(Image courtesy of Anne Hardy and lemonadepoem)

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NaNo ends in approximately 4 hours, and guess what? Fallon and I have a totally complete first draft. It's really rough, but it's a first draft. We got the story down, and now we're just working on hammering out the details. Hooray!

I finished up the epilogue today, which wrapped up several of the threads we had going on, including Mira and Caelen's wedding, David's adoption, Mindy's new job, and Reeves' comeupance. And Fallon liked it. Sweetness.

So, with 700 words (or so) written today, I spent about an hour putting together the scenes of the novel. I had kept mine and Fallon's sections in separate files to make it easier to judge just how much we each had written. So, when we finished, I had to put them together. The first 3/4s was easy... we literally wrote one scene after the other. But towards the end, we went off on our own, and I had to figure out how to integrate them. I think I did a pretty good job. I think. We'll see how it all works when we read through the whole draft in a couple days. That's a daunting task in and of itself... 184 pages, single spaced, in my word document. Some 80K words when all was said and done. It'll be interesting to edit.

But, I'm excited about it. I'm not sure what we're going to do with the finished draft, but I like working with Fallon. I love her writing, and I love her personality, and I just love working with her. It's easy. It's like having another me with different ideas.

Anyway, I have to go get my new computer set up and everything. I just wanted to celebrate our accomplishment this month. Hopefully I can have just as much luck with Hidden Souls when I get around to writing it again.

By the by, since I've written a disclaimer on all my NaNo posts, I'll start making them private sometime next week, when I have the time to concentrate on the task.

Guess what???



That's right! I'm a winner! I hit 50K earlier this morning with my 2000 word segment in Beauty and the Beast. And I'm not done yet. I got stuck because I wasn't sure how Caelen would react to what Mira told him, so Fallon's writing the next part. And then I'll wrap it up and write the epilogue. Sweet stuff.

It's been an interesting, and sometimes very challenging month. Work has been crazy, mom came home, Fallon had family scares, and I hit a wall more than once in my writing.

My goal this month when I started out was 75K words. I had planned 25K words on Beauty and the Beast (so together we'd have a 50K novel), and then another 50K on my individual project. Well, that's not going to work out. But you know what, I'm still proud of myself. I hit 50K despite it all. And so did Fallon (yay!), who initially was only planning on 25K words, half of our group project.

Today is a good day. Maybe once I get this epilogue written I'll get back to writing Hidden Souls. Fallon seems interested in it :)

Tentative Total: 51465
Total with Fallon: 84178

[NaNo entries will remain public until the end of NaNo '09]

Well, today's a weird day. I had to work this morning (4-8, I hate that shift), and came home and managed to get a couple of hours of shut eye. Then, I tried to start writing. I wasn't very successful. I need to know what's going on with Caelen before I can really write more, and Fallon hasn't finished writing up her section yet. The problem is that I am going to a hockey game tonight in Denver... that's a two hour drive there and back, and at least 2 hours at the game itself. I'll bring my computer and see if I can write some, but I'm not counting on much. I won't have net access, so I can't see what Fallon's written yet. Meh.

Beauty and the Beast (with Fallon): 701 (+unknown at present)
-->Mira's trying to figure out how to adopt David. Will she be able to? Sure, but I'd like it to be a least a little realistic, and I know next to nothing about adoption. Makes it a little difficult to write it. But, I figure she makes some calls, and something will fall into place eventually. Small section today:

He beamed, jumping up and giving her a big hug. She wrapped her arms around him gingerly, slowly stroking his back and holding him closer to her. Her chest felt tight with guilt, but this guilt was of a different nature than the guilt she came to see him with. He didn't blame her for ignoring his father's actions. Instead, he blamed her for leaving him with the courts, for not taking care of him herself. But was that a guilt she could easily dissolve?

Hidden Souls: Nada.

Total: 49358 (I can SEE the end!)
Total with Fallon (less today's section): 77360

[NaNo entries will remain public until the end of NaNo '09]

That's right, Fallon's back in action. Not that it helped me much todayyy... but at least she wrote. And we managed to get some things hammered out for our last few sections. The plan: I have one more section to write with Mira away in Colorado (he he), and then we reunite the two of them and she confesses everything, and then we write the epilogue. Good times. I'm especially interested in what's going to happen in the epilogue, since we have thrown in so many twists completely randomly (and this, folks, is why it's impossible for me to plan out a novel. I can have an idea of where I want to end up, but beyond that...) and we have to tie up a few loose ends (the killer, Mindy Porter, etc).

Beauty and the Beast (with Fallon): 830 (+4123)
-->Yeah, I know the count is a little pathetic, but I wrote Mira's note to Caelen, which I completely forgot about until Fallon popped online asking for it so she can have it for her section. It was a casualty in the corrupted file mess. Not that it much matters... I like it a whole lot better this time around. I also would have been happy to write plenty more, but I have to be up at 3 am to go to work. Which isn't conducive to writing at 9 at night. Just saying.

Mini excerpt! From the note:

My apartment is packed, as I'm moving as soon as I come back to Tennessee. I'm not sure where yet, but it'll be somewhere safer. Somewhere I won't have to worry about going out at night. I figured it was the least I could do after you put me up at your house for a few nights. Ray is watching over everything until I get back, and I'm not sure when that'll be.

Hidden Souls: 0
-->Should I abandon this project? I was super excited about it before NaNo, and now it just seems like work trying to write it. And I'm barely 10K in. Seriously now...

Total: 48657 (the validator on the NaNo website is also almost 1K off. Apparently Open Office has some really weird way to count words).
Total with Fallon: 76659

[NaNo entries will remain public til the end of NaNo '09]

Well, it's been an interesting few days. My mom came home on Sunday, and I didn't get much of a chance to write. And my writing buddy had a crisis of her own, so I kinda lost the motivation. Besides that, I had to work a bunch this week (the whole point of the day off is to sleep in, so I don't care if I'm only working a half-shift... I still have to get up).

So, I managed to get very minimal writing done. And then... I lost 3000 words. See, I went somewhere on Tuesday, and brought my sister's laptop (as it's smaller than mine), along with my external hard drive to write on the drive back. And then on Wednesday after work when I went to sync it... I lost the whole file. Thankfully, I had backed up just about everything by sending Fallon my sections each time I finished them, so only the last section and a half (amounting to about 3000 words) was lost. So, I spent Wednesday trying to rewrite it. I managed a little more than 1100 words before I gave up. We went to see New Moon and I was exhausted by the time we got home (that's what happens when I have to get up at 3 in the morning).

Thursday was Turkey Day, so naturally I slept in (as it's my only day off this week), wrote a little, and then we went over to a friend's house. I brought my computer, intending to write some more, but I couldn't think of what to write next in the story. And then it was too loud to concentrate. And then my sister came and commandeered my computer, because apparently I have mahjong and she does not. I managed almost 3300 words, but I'm still very far behind.

Beauty and the Beast (with Fallon): 4942 (+0)
-->Mira's gone home, and for some reason, is now considering adopting David. Only, that wasn't in the original plot, so I'm not sure how Fallon (and hence Caelen) would feel about a new kid in the family. That, and the fact that she's not really old enough to be his mother... she's only like 25ish (she finished college at 20, worked for a couple years at a talent agency, and has been working at the Center for two years), and David's 10. Yes, she married an older man. But we'll say he was stupid and had kids really young, so he's only like 28-30 now. That, and the fact that she doesn't have a very high paying job, or a nice place to live, doesn't really make it easy for her to adopt him. But David wants her to... he feels out of place with the Youngs, however much he enjoys being there. It'll be interesting to see where this unfolds.

Hidden Souls: 0
-->Been too focused on getting B&B done to really care about this story right now.

Total: 47827
Total with Fallon: 71706

[NaNo entries will remain public until the end of NaNo '09]

( Cut for length )

Beauty and the Beast (with Fallon): 470 (+0)
-->Mira's on her way. Actually, she wrote a note to Caelen in yesterday's section, and I wrote the note itself today (it needs some serious work), and she's getting angry with Helen because Helen is trying to prevent her from going on vacation. Yeah, so not working after everything she's been through.

Excerpt: “Look, Helen, I have worked every weekday, and many weekends, including holidays, for the past two years. I haven't taken a single day of vacation, even when I'm sick. I'm not cutting out on my work completely; I'll still have my phone and laptop and will be doing as much as I can remotely. But we both know that I deserve this vacation, and if you push me too hard, I'll find another position.” Mira clutched her phone tightly and leaned back in the plastic chair.

Hidden Souls: 0

Total: 42885
Total with Fallon: 66764

[NaNo entries will remain public until the end of NaNo '09]

So, I didn't post an update yesterday. Why not? Because I wrote all of 300 or so words. Total. From both stories. In my defense, though, I also worked a 12 hour shift and came home exhausted. Today, though, I had the day off, so I spent the morning writing the rest of my first section on Beauty and the Beast, so Fallon could work on hers, then cleaned for a few hours, and then got back to writing. All in all, it was a pretty good day.

Beauty and the Beast (with Fallon): 2833 (+3318)
-->We're finally on the home stretch, and for the next several sections, Fallon and I can write completely at our own pace, because we don't have to rely on each other's sections to write. Basically, Mira's skipping town for a few days, and Caelen is going to mope around, then get on with his stuff. Mira's going to deal with her past, and hopefully move on from it, before she comes home and tells Caelen everything. And it couldn't have come at a more perfect time, because my mom comes home tomorrow from Iraq, and Fallon's nephew is going to be staying with her for a few days. I'm still a little behind (roughly 1300 words, actually), but I fully plan on catching up.

So, here's a segment of today's writing:

Timothy walked over and gave her a hug as well. “He doesn't deserve you, Mira,” he whispered in her ear. “But he's head over heels in love with you. I've never seen someone willing to sacrifice so much, even my aunt.”

Hidden Souls: 588
-->Not too bad, considering I haven't written in like 4 days. I've got literal contact between Sophia and Michael, and she's finally admitted that he's real. To some degree. I think she'll get stressed enough tonight for another projection, so I need to figure out what's going on with Elizabeth, but I'll get there. I'm still pretty far behind where I'd like to be... I'm about 6000 words behind where I should be to do a half of a NaNo novel here, but I'll win NaNo regardless of how much more I write with this story, so I'm not too worried about it. Initially, we figured that Beauty and the Beast would only be a 50K novel, but it's turning out to be much more like a 100K novel, so I'm happy. I'll get to writing more on this eventually. Maybe I'll write over Thanksgiving, since there won't be much else to do with children running around everywhere...

Total: 42415
Total (with Fallon): 66294

[NaNo entries will remain public until the end of NaNo '09]

Today's been interesting, from many perspectives. My friend let me borrow My Sister's Keeper, so I had to watch that tonight, and I fell asleep again this afternoon, so I wasn't as productive as I would have liked to have been. But, I finished my scene, so I'm happy. Though Fallon's word count makes me feel pathetically unproductive.

Beauty and the Beast (with Fallon): 1349 (+2500)
-->Mira got busy today. Which brings me to research. I have no idea what a PR person at a non-profit does. I mean, I've worked with a nonprofit for a couple of years now, but we've never been terribly in the loop, so I'm not sure what a real organization would do. So, when it comes to Mira's job, I'm not sure what activities to assign. I just wing it as I go. And then when it comes to her skills, I kinda just write and hope for the best.

Ideally, a writer should know all aspects of his or her character, eventually. Since this is NaNo, I'm not particularly worried about getting all the details right, but it's nice to at least have an idea for the first draft.

Hidden Souls: 0
-->Yeah, I really, really need to get back to this.

Total: 38691
Total with Fallon: 59840

[NaNo entries will remain public until the end of NaNo '09]

Still playing catch up, sorry.

Beauty and the Beast (with Fallon): 970 (+1032)
-->Today was one of the hardest days to write. Fallon decided to get them in bed together, but left it up to me as to whether they actually slept together or not. I decided that they did. They have enough going on and needed to relieve some tension. The sexual tension has been building forever. A little touch here. A glance there. Him figuring out he loves her. Her figuring out that maybe she is wrong to turn him down because of the actions of another man.

Problem is, I had no clue what to write afterward. I knew he was gone when she woke up, but beyond that... nothing. We figured she'd have a conversation with one of Caelen's characters (and by that, I mean a character that Fallon made up for Caelen's purposes). So, I wrote a really pathetically small section. I have no clue what's going on after this. We have a basic outline for the rest of the story, but it's hard figuring out how to get there.

And this is the first time I've really had this problem with this story. Because I come home every day from work (or whatever) and have a new part of the story waiting for me, there's always been something new, except for a few days when we really didn't write. Every time I'd have trouble figuring out where the story was going, Fallon would figure out something and break up that block. And it's been great, and I love that about Fallon. But today... it didn't work out that way. I'll make it through, it's just been a little tough getting there.

Hidden Souls: 0
-->Yea, I'm slacking. Working on it, I promise.

Total: 37342
Total with Fallon: 55991

[NaNo entries will remain public until the end of NaNo '09]

I'm a bit behind posting these, so bear with me. I apologize.

Beauty and the Beast (with Fallon): 1466 (+1951)
--> Mira is a lot like me. She's stubborn as all get out. She knows that Caelen doesn't want her to leave, so what does she do when he makes her mad? She threatens to leave. And, while at first I couldn't figure out how Caelen would react, it turns out that he begs her to stay, even while promising to help her pack in the morning. I have a feeling that he'd go back to begging to get her to stay past then too. But, of course, she agrees to stay, because that's what she really wanted in the first place. Go figure. No wonder men can't figure us out. We can barely figure ourselves out.

Hidden Souls: 178
--> Nothing of real note to report here. I wrote a few more lines on the scene with Michael confronting Sophia. Of course, I need to figure out how I'm writing it, since I started in first person, then switched to third person, and keep flopping back and forth as I see fit.

Total: 36372
Total with Fallon: 53989

[NaNo entries will remain public until the end of NaNo '09]

I need to be more like Fallon and post some interesting titles for these entries. Meh. I can only be so creative. Today was a pretty good day. We surpassed 50K on our tag-team project, so that's something to celebrate about. My I'm-a-bit-behind goal for today was 35K, which I'm just a little shy of. I might still manage tonight, but I don't know what I'm going to do for my personal project yet, so I'm writing this now. Before I forget. And stuff.

Beauty and the Beast (with Fallon): 2231 (+1800ish)
-->We put our characters through so much, don't we? Poor Mira is facing things that's making me, as the writer, cry. I had her talk to the boy who haunts her past. And like many children, he forgives her. After all, she's what got him away from his father. Even though she let it happen for so long. But she doesn't quite forgive herself yet, and until she forgives herself, she can't trust Caelen with her past. It's not that she doesn't trust him. After all, she had given him one of her difficult cases to handle, and he handled it well. She knows he won't hurt her. She knows that he could make her happy. But she won't let herself be happy. And Caelen will forgive her for her past, so she can't bear to tell him. Women are so funny like that, aren't they?

Hidden Souls: 193
-->Michael's confronting her. And he's giving her information about his past, so that she can actually see that she's not crazy, and that she can actually help this little girl. I'm working on getting her past that realization.

Total: 34728
Total with Fallon: 50572 (WOOT!)

[NaNo entries will remain public until the end of NaNo '09]

I have a reason for being late today. One, I only wrote about 550 words yesterday. Due to a variety of reasons. One, I got home at about 6 yesterday morning. Two, I slept as soon as I got home, and didn't wake up until around 12. Three, I had a dinner to go to last night for our employee appreciation night. That I didn't get home from until around 10. Then I had to tend to my dog, and so forth.

So, I only ended up writing a little bit yesterday, but said I'd write the rest of yesterday's section for B&B this morning. So, I did. So, I'm posting two updates today. One for what was supposed to be done yesterday, and one for today when I finish with today's section.

Beauty and the Beast (with Fallon): 1915 (+2250)
-->Caelen kissed Mira in Fallon's section today, so I got to deal with the aftermath from Mira's perspective. She's terrified, because she doesn't want a relationship right now, but wants to be with Caelen (to some extent). So, she resolved to do some things to help him out. She's a strange individual. She knows, logically, that Caelen isn't her ex, but that doesn't stop her from associating the two. She knows, deep down, that they'd be good together. After all, she does enjoy his company, and he does some amazing things that just blow her out of the water. And she's very strongly attracted to him. So, what does she do? Well, she already promised she wouldn't run away, so she's doing what she can to hurry the process along so that she doesn't have to stay with him anymore. She's gotten him out of his community service, she's contacted people to help fight on his behalf. And, on a more personal level, she feels obligated to explain why she's rejected him, so she offers some insight into her own past. It's been an emotional day for her. I feel bad.

Hidden Souls: 0
--> Nothing again today. Maybe I'll catch up. Maybe I won't. Either way, I'm gonna win NaNo, so I'm not too bummed about it.

Total: 32304
Total with Fallon: 46541 (Yup, we're totally gonna finish the 50K today. Tomorrow at the latest. We so rock).

[NaNo entries will remain public until the end of NaNo '09]

It's still pretty early, but I'm working a graveyard shift tonight, and have been awake since 8 this morning, so I'm gonna try to take a nap before I have to go in for work. During the time I'm normally sleeping. Gah.

Beauty and the Beast (with Fallon): 1691 (+1900ish)
-->Characters. They have lives beyond the scope of the novel, whether it happened before the novel started or beyond the end of the novel. Hard as it may seem to the author, it's true. Sometimes, the author knows his or her character's backstory, and what'll happen at the end of the novel. When NaNo comes around though, it's pretty rare. For myself, I had only a vague idea of Mira's past. Truly vague. I knew something had happened that made her leave the West Coast and end up in Tennessee (which we figured out was where the novel takes place about 4 days into the project). I knew she had been working at the Center for a few years. Beyond that, I didn't know anything.

Until today. Today, Caelen got word that Ms. Mira Cordova didn't exist before two years ago. So, I needed to figure out why. Turns out, she was married before. And her husband abused his son. Badly. And so she took the measures to get him away, and put his father behind bars. And then, with the help of a college friend, she changed her identity in a sort of witness protection way. Only it's not airtight. She's still trying to make up for the fact that the kid was abused for months under her nose, and she refused to admit it.

Characters: they truly have a life of their own.

Hidden Souls: 804.
-->No, not much progress here today, but I'm delving into the past of another character: Michael Cline. Sophia is trying to figure out if he's real, or she's just crazy. So she goes back and tries to find out the circumstances in which he died. Problem is that she doesn't know how old she is, and doesn't know his last name. So she has a list of about 10 obituaries of young men named Michael who have died in the past 2-3 years. She's not sure if any of them are Michael, and doesn't want to go talk to him about it. So, I now know how Michael died. And I have a vague idea of why he's connected to her. It's still pretty vague, though. I'll have to work on that one a little more.

Total: 30389 (about 2100 words behind where I'd need to be to get 75K this month)
Total with Fallon: 42376

[NaNo entries will remain public until after NaNo '09]

Oofta. Today's been an interesting day. I'm switching from morning shift to graveyard shift for one night, and I'm trying to stay awake as long as possible as it is. Yeah, not working so well. I'm too tired. But, I did get some decent writing done.

Beauty and the Beast (with Fallon): 2234 (+1775)
-->They're moved in. And Mira's warming up to him. Excerpt today:


“Is this part of your normal routine?” she asked curiously.

He blinked and looked up at her, then took a long drink from his cup. “No. Normally I'm out of the house by now. But since you're here I figured I'd try to play the part of a good host.”

She nodded and smiled. At least he was making an effort, though she wasn't entirely sure what the cause behind his change of heart was. “Thank you for breakfast,” she said quietly. He nodded in acknowledgment and turned back to his paper.

Short, I know, but it shows the interesting dynamic between them.

Hidden Souls: 141
-->I totally meant to write more, and I even went through and edited some of the references I wrote yesterday (to a comic book character and a 'creepy' poem), so at least it's somewhat accurate now. I just couldn't stay up any later to write any more. I know, bad Chelle. But, I'm awake now, so maybe I"ll get cracking on it again. No excerpt today, since the addition was so short.

Total: 27894
Total with Fallon: 38785 (wow... we're almost to 40K)

[NaNo entries will remain public until NaNo '09 is finished]

Well, today was interesting. I had absolutely no motivation to write today, despite having the day off, and it took me several hours to get through editing the B&B section I wrote yesterday. But, I had to take my little sisters places tonight, and had 2 1/2 hours of mostly silent, internet-free time. And I wrote like nothing else...

Beauty and the Beast (with Fallon): 302 (+0)
-->Since Fallon couldn't write today, I just spent time going over my section from yesterday. Added a few things here and there, but I'm mostly satisfied with it now.

Hidden Souls: 3488
--> Yes, that's right. Almost 3500 words in 2 1/2 hours. I wrote her section projection sequence, plus Michael convincing her that it wasn't a dream. And I really only stopped because the battery on my computer was about to die, and I had to go pick up my sisters. And I'm not picking it up now because I have to work in the morning. But tomorrow I have to stay up late, so I can have enough sleep to stay awake all night on Friday, so I'll write quite a bit later in the night, methinks. I'm excited!

Total: 25519
Total with Fallon: 34776

[NaNo entries will remain public until after NaNo '09]

Well, today was interesting. It took me forever and a day (or so it seems) to get through my section, and I'm really not sure why it was so difficult. Mental block or something. Anyway, since Fallon's not going to be able to write tomorrow, I have a while to work it out.

Beauty and the Beast (with Fallon): 1797 (+2889)
-->Today, Mira is faced with a real challenge. She's been attacked because she defended Caelen, and now he wants her to move in. She obviously doesn't want to, and tries to figure out a way around it. But... Caelen does something a little unexpected and she gives in. I hope Fallon likes it...

Hidden Souls: 0. Again. I know.

Total: 21729
Total (with Fallon): 34474

[NaNo entries will remain public until NaNo '09 is over]

I'm back for another round. I've almost completely caught up from missing Saturday... I'm about 100 words or so behind on B&B, and I'm about 2500 words behind on Hidden Souls still. But I did manage to write about 250 words before calling it quits. I think I would be a lot more productive if I didn't sit there and play Bejeweled for hours on end. But that's neither here nor there.

Beauty and the Beast (with Fallon): 2319 (+2995)
-->I think Mira's feelings are changing a little too fast, but I'm not sure how to slow them down, exactly. It seems like... yesterday, she thought Caelen was the biggest jerk on the face of the Earth. And now she's attracted to him and thinks that he's not such a bad guy. Then again, during that time, she's also seen more into his past, has seen him do something amazing for a little boy (however annoyed she is at the fact that he didn't consult her first), and has felt his attraction for her. Well, that's what I'm assuming happened, because she remained still during the whole time he was watching her and thinking very dirty thoughts. Including her writhing under him. That was all Fallon, by the way. Her thoughts aren't quite so graphic... yet. She's just mesmirized.

Hidden Souls: 284
--> Yeah, Sophia thinks she's schizophrenic. I have to write another projection sequence next, and I'm not entirely sure what I want her to do. I have Wednesday off, and other than running up to the Springs to get some transcripts and stuff sent, I have nothing to do, so I'll take some time to write. Maybe on campus if it's nice. Or in the park. Anywhere there's not internet.

Total: 19932
Total with Fallon: 29788*

*Fallon and my counts aren't lining up for some reason, but I'm not sure if she's making changes after she sends me a section, which might account for it. Ah well. We almost have 30K!

[NaNo entries will remain public until the end of NaNo '09]

Well, I didn't write up anything for Day 7 cause, well, I didn't write anything. I had to work from 4-8 (am), then had to leave my house by 10 (am) in order to get up to Denver on time to eat lunch and see Wicked with my sisters. I didn't end up getting home til 8, and I was so exhausted that I went straight to bed. Of course, I had to work a full day today, so writing had to wait until after I got home from work, and since Fallon didn't want me to write the section immediately following the one she wrote today, I had to get Mira to go do something else.

So, I decided to send Mira on an interview. And then have Mindy get suspicious over the way she talks about Caelen. Interesting, indeed. And I didn't bother to try to write on Hidden Souls today because, well, I had like 3000+ words to try to write on Beauty and the Beast, and that kinda wore me out. Tomorrow's another day :)

Beauty and the Beast (with Fallon): 2446 (+1453)
-->Excerpt!:

“I was wondering how you responded to the dismissal of the case against Reeves, being so close to Trudy.”

Mira winced and took a deep breath before responding. She knew she only had one chance at this answer, and if she wanted to repair Worden's reputation, she would have to start here. “It's a terribly unfortunate set of circumstances. I'm deeply saddened that the police thought it necessary to fake the evidence to convict him, when the evidence that stood would likely have been enough to convict him. Like everyone else, I would like to see Reeves behind bars, but our justice system doesn't always work that way.”

Hidden Souls: 0
-->Still nothing to report here.

Total: 17329
Total (with Fallon): 24474 (almost halfway there!)

[NaNo entries will remain public until after NaNo '09]

Well, since I have to work insanely early tomorrow, I'm calling it a night. I wasn't as productive as I probably should have been, since I had the day off and all, but I did get a fair amount written.

Beauty and the Beast (with Fallon): 1858 (+2014)
-->We have some interesting internal conflicts going on now. Mira just told Caelen that she accepts his offer, under certain conditions, but it unsure whether she can actually do as he asks. She also wants to know what he was like before he turned bitter and all. Of course, she's very curious, so she'll pry until she gets the answer. Caelen, on the other hand, is warring already with his feelings for her... she invades his thoughts and is subtly changing him. Good times all around.

Hidden Souls: 934 (Hey, it's something at least)
-->Here, I've finally introduced Michael. And Sophia is wondering what the heck is wrong with this man. She's a psych major, so she keeps going over different psychological disorders that he could have claiming he's a ghost. I'm sure at one point she even considers herself schizophrenic. Of course, none of that can really explain the fact that he can move his hand through tables, and she was definitely present when the mayor's daughter was being kidnapped.

Total: 14883 (slightly behind schedule, though ahead on group project)
Total with Fallon: 20575 (over a 2/5 of the way done, woot)

[NaNo entries will remain public until the end of NaNo '09]