PROGRESS REPORT: WEEK ENDING AUGUST 3, 2024

 IT'S BEEN A BUSY WEEK WRITING WISE, SO LET'S GET GOING.

First off, Chapter 29 to SOLITAIRE 2: THE AGENDA is turning out to be a major action chapter!

Have broken the 52,000+ word count on the overall manuscript and am not finished with this section so I can go on to Chapter 30 yet!

I did have to stop and do some research on tightrope walking and blackjacks in regards to Chapter 29.

What does one have to do with the other? 😐

You'll just have to wait until the novel is published to find out.

Secondly, I did have to pause SOLITAIRE work for a day because Robert J. Mendenhall sent out to all his contributors the galley draft for CODE NAME INTREPID: CLASSIFIED VOLUME 3, so I needed to go over what will be the final, published version of my story "Operation Colossus" to make sure everything was all right before the book is officially released sometime before the end of August.

And dig this great cover by Jeffrey Hayes of Plasma Fire Graphics!

That's U.S. Army Air Corps Lieutenant Richard "Rick" Justice squaring off against...

well, truthfully I'm not sure what he's facing at the moment because I haven't had a chance to read the other five adventures in the anthology yet but I'm sure that between John L. French, Brian K. Lowe, Brian K. Morris, James Palmer, Mendenhall and myself there won't be a dull moment anywhere in the book.

In any event, I better get back to writing now.

Take care.

STAY SAFE!

And I'll see you around the Internet.

Lee Houston, Junior

4 August, 2024

PROGRESS REPORT: WEEK ENDING JULY 27, 2024

 Unfortunately it hasn't been one of my better weeks writing wise. 😒

It just seems as if anything that could go wrong did.

A couple of times I wanted to ask "What else could happen?" or words to that effect, but I was afraid of the answer.

Anyway, I'm still on Chapter 29 of SOLITAIRE 2: THE AGENDA, but at least I'm closer to the 51,000 word mark than I was this time last weekend.

If I'm gonna go beyond that, let alone finish the manuscript, I better get back to writing now.

Take care.

STAY SAFE!

And I'll see you around the Internet.

Lee Houston, Junior

28 July, 2024

PROGRESS REPORT: WEEK ENDING JULY 20, 2024

 FIRST AND FOREMOST...

This is the 600TH BLOGGER POST for Filling Blank Spaces! 😀

When I made my very first post back on September 14, 2013, I knew I would be here for as long as I
could write, but just on the strength of a weekly PROGRESS REPORT alone, I didn't think I'd be achieving such a major milestone so soon.

Of course life's various and unwanted interruptions along the way (my mother's passing, being without a computer for awhile, along with the occasional interruption of Internet service or electricity) didn't help.

Yet here we are.

I said "We" because I don't post anything on this Blog just to hear myself talk.

If fame and fortune were my only career goals, I would have given up writing long ago.

Besides wanting to express myself creatively, I want to entertain all the readers, fans and friends I've gained along the way.

After all, if you're reading these words right now, you're at least in one of those three categories

In any event, work is proceeding apace on SOLITAIRE 2: THE AGENDA.

I'm well into Chapter 29 and over 51,000+ words in the manuscript, but there's still work to do before the novel is finished so I better get back to it.

Take care.

STAY SAFE!

And I'll see you around the Internet.

Lee Houston, Junior

21 July, 2024

PROGRESS REPORT: WEEK ENDING JULY 13, 2024

 Still hard at work writing SOLITAIRE 2: THE AGENDA.

Unfortunately I had plenty of interruptions this past week, so I'm still only on Chapter 29.

It also didn't help that part of what I had rewritten for Chapter 28 stank like a herd of skunks🦨🦨🦨 and I had to seriously rewrite the rewrite, which also reduced my overall word count to knock me back down to below 50,000 for the moment.

Hey, even writers have an off day once in a while.

But don't worry folks.

This is still just the first draft of the manuscript and I will certainly have all the bugs worked out of it before submitting the book for publication.

I want to give readers and fans the best work I can possibly produce, which is why I believe in QUALITY OVER QUANTITY.

In any event, I better get back to writing now.

Take care.

STAY SAFE!

And I'll see you around the Internet.

Lee Houston, Junior

14 July, 2024

PROGRESS REPORT: WEEK ENDING JULY 6, 2024

 I have finished Chapter 28 of SOLITAIRE 2: THE AGENDA and am currently on Chapter 29 as the
overall manuscript approaches the 51,000+ word mark.

As usual life has had its own demands along the way, so not every moment of my day is at the keyboard writing, but I do make those that are count.

In any event, I am proud of the work I've done so far on this manuscript between the latter months of 2023 and what I've accomplished in 2024 so far.

The computer crash, the death of beloved pet Ariel the Wonder Dog and the passing of my father have taken their toll over the first half of this year.

I hope everyone understands that I just didn't really feel like talking about my personal losses, especially the latter considering I wasn't able to fly back to Texas for his funeral. 😢

Yet somehow I've persevered, even to the point of managing to write "Operation: Colossus" for the third volume of Robert J. Mendenhall's CODE NAME INTREPID CLASSIFIED anthology, which is now scheduled for a pre-Labor Day release next month.

SPEAKING OF WHICH...

Robert had the space available in Volume 3, which he is allowing contributors a chance to share brief excerpts of their work with Intrepid readers, so there WILL be a Sneak Peak of S2: THE AGENDA in that volume!😀😁😎

So I better get back to writing now to ensure that S2 really is "a forth coming release from Airship 27".

Take care.

STAY SAFE!

And I'll see you around the Internet.

Lee Houston, Junior

7 July, 2024

PROGRESS REPORT: WEEK ENDING JUNE 29, 2024

 Things are going as well as can be expected right now on SOLITAIRE 2: THE AGENDA.

I'm "floating", "bouncing" or whatever word you prefer, between Chapters 28 and 29 because to do the latter properly, I've got to go back and make some changes to the former.

Overall, still in the early numbers of 50,000+ words but until I have 28/29 settled, can't give you an exact figure yet but don't worry.

I'll have it all worked out in time and will be going on to Chapters 30 and beyond before you know it.

In any event, take care.

STAY SAFE! 

And for those celebrating Thursday, a HAPPY...

Lee Houston, Junior

30 June, 2024

PROGRESS REPORT: WEEK ENDING JUNE 22, 2024

 😀GOOD NEWS EVERYBODY!😁

I have finished proofreading the existing chapters of SOLITAIRE 2: THE AGENDA post computer crash and am back to writing new material in hopes of finishing the novel!

At this point I obvious can't say exactly when that will be, but I am in the middle of Chapter 29 and well over 50,000+ words into the project.

So I better get back to writing now.

Take care.

STAY SAFE!

And I'll see you around the Internet.

Lee Houston, Junior

23 June, 2024