Tag: progress report

A Bit of Me, Updates

NaNo 2018 Round Up

Becca Lusher

December is here, NaNo is over, let’s see what I managed to get done.

NaNoWriMo Goal 1: Complete Burning Sky

Even though I was already nearly halfway through writing this book, the only thing I really wanted to achieve last month was finishing it. And I did!

Day 10. 42,562 words added. Goal achieved.

But I didn’t want to stop there, so I took a day to prepare myself to start the next Dragonlands novel – and promptly jumped into an unrelated novella from a brand new series.

NaNoWriMo Goal 2: Write Thief’s Gamble

The idea of a Foundation of Aquila series has been knocking around the back of my brain for a year or two (someone asked about it on Wattpad), but I hadn’t really pinned anything down yet. Until Keo and Lahera burst into full life and took over NaNo, leaving me with a completed novella and plenty of ideas for the series to follow. This one should (hopefully) be a lot of fun. I really do need to write another Dragonlands novel first, though.

Regardless of my plans or best intentions, I finished it. And for once an attempted novella stayed an actual novella. I am all astonishment!

Day 20. 25,028 words later. Goal achieved.

Two things down and I still had nine days left. I guess that meant I could finally crack on with that Dragonlands novel.

Wrong.

NaNoWriMo Goal 3: Finish Aftermath

I fully intended to make a start on Ice Falls, I swear I did, but to be honest the last nine days of NaNo weren’t great for me. Mostly because of fatigue issues. I also don’t really have a feel for where this book is supposed to start, so I need to go back and look at the end of Burning Sky before I tackle it.

Anyway, my head was so desperate not to start Ice Falls it seized on Aftermath instead. This is an entirely self-indulgent, overblown epilogue novella for the Wingborn series, which ties up some of the romances and side characters and little things that I didn’t really have room for in the main books. It was supposed to be short and sweet and full of warm fuzziness. I originally dove straight into it after finishing Wingborn 6, but I stalled after a while and it became yet another thing I’ve struggled to finish this year.

However, NaNo was going well, so I thought, why not? Give it a go. The worst that can happen is I’ll get stuck precisely where I’ve been stuck all year.

Day 30. 19,947 words added. Goal achieved!

Three stories finished. 86,340 words written in total. Two major albatrosses released back into the wild. I can’t believe how well that went.

Although, if I look back at my daily tallies, it could have gone a little better. There were 13 days when I didn’t write a single word, and even my biggest daily haul (9135 words) is a bit below my best. I didn’t experience my usual rush of momentum where I write more and more and more as the month goes on, but that’s probably because I’m used to focusing on one project from start to finish, not jumping in halfway and finishing several things along the way.

So perhaps I could have written more, but looking back I am more than happy with how I did. Burning Sky is finally finished! A pair of new characters have established themselves in a whole new series and I’m excited to get back to them and let their story unfold. I’m also relieved that Aftermath is done, even though I acknowledge it’s no longer a novella, bonus or otherwise. But I knew that after it passed 30K, I was just living in denial. Still, it’s done, yay! And I’ll figure out what to do with it later.

For now, thanks NaNo! I don’t know why the mere thought of the challenge can break through blockages that have frustrated me all year, I’m just glad that it did. November is done. Thanks for the word count, but now it’s time to move on.

To all my fellow NaNoers, I hope you enjoyed your month and had fun with all your words. Here’s to you all! And I’ll see you again next year.

Merry December, everyone!

A Bit of Me, Overworld, Updates, Writing

World’s End is done!

Becca Lusher

94,954 words down and the book is finished.

Not only is this the end of the book, it’s the end of the Wingborn series! YAY!

This isn’t the end of the Overworld, of course – I haven’t finished the Dragonlands series yet, and I’ve already got a novella idea about what happens with certain characters after World’s End – but this plot arc is done. Done, I say!

Which is pretty big, because I’ve been playing with the Wingborn/Rift Riders stuff since 2003 after I had my first dream about a girl and her dog in a skiff being dragged across a sea of clouds by her giant eagle. Things have certainly changed a lot since then, and there were years when I didn’t touch the books, but still, the ideas and characters have been with me for a while, so it was nice to finally get to the end of it all.

I am exhausted. Although that might have more to do with what I did with my celebratory morning off…

Bru Walk

Serenaded by skylarks, watched over by buzzards, surrounded by primroses and the first budding leaves on the alder trees, with bursts of sunshines overhead, I do believe that spring might actually be here.

I hope your week has been going as well as mine.

Take care, my lovelies!

A Bit of Me, Overworld, Updates

2018 – The Story So Far

Becca Lusher

2018 Bruin

I thought it was time for a little catch-up, and since most of the UK is hunkering down under the Beast from the East, today seemed as good a time as any.

Well, since my last catch up post in mid-January I have not done much. Not for want of trying. I started World’s End and was edging close to getting into the swing of things, until my left shoulder went wrong. I didn’t actually do anything to it, but it hurt, a lot, and meant I couldn’t do most of what I needed to. It’s something that tends to flare up whenever I get really fatigued and there isn’t much I can do about it until it goes away. Typing becomes impossible because I can’t get comfortable enough to think, let alone put words in decent sentences. Once I’ve forced myself to do the things that need doing, all I’m really good for is reading. With many cushions.

Three and a good weeks on, it’s finally settled down, so maybe I can get back to writing. Ha! We’ll see…

So February was pretty much a write off. I didn’t get anything written, but I did skim an edit through Wingborn again. This will hopefully be for the first Wingborn Collection (1-3), which is the next thing on my release list. I’ve decided to push Cloud Cursed back again, because I have a feeling I need to finish the Wingborn series before I do any more work on the Dragonlands, and I’d really like to get book 4 written before releasing book 3.

It’s complicated, I know, but it makes sense to me. Sort of. So if you’re waiting for the next Dragonlands book, sorry! But right now it’s the Wingborn books that people seem to want, so I’d like to focus on those for a few more months and maybe even get some print editions in the works.

Away from the writing and imaginary worlds… look at my puppy! Hasn’t he grown? Still only six months, but rapidly transforming into a monster. Keeping him entertained probably hasn’t helped my shoulder and fatigue issues, but he’s worth it.

But enough of me and mine, how be you fine people? Ready for March to march on in? Got any exciting plans in the works? Whatever is ahead, I hope the year is treating you well.

A Bit of Me, Overworld, Updates, Writing

NaNo 2017 Progress Report 1

Becca Lusher

So far, so tentatively good. I haven’t had a chance to write anything today, which is annoying because I know exactly what I wanted to do, but alas, life and admin got in the way. However, I have plans for getting lots more done tomorrow, which should hopefully carry me those annoying last few words over the 30K mark.

Progress! It is being made!

Have some snippets – no spoilers. (I don’t think…)

DAY TWO
Aquila’s War Ch 1

Lyrai hated it. It was all so fake and false. Give him the wild wind and a miryhl’s wings any day of the moon over this nonsense.

Lyrai, Chapter 1

Day 2 – 2361 words
Overall – 4850 words

DAY THREE
Aquila’s War Ch 2

“Don’t you dare speak to me of history. I have lived it.”

Lyrai, Chapter 2

Day 3 – 4520 words
Overall – 9370 words

DAY FOUR
Aquila’s War Ch 3 (½)

“They won’t keep anything they catch. Not in the narrow valley.”

Gedanon, Chapter 3

Day 4 – 2758 words
Overall – 12,128 words

DAY SIX
Aquila’s War Ch 3 (½)

“Didn’t think.”
Clearly. “There’s a lot of that going around.”

Silveo, Chapter 3

Day 6 – 2880 words
Overall – 15,008 words

DAY SEVEN
Aquila’s War Ch 4

“Cumulo says hello,” she murmured, and he smiled as he kissed her.

Mhysra, Chapter 4

Day 7 – 4252 words
Overall – 19,260 words

DAY EIGHT
Aquila’s War Ch 5

You are needed, the dragon repeated. Your friends need you.

Mouse, Chapter 5

Day 8 – 3146 words
Overall – 22,406 words

DAY NINE
Aquila’s War Ch 6

“Are you mocking your lieutenant, student?”
“Why, yes, sir,” she bowed to both Riders with a flourish, “I do believe I am.”
“Excellent.” Stirla gave her an approving nod. “Keep up the good work.”

Corin and Stirla, Chapter 6

Day 9 – 3215 words
Overall – 25,621 words

DAY TEN
Aquila’s War Ch 7 + 8 (½)

No, there was nothing better than flying.

Lyrai, Chapter 7

Day 10 – 4243 words
Overall – 29,864 words

29,864 / 90,000 words. 33% done!

I might not be pushing on quite as fast as last year, but I’m pretty happy with it so far. Especially considering how out of practise I am and how much of my free time is being gobbled up by a greedy puppy. All in all, progress is good, and will hopefully pick up as the plot pace increases.

To all my fellow NaNo participants out there, I hope your stories are going well, and here’s to many more words to come!

Merry Saturday, everyone!

A Bit of Me, Overworld, Updates, Writing

NaNo 2017

Becca Lusher

Oh, look, it’s November again, which must mean NaNoWriMo is back!

I haven’t had a lot of success with forward planning this year, so I’m not at all sure how well this is going to go, but I shall make an attempt anyway. By now I had hoped to have finished Burning Sky (Dragonlands #4), leaving me free to launch into Aquila’s War (Wingborn #5). Alas, this hasn’t happened. Although I’ve been inching along with Sky, I’ve been struggling to get the plot to the point where I’m free to let loose and run away with it. Mostly because I haven’t had the time or been in the right head space to simply sit back and think about it all. As for AW, while I know where I wanted it to go and what’s vaguely going to happen, details have yet to emerge.

At least that’s where I was with it all last weekend, when I decided to put Sky aside for now and focus on AW instead. Then a new plot idea started jumping up and down for Sky, although I’m not sure yet how I can get to it from where I left things in Chapter 7. Now, after reading through Wingborn #4, ideas for AW are busily poking at my brain, and I also have a long abandoned book waving fresh ideas from the dusty archives. All of which leaves me in something of a quandary.

So this year’s NaNo attempt isn’t to write 50K words of a novel. It’s to write as many words as possible on two, possibly three books, and hope I might actually finish one of them. 50,000 words would be good, even more would be great, but I’m making no promises and setting no targets. I have them in my head, but I’m only counting the things that I actually get done. Hopefully that way I won’t jinx myself and ruin it all.

Updates to come as and when I have anything of worth to report.

For now…

DAY ONE
Aquila’s War Prologue + 1/2 Ch 1

Riders filled the northern horizon.

Prologue, 1st line

Overall – 2489 words

Here’s hoping tomorrow goes as well. Although I do have the dentist, so I’m definitely not making any promises.

Good luck to all who are also taking part!

 

A Bit of Me, Updates

August Catch Up

Becca Lusher

Yartor Pony July

I’m not quite sure what it is about this year – or me – but every time I mention a deadline I seem to be tempting fate too far, so I get something else thrown at my head to make all chances of meeting said deadline impossible.

Which is a roundabout way of attempting to excuse myself for missing all my self-imposed deadlines this year. I would say that from now on I will hit each and every one, but I’m making no promises – in case they turn around and devour me whole.

The good news is A Courtship of Dragons is finally out! You may have already noticed.

The other good news is that I’m working really hard on Storm Rising and hope that it won’t be long before it follows. I have a hard deadline set in my head, but I refuse to write it down for fear of aforementioned bitey things.

After that it really is time I returned to writing. Things have been so hectic around here this year that I basically haven’t written anything in more months than I care to imagine. Which would be frightening, except I have been just too busy to have managed anything. I’ve written copious reviews, but I don’t think they really count. I also cleaned out a fully packed attic, which is satisfying in many ways, but doesn’t write the stories for me.

Next up on my writing schedule is the long neglected Burning Sky (or is it Sands?), which is Dragonlands #4. I left some characters in a bad way there, so I really do need to go and take care of them. After that, I would love to try NaNo again this year, probably with Wingborn #5 (whose title is spoilery for those who haven’t read past book 1). Beyond that, a whole other series without dragons or miryhls in it keeps calling me with a siren song and I’d love to return and play with them. I also have Aekhs to work on and older books to tidy up for various reasons.

As always, lots to do, very little time to do it in. But in non-writing news I’ve been walking loads, have finally worked out a routine so I can yoga every day and I even have a new camera to play with. My dogs and I continue to get older, my cat remains cuddly and grumpy, family is awesome, and my good old British summer isn’t playing very fair right now (see the photo, that’s supposed to be July!). On the whole, though, I can’t complain.

But enough of me, how are you lovely people doing?

Overworld, Updates

February Update

Becca Lusher
black-tor
Black Tor, Feb 2017

I’m currently hard at work on the last round of Rift Riders edits, prepping it for its ebook release in a couple of weeks, but since it’s the last day of the month I thought it was time for an update.

So far this year, my productivity hasn’t been too high. In fact, writing has been a bit of a struggle, which is why I’ve been fairly quiet around here. I’m hoping to change that after Rift is out and I can turn my attention back to Burning Sky.

My current tentative plans are to hopefully write Dragonlands 4 and 5 while giving Wingborn another going over and tweaking Blazing Dawn. I’ve already rewritten a few chunks of BD, but there are a few more things I’d like to tackle before I can release the updated version and hopefully work on a print edition. As such, my plans for Storm Rising (Dragonlands 2) have been pushed back to May/June. Hopefully by then I’ll have a much firmer idea of where the series is going and can feel confident in releasing them.

Luckily, Dragongift, the third Wingborn book, is already written and short of a few brief edits is ready and raring to go from March 17th. I have a lot of love for this book, so I hope everyone else enjoys it just as much. It’s different again from both WB and RR, with a more exploratory feel, but it’s the same characters and the same world, so I hope you’ll be back to continue the adventure.

And lastly, fans of A Courtship of Dragons should be pleased to know that I have a vague idea where it’s all headed now. However, I haven’t had a chance to write any more lately so, sorry, but there won’t be an update this week. Hopefully by next week I’ll have more to offer and I might even be inspired enough to finish it.

That ought to cover everything. I’ll be adding a few deleted Wingborn scenes over the next few weeks, and even a glimpse or two of the original book from my teenage years. I’m also considering what to do with my Regency romances and having a few rumbling thoughts about the next Aekh book. So even though I may be a bit quiet (beyond serial updates) there’s always something going on.

As always, thanks for reading, you lovely people, and I hope to have more goodies to share with you soon.

A Bit of Me, Overworld, Updates, Writing

NaNo Report: Final Thoughts

Becca Lusher

Well, I did it. Cloud Cursed was wrapped up by Day 19, which left me free all last week to pursue other things. In the meantime I also managed to pass 10,000 words on A Courtship of Dragons, taking my November total over 100,000.

So what has NaNo taught me this year? Not a lot really, since I’ve always been lucky enough to be able to throw a lot of words out if I have a chance to put in the effort. It’s still nice to know I can complete a challenge when I set one, though.

Am I glad I did it? Yep, because now I’m one book deeper into the Dragonlands series and have plenty of ideas to keep carrying me forward. This book also brought out the overarching plotline and coalesced a few nebulous ideas, which is always nice. I don’t know how concrete they’ll prove to be going forward (spontaneous dragons and all), but having the daily word count chasing me meant I kept writing when I might otherwise have taken a few days out to think things over and lost the momentum.

I also didn’t go completely crazy over the last few days. Well, relatively speaking. I wrote as much from Day 13-19 as I’d written up to that point, doubling my word count in a week. But this isn’t unheard of for me when I get my teeth into something, and I didn’t have any 10,000+ days, so I didn’t lose my head completely. Which I’d count as a success judging by my output in previous NaNo attempts.

Overall I’d call this a success. I hit my goals and didn’t keel over from exhaustion or pressure. I started and finished the book I wanted to and also managed to start something else along the way, regardless of world events, boiler breakdowns and other unexpected drains on my time, energy and brain space.

So thanks, NaNo 2016. You were tough, but we made it and maybe I’ll play properly next year.

To finish, here’s the final Snippet List of Progress:

DAY SEVENTEEN
Cloud Cursed Ch 19

ANHARDYNE WAS FED up of stairs. For creatures who could transform into thirty to forty foot beast and fly every which way they pleased, dragons built far too many stairs.

– Anhardyne, Chapter 19

Something long and smooth brushed over his wings and Estenarven spun, snarling.

– Estenarven, Chapter 19

Day 17 – 4942 words
Overall – 73,234 words

DAY EIGHTEEN
Cloud Cursed Ch 20+21

Without a word, Khennik assumed his dragon shape and curled his longer form around the front half of Estenarven, covering the young dragon with a shimmering bronze and gold wing.

– Khennik, Chapter 20

“We rarely get what we deserve,” Goryal said gently. “Although sometimes, if we are lucky enough, we get what we need.” They opened their clasped hands and the scent of tea filled the air. “Drink?”

– Goryal, Chapter 21

Day 18 – 7804 words
Overall – 81,038 words

DAY NINETEEN
Cloud Cursed Ch 22 – 25

“Have faith in yourself. Trust your strength. We are with you.”

– Khennik, Chapter 22

Maegla, it was beautiful.

– Nera, Chapter 23

Tempting though it was to tell the elder to buzz off – rainbow sparkles optional – they were still a powerful, influential dragon and she didn’t think either her captain or the ambassador would be pleased if she somehow offended Goryal. Not that Goryal was easy to offend, but it would be just her luck if she managed it nevertheless.

– Anhardyne, Chapter 24

“What happens now?”

– Reglian, Chapter 25

Day 19 – 8880 words
Overall – 89,218 words

THE END!

Now that that’s over with, I suppose I should return to working on Storm Rising and get that ready for release in the new year. I would much rather get working on book 4 (Burning Sands), but if I just keep writing without releasing things I think people might get fed up of hearing me talking about them.

So next on the list will be Storm Rising edits. Rift Riders has about nine more weeks of scheduled updates to go, then I’ll be prepping that one for release too before deciding what to do about book 3 in both series. Woven in amongst all of this I’ll also continue to work on A Courtship of Dragons, because there will never be too much fluffy dragon romance in the world and writing Esten and Mastekh is pure brain candy for me.

All in all, business as usual. Much writing has been done, too much editing remains and books will appear as and when I can get them ready.

Farewell, November, thanks for the words. To my fellow NaNo participants out there, congratulations! I hope you made it to the end, or if not, then you’re at least happy with what you achieve. If (again) not, well, I guess there’s always next year. I’ll see you then.

In the meantime, take care, my lovelies!

A Bit of Me, Overworld, Updates, Writing

NaNo Report, Part 3

Becca Lusher

Things have really started picking up, plot-wise and with the word count, over the last few days. Which is good, because thanks to the boiler breakdown last week and the three days of repairs, my writing schedule was rather disrupted.

I’ve also found out that next week is going to be a bit of a mess writing-wise too. Why does this only ever happen in my NaNo years? In the non-NaNo years November is dull and empty, but as soon as I commit to something, quick, quick, we demand your time elsewhere! This isn’t really a complaint, just a general expression of bafflement.

Anyway, I’m hoping to get the book finished this week. I’m not sure if I’ll quite manage it, depends on how much brain power I have left and how many random directions my spontaneous dragons can erupt in. I can always tell when I’m getting worn out, though, because my characters start to swear a lot. Normally I only let them swear to make a dramatic point, but the f-word is creeping in all over the place lately. This usually shows I’m too busy (or lazy) to think of something better, but at the moment I just sort of stare blankly at the screen for a few minutes, then shrug and move on. So that’ll be fun to edit later.

I’m also having more trouble picking snippets to share without spoilers. Then again, I’m also struggling to figure out if they’re actually spoilers or not when no one knows anything else leading up to this point over the last two books. I’m trying to avoid them nonetheless.

Now all I have to do is gather up all my trailing threads and try to weave them into a coherent ending. In three days. Wish me luck!

Oh, and because of all the above blathering, I haven’t had much time to spare for Courtship. I’ll try and squeeze a few lines out tomorrow, but I’d kind of like to get Cloud Cursed over and done while I have time. Then I’ll have more time to play. I’m looking forward to it. (Although I’m now full of ideas for Book 4 and would love to write that straight after this. I should probably edit No.2 and release it first. Being an indie author is no fun sometimes ;)

In the meantime, here’s the Snippet List of Progress!

DAY ELEVEN
Lost to the continuing Saga of the Boiler.

DAY TWELVE
Cloud Cursed Ch 12

It wasn’t funny and it wasn’t clever. Someone could get hurt – and probably would once Khennik finally tracked down those responsible.

– Khennik, Chapter 12

Day 12 – 3468
Overall – 45, 001

DAY THIRTEEN
Catching up on other things.

DAY FOURTEEN
Cloud Cursed Ch 13+14

“Shut up and hand me that naked dragon.”

– *Spoilers* (It’s probably not, I’m just mean), Chapter 13

“You Riders do make life interesting.”

– Korija, Chapter 14

Day 14 – 6538 words
Overall – 51, 539 words

DAY FIFTEEN
Cloud Cursed Ch 15+16

It was all Estenarven’s fault.

– Khennik, Chapter 15

He used to play with the hummingbirds when he was a dragonling, creeping through the lush forest groves, enchanted by their jewel-bright feathers and their tiny forms. They had been beautiful, so beautiful.

– Mastekh, Chapter 16

Day 15 – 8151 words
Overall – 59,690 words

DAY SIXTEEN
Cloud Cursed Ch 17+18

Footwear was a serious liability.

– Khennik, Chapter 17

“Ow,” the Rider complained, squirming against his grip. “I was only joking. Gods, you dragons have no sense of humour.”

– Vish, Chapter 18

Day 16 – 8602 words
Overall – 68,292 words

68292 / 80000 words. 85% done!

So close now!

At least, I hope I am, because with where everything ended today I could either wrap the whole thing up in another three chapters, or it could be double that and more. I’m hoping to land somewhere in the middle, but I guess I will have to wait and see.

To all my fellow NaNo participants, hope you’re still on tracking and kicking your word count where it, uh, counts.

And to everyone else, I hope all is well or as good as can be expected.

Take care, my lovelies!