Holy Frickin' Crap, People

I just finished writing A Night Borrowed. I cried when I wrote the ending.

The book is 433 pages, and 86,547 words.

YAY!!!

Still have 12,000 words to write to meet my goal, though. They'll go in Devil's Handiwork.

Word Count Status Update

I am so close to hitting 40,000 words for the month that I can smell it. I stayed up until 5 AM this morning to write my daily 4,500 words; I didn't quite make it, but that's okay. I finished a really important scene in A Night Borrowed, so that works.

Sleeeepyyyy

I just went over 30,000 words this month. I am tired. A Night Borrowed may be finished - for the most part - by the end of the week. Will have to go back and add some characterization scenes, but it is almost done. Only three major scenes left to do.

I honestly can't believe I have written more than 80,000 words since July 5th. Crazy. (And that's not counting work articles, e-mails, blog posts, tweets, or the update to my personal site - updated with release dates for A Night Borrowed and Moonshine Valentine.)

Well...

...I am no longer working for KGB. I checked the amount of money I made in 6 hours, and it came to a grand total of $12.85. Not worth it.

I have been practicing piano like crazy here lately. I am going in to record the piano parts on ten of the thirteen songs (as well as horn parts on one song and organ parts on another) on Wednesday, so the window is closing on practice time. I have tomorrow left to practice, and THAT'S IT.

I am up to 17,000 words in A Night Borrowed and Devil's Handiwork for the month of August. A Night Borrowed is up to 70,780 words total; Devil's Handiwork is at just about 60,000 total. I don't know if I will need all those words, but I figure that it is better to have more than you need going into editing; it's easier to cut than it is to create.

The cat that had the broken leg and the head injury last year is now missing. We fear that he is dead. He has not been around in 4 days.

I Am Semi-Employed...

I don't know if you have seen these ads for KGB. I found the one I've linked to there pretty funny, so I looked them up on the Internet, and it turns out, they were hiring. So, I went through several testing processes, and I worked my first shift for them tonight. My ass is tired. I remember now why I don't like shift work: I can't really get up and move around! I won't be taking any more afternoon shifts, I can tell you that.

I am going into the studio tomorrow afternoon at 1PM to record at least acoustic guitar tracks. I might do the piano parts, too, but I am not sure yet. It depends on who I can get to take me, as the piano is rather large, plus I'll have the stand, and the acoustic guitar. I kind of thought about video taping the recording of the piano parts, but I don't have a video camera and I don't know who has one, anymore.

More Recording...

I went in tonight and finished all the electric guitar work that needed done. Saturday, I am doing at least the acoustic guitars. I might do the piano parts, too. We'll see.

That's about all I have to report. I have been slacking on the writing these last couple of days. No particular reason; just have been.The swelling has gone down on my lip, but the bite is still there. I have been treating it with hydrogen peroxide, alcohol, and toothpaste to dry it out. It is working, but it is going to look nasty for the next couple of days.

I Got Bit By Something...

...while I was sleeping last night. It is not a whole lot better now.

Here is a cell phone picture of just how swollen the left side of my upper lip was this morning:

Stuff

I figure I will need another week to finish the basic storyline of A Night Borrowed, and then another week to finish up the main bulk of the story in Devil's Handiwork. After that, I'll spend another week editing and adding scenes, going over the stories, taking things out and adding other things.

In the meantime, I have to practice the piano, but I don't have any work pressing. And, other than that, I probably should go for a walk, take a shower, and, uh, you know, do some writing or something.

Bass & Drums Are DONE!!!

We went into the studio this afternoon and we re-did "Dear Jane" (the drummer's song), "Relax," and "The Cover." They came out a LOT better, so I have my bass and drum tracks! We can start building the rest of the stuff now.

Next week (sometime between the 10th and the 14th), I'll be going into the studio again and re-recording electric guitar tracks on:
Fine Fools
The Night Let Me Down
Strings
Moonshine Valentine
Even If It's Wrong

...and fixing one bum note in "Honor Among Thieves."

The weekend of the 15th, I'll go back in and do acoustic guitar tracks on:
Strings
The Night Let Me Down
Moonshine Valentine
Honor Among Thieves

Hopefully, on the same day (the 15th) I do the acoustic guitar tracks, I'll do piano tracks on:

Moonshine Valentine
Honor Among Thieves
Strings
The Night Let Me Down
If The Stars Align
Rumors
Fine Fools
The Cover
Even If it's Wrong

... and then record the horn parts on "You're The Reason" and then record "You Suck More Than I Do." (LOLOLOL)

The week after that (sometime between the 17th and 21st), I'll go in and do the lead vocal tracks for all the songs, and then the week after that (sometime between the 24th and 28th), Kenny will record his lead and rhythm tracks. Once that's done, we have backing vocals and harmony parts to do (probably between the 29th and the 10th of September), and then mixing (probably between the 10th and the 16th of September).

And then we'll be done.

Writing Crap

So, I basically took the first two days of this month off from writing, even though I signed up for another writing thing for the second consecutive month. So, my word count total so far for AugNoWriMo is just what I have written since about 2:30 AM, which is 1,111 words (no, I am so totally not kidding).

Since I have set a goal of 65,000 words, I am going to have to keep a better schedule than this. I need to write at least 2,500 words a day, or I won't make it. Luckily, I am in an exciting part of the book, where everything is starting to come together (though I guarantee you that you won't see the twist coming... it's starting to twist in A Night Borrowed, but you won't see the full rotation until the third book, Night Fades.

My Neck Is Killing Me

I must be sleeping funny again, as my neck is doing almost the same thing as before when I went and saw the chiropractor. I feel like someone's stabbing a railroad spike into my neck. It's terrible. I have ice on it now, even as I type.

I planted lawn seed today with Caitlin, as we still had some bare spots out in the lawn from all my gardening efforts earlier this summer. I also got copies of all the stuff we've done in the studio so far, but I have yet to listen to them. Gonna do that shortly. Then, I have to re-write an FDA report for a client, and then I am going to play piano, and then I am going to write... if I have time.

Sometime this month, I need to put the CD cover together. I need to get a bottle for the front cover, and I need to get a label to put on the bottle with the band's name and the album title printed on it. I need to get pictures of the band, and I need to get some custom picks made, and then there is a ton of other stuff that I can't do until I get my school money in September. Le sigh.

I DID IT!!!

I just hit 53,730 words in A Night Borrowed for JulNoWriMo. That's just for the month of July, and I didn't even start until a few days into the month. Ha! I am really pleased with myself right now.

Now, on to AugNoWriMo, where I plan to write 65,000 words in 31 days. That's only about 2,100 words a day, but I'll have to write every single day to do it.

So, I am celebrating tomorrow. Taking a day off from the computer!! (Don't make much sense, do I? Have to write every day and then taking a day off? Pppttthhhhfff!)