It’s been a busy, busy week and I’ve been in the office battling to make a deadline that was thrust upon me at the 11th hour. Thankfully I made it but something has had to give so my blogging schedule has sadly gone awry. I don’t like neglecting the WordPress community as it’s where I cut my writing teeth. I’m hoping normal service can be resumed again in the coming days and I’ll get back to regular scribblings at Fractured Faith.
I’ve managed to average 1000 words a day on the first draft of the third book in the Kirkwood Scott Chronicles series. The word count now stands at 109,000 words and I’m estimating it will finally weigh in at around 125,000. My first drafts are always a bit rough and ready but I have the ending in my head so am clinging on to the characters and storyline for dear life in case they gallop over the horizon and leave me stranded by the side of the literary lane I’m currently charging down.
Life in Northern Ireland is fairly grim. Today the country entered another two week ‘lockdown’ where we are being encouraged to stay indoors and work from home where possible. Next week I will be working from home as my office continues with its ‘week in/week out’ rota in order to ensure social distancing is adhered to within the workplace. All non-essential shops are to close in addition to gyms, cafes, bars and restaurants. All sporting activities are also suspended bar elite events which must be played behind closed doors.
We plod on into December and there doesn’t seem much to look forward to in the days ahead. Christmas is now a bit of a non-event for many with dire warnings of a third wave in January if the current restrictions don’t work. It’s extremely frustrating and worrying and the vaccine seems as far away as ever. I’ll keep hoping there are better times ahead but there are days like today where I wonder if life will ever be the same again.
The
Black Thoughts 
Very relatable! Congratulations on your word count. They say the mark of a good story are characters who eventually write themselves. What is Ireland like this time a year?
-Jaymie
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Thank you. Ireland is cold and dark lol
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Haha as a Minnesota native I can imagine.
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I relate to this *so much*
In good news, I did get my writing website/blog up, and I’ve sent some stories out to publishers. One’s been with a publisher for over 2 months now, so that’s making me hopeful I’ll be published soon.
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Thank you. Fingers crossed for you 🙂
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Busy man and so dedicated. 😊
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Thank you very much 🙂
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You’re welcome.
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I’m about half way through your 2nd book and it’s gripping stuff. 👍👍 So I hope those characters don’t disappear into another plane and leave you stranded! Lockdowns are a pain but, on the plus side, whatever happens, you will have your immediate family around you on Christmas Day. Every cloud and all that…
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Thank you. I’m thrilled you are enjoying it. There’s lots more planeing ahead so don’t worry 🙂
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Try to stay encouraged. It’s really hard right now, and not to trivialize it, but it seems like every generation has gone through very difficult situations. A hundred years ago, that generation had a world war and a pandemic. Strange but I never once heard my grandparents talk about it. Then the next generation had World War II. My parents never discussed it much beyond a few of the more vivid incidents. If they made it, we can too. We can find something to cheer our days, even if it’s just a little chat, a favorite Scripture or saying, a brisk walk or even just turning on some twinkly lights – something to change the mood of the mundane. Best wishes on your book.
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Thank you very much. Your words certainly have helped put things into perspective for me.
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My husband and I were just talking how our great grandparents never talked about the 1918 flu (I wonder now why and why didn’t I ask?). And how our grandparents never talked of WWII – this I did ask about and Grandpa would tell me bits. But learning more now of what they all went through – why did they not share more? I’m now a grandma and I try to share the past – but youth is youth – And I often feel my words are lost amongst the noise of the world. But I still share my thoughts.
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I think it is going to take a long time to get back to normal…if that at all. 😦
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