PROGRESS REPORT: WEEK ENDING JANUARY 27, 2018

HUGH, THERE'D BE DRAGONS!

I started out this past week working on HUGH MONN, PRIVATE DETECTIVE, BOOK 3: FEMME FATALE when my plans got changed.

Back in 2017, my friendly neighborhood beta-proofreader asked me if I'd like to contribute to the Companion Dragon universe of stories that already featured Lazlo, Waxy, and Copper.
Of course, I jumped at the chance to work with Nancy Hansen!

We discussed at length who would be "my" dragon, and how the character would fit into the overall plans for the series, including the fact that sometime in the future (and when right now is anybody's guess), there might be a team up of ALL the dragons!

There was no deadline at the time, so imagine my surprise when Nancy contacted me and asked if the first draft of the novella (30,000 minimum to 35,000 words max) would be ready this spring! 😲

Now, it's not like I hadn't been working on it at all. But between various attempts and versions of what is now shaping up to be FEMME FATALE for HUGH, as well as the 1970s Project for Jim Beard (which unfortunately is still on hold as I post this), along with a couple of other things besides life's interruptions, I only managed to do a little over 9000 words on the story.

So guess what I've been working on this past week? 😉

I'm now nearing the 15,000 words mark as of this Progress Report. As soon Nancy is over her unfortunate bout of the flu, I'll send her what I have so far for review and go back to HUGH in the meantime.

Ah, the life of a writer.
I better get back to "work" now.
Take care, and I'll see you around the Internet.
Lee Houston, Junior
28 January, 2018

PROGRESS REPORT: WEEK ENDING JANUARY 20, 2018

Hugh Monn

The writing has been pretty intense this past week.
Or, at least the sequence for Chapter 13 of HUGH MONN, PRIVATE DETECTIVE, BOOK 3: FEMME FATALE is.
It's been a pretty emotional time, especially for one specific character.
Wish I could say more, but don't want to spoil things for the readers.
I am 41,000+ words into the novel and do think it's coming along great now.
Granted, I've had my ups and downs, along with a couple of false starts trying to create this book; but I am well on my way now and the finish line (THE END) is on the horizon.
Not sure how much longer it will take me to get there, so I better get back to "work" now.

See you around the Internet!

Lee Houston, Junior

21 January, 2018

PROGRESS REPORT: WEEK ENDING JANUARY 13, 2018

Any available writing time this past week, outside of honoring my responsiblities as Editor-In-Chief of The Free Choice E-zine was spent working on HUGH MONN, PRIVATE DETECTIVE.
But not all of it was spent on BOOK 3: FEMME FATALE.

I had a few ideas cross my mind while working on Chapter 13, and wound up going back over the previous false starts before FEMME FATALE and now have a solid plot for what will be BOOK 4!
As well as what will eventually be BOOK 5!😎

I'm not sure about other professions, but at least in writing, it pays to hang on to your old material and unused ideas, because you never know when all the various pieces will fit together to create something new and wonderful.
It certainly saves you a lot of time and hassles avoiding this:

In any event, while all my novels are self-contained, without those dreaded words "To Be Continued" at the bottom of the last page, they do tend to build upon one another, like the books in any good series should.

The relationship between Hugh and his girlfriend Sandra Bunnae started at the end of the first HUGH book, has continued through BOOK 2: CATCH A RISING STAR, and is still going strong during BOOK 3.

And in BOOK 4???

Well... let me finish BOOK 3 and what will eventually be the third book in the PROJECT ALPHA series before we start talking about that, okay?

In any event, I'm going back to writing now.
Take care, and I'll see you around the Internet.
Lee Houston, Junior
14 January, 2018

PROGRESS REPORT: WEEK ENDING JANUARY 6, 2018

Well, it's certainly been a busy week for me.
Writing wise, I spent every moment I could going over HUGH MONN, PRIVATE DETECTIVE, BOOK 3: FEMME FATALE Chapters 11-13 now that I've got the edited copy back from my friendly neighborhood beta-proofreader.

On the other hand, the blizzard Thursday certainly wasn't a lot of fun.
Had to go out Wednesday to fight the mobs at the store to lay in extra supplies, just in case.
Why everyone suddenly goes into "headless chicken mode" during such events is beyond me.
The objective is just to have extra stuff on hand for a few days, not to be able to survive until the zombie apocalypse is over. Right?

Thankfully the power never went out, but that wind!
Being originally from the southern Gulf Coast, I know what it's like to deal with a Tropical Storm, let alone a hurricane, and blizzard winds are certainly no fun either.
Especially the cold!
It has not gotten above the 20s for afternoon high temperatures in my neck of the woods since before Christmas!
There have even been a few nights when the official low temperature turned out to be a negative number!

One thing you have to remember, besides the fact that climate change is real.
Not only do the warmer days grow hotter, but the winter days get colder!
In any event the worst is (allegedly) over, for now, and it's supposed to get ABOVE freezing for a few days during the coming week.

Speaking of which, I'll be creating fresh words on the HUGH manuscript as soon as I finish going over all of Nancy Hansen's notes; although work will be paused on Wednesday for a doctor's appointment.

So take care, and I'll see you around the Internet.
Lee Houston, Junior
7 January, 2018

2017/2018

I've been giving serious thought to the year we've just finished, as well as what lies ahead in 2018.

Truthfully? 2017 stank writing wise!

There was too much non-writing stuff going on that affected the writing, the most major of which was when I had to take that large chunk of time off in October because of my mother's passing.

While I prefer not to go into details, some of the delays and interruptions were my fault, for I shouldn't let things that are out of my control get to me the way they do.
Other matters, like my heart condition and overall health, are facts of life that I deal with the best I can.

In any event, I wound up having only one short story published in 2017, and that was "The Merciless Mermaid" I co-wrote with my friendly neighborhood beta-proofreader Nancy Hansen for TALES FROM THE HANGING MONKEY, VOLUME 2 from Airship 27.
Then again, that was a 2016 submission.

While another 2016 submission "The Adventure of the Artful Forger" is scheduled to see print in Airship 27's eleventh Sherlock Holmes collection, unfortunately I made absolutely no submissions in 2017! 😭

That has GOT to change, and it WILL change!
The only thing I managed to keep up with last year was my responsibilities as Editor-in-Chief of The Free Choice E-zine.
I let myself down over the course of the previous year, but more seriously: I let all my readers and fans down too.
For that, I most sincerely apologize.
Yet if I keep looking back, I'm going to get absolutely nothing accomplished.
It's time to move FORWARD!

I'm still awaiting word on when work will resume on Jim Beard's 1970s project, but even though I'm sitting in a comfy chair when I write, it's time to get my butt in gear.

Although there were a couple of false starts that might wind up being reused/recycled later, I'm finally on track with the third HUGH MOON, PRIVATE DETECTIVE novel, which will be subtitled FEMME FATALE.

After HUGH there's PROJECT ALPHA-BOOK 3, the new idea I've been kicking around for awhile, and some other creative endeavors I want to pursue. The latter will include another visit to the Victorian Era and a companion dragon.

What else might 2018 hold in store?
At this point, I honestly don't know, but I intend to find out.
Take care, and I'll see you around the Internet.
Lee Houston, Junior
1 January, 2018       

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