I was a guest on Claire's own blog recently, as she featured an excerpt from Try Not to Burn, and shared a quick “Getting to know the Author” Q&A session with me. I dropped 5 facts about myself (like why my lucky number is actually 13, and how I almost died when I was a small child, from a popular Christmas-themed treat). I also mention 5 things that people may not know about my books. Such as how I originally had a completely different prologue, why one of the characters is named Clarence (can you guess the movie reference?), and what the story began as before it became a full-fledged novel.
This week's writing news:
My 5 pages a day writing goal is still going strong, I'm very happy to say. I've had a few near-misses, as some days were more difficult than others, but I've managed to stay on track. As I'm writing this post, I'm currently on page 158, at over 39,000 words. Since it's a Middle Grade novel, I'm shooting for around 50,000 words total, so the finish line is within sight.
The outline has evolved a bit since I initially wrote it out, but it's still been quite helpful in guiding me through the story, and keeping me to the important story beats. Without a good outline, there's a danger in focusing on aspects that don't ultimately end up mattering.
And to provide another clue for what I've been working on, here's a couple of the topics I've been researching for the book this week:
http://www.visitlondon.com/things-to-do/place/427179-natural-history-museum
http://sites.google.com/site/bluewhaleproject/Home/fun-facts-about-the-project
The research wasn't quite as fun as it was last week (in fact, it was downright depressing at times, as there aren't a ton of blue whales left in the world), but I did read about some very interesting exhibits, and the whales are fascinating creatures.
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