Late last night, I got Chapter 11 done as far as it's going to get for now. Still have mucking to do. The new character's speaking habits are still giving me fits. In the interest of getting the damn chapter done, I finally quit trying to get in right and just winged it. Some is modern slang, some is just this-is-what-he-means-to-say. But this pass is done.

I'm worried that the scene/chapter went really long. I've been trying to keep my chapters about 5-6k words (20-24 manuscript pages), but this one is 8.3k words and 36 pages. There's no obvious place to break it up. I need the chapter break at the end of the scene to stay where it is because it's one of the major turning points for the book. And the chapters on either side of it are all within spec. So, I guess it stays, and I'll see what my readers say before I try to cut it.

Here is the new chart. I upped the word count to 100k, 'cause there's no way this is fitting into 90k. The current total length is 85k, with 7-8 more chapters to go, 2-3 of which are totally new words.

Edit Progress
Complete (60.6K)

Goal (100K)

Beyond that, typical busy week. Minivan went into the shop (bad water pump), and I drove a PT Cruiser for a few days. It's cute, but boy! was I glad to get my minivan back yesterday, it's sooo much more comfortable to ride in.

#3-son got four teeth pulled last week in preparation for braces. #2-son needs to go in and get three wisdom teeth pulled, because they're undoing all the pretty work his braces did.

#1-son has finals this week, then he'll be home until after new years. I've told him that he has a choice, find a job for the month, or he's working around the house for me. He surprised me and said he'd work around the house. #4-son is just #4-son... getting ready to take over the world.

Oh! How could I forget? Got the shock of a lifetime a couple days ago. #2-son's report card arrived in the mail. Now remember, this is the kid who spent the summer in Texas working for by brother, and last school year I was starting to wonder if he was actually going to have good enough grades to graduate this year or have to go to high school another year. He got straight A's!!!! Not even an A-. Wow!!! :-) Maybe I should have sent him down to my brother sooner. :-)

Anyway, I'd best get to work, so I can pay for all the fun I'm having.