Momentous Day

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Today has been a momentous day in several respects.

First, I cut Section 2, "First People", out of the book. Marty is going to be going to only one part of North America in this book. That cut my work count down to 129,906. Whoo-hoo, only 9,000 to 19,000 more words to cut (note the sarcasm).

Next, I started on redoing the front of the novel. I have always liked prologues. I took a section of flashback from Chapter 3 and turned it into a prologue. I like what it did for the novel. (enthusiastic whoo-hoo.) But, unfortuately, that added a few hundred words. (That's a boo-hoo.)

As for the section I cut out of this book, I realized where I can use it. It will no longer be effective as a place for Marty to visit, but it will be great in Book 4, Aurora Remembrance. Just need a character name change. That means that section, along with another chapter that I already wrote when I was in that research mode several months ago, puts Book 4 at one-quarter finished already. (happy dance whoo-hoo)

Last, my new Toshiba laptop with 10-key, web-cam and Window 7 came in. Probably the most important feature was the keyboard cover I purchased extra. $20 seems like a lot for a molded piece of soft plastic. However, I eat and sleep at the keyboard some days. I think the reason my current laptop keeps skipping and sticking is because of food crumbs under the keys. Hopefully, this will help.

How soon will I transfer my files over? Who knows? It takes forever to set up a new computer. Probably the first file to go will be my spreadsheet with prospective agents. It will be so nice to have the 10-key for entering phone numbers and dates. (great big whoo-hoo!)

In the meantime, I have gone over the prologue and chapters 1-3 today, just whittling away at that word count the best I can.