I managed to crest the halfway point of Bloodborn, hitting 26,023 words last night. My estimated word count for the first draft is 50,000 words, though I will probably add about 10,000 words during the revision. Favorite sentence of the week: ”Trees thin until I see a snowmelt river, swirling down from the mountains, foaming into white rapids, reforming into still blue-green pools so clear I can look three feet down and count the pebbles. ”
Now, the book contests. Today is the last day of the YA Book Carnival. Don’t miss out on the 99 or so participating blogs! Lots and lots of books to win. Here are a few I’m drooling over:
- Fantastic Book Review: 8 YA books to 8 winners.
- The Zen Leaf: A copy of Holly Black’s Tithe is up for grabs.
- Reviews of Young Adult Literature: A copy of The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.
- Cupcake Witch: A spring-cleaning contest with 3 ARCs, a copy of Better Latte Than Never, and assorted swag.
- Presenting Leonore: Win two YA books out of a pile of twenty-one.
- Bree Despain: A fellow Tenner giving away her debut, The Dark Divine.
- Sharon Loves Books and Cats: Both Oh My Gods and Goddess Book Camp as prizes.
- Library Lounge Lizard: An ARC of Dreaming Anastasia by Joy Preble.
Don’t be late: most of these contests end tonight at midnight. Good luck!
…Grady, as suggested by both Carrie Jones and Christine (christine444). Who am I talking about? That would be my grizzled-old-hobo-werewolf character in Bloodborn. After trying names in the manuscript, Grady just seemed to fit him the best. Thanks, Carrie and Christine! Now, I’d love to say that on top of this naming satisfaction, I wrote another fat, juicy 1000 or so words for my draft of Bloodborn. But no. I went hiking at Staircase Rapids in Olympic National Park today. I will, however, make good use of the gorgeous sights I saw and attempt to incorporate them into my fiction. Finally, check out my newfound tweeting ability. (I’m karenkincy there.) I was, until very recently, a Twitter virgin. I think I will do fun things like a word of the day and updates on my daily writing progress. I’m hoping it will keep me from procrastinating too much. Famous last words…
Usually I’m fairly finicky about naming my characters, especially if they are main characters. If they’re minor, though, I might not give them as much attention. This leads to confusions such as a Molly and a Murphy in the same novel. I’m keeping Molly, so I need a new moniker for Murphy. Here’s his description:
“Through my blurry eyes, I see an old guy with a tangled gray beard and long ratty hair beneath a trucker’s cap. He looks like he should be sleeping in a cardboard box. No, he looks like Gandalf after Vietnam.”
Also important: he’s a werewolf in a pack from Canada. If you can think of an appropriate new name, you will win… er, the name of your choosing will appear in Bloodborn! And you will have my undying gratitude.
