Relatively dull update.

Work continues at a gentle pace. Telling a story with just words is very hard after so long of basically describing pictures and having other people do the storytelling. Fun though. I'm feeling pretty good about myself right now.

Basically, I'm looking at a schedule of a chapter a week. If I can stick to that, by the end of the year I'll have another sixteen chapters done. I'm expecting some will be shorter than others, so maybe more than sixteen. Hopefully that'll be a full book. Draft 1, of course, but just in time to meet the deadline. I can spend next year on, you know, making it good.

In other news, I had a Calippo today. It was nice.

Blimey...

So, August went by quite fast, didn't it? I don't know if it's got anything to do with my computer woes keeping me away from internetty things or what, but it feels like I blinked and I missed an entire month. I do not like it when things like that happen. No blog entries for a month? Tsk, tsk, Darren, you should feel shame for being so naughty.

So then, with four months left of the year, I find myself with an insurmountable obstacle in front of me - to write a novel in that time. It's not going to happen, is it? Still, I shall endeavor to get as much of it done as possible. If I set myself the goal of at least one chapter every week, I can get the best part of the first draft finished by Christmas. Hell, If I'm lucky I might manage to get the whole thing done. If that happens, it's getting entered into the Pratchett competition, even if it's in the form of a ragged-around-the-edges first draft. It'll stand about as much chance of winning as monkeyscribbles in crayon and poo have of winning the Turner Prize, but the important thing is that I'm writing prose again. Maybe that means that sometime during the first half of next year I can call it done and start pitching it.

Which is where I'm rubbish, I have realized. Good at writing, terrible at selling scripts to folks. I seriously need to work on that aspect. I''m not looking forward to having to do that, I can tell you.

On the writing side, things are happening again. Hudson Falls is getting done, slowly, although it'll pick up speed soon enough. The Dead Roots anthology from Mike Garley has begun the countdown to wising fwom its gwabe, and I'm awaiting with baited breath for an imminent update regarding my contribution on that. There's no news on the Murder, Malice & Teeth or Bayou Arcana fronts as yet, although with the winter season of comic book events about to begin shortly, I'm sure there will be things to report in the weeks and months to come.

Oh, and there's also something going on with Harrowing of Hell, but Jack is handling that and it's all very hush hush. So shhhh. You ain't seen me, right?

Anyway, I must get back to Hudson Falls. It's not going to write itself.