Uncanny

Today’s Word Count: 581 words, 50.1k total

Excerpt:

They had formed a circle around Jason, and they were pushing him back and forth across its diameter. As the men caught him, they would send him reeling away with a punch, or a kick, or a hard push. When he fell to the ground, they would immediately pick him up and send him moving again. It was building in ferocity, in severity; Jason could feel their hate, taste it like rusted copper. He was not the mission, the assignment. He was merely a party favor.

Thoughts:

50,000 words. Sweet! It’s Friday. Sweet!

A long brewing idea of mine has been to start a bumper sticker business. In case you didn’t know, I’m great at slogans, business names; generally useless and unprofitable things. But not anymore. We’ve even got a cool name for our bumper sticker business. Want to know what it is? Sorry, it’s not copyrighted. Soon, my young padawans. Soon.

Have a nice weekend everybody!

Uncanny

Today’s Word Count: 1540 words, 49.5k total

Excerpt:

Timothy handed a bag to each of them as they exited the store, and they dug through them eagerly. Jason pulled out a piece of chocolate cake and wolfed it down. Starla was popping donut holes in her mouth one at a time. Timothy lingered a few steps behind them, watching them smile, and chew, and pass the bags back and forth. He was glad to have someone to look after, glad to have someone to run with.
Glad to have someone to protect.

My Thoughts:

Not much to report. Another beautiful day in sunny Sebastopol, another stroller sale, another few words written down.

This is the life.

Uncanny

Today’s Word Count: 917 words, 45.5k total

Excerpt:

Nicolas cried out again, but Dr. Weiss ignored him. He walked to the exit and punched a series of buttons in the intercom next to the door. Nicolas peered frantically into Dr. Weiss’ mind, but he was so weak behind this glass, in this cold; the thoughts rushed at him like a flood, without distinction, a mass of jumbled and fractured pictures. He was swept away by it; but in his panic, he was able to reach out a desperate hand and latch onto a single thought, a single word.
Starla.

Thoughts:

Keeping the doggies rolling.

Uncanny

Today’s Word Count: 944 words, 44.6k total

Excerpt:

Daniel knew there was no turning back. He cast his mind out further, racing back through time. He was in a tunnel, dark and musty; he couldn’t help but feel like Alice wandering down the rabbit hole. There was Chris, a tow-headed blond kid, freckles ringed around his pink nose. “It was your father, Chris. What things he did to your mother!”
Now he could see Chris tense.
“He was so big, and you were so little. What could you do?”
“Daniel…”
Daniel felt like a rock kicked down a mountainside, helplessly out of control. “But she blamed you, didn’t she? You’d catch her staring at you; at the dinner table; as you played with your toys outside. She’d be standing inside watching you, her fingers pressed on the windows.”

Thoughts For Today:

We have been looking for a new church in the area, and yesterday we visited the Calvary Chapel in Sebastopol. Fun fact: it meets in the O’Reilly building, the computer book publishers. I’ve sent my resume in three separate times for jobs in that company, and have yet to hear anything back. Well, I got one over on them: I went in the building without even having a job there. The Calvary Chapel was very good, but we might still look around for a few weeks. Problem is, there really aren’t that many churches in Sebastopol; around 10, on my last count. That includes the Catholic, Lutheran, Presbyterian, United Methodist, United Congregationalist, and Seventh Day Adventist churches. And those, in my little book, are not an option (of course, many other people find a home in those churches). Taking those out, there’s really only 2-3 churches to consider. And that we will do.

Onward!

Uncanny

Today’s Word Count: 494 words

Excerpt:

Complete silence. Then: “We’ve got our hands full with our own situation.”
“Nicolas?”
“He left quite a mess to clean up. Three dead, including the doctor from the facility.”
“Dr. Weiss?”
“Yes.”
Jonas felt a lump in his throat. It was a strange feeling knowing that someone he just talked to days ago was dead. He had a peculiar urge to cross himself, like they did in the movies. And he didn’t feel like beating around the bush anymore.
“Agent Spector, I’d appreciate if you could assist me in the apprehension of the suspects.”

Simon’s Thoughts:

Not a strong word count today. I wasn’t aware how much lack of sleep really hurts your productivity until today. Ah well, it’s Friday.

Hope to see you after the weekend!

Uncanny

Today’s Word Count: 1,200 words

Excerpt:

They walked to the stoop and Jason rang the doorbell. The stale buzz echoed forlornly throughout the house. Nothing happened for a long while—and then, the slow shuffle of old footsteps, a grainy sound, like rubbing wood with sandpaper.
“Diane?” Heavy breathing behind the door.
“No, Dad. It’s me.”
There was a long pause, and then, softly, as if he were speaking in church: “Jillian?”
“No, Dad. It’s your son. It’s Jason.”
“Jason?” He said it like it was a name he had never heard.
“Jason. Jay. Your son.”
“Jay,” the voice repeated. Then: “Of course. You’ve come. Come in, come in.”

Simon’s Thoughts:

I didn’t add to the total word count today because I wrote yet another future scene. Rather than switch scenes back and forth, sometimes it’s helpful to write out an entire scene and then break it into chunks to intersperse with the other stories and plot lines. At least for now that’s the case.

Hope you enjoy. It’s a beautiful day here.

Onward!

Uncanny

Today’s Word Count: 1,150 words, 41.9k total

Excerpt:

He was moving now, being carried as by an invisible hand. His feet scraped on the last few feet of the rooftop and then he was dangling like a puppet over the field below. He hadn’t thought of death much—hadn’t had time for it—but now, staring at Nicolas’ cold and murderous face, he became terrified of it. No more sunsets; no more music floating like perfume on the air. No more handshakes from friends, no more raised eyebrows, parted lips. No more knowledge. The thought was too much to bear.
“Please, Nicolas, please!” Dr. Weiss said in his highest voice.
“I’m sorry, Dr. Weiss, you’ve caused enough pain already.”
“I’ll give you anything! Anything, please!”
It was the wrong thing to say, Dr. Weiss saw that immediately. For a moment, he could see fire, real fire, behind Nicolas’ eyes, turning them the color of ash.
“That was what the devil said.”
And then the invisible hands holding him loosened, and Dr. Weiss fell screaming to the ground below. By the time the farmer discovered him in the morning, the crows had picked away most of his clothes.
Nicolas, however, had moved on.

Simon’s Word of Advice:

Don’t have a character that travels through time. Time travel just don’t work. It doesn’t matter how far you get–it always breaks down somewhere. I realized that I had a character go back in time, do something crucial, and then travel with a crucial character for a while. The problem is, I already wrote pieces of his story, and he’s not with the crucial character. And what is his future self doing while he’s traveling?

It just don’t work.

But somehow, miraculously, I was able to salvage most of my scenes and fix the time travel issue (I basically have him return to the present immediately).

And I’ve finally found my groove in my new office(see post below). I’m actually much more inspired here than in previous locations. Things are coming together nicely.

Uncanny

Today’s Word Count: 522 words, 40.4k total

Excerpt:

“I’ll be out in a minute. We’ll need to move quickly once I come out, so get ready.”
“Wait…what are you going to do?”
“I’m going to hand in our key. And take something back.”
Jason’s heart leapt in his throat, like he’d had a sudden fright. “You’re going to take something? What?”
“I’m not going to write it up on the blackboard for you, kid.”
Starla glared at him. By the look of her eye, Timothy knew that she had realized what he was going to do. “He’s going to take money.”
Timothy returned her stony glare. “Look, a clear conscience won’t buy us a bus ticket to Missouri. We need money, don’t we? Well I’m going to handle that.”
“By stealing?” Jason asked.
“We’re saving the world, right? I’m sure the gods won’t mind if we steal a little to get us there.”
Starla put a hand on Timothy’s arm. Her touch was infuriatingly warm. “No.”
“No?”
“No,” Starla repeated.

Thoughts:

Now, that I have all my characters together, a few of them are evolving into something I hadn’t really planned. (I guess that’s the correct use of the word evolution, isn’t it? Turning into something that wasn’t really planned.)

One of my characters is getting kind of…smarmy. Is that a word? I guess so. I kind of like it–he’s older than his companions, and sees himself as a role model, and sees his companions as starry-eyed innocents. So I guess smarmy could work. Wow, I used smarmy twice in the space of a paragraph. Now that’s creative writing!

In other news, I’ve reached the 40,000 word plateau! A fact I had to highlight in bold, above. Whoda thunk it…

Well, thanks for listening! Until next time…

Uncanny

Today’s Word Count: 939 words, 39.8k total

Excerpt:

Torture. Though now that he was older—wiser—that word didn’t carry the same import that it used to. He had learned to see good between those letters, to look through that dangerous, barbed fence and see the fertile gardens beyond. But, to his surprise, Chris’ plea had pricked him–and that wound, long thought to have been scabbed over, began to bleed again.

“Yes,” he said finally. “They do seem to scream a bit.” He gently lifted Chris’ arm from his and sat down in his chair. It squeaked pleasingly—a warm and familiar greeting. “Okay, Chris. You talk to him.”

Thoughts:

Things are going well. Mashed up a lot of old scenes with new stuff, thus the inflated word count. Writing a story does get kind of fun from time to time, doesn’t it?

Onward!

Today’s Word Count: 392 words, 37.7k total

Excerpt:
Dr. Weiss sat without moving in his dimly lighted office. Actually, this was his secondary office; what he liked to call his “war room.” There was the office above ground, the one with the books and the expensive chairs and the impressive bay windows staring off into the plains. But he used it only rarely. Whenever he had to make an appearance, he would send the cleaning crew up first. That way, he wouldn’t have to blow the dust off his chair before he sat down.

Maybe I’ll switch to WordPress. This has been pretty cool so far. Lots of customizability. We Americans like that.

Onward!