I hope I haven’t lost the few visitors I regularly had. I know my absences have been rather long, with very little posted here.

So, quick update on projects. Destiny’s Heir is sitting over 50% completion, but I hit a nasty case of writer’s block that I’ve been struggling with for weeks. I finally did come up with a solution to get past my dilemma, but I got ambushed by Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords on sale for $2.49 on Steam. Naturally, it blindsided me when I was doing so well resisting the urge to play X-Com: Enemy Unknown. On top of that, I’ve spent my waking hours in the last three weekends hunting deer with my father.

I really dislike having a day job. It’s really in the way of getting things done.

Fortunately (or not), daylight hours are pretty much not available anymore. I drive to work in the dark and drive home in the dark, with all my daylight expended while I’m in my cell–er, office. The upside is an abundance of hours I can spend in the house when I get home in the evening–hours that I’ve been waiting on KotOR, but which I’m re-devoting to writing.

So here’s the plus side.

I’ve been working on an outline for another story, a tale I’m tentatively calling Thirteen Swords. Don’t worry–the title has virtually nothing to do with the book.

The title is way more interesting.

My current plan is to continue working on Destiny’s Heir. I’ve set a hard deadline for myself of December 31st, so I need to average over a thousand words per day to finish it up, which is virtually nothing. On the side, I need something else to write when I’m struggling with a particular scene or idea, which is what Thirteen Swords should provide for me–an outlet from my outlet.

Thirteen Swords will be posted here on WritingUnderDuress.com. Not just in part, either–I intend to write and post the whole thing right here. Free novel for all!

I don’t have a timeline on when chapters can be expected. I intend to write at least a chapter a week (the average chapter ranging from 2.5-4k words), but I need to get a bit of a buffer built up so my proofreaders can correct all my problems. Believe me, there’s plenty that will need to be fixed.

So, keep checking in, and you should soon be pleasantly (or unpleasantly, depending on which side of the sword you’re on) surprised!