Are You Done Yet?

"Are you done yet?" I'm getting that question almost daily from my Eaters: The Beginning beta readers. They want to know if I've finished the sequel, because they are anxious to read it. My goal for the ROW80 challenge was to finish Eaters: Dark Journey by around the end of February or early March-ish. I'm going to stop saying, "I may finish tonight or by the end of the weekend", because this novella is turning out to be longer than I anticipated. I'm good at starting with a hazy idea of point A and point Z, but filling in all that in between in a logical and suspenseful manner takes time and thought. I've nearly hit 31K on this one, so far. (Eaters I was only 2/3 that length.) I don't know for sure how much I have to wrap this up, but it's really nice to be on the home stretch. Writing one of the final scenes late last night, I told my husband, that "I'm creeping myself out." Hopefully, Eaters: Dark Journey will happily creep out a few readers as well.

ROW 80 Check In

Not much more to report tonight. I've only written about 750 words since last check-in. I'm really stewing on the ending of Eaters: Dark Journey. But, tomorrow I hope to have the rough draft done! I lament the loss of my main zombie fan and beta reader, who's going out of town for the next month to learn how to build an 'earth ship'.  (With all their stores of rations and preparation, he and his family will surely be  survivors of any future apocalypse while we waste away on my meager stash of grains and sprouting seeds. ) Meanwhile, DH finally read Eaters: The Beginning and had a lot of editorial comments that I wish I'd had earlier. He's one of my new beta readers now. I'll run Eaters: Dark Journey through his mental meat grinder before putting it out there.

I've read some pretty poor reviews of George A. Romero's Land of the Dead (sequel to Dawn of the Dead). But, I finished watching it last night and didn't think it was that bad. I really dug the scene with the newly cognizant zombies emerging from the water. (Too bad that in real life, the actors were freezing their can-cans off during the filming of that scene.)

Eaters: The Beginning Doing Well with Zombie Lovers

Honestly, I don't know how Eaters: The Beginning ranks in comparison to other novellas in the genre by new authors, but I'm happy to say it's taken off pretty well, since I published it in late December.

These are Amazon's current rankings:

• #9 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Fiction > Horror > Ghosts
• #10 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction > Horror > Ghosts
• #24 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Fiction > Horror > Occult

The cool thing is...I think Eaters: Dark Journey is a lot better. It's a longer story and nonstop action.

If I could just wrap up the ending....I'm getting close. Really I am :)

Kick Butt Harley Cover

It sure feels good to be working out a little bit again. Kickboxing today was a butt-kicker, though. The shiny Harley out in front of the gym made me smile going in and out. I have no idea who owned it, but I'd have to guess it was someone in the heavy grunting (lifting) section.
ROW80 Check-in: I haven't been keeping very good track of my word count progress this week, but it looks like I'm up about 2k. I'm slowing down a little as I'm working on the end of Eaters: Dark Journey. I intend to end it with a big bang and still hook the reader enough with an open ending that will want them to read the last book in the trilogy that comes after this. Anya Kelleye helped me create a fabulous cover! Anyone who needs a good graphic artist for their e-book should give her a shout. I really can't wait to finish this book and take a short break to catch up on some movies and reading while my beta readers give it a whirl. Hopefully...next weekend, I'll be at that point.

Cover in Progress and Testosterone Surge

Not too much to report today. I'm working with a graphic artist to finalize the cover of Eaters: Dark Journey. (Thank you, Anya!) Writing has been a little slow this week. This is busy season at work, and I"m just so brain dead in the evenings sometimes, that it's hard to get the creative juices flowing, and keep my eyes open. Working on the tail end of Eaters: Dark Journey has given me a strange new interest in guns and motorcycles. There's this odd chemical surging through me lately that gives me goosbumps when I see or hear about either. Testosterone? I dunno. But, for the first time in my life, owning a Harley and a rifle sounds like something I might want to do down the line. I can see myself cruising down the road with both, listening to ACDC. Zombies and bad guys...beware!

ROW 80 Check-in: Sunday = 510, Monday = 462, Tuesday = 0, Tonight = ???

I See Dead People...and Light at the End of the Tunnel

Went out to an Indian restaurant for an early Valentine's dinner with my sweetie. Saag Paneer...and Vegetable Korma...yum yum! Eaters: Dark Journey is really on the downhill coast now. I'm narrowing down the final scenes. I didn't plan on taking Friday off of writing, but it worked out, since I did double on Thursday. Sometimes at the end of the week, your work-dead mind just says, "blub blub blub..." and needs a break. My zombie-loving neighbor is asking me daily with if I'm done yet with this sequel. Soon...I keep telling him...soon! It was sooooo....nice here today with weather in the 60's. I enjoyed watching the snow start to melt. Die snow...die! It really did feel like spring, and it's going to for the next few days. (Then, I'm sure Mother Nature will be back in full icy force for another few weeks.)

Here's my ROW80 word count for today's check in:
Wednesday = 515, Thursday = 1039, Friday = 0, Saturday = 517

10 Clues Your Valentine Might be a Zombie

10. Her favorite perfume is called, "Eau de Flesh".
  9. When you serenade her with your guitar, she moans along.
  8. Her arms are always outstretched, ready to embrace you.
  7. She nibbled on your ear and bit part of it off.
  6. You came back from your romantic stroll missing more body parts.
  5. Her hot red dress didn't get its color from fabric dye.
  4. She gave you a heart-shaped box full of chocolate-covered mouse brains.
  3. When Cupid struck, it wasn't with a bow & arrow; it was with an AK-47.
  2. She never says she loves you. She just says, "Brains!".
  1. She asked you out to dinner--you're the meal.

Counting on the Superpowers of Oregano

Still singing the sinus blues. Ten days now. A coworker across the hall asked if I was going to live after listening to me hack all day. I'm still trying to avoid going to the doctor to beg for some useless antibiotics, so I went to a health food store tonight and bought some oil of oregano which is supposed to have some serious herbal antibacterial and antiviral properties. I'm counting on that and a few more gallons of hot tea to get me through this soon. As I'm in the final stretch of Eaters: Dark Journey, I'm trying to not let the box of Kleenex and cough drops keep me from writing too much. The biggest bummer is that I haven't seen the inside of a gym now for a week and a half, messing up my 'get back in shape for spring' plan. (Too bad you can't cough off calories. Maybe every cough expends .ooo1 calories, so it adds up to a working off a carrot stick by the end of the day :) For ROW80 Check in: Sunday = 1241 words, Monday = 652, Tuesday = 273. I have definitely set some new writing habits since this challenge started. I may not make my original 500 words/day goal, but it has become a habit to at least do something every night (really sick days and unexpected trips out of town excepted) on my story which keeps it plugging along and fresh in my mind--definitely much more of a priority than it used to be.
Stay tuned for my '10 Clues Your Valentine Might be a Zombie' post coming this weekend.

Hi Ho And a Bottle of Nyquil

Okay...cold weather...not such a big deal anymore. Being sick...bites. I thought I got my annual winter cold early in the fall, but I've got another one, and it's kicking my butt.  Honestly, I have squeaked in a little writing about every other day this week, but I did not write down my daily totals. (I'm actually shocked just now to look back at my log and see that I managed to do over 4K for the week! I guess my infrequent writing sessions have been productive, despite my death rattle as I was typing.) Waking up at 4:30 a.m. on Saturday morning, lying there for a half hour, then finally getting up and writing for a while is about the only positive think I can say about sick person's insomnia. My wish for the upcoming week, you ask? Well...I'd love to see the sun come out, the snow melt (ain't gonna happen--I think one day has a high predicted in the teens), me cast off this cold, break into song (with no one around to hear), and write a few thousand words...typing so fast that smoke flies from keyboard.

Oh Cruel Winter!

Oh cruel winter, you're dangerously bold. The ground hog did not see his shadow, so let the cold release it's hold! It was minus 8 when I made my way into work yesterday. Our family has been knocked down by a virus going around, so I've literally feeling like some half dead bird that one of the cats dragged in. (Warning to all birds: Do not build your nests in our yard this spring. Have you not been warned?!?!?)  I've been averaging 500+ a night for word count on Eaters: Dark Journey, but last night I cried 'uncle' and turned in around 9pm, completely forgetting that it was Wednesday and time for the ROW80 check-in. As a Valentine's special, I've put The Gardener on sale for .99 cents for the month of February. If you haven't read it yet, check it out. This story ranked as a finalist in the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writer's Colorado Gold Competition, and that was from an excerpt from an earlier version; it has been much revised and improved since then. Since it is a long novel, 114K, I'm going to make a print version available soon. Eaters: The Beginning, also available for .99 cents, has been selling well. Thank you, zombie fans!