Sunday, July 22, 2012

Sun Update - and Coming Attractions


A Round of Words in 80 Days Meets The Clarion Write-a-Thon

I managed to mostly not get further behind on my goals, in spite of two other things competing for my attention.  Well three.

Concept sketch for Wed Writing posts
One is Day Job: Summer semester moves along at double time, but it seems slow and lazy, so... this is the time of semester where everybody suddenly wakes up and says "Oh shit! The semester's almost over and I've got all this STUFF to do!"

Second is Other Fiction: I got a poke from Karla that book three of the Man Who series would be a good place to bring in George's ex-wife.  (George has an ex-wife?  Of course! The guy is wealthy, he does housework and has a neurotic compulsion to take care of things, but no sense of proportion, and he's a sucker for a damsel in distress.  Can you imagine that this man doesn't have a trail of ex-wives?  He swears only one was acquired while sober and of age, however.)  But first I have to write the second book....

Third is Gearing Up for Fall: As with the day job, the time is coming nigh to start putting my plans for fall in order.  Getting organized. Setting up to do various projects. Thinking about the Next Thing down the line.

As you see to the right, I even started working on a logo for my Wednesday writing posts.  I'll probably end up doing the figure in illustrator.  I may add an army of marching cats to the image as well. I may do a variation with the motto "Minding My Business" -- as doing good work and minding one's business is more or less the theme of the writing posts around here.

Also I finally found all my notes and sketches for the Miss Leech and The Yard comic strip. There WILL be cartoons on the blog this fall.  It's a comic strip I did in college, which was a take on a Miss Marple-esque detective from the point of view of the poor put upon inspector she is always besting.

In spite of these distractions, I did manage to keep up with my goals:


Wednesday Day 17 - published the ep and did the art
Thursday Day 18 - Ep 24 (book version)
Friday Day 19 - Ep 23 (book version)
Saturday Day 20 - Finished the blog version of both 23 and 24 -- to be posted this week.



This Week's Upcoming Posts

Monday: Episode 23 - "Lady Featherdale Gives Evidence"
Yes, I'm sorry to say that you are going to have to wait until Thursday to find out what Alex plans to do about the sexual harassment going on in the kitchen alcove.  On Monday you, and Rozinshura, will learn a little more about the mystery surrounding that bit of paper, and how the train wreck might tie into it.

Wednesday: Blurbs and Pitches
Dean Wesley Smith wrote a post last week about how important blurbs are (in a nutshell: very). This has inspired me to blog about issues in rewriting some of my own blurbs for my most difficult books.  This week I'll talk about one approach to redoing the short pitch for The Wife of Freedom.

Thursday: Episode 24 - "Action in the Alcove"
Alex attempts to help The Girl, but things don't go quite like he planned.

On Sunday, of course, we'll have another major update post, and previews to next week.

See you in the funny papers.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I never thought about George having an ex-wife but you know what? It totally makes sense, especially the way you described it.

I've really been enjoying the Misplaced Hero pieces you've been doing. I'm glad you're continuing them.

The Daring Novelist said...

Thanks, Ryan. George is one of those characters that you know has a full and lively history.

One of the reasons I realize I should bring her in earlier is because I don't want people to get too used to the thought that he doesn't. Though it will be mentioned in Book 2 (the "only once while sober and of age" line).

And glad you're following Misplaced Hero. That story still has to find its "legs" but I am happy with the way it's shaping up.