attheshadowsedge-blog

[attheshadowsedge-blog]

And here we go for 2020

Finished the draft of the first short story of the year at approximately 6000 words and 7 days. Just in time to start the next one! #amwriting #amwritingscifi #amwritingshortstories #writingcommmunity #writerslife #writerscommunity

[attheshadowsedge-blog]

Life on hold

So... I did no writing over the long holiday weekend. Instead I did some of the things I held off on while trying to get my 50K words in. And I started refilling the well - reading some of my favorite authors and others who were recommended to me. 

I wrote a blog post this morning and figure I’ll get back to working on the novel tomorrow. 

[attheshadowsedge-blog]

And target hit

Today’s Word Count: 1595

Total Word Count: 51,143

The Good: I hit the 50K target for NaNo and my fastest word count per hour

The Bad: I ran myself right up against needing to leave for work - so no excerpt today!

[attheshadowsedge-blog]

Confrontation

Today’s Words: 1315

Total Word Count: 49508

The Good: Things are about to get exciting

The Bad: I’m finding there are additional scenes that I’ll need to add. 

Excerpt:

He popped his knuckles then stood up. He could try, though he wasn't sure he'd believe whatever it was Ray had to say. Before he could change his mind, he made his way up one level to the room Ray was using. He knocked on the door. "Who is it?" "Jake." After a few seconds, the door opened part way. Ray leaned against the door jamb filling the gap. "Drew says we need to talk." Jake crossed his arms studying Ray. Ray looked at the floor between them for a few seconds then stepped back and opened the door the rest of the way. He crossed to the other side of the room and leaned against the wall, arms crossed on his chest. Jake stepped into the room, closing the door behind him and took up a matching posture against it. Silence grew between them, uncomfortable. "I screwed up." Ray wasn't looking at Jake. "Which time?" Jake couldn't keep the anger out of his voice. Ray shrugged. "More times than you'll ever know about." The words were reflective with a hint of wistfulness. "You almost killed her this time. She nearly gave up." Ray flinched. "I know. I saw her." "And yet, you're still here." Jake pushed away from the door, pacing his side of the room. "Why, exactly, is that? Do you think it's helping her?" Ray leaned his head back against the wall. "I need to apologize to her. And whether or not she accepts it, she needs to hear it." "I'm not sure seeing you again would do her any good. No matter what you have to say." Jake wasn't looking at Ray. "And I know she's not talking to you without someone else there." "Like you?" Ray shook his head. "Doesn't really matter. She's been avoiding me. Can't exactly talk to her if I never see her." That uncomfortable silence filled the room again. "Why are you here Jake? Why now." Ray pushed away from the wall crossing to sit on the bed and giving Jake more room to pace. "What's got you so worried, or afraid, that it's overcome your anger?" Jake stopped, running a hand through his hair before he turned to face Ray. "She's pulling away from everyone." He turned his back on the other man and his voice was rough when he spoke again. "She started to remember." "shit." "Yeah."

[attheshadowsedge-blog]

Uh-oh...

Words Today: 1497

Total Word Count: 48233

The Good: The last scene I wrote made me mad for the character

The Bad: The scenes before that were just plain difficult to write. My brain just didn’t want to get into the flow. 

Excerpt: Jake wasn't at his computer. When she got up to the kitchen. So she grabbed some coffee and settle in at her workstation. He was probably gathering supplies to take to the safe houses tomorrow. If she was going do some research without Jake knowing about it, now was the time.. She logged into her computer and set search parameters for all of the Haven systems. Then she typed her name, the real one and the one she'd been using when she and Jacob first met, into the search bar and hit enter. Leaning back in her chair. She sipped her coffee while she waited. The Haven systems were extensive and it would probably take a few minutes to get results. When the results came up she disregarded any results tagged as having been created by Evan or in the medical lab. She filtered out all of her own files. That narrow down the search results considerably. Of the remaining files, most of them were tagged as being Jake's. No surprise there, he'd probably done a lot of research about her when they first met. In fact, she could narrow the search down even further. She filtered the list of Jake's files for only those files created after Jake and the others had pulled her out of Paragon. She pulled up the security feeds, locating Jake, and setting an alert to notify her when he left the hangar. Then she started opening files. Most of the files rose could disregard within seconds of opening. They were basic information. The kind that she hadn't take any taken any effort to hide. Nothing that would cause any trouble, or cause the kind of worry and fear she had been feeling from Jake. She open another file and inhaled sharply. The image in front of her was a mug shot of Jonathan Matthews. She'd be more than happy if she never saw that man again. She took a closer look and frowned. The name on the mug shot was not Jonathan Matthews. And the date made it impossible for it to be the same man she had met. Rose sat back and tried to process what she was seeing. The name on the image was Daniel Briggs. And if the date was right. The mug shot had been taken three or four years after she had been given to CPW. Rose was looking at a picture of her father. Her stomach clenched and she felt her heart beat faster. This was what Jake was hiding from her. She was a sure of it as She was of anything else. All she had to do to find out the truth was to read the rest of the file. Rose rubbed her arms. Now that she'd found it, she wasn't so sure she wanted to know. She stared at the screen taking slow, controlled breaths. Almost against her will, she reached out and slowly scrolled past the image. She was trembling as she leaned forward and read the file.

[attheshadowsedge-blog]

Technical Difficulties

Words Today:1514

Total Word Count 46736

The Good: I’m starting to get to the more fun stuff in the plot

The Bad: My computer decided to shut down on me several times before I was able to write.  It may have to be replaced soon.

No excerpt today

[attheshadowsedge-blog]

And the plot thickens

Words Today: 1653

Total Word Count 45222

The Good: I got 1653 words done in an hour and hit the story arc midpoint

The Bad:  I had to force myself to sit down and write today

Excerpt: 

Her parents had just sent her to bed. Rosalind wasn't tired. She thought she might read a little bit under the covers. They'd be terribly unhappy if they found out she didn't go to sleep when they told her to. But they never had to know. She’d saved up just enough coin for the tiny flashlight she’d purchased. It didn't give off much light, but if she held it close to the page under the covers it was just enough. She wasn't supposed to have this book. But she'd check it out from the school library and brought it home in secret. Engrossed in the story, she didn't hear the door open. The first she knew of her father's presence was the covers being ripped from the bed. Startled and wide-eyed, Rosalind looked up at her father. She barely had time to see the scowl on his face before he backhanded her. Heart racing, she scrabbled back against the headboard. Her small flashlight was lost in the sheets, it's dim light no longer visible. The bed dipped under her father's weight, and she could hear his breathing. His voice rumbled harsh and angry, "You disobeyed us. You know what that means." She felt hands on her arms, and Rose whimpered her eyes flying open. She blinked, trying to slow her breathing. Dim light illuminated the room and it took her a moment to realize where she was. It was a few more seconds before she recognized Jake kneeling next to her, his hands on his on her shoulders. She sagged back against the bed and closed her eyes for a few seconds. Jake's touch disappeared and she heard something roll across the floor. When she opened up her eyes again, Jake was sitting in his desk chair, elbows propped on his knees. The blue eyes she knew so well were dark and worried. There was no need to test the bond they had to know what he was feeling. "Rose?" She took a deep breath and let it out slowly before nodding. He reached out to take her hand, and when she lifted hers. She found it was trembling. He held it gently, as if it might break. "The nightmares are coming back." It was a statement not a question. Rose only nodded, her eyes distant as she tried to recall the nightmare. "Do you remember anything?" There was tension in Jake's voice and a trill of fear in the bond between them.

[attheshadowsedge-blog]

Target Acquisition

Words today: 1814 Total words for NaNo: 43569

The Good: The story is really starting to move - exciting and fun things happening

The Bad: Still the same LOL. Still lots to write and only a few more days left. I may finish later than I want to.

Excerpt:  And the target is set

“Ladies and Gentlemen, Ms Briggs appears to be a catalyst, to have the ability to activate latent abilities and strengthen existing abilities of others with genetic anomalies.” Lila leaned back in her chair and gave Alex a small smile as conversation erupted around the table. Alex tilted his head in response and let the conversations continue for several minutes. Finally one of the Council members raised his voice over the others. “If this is true, it would be in the Council’s interest to obtain both these individuals for additional study.” The statement was accompanied by nods from a majority of the attendees and Alex chuckled silently. It was always nice when they did his work for him. “Is this a vote to issue an acquisition notice for Ms Briggs and Mr Martino?” “It is.” “It appears many of your fellow Council members agree with you. Let’s make this a show of hands so that we can move on to the other items on the agenda. Those who feel the Council should issue an acquisition notice for Ms Rosalind Briggs and Mr Jacob Martino, please raise your hand.” Most of the hands went up without hesitation. A few were slower, but only two of the people at the table didn’t raise their hand. He’d expected one of them. “If you oppose the motion to issue such an acquisition notice, please raise your hand.” Alex waited several seconds. Neither Council member raised their hand. He gestured to them. “May I take it you both are abstaining from this vote?” Both men nodded. Intriguing. He’d expected the one to vote against the acquisition notice. The man had deep dealings with the Martino family - and most likely they had some dirt on him as well. The other man - Alex was going to have to dig into the man’s business dealings a bit. That abstention was unexpected. “Very well. The Council will issue an acquisition notice for Rosalind Briggs and Jacob Martino as of this date. The notice will be issued as soon as this meeting is concluded. Let’s move on to the next item on the agenda. Mr. XXX, if you will?”

[attheshadowsedge-blog]

Setting things up for the fall...

Words today: 2073 Total words for NaNo: 31755

The Good: Words are coming faster as I get toward the midpoint

The Bad: Still lots to write and only a few more days left. I may finish later than I want to. 

Excerpt:  Starting the set up for the “All is lost” scenes

Decision made, Evan activated Jake and Andrew’s comms, calling them to his office. He ordered his reasoning and arguments while he waited for them to arrive. A single knock on the door heralded their arrival and he motioned them to take seats. Then he leaned back in his chair and gave both frank looks. “There’s more work to do on the safe houses than I expected. Considerably more.” “We didn’t get to all of them, Evan.” Andrew grimaced, slouching down in his chair. “I know, Drew. And I doubt our window of quiet is going to last long enough for the two of you to get to all of them, much less put things to order.” “Let Nahi and Sam help. They’re both getting stir crazy cooped up here.” Jake was fiddling with his ear, a sign to Evan that the younger man had an inkling of where the conversation was headed. “Neither of their scans are up to the levels I’m comfortable with yet. They stay on light duty here at the Haven.” His lips pressed thin for a moment. “Anna’s scans are clear. I want her to pair up with you, Drew.” He turned his attention to Jake, seeing the denial and stubbornness in the blue eyes. “Jake, I want you to take Rose with you. With two teams, you can accomplish twice as much.” Jake was shaking his head, and even Drew looked surprised. “No. Evan, Rose isn’t going out there. Nothing has changed - Stromberg’s still after her. Matthews is probably still looking for her. And this stupid Council Juliana was working for probably wants her too.” “The two of you can take the Strand. That will keep you both off the streets and let you come back to the Haven each night.” Evan looked at Drew apologetically. “I’m afraid that means you and Anna will have to drive and stay in town for a few days. You can get a room, or stay at one of the safe houses if you can find one in decent shape. “Evan…” Heat, fear, stubbornness in Jake’s voice. Evan held up a hand, pulling a small box from a desk drawer and setting it on the desktop.

[attheshadowsedge-blog]

NaNoWriMo Update and Writing Stuff

So, this is my first post here, but I’ve been writing for awhile. This is my 13th NaNo, I think. 

Words today: 2145 Total words for NaNo: 39682

The Good: 50K isn’t going to be a problem, barring any emergencies. 

The Bad: I’m barely into Act II, so finishing the story arc before the end of November may not happen. And my brain decided to present me with  a whole new story world with concepts for several urban fantasy thriller/crime/heist stories attached. I don’t have time to write the projects currently in my to-do file!