I'm Baaaaaaaack!

I have returned from the beyond!

I told you guys I'd be gone for a while.  Although I'd hoped to have enough Internet access to do at least a couple of posts from the Philippines, there were issues with the bandwidth, and it just wasn't practical.  In fact, there was barely enough capability for me to write my wife and daughter.  However, my business trip is finally over, and I returned this afternoon.  So, of course, one of the first things I had to do was get back to my blog.

The Philippines is a beautiful country, but every time I leave the United States, I am reminded of how good we have it here.  So many of life's daily comforts we take for granted.  That shouldn't be an issue for me for a while.  A simple thing like air conditioning is much more appreciated now.

So, during my down time, what did I manage to accomplish?  Well, I'm thrilled to report that I made fantastic progress on my new novel.  I started the trip with 10,000 words, and I'd have been happy to have gotten to 30,000.  Therefore, imagine my happiness at now getting to 56,000 words!  It's amazing what you can accomplish when the only things you have to do in a day revolve around either work or writing(I don't consider writing work, mostly because I enjoy it).  There was no TV, no one to drag me to Outback, no one to try and get me sloshed against my will.  Nope, once work ended for the day, there was writing...or bed.

In addition to another 46,000 words on top of the 10,000 I'd already written, I also came up with a working title - Wrongful Death.  True, it might not make to publication, or even to the query process if something better comes up, but it gives the book a more real feel than simply seeing the Word file A Haunting.

My goal for the first draft is to be around 75,000 words, and I imagine cutting 10,000-15,000 words during the editing process.  Given my pace - when I sat down, my goal was around 2,000 words per day - I'd like to tell you that the first draft of Wrongful Death will be done by the end of May, but we both know that's a pipe dream.  Now that I'm back, there are a bazillion(yes, it's a real word - look it up and leave me alone, okay?) distractions out there, so just forcing myself to sit down and knock it out will be a chore.  However, I hope to have it done before the 4th of July.

I promise in the next update to give a more complete report on where Wrongful Death stands, but for the moment, bask in my triumphal return!  Ok, ok, just please read my blog - that'll do for now.