As you can see from my lack of posting last week, I'm still focusing on the anthology story.  I started it on the 11th, and as of today, I have 13,500 words. The story is due on 7-1-08 and is supposed to be 15K words, so I should easily be able to make my due date. I will be past my word count, because I need more than 1,500 words to write the ending, but I'm not concerned about that. We're allowed up to 20K for a leeway (editors must be used to authors rambling beyond what we're told), and besides, I'm sure there will be some trimming in edits (for the same rambling reason). 

I also had a British friend read the first few chapters to check how I was doing with my Brit-speak (this story is told in Bones's point of view). She declared it a "good show" - a phrase I immediately told her I was incorporating ;-). Yes, I know, there will be mistakes that other British readers find in my diction/slang, but in my defense, Bones has traveled for over two hundred years, so he might have also have picked up some Yank slang along the way (that's my excuse, and I'm stickin' to it, folks!). 

Otherwise, it's back offline to finish the story, then to take a couple days to hammer the kinks out of it. Then I have to submit my 5-10 page outline for book four in the Night Huntress series, also due on July 1. I'll miss reading my LJ friend's journals, but catch you back in July!  

Oh, totally random - I've found the song that fits this anthology story for me: SWEET DREAMS by Marilyn Manson. Does that give you a hint that it's a little darker than my normal stuff? ;-)