Hello everyone!

This might be quite a short blog post for today.

I've been trucking on with my writing and the fantasy novella that I've been working on for the passed month is coming along. I'm making progress and working on it each day.

I try and keep a tabs on things with daily updates on a new-ish Twitter account that I set up at @DanCoghlan3 if anyone is interested in following that. I do daily word totals there too.

I had hoped to get the novella done by now, if I'm honest. I'd sort of hoped to have it done a week ago, but that was if I could bust through doing some days where I could work through it unimpeded all day. That's not happened, which is a shame. But I have managed to get a first draft for a fantasy short story done in the mean time.

I'm about three fifths of the way through it now. I may take another break from it when I've reached the end of this chapter and write another fantasy short story. There's one I've wanted to do about a barroom brawl including wizards. I like the idea of things escalating as the patrons get drunk and start trying to use their magick.

To be honest, I'm generally beginning to feel a bit bogged down by this novella. But then again, when I'm at this point in a longer story, I usually feel similar. At the beginning of the story, you always feel full of ideas and feel motivated to get as far as you can and when you get about three quarters of the way through, the end is in sight and you feel eager to see all the drama that unfolds during the climax of the story. I suppose I'm not there yet. I'm still in that middle zone were you haven't got the ending in sight and the vigor you started with has worn off. I suppose I'm just waiting for that 'second wind'. Lets see where I'm at by the end of this month and think again shall we.

Anyway, hopefully tomorrow, I'll have another blog post. I had some post through this morning and I'll soon do an 'unboxing post about what I received. all I'm going to say is that its wargame related, a skirmish game in fact, so it should be curious to any wargamers and roleplay gamers too. Plus, I'll leave this picture as a tease to end this post. I always feel excited when there is an Oakbound Games logo involved.

Mystery box from Oakbound Studios

 Hello everyone!

Well, this last week has been a busy writing week for me, which is nice.

I was wondering whether to postpone this post a few more days until I'd finished the first draft of my current novella, but that may still a little while off nonetheless. I should still finish it during the week, over the next couple of days or so in fact, but still.

I had wondered if I may have been able to have finished it by now, but that wasn't the case, where I had wondered originally - a few months ago - if it would total 25,000 words, I did start wondering if it would be nearer 12,000 words when I made my last post. But its currently totalling a little over 19,000 words and I've still the main climax and conclusory passage to do, so it probably will be nearer 25,000 words like I originally thought.

What that means is that I'll have the first draft of a novella that will be 60 to 70 pages long.

But enough numerical stuff. I should have this done by Friday, which is good because my main character, Gwaeloch Irisgarth is to be accompanied by a version of a friend of mine who will appear as a wizard's apprentice. I really am hoping to have it completed by Friday as it will be her birthday then and it'll make a nice little present for her, even if it is in rough form.

Yes, I've just to somehow work out how to do a four way showdown - with a liche and a being from the stars, and the apprentice's old master, and someone who'd previously captured the heroic duo. Easy (suppresses a mild sense of panic deep down inside).

But otherwise, in my writing world, nothing much has taken place. I am still enjoying Jungle Tomb of the Mummy Bride for DCC with all its added content.

Jungle Tomb of the Mummy Bride,
for Dungeon Crawl Classics - DCC

It really is a good book with plenty of options to expand the original quest and to probably triple or quadruple its run time. It really fleshes out the jungle around the Mummy Bride's tomb with snake men, cannibals, fungal men of universal knowledge and other things.

Other  than that, there isn't really much else to say about things. Next week, I should definitely have the current novella first draft finished and should have either started or be planning the next first draft - there is a small selection of stories I'd like to write, in various states of preparation. Its just a choice of which to work on first.