

 

The girl’s head lolled to one side, and she slumped against pack, eyes closed. Then her eyes popped open and she seemed about to scream. Rose reached forward, but the girl recovered herself and visibly swallowed the scream.

 

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The Collected Stories of Eudora Welty.

 

Pretty soon now I’ll have to compile my list of books read in 2007.

 

The End of the Year Looms…

 

-David

 

So the weekend wasn’t as productive as I expected. So it goes sometimes.

 

3074 words for today. That’s a pace I’ll work to maintain the rest of this week.

 

I finished chapter 6 and started chapter 7. I’ll get chapter 6 edited and posted later this afternoon.

 

-David

 

585 words today. Hardly a banner day. I blame the holidays. And furniture shopping. I’ll make up some of it tomorrow.

 

-David