Howdy folks! Yeah, I know, you thought I fell off of the planet, didn't you? While it was busy doing its thing, rotating every 24 hours and revolving around the sun once a year, I did not fight the gravitational pull and go flying off the Earth. Didn't happen. Would have been quite the story for some science magazine if I had, huh? Anyway, now that I have put your fears at bay, I know you will rest easier now.

I have, however, been a busy bee. Day job work, of course, has been keeping me hopping. And as much as I wanted the design muse to pay me a visit, it hasn't happened. Instead, the writing muse has taken up residence and shows no signs of going away... So... every scrap of every spare moment I've had, I've been writing. Working on my book. I've written 156 pages since mid-November. Nearly 78,000 words. And I'm not even close to being done. It doesn't sound like a lot for the amount of time that has passed, but I didn't write at all in December and hardly any in February. And it's been so off and on that I'd say I've spent about a month within that time actually working on it, some days more than others. Some days not much at all.

When I get an idea, I don't know what the end result is going to be. I probably do everything completely backwards, but so far (I'm writing my second book), it has worked for me. I write whichever parts I feel like (I started writing this book in what is the equivalent of chapter four, then went back later and wrote the chapters prior to that) when I feel like writing them. If I get stuck, I move on to another part. I leave myself notes in ALL CAPS to go back and write bits in later, along with my thoughts about what needs to go into that slot. For me, it's like I have the germ of an idea and I need to just let it fly and see where it goes. I didn't even come up with a key part of the story until earlier this week!

Which brings me to a public announcement of what may be supreme idiocy: I don't plot my story in advance. I don't do any sort of outline. For this one, I had a very short list of factual statements I knew would be truths in this fictional world I created, but beyond that, I just took off and started writing. I usually have an idea of what sorts of people the characters will be, but I often find myself getting to the point where they start writing themselves and saying things that I don't expect in the midst of dialog. That is when the muse is really working, really cranking, to the point that it feels like my fingers on the keyboard are just a conduit to get the story out of my brain... sometimes in ways I couldn't have imagined when I started. It's hard to explain and I don't feel I'm doing a good job of it. But sometimes, it writes itself and I have no idea where it's coming from!

I'm not sure if this is a weird way of writing or not. The writing seminars and things I've gone to -- the authors always say organizing yourself beforehand is important. But for me, I find it much easier and better to just fly by the seat of my pants. Does that mean they're right and I'm wrong? I don't think so (although considering the advice was coming from published authors, maybe they are... I just haven't shopped my already-written book around yet, so who knows if it sucks or is good -- we'll see what Robin says when she finishes it... I haven't gotten feedback on it in a few years and she was lucky enough to snag a copy yesterday).

In keeping with the vein I mentioned above of the story writing itself and not expecting how it unfolds, this second book is turning out a LOT racier than the first one. I'm not sure what that means, or if the different characters dictated it, or what. I certainly didn't set out to write it the way it has shaped up, so I wonder where that came from or why it is that way. Am I weird for not knowing? I'm trying to decide if I keep it that way or tone it down. I probably won't even make that decision until I'm done with it. Maybe not even until after I've had a few people read it for me. We'll see, I guess.

In the meantime, I have day job work calling and a big argument scene for my book buffeting around in my brain, just dying for the end of my regular work day so I can actually spew it out into the Word document that houses my creation thus far. (And yes, I've got it backed up about five different places.)

So pardon my infrequent comings and goings here. The muse has moved in, and I'm going to hang with her as long as she'll stay. I hope it is for a while and I can actually finish my first draft in the next month or so.