Two days left, currently at par (thanks to a 5,228-word day Saturday).

And I’m sick.

And exhausted.  Not exactly sleepy-tired, but exstruded; squeezed out.  I was thankful last night my huge “bump” had put me a little ahead, becasue it meant I could switch to consuming (from producing) that much sooner.

Of course, that means I have to give the full 1,667 words tonight.  But I’ve got time to recharge.  I hope.

Ready for a break, but also ready to press through and finish word-count even if it’s not finishing the whole story.

This month has done what I wanted it to do: give me a sense of accomplishment, almost “mastery” (to use a clinical term), to encourage myself in other areas of my life.  It’s allowed me to prove to myself I have more than two stories in me, thereby reducing the amount of power those first two have over me.

That is, I don’t have to hang my whole “identity” as a competent writer on how well *one* story works because I’ve now got more than one egg in the basket.

And it’s been fascinating to watch the different things that different novels address– how they are the same and how things change.

• Lindorm (2006) was a full-on fantasy, magic and epic explosions and assassination attempts.
• Shadow (2010) was a fantasy of world-crossing, bringing half of the action into our own world.
• Water (2011) is a this-world-and-time suspense/romance, involving quite a bit of travel (nothing I’ve yet mastered), so I already know what revisions will require of me.

All involve personal transformation, managing life as a “couple” (story’s not over when sweethearts pair up) and what is probably more straight-up communication and motivation-reading than is realistic (I work on that in revisions).

Also, I just noticed this this month, none of my couples (and this includes the established-before-the-story-began couples like the parents shown in the story) have both partners from the same country and/or race.  This made me laugh.  I’m sure it is a subconscious application of my family’s line about Every marriage is a cross-cultural marriage.

But it’s kinda fun to see that trend.

Wish me luck (or just pray for me): only two more days after today.