This week, I started the cuts on Tangled Magic and Walk the Path. It was frustratingly hard to make that first surgical incision, yet it had to be done.

The little voice in my head kept telling me that I should be working on designing some covers. “You’re not finding this fun because you don’t have covers designed for the next few books, like Cirvel’s story. Yeah,go design a cover for that. Just a quick little jaunt to see what you can find for cover material, it won’t hurt. You’re just sitting here with you head in your hands anyway.”

Fortunately, I recognized the liar for what she was: a distraction! I often shot back with, “Well, I don’t even know the title yet, so it’s kind of hard to build a cover without knowing the title. How about you go and work on that?”

She’d usually return sullenly to her corner and be quiet for a little longer.

Meanwhile, I knew I was better off waiting until I could do it in the morning while my brain was fresh and awake. Of course, that’s when the story I was working on, Cirvel’s story, crashed a burned. I realized at 20,001 words that I had completely lost the tension in my story. Everything else I have been working on is waiting for me to get something else done before we can move on.

The only way that I got my words in this week was by writing a couple blogs that I’ve been meaning to write for the last couple of weeks, but hadn’t yet had the chance to do. One is still in process, but at least I’ve started it. I put it off because I’d been so emotional about it and I needed some distance.

One of those stories is Dragons of Wellsdeep. Late Sunday, I did finish my outline for the story and started the structural detailing. I started some necessary rearranging of scenes and pulling out one that had this awesome fight scene, but it just didn’t belong. Sigh. It’s not gone completely, just moved down to the end in case I find a place for it later. Until it finds a place or falls away completely, I can move on with writing the story.

I have finished recording all the audio on For a Good Time, Call Loki. My computer and I have been fighting about it the whole way. Part of me is afraid that I’m going to have to buy a new computer. I’m just afraid that the computer can’t handle the rigors of audio any more, not since I updated the program. So, it might be “my computer that has no Internet access” — forcing me to write rather than jumping online to allow myself to be distracted in the name of a “break.” We’ll see. I might just try changing my anti-virus program first to see if that helps since I suspect it might be a culprit.

As for editing that audio, I’m about halfway through it. I really hope to be posting it in December. Then, there’s a part of me that’s chomping to get to Manifest the Magic, so I might just give in and do that. I will give me a slower pace, which might be good during tax season because I won’t feel rushed. There’s just so many characters…

Inktober is finished and it feels strange to suddenly not be drawing every day. Yet, I also haven’t had the time (or is that what I’m telling myself?). I’m trying to examine if this is one of those “Tasks expand or contract to the allotted amount of time” kind of things.

Well, that’s all I’ve got for now. Let’s look at the numbers, shall we?

Fiction words written last week:  4,231 words.

Blogs/Newsletter articles/non-fiction written:  2,972 words.

Daily word goal reached for 86 days. Weekly word goal reached for 15 weeks.

Writing month to date total:  32,740 words for October; 3,921 words so far for November

Writing year to date total: 284,466 words

Drawing/painting last week: No painting this week; only drawing for my daily Inktober illustrations.

Audio: I spent 6 and a half hours recording and editing audio.