Chapter Five was a bear to write, mainly because there’s a massive amount of delicate worldbuilding here — too much, and it comes across as a Tract, too little, and the reader becomes lost in unfamiliar territory. A lot of movement, covering ground (heh) and launching the story into a new direction.
And this is where I get to introduce perhaps my favorite characters in this book.
In the pale dawn, her skin had the hue of blued steel, and the face she lifted to him could have been a Roman emperor’s writ small, all sharp lines and strong nose.
It took me forever to write that description, originally. Now, when I read it, I see her. I know her voice, her mannerisms, her twitches and her starts. Yet another secondary tries to steal the damn show…. (this is actually more of a joke than I can admit, right now. Trust me, it’s funny.)
And for the first time I can remember, I spelled Lieutenant right on the first try. Go, me!
Current Word Count: 36,000ish. Not much gain in actual word count, but the existing words are stronger.
Also: I made biscotti. That should count for, like, a thousand words, right?
One more day left. Won’t hit the hoped-for 50k, but expect to see 40k. That’ll do.