Sorry, folks – if you’re following the Libsyn feed, you know this came out Thursday, but I haven’t had a chance to upload it here to the blogs until today. But I am uploading it!
And here it is! Shadow Lord goodness!
Next episode will be out September 19th.
Sorry, folks, work’s been running both me and my producer ragged, and so the newest episode of the podcast is a bit delayed. *sigh* This is why they say to have episodes done ahead of time! I tried, I really did! *sigh*
Anyways, with life speeding up to the speed of plaid, I’m making the decision to move to a 3-week drop schedule. From now on, we’ll be dropping episodes once every 3 weeks. I just need the extra week to make sure I have everything together, and that way, I don’t have to spend Sunday nights stressing. 
Thanks for your understanding, and that episode will hopefully be up in the next day or two!
I wasn’t going to write on Saturday; not on Last Rites, anyways. Then hubby and I went and saw The Expendables, and wow. I needed to get some action scenes in.
So I wrote.
Starting Count: 60712
Ending Count: 62632
Net Gain: + 1920
Starting line:
Thom swallowed hard and looked back at the hall, where nothing moved. The only sounds were the shrieks of the monitors – everything else had gone eerily silent. There was a long smear of blood where Domyelle had slid down the glass window, surrounded by splatters and globs of crimson.
Ending line:
“Go,” he said, cocking the shotgun and aiming at the half-breed Lord. “I’ll cover your back.”
Darling:
As one, the three turned to look at the hospital behind them. The building shook as if something were eating it from the inside out, and the large cross on the top broke off and fell to the parking lot. Windows on the upper floors exploded outwards, and then Nikki saw why.
Vines, immense tangles of greenery, snaked their way out of the gaping holes the glass left behind, moving in quick undulations across the white stone walls. Tendrils reached hungrily for any crack they could sink roots into, tearing at the facade, grinding it into dust. The roof shivered and then blew upwards in a deafening explosion.
Starting Count: 58223
Ending Count: 60712
Net Gain: + 2489
Starting line:
The tall black nurse stepped into the room, her flawless face concerned, her dark eyes shadowed until she saw him turn.
Ending line:
“Because I can’t help you,” she said, and then the golden glows faded, and both she and Caran vanished.
Darling:
Thom and Caran both turned in time to see Domyelle slam into the glass, her beautiful face contorted in fear and pain. Red blood fountained up from somewhere behind her, splashing the walls, and she slid down slowly, one hand clawing at the window in mute supplication. As she fell, Thom heard the screams that the monitors had masked, and then he felt it.
**
60k! Finally! And lots of mayhem, etc. We’re moving into the climax, which makes me happy. It’s a rough draft, but there’s a lot of good in it.
Actually, it went live Sunday night, but I haven’t had a chance to post it here. *blush* Did I mention my producer is the best???
Not only has he posted the epiosde, but he got it onto iTunes! So now, if you search for either my name or Not Your Father’s Horseman, you can subscribe right through iTunes! *squee*
For those looking to listen, here’s the link to the episode on Libsyn:
Episode 2!
I’m trying to write everyday, starting today, like I said in my interview. It’s really the only way to get stuff done. Even if it means giving up sleep to do so.
Metrics from today:
Starting Count: 56934
Ending Count: 58223
Net Gain: + 1289
Starting line:
The background was another perfect New England fall evening: sugar maples glowing red and gold in the pearlescent twilight.
Ending line:
Thom turned at the familiar voice. “Domyelle?”
Darling:
Flames. There were indistinct flames moving through the house, as if they were there and yet not – almost the ghosts of flames. They licked around the stones and out of the windows of the house, a harbinger of disaster and a specter of the past, all at the same time. Smoke, or mist, curled around the house, and Nikki could almost see something in the fog – something sinister. It touched the very heart of her for some reason.
Podcast might be a bit late – but it will be up either tonight or tomorrow night. I do promise! Just ran into some RL stuff that delayed me a bit.
So now that I’ve spilled the beans on Mitchell Plested’s podcast Get Published (Interview here!), I’ll announce it here officially.
Rum and Runestones did so well that we’re doing a sequel! And this time, I’m opening it up to submissions. BUT – there are some caveats.
1. I’m looking for the following: Pirates. Magic. MUST BE ABOUT Pirates and Magic!
2. Stories must be under 8k.
3. Stories cannot be submitted before November 1st. If you submit it before November 1st, it will be deleted unread, unless I have said something to you earlier.
Stories can be submitted to val@vg-ford.com starting November 1 and ending November 30.
The title of the new book? Spells and Swashbucklers.
Starting Count: 56018
Ending Count: 56934
Net Gain: + 916
Starting line:
“Oh,” Teraisa said. “My. What did you give them to work on?”
Ending line:
The canvas was huge – easily eight feet in length and nearly three feet high
Darling:
None really.
I really wanted to finish this book this weekend. Unless I don’t sleep for 48 hours, that won’t happen.
But I will get a major chunk done. Today’s work (12 hours!) got me through the second major battle in the book, and into the aftermath. Tomorrow, I’m hoping for an equal amount.
Starting Count: 48312
Ending Count: 53897
Net Gain: + 5585
Starting line:
Another crash outside her window, but no flash – not lightning, then. Sylvia tensed, feeling something else building around her. Nikki had finished her spell, and now all the Horseman would know where she was. Madness had promised that no one would come for her and live, and Sylvia knew better than to doubt the Chaos Lord. She also knew that she couldn’t trust Madness not to kill her either.
Ending line:
I know. Thom looked down at Diana’s pale face. I need someplace where we can hide. Someplace safe. Where no one will think to find us… And then an image came into his head, from long ago: a small cabin, on the edge of a small pond, himself and Cleo barefoot, fishing off a small dock. The cabin. Of course.
Darling:
Electricity crackled along his skin, energizing him rather than paralyzing, and for a single moment, a call danced through him, as if summoning something deep within his soul, but it only lasted a second, and then dissipated. Lucifer then crooked his finger as he passed by them, a “come-here” gesture that Alex answered the only way he could.
He shot him.
Not the 7.5k I wanted, but a decent amount. Have talked to Beard5 and he has agreed to be my guard gatekeeper all weekend, so I can get more wordage done. Seriously, if I could stop squandering time (aka, answering the phone, talking to people outside, having a life) I could get a ton more writing done.
Here are the most recent metrics. I’m almost at 50K!!!!
starting count: 45836
ending count: 49434
new words: + 3598
starting line:
The heavy sound of flesh hitting flesh broke through the sounds of the battlefield as Strijd slammed his body into the white mare’s, sending a shock wave through Rick as he fought to keep himself in the saddle.
ending line:
Would they come for her now? Would the magic of the Horsemen allow them entry into Madness’ realm? Did it really matter?
darling:
Lucifer’s back exploded into fire, and he screamed before he realized what he was doing. Shields and armor shredded under the magical assault, pitching him forward onto Thom’s writhing body. The young Horseman howled in agony as whatever was eating through him was pushed deeper by Lucifer’s weight, and Lucifer quickly levered himself off. Thom’s face was a ruin of ruby light and blood; his chest gaped open, a wound that would have killed a normal human. It was only the Horseman within him keeping him alive.
I’m mean to my characters, what can I say?
