NaNoWriMo - Day 4 update

So I am nearing the end of my useful / productive hours for today. Got up at 0220 today--slept late ;-) and have been pretty productive but had a bunch of errands to run in the middle of the day so lost some of my prime time to "life."

I am not dead yet, but my fingers are getting fumbled (you should see how this post would look WITHOUT my backspace key working!!) so probably, I won't make my personal goal of 20k for today. Currently, my NanoCount is 17,215 words. If you take out the 1745 words of "outline" that's 15,470 words of "completed first draft" manuscript. Still not bad for Day 4 *guffaw* but I had hoped to get to the magic (for me) number of 20k. If I weren't so sleepy after 15hr days of this, I'd keep going for 18hr days!! :) Here are my daily totals:

Day 1: 5160 words
Day 2: 3770 words
Day 3: 2300 words
Day 4: 5985 words

Not bad, but alas, I know myself too well. The other two times I wrote "a novel in a month," (a) I never worked more than 16 hrs/day and (b), I never edited as I went. I'm doing that this time and it is definitely slowing me down. When you write 3000 words and then cut 1200 of them before writing another 1500 and cutting 250 of those etc. well, it wears you down faster and slows the progress as measured SOLEY by numbers of words "completed" to date.

I've updated the Redshirts & Tuckerizations file, but haven't yet uploaded Snippet #6. Will read/edit it in the "morning" (and I use that term loosely, as it applies to the middle of the freaking night!! :-))) and upload it then.

Must kill Steffan. Must kill Steffan. Must kill Steffan. Soon, Steffan, soon!! Your days are truly numbered, I promise you. Rainey is good and truly ticked at you right now, at this very moment!!! He's totally prepared to just shoot you down like a dog in the road. But no. That's not happening just yet :)

NaNoWriMo Snippet #5 Ready

So depending on how you count :) I've now topped either 14k or 15.5k words. I'm counting my "rough outlines to be fleshed out later" as part of the manuscript because they (a) have been composed during November and (b) will become part of the story - after multiplying and breeding thousands more words from their piddling 1600 word core. I have two such "outline" pieces in the file. One at 1100 words and another at 1600 words. I don't count my title page (though the NanoBot WC Validator seems to). I don't plan on being "close" to 50k. I plan on far surpassing 50k so all of this dickering over a thousand words here or there is more time (and wasteful use of valuable words) than it's worth. Look! I've just typed another 100 words that are not in my story. Gotta stop this.

Snippet #5 is my first piece in Lacey's POV and I think it turned out rather well. Mostly, I wanted to explore the stark contrast in diction and general demeanor between Rainey's POV and everyone else's, esp. when Rainey is on the stage. It's truly fascinating to discover, through simply writing "stream of consciousness" style, how the other characters see Charles Rainford, how they interact with him, how they cope with him!! He requires coping skills, doesn't he?

Another goal (loosely regarding diction and using POV to exploit it on numerous levels to further the story/character development) which I think I've started to achieve with Lacey's piece is the establishment of a sort of caste system of the characters. That is, Rainey and Lacey are both very rich, have amassed a lot of money over the years. They both command high fees today for various reasons.

Others (so far, we've only seen Steffan and Lisa, but there are others with yet more variation even than just the "Steff and Lisa" tone) aren't quite so well-to-do or secure in their employability for the future. Each job, for some of these people, is important and will make or break them, will impact their reputation. I'm trying to establish without actually saying so that neither Rainey nor Lacey has to be concerned anymore with if they can get another job, but which job they want next.

Does that come through in reading the first five snippets?

Recall, Snippets 1-3 are in Rainey's (edgy, tense, nearly-neurotic) voice.

Snippet 4 is in Steffan and Lisa's more-middle class style diction with some level of self-confidence mixed with a clear indication (things like Steffan's expensive classic car seems to be falling apart at the seams ;-))) of one who lives beyond their means, always secretly concerned if it will catch up to them one day.

Then Snippet 5, in Lacey's voice, not only contrasts her utter absence of foul language (you really notice it when Rainey swears or catches himself swearing if/when he's the only one doing it) but gives another POV from the "have arrived" class of character.

Or so I think. Please tell me what you think (comment thread, comment thread, comment thread...not private email...I'm drowning in email...use the comment thread ;-)))

Thanks! Gonna try to kill Steffan--at long last!!--right after I eat something. Should probably kill him first but it might be easier to manage with food on the brain. I'm really not seeing how to "feel" his death from his perspective...probably 'cause I've never actually died myself. Everytime I come close, something happens and I never quite get there. Darn it - not.

-sry

SuperSpy Clothes for Rainey/Lacey

Been trying to decide on a clothier for Rainey and/or Lacey. I know what I want - I want that outrageous look they had in La Femme Nikita all the time. Who wouldn't?

But CoSTUME National was the primary clothier for that show--and really never made it in Milan, even with the push the show gave them here in the States. Well, making it in Milan is a relative term. They're in Milan every year, twice a year, and get resounding applause and acclaim, so could be said they've made it but I mean "household name for the paeons" made it like Versace or Armani did in the 90s, or the history-making made it like Coco Chanel (who still is the icon for "the little black dress" bless Audrey Hepburn's long and lovely neck).

Maybe I can make a joke out of CoSTUME National; I already have Rainey fixating on Italian leather (leather shoes, leather coat, leather gloves--even has leather accoutrements on his sunglasses, the vain slob. Hey, leather doesn't wrinkle *grin* That's Rainey's story and he's sticking to it, *sigh*)

Lacey's clothes are...more practical-minded, I think. She doesn't seem to give much thought to it and honestly, this goddess image I have of her makes her someone who could look good in a napkin. Okay, any woman can look good in a napkin *grin* but I mean there's this way about her that lets her "toss on whatever's at hand" and, without bothering to duss it up, she looks like she spent 5 hours in the hands of the Chanel staff, instead of 5 min in her bedroom grabbing the quickest, easiest thing she could find.

I will admit, I keep seeing her mile-long legs in just over the knee boots, not sure why. You sure as heck can't run in 'em and uhh, tall blonde, high-heeled black boots, gee, would you notice her? Uh-yuh. Doesn't make any sense for her to wear such a thing--given she's paranoid about attracting attention--but I still see her in them :) Maybe it's the power of suggestion--for yet another year, they are still "it" in haute coutre accessorizing. Why abandon a good thing? :)

Am I just wishing too much for mere wardrobe of fictional characters? Maybe. Gotta live vicariously here, so why not aim high? :) Pasting below some images of the ideas but ignore the "walking hangars" *heh* Just looking at the clothes, not the people and is it just me, or are the models not particularly attractive people this year? Or am I just a sucker for an American Hero look? Can't see enough of Sergeant Rudy Reyes! :)

Use the comment thread if you see something you like (and no, not the people, just the clothes)

Rainey would never wear a velvet green suit, but... nice line to this suit! Maybe it's useful to Someone Else *smirk* I like the tan--but Rainey would never wear a light color, not even in warm weather. Okay, maybe brown but not tan.



The Versace leather--or fits like leather--is pretty standard fare; nice overcoat, though:




And From Chanel for Lacey - not loving this year's "Little Black Dress" looks but you see what I mean by "gotta have them boots" now, c'est pas?



From Versace (now that's a black dress!) and from CoSTUME (daywear for Lacey):

Help Us John Carry...for your car! T-shirts, too :)

I thought I was all laughed out...but no, apparently not yet. I saw the original photo at Just Barking Mad and this is just too good to be true. Merchandising blunders of the sick and infamous with proceeds to go to support the troops *heh*

From the Patriot Shop:

New! "Jon Carry" bumper sticker $1.75
"You know, education, if you make the most of it, you study hard, you do your homework and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. If you don't, you get stuck in Iraq." --John Kerry, 31 October, 2006

It didn't take long for a group of GIs serving in Iraq to come up with a brilliant rebuttal to Kerry's disparaging remark -- they humorously painted "Halp us Jon Carry - We R Stuck Hear N Irak" onto a large sign and posed for a picture that has been circulated all over the Internet.

You too can pass the message along by displaying this bumper sticker memo from "Irak!" Also check out our "Jon Carry" t-shirts!

More fun and amusing notes and remarks (and validation of the photo) on Blackfive. Read with joy--then buy your tee shirts and bumper stickers to support our troops!

Hoowah! Gotta love it when a plan comes together :)

NaNoProgress - Day 3.5

So I had to do my second "coitus interruptus" scene today and have finished it. Got me over the 11,000 mark so all is good in NanoLand. I've had Depeche Mode's Ultra album looping, practically non-stop, for the last 6 hours. I know, I know, Ultra is 10 years old, but tell me, does Barrel of a Gun really sound dated to you? If you don't look at the haircuts in the video, of course *grin*

Here, listen to the song without the visuals. Love that opener. *bang* [boom boom] *bang* [boom boom] Gotta turn it way UP on the volume to get the full effect.

Whatever I've done....whatever, whateverrrrrr....

Truly the only inspiration for me to have done justice to Steffan and Lisa going at it inside the cramped space of a classic E Type Jag. Armed and laughing.

And the DM fiends have done it again!! After 25 years in the business, you'd think they'd stop with the annual releases already, but no. I'm not complaining. Just tickled to watch Martyr. It came out October 8, 2006 - how could I have missed this? What was I thinking?

NaNoWriMo - Day 2 End Results

So one would have thought something interesting would happen, between the competitive edge of a challenge and the warm glow of Day 2 coming to a close. Alas no, Jailbait Milo is still stuck at 4007 words and I, umm, doubled him. I'll see you, Milo, I'll see you in the Hell of Blocked Writers ...once you unblock and finish so you can buy your way in, I mean ;)

Okay, I admit I'm mixing too many metaphors here to make sense, but it's the middle of the freakin' night!!! And I'm still on my first cup of coffee. And the really expensive English Breakfast Tea is steeping all by its little lonesome. That's the loose, finely ground leaves, looks like Melitta blend coffee grounds which is why I really wish I still had my big porcelain Melitta pot/cone set still but alas, no such luck. I need to stop it before that tea gets so strong I cannot possibly ice it down enough--and it's only 27 degrees here in U City in the MIDDLE OF THE FREAKIN NIGHT so I don't really want iced tea right now anyway.

Thank you John H. for sending me that Special Goody CARE package just in time for NaNoWriMo. Just noticed this morning, actually, that the other bag (the one that didn't break) is "Superior English Blend" *shiver* can't wait to get there. Then there's the little bag of Earl Grey. Yes, Dorian Grey in a bag...well, he needs a bag over that face, don't you think?

And on that note, I admit I'm not a standup comic, so I'll make my Exit, Staaaage LEFT!! errrr, RIGHT!!! (sez Snagglepuss)

Atomic Clock Conpiracy - Trois

Hah!! I win, I win!! I outsmarted them and this time, I got up before they could start shrilling at me. This one is worse than a goddamned bloody broken smoke detector, I swear! But now my body is pretty much synchronized (on Day 3 of NaNoWriMo) to getting up in the middle of the freakin' night....God help me, God help us all :)

(( update: I just noticed nearly a day later that this post's title was "Atonic" not "Atomic" - yes, I'm blearly eyed at 0200 just like the rest of you. But I'm up and writing!!! ))

Dictionaries & Euphemisms

As much for safe-keeping against my losing it in the piles of reference sites I've been collecting the 10 days, as for sharing the joy all around, please do rummage through the following entertainment - or bookmark the sites for perusal at your leisure:

Woody's World of Euphemisms! and sister site
Cousin Mammy's World of Breast Euphemisms! and together, we have:
Richard & Kitty's World of Sex Euphemisms!
What the heck, just visit all of the fun pages at Adult Humor by STARMA!

If you're not sure what some of these words mean, erm, how old are you? Heh. No problem, we serve to spread the words far and wide, here's a Dictionary of Slang (albeit mostly Brit humor)

There was another one, but I've lost the URL - will update when I find it - or die trying!! Rainey's depending on me for this data source :)

NaNoWriMo - Day 2 Update

So I've posted this on the Bar but it seemed apropos to share here as well since some people don't log into the dark corners of the Bar where I say things like this. If you want the snippets, you have to lurk in dark corners. Sorry - and Snippet 3 is AWESOME!! Too much laughing going on here!

-sry

1500 hrs - 02 Nov 2006
My little intake of food did wonders, though I still need to brew some
iced tea for chilling overnight. I've had a lot of fun fleshing out
the end of snippet 3. For one thing, I got to steal John Ringo's take
on the generic Bad Guys, the Chechnyans. Thank you John!! I've put the
caricature to good use, I think. Good humor in there anyway and I stole
it all from you, bless your black little heart :-)

The Rainey expositive voice is interesting to write. I've done the
flashback backfill thing often enough in other stories but he's
narrating and backfilling--not quite a FLASHback so much as a backfill
in the MCs voice. Different. For me. And funny. But that's cause
Rainey is a hoot.

Snippet 3 finished at 3461 words, bringing my overall total as of 1445
CST to 8864 words.

DEAN GESTNER, died in the middle of a job on a hillside six years ago
but only today has the truth of his fateful mistake been told. And you
can read it FREE in snippet #3 :)

I've now completed 99% of your immortalization, Dean. All that's left
is to mention that you're dead ;) You died quietly, alas, muddied on a
hillside and buried in the leaves, but you had a gorgeous blonde do
you in for *drum roll* betraying her.

Does that help? And my apologies but it just didn't seem
AuthorConvenient to give you a physical description (read the snippet,
you'll see why/what I mean) so you still lack the ponytail, greying at
the temples which you requested. But you aren't announced as the Late
Dean Gestner yet so maybe I can still work it in somehow. Warned you
guys I'm not much for explicitly painting a physical appearance of a
character. I like my Reader to just "see" their own version of the
PERSONALITY. Will have to give a physical on Rainey though, in that
imaginary chapter 1 that hasn't yet appeared.

They're off to dinner but I think I'm going to skip it and go watch
Steffan and Lisa's make out in the Jag - and of course, try to write
Steffan's death scene before I get too tired. It's already 1500 (and
I've been up since 0200 recall). Let's see if I can switch POV and not
lose the funky voice.

P.S. Steve Yee's great suggestion of the 5.11 Tactical Titanium Watch & Ballistics Calculator has gotten its debut in the end of Snippet 3. Gonna have to revisit this titanium trinket, aren't we? *drool*

More to come! It just won't seem to stop...erm, coming ;)

Nano'fly Race is On!!

Jailbait Milo has challenged me to a race. Or teased at it. Let's just take a look at how it would appear should our little Milo decide to see this through. Here's where we stand after Day One (actually, took a static img this morning after I realized the dynamic image would update continuously - I was at 5000 something at the end of Day One):



I don't think the NanoWidgets are working right but clearly, I'm in the lead...Milo is nipping at my heels. Better get to work if I want to hold this lead :) Let me know if you really want to do this Milo because, in case you hadn't heard, I'm very competitive, especially when urged on this way :)

Atomic Clock Conspiracy - Part Deux

So, yes, it's continuing but I'm ignoring it. No, I'm not but I'm pretending it was my intention to get up in the middle of the freakin' night ;)

Right. So where were we when last we left our fair heroes? Ah yes, I do seem to recall something about a SIG imprint on a naked ass in Rainey's hand. Poor guy. No, he's not going to enjoy where this is going. In fact, Charles Rainford is not going to get particularly lucky (or "lucky") for the better part of this book--though he sure seems to think himself mister wonderful, doesn't he? Hah. That'll teach him to taunt the Fictional God Creator (uhh, that's me, remember?)

All right, got one cup of coffee (one oz drunk, only 15 oz to go before I start sorta-kinda making sense here) and well, erm, 25 or 30 piles of notes which sure sounded like a good idea last week when I was trying to pass the time.

Hey, I know what comes next! They go out to dinner and when they "stumble" upon Steffan and Lisa going at it in the Jag, Rainey gets all pissy because he's sexually frustrated. But. I swear to you (and G-d) Rainey did not cause Steffan's fatal accident after that. Well, maybe just a little *tee hee*

Amusing Nano Update

To be on schedule--that is to complete 50,000 words by November 30th--the NaNoWriMo folks note one should write no less than 1667 words per day for each of the 30 days. Uh-huh.

Let's see, I started an hour and a half ago, have 1808 words and haven't even gotten to the "easy" part yet (the sex scene which immediately follows this "voyage through Rainey's head" and the intruder scene that immediately follows that--where Bob Cruze dies ;-)) [Note: Don't want to mislead anyone about the order of the scenes/snippets. In between the Rainey/Lacey sex scene and Bob Cruze's death by stabbing through his neck--thank you Taverners!--there is one other 2-part scene: Steffan and Lisa get to do a quickie in Steffan's Jag and then Steffan gets into a car accident...but he gets to die happy, at least, so it's all good. Isn't it? :)]

So am I done for the day? No. Of course not. Don't be so silly. But given that I froze--actually choked and froze up!!!--for a good 30 minutes (between 0214 and 0255, I wrote at most for 10 min--I timed it!!! maybe that was part of the problem, huh? :-))) I was getting a little concerned. No problem. I just need to REALLY crank the music and I'm good to go. Oh, and of course, the mistake was listening to trance instead of Depeche Mode. I don't know why I keep messing with a system that works. If it ain't broke....

To watch my progress "real time" just scroll down this page and look on the right hand side for the NaNoMeter after all the text links. It should be updating whenever I manually update my NaNo profile. I'll update the NaNo site profile as often as I can, at least once daily.

NaNoWriMo Begins!!!!

Yippeeeee! It has begun. Here's what I'm listening to right now. I love this CD or just about anything from Oakenfold but this is a really good one. CRANK. It. up. Ooops.

Yeah, not too much 'cause it's the middle of the freakin' night here. Why on God's Green Earth did I get up at 0200? See, I have this Atomic Clock. This nifty little mutli-function, freakin' stupid, noisy little Atomic Clock. This soon-to-be-departed Atomic Clock!

---

Sidenote:: Lyrics (Faster Kill Pussycat) just now couldn't be more apt: I think I'm losing CONTROL!!! Join the club, Britney Baby.

---

It's just as well I'm awake. I guess. I mean, it's not as though I was doing anything useful lying unconscious in bed at two in the freakin' morning. I was just sleeping, right? Who needs to sleep when there's a NaNoWriMo to begin!!

Oh yeah, THAT's why I got up and turned on the computer. Hey, you wanna laugh? C'mere I'll tell you the best joke of the night. No, no, c'mere, this is a good one. Honest.

[Slings arm over visitor's shoulder, whispers in ear]

Can you hear me? The goddamned fucking Atomic Clock just STOPPED its freakin' beeping.

Now that I'm up and sitting at the computer, naturally, the little technodevice conspiracy in this house has no further reason to shriek at me. Well, I always have done my best writing between the overnight hours of 2100 and 0400. Funny, that, huh? Since that's also when I do my best sleeping!!

But who needs sleep when there is Badass Coffee? Not that I have any of that handy, just the local stuff....and I heard it sounds better than it tastes. How does coffee sound anyway? I know all coffee smells better than it tastes but....jess' sayin' :-)

Still Need More Redshirts...in case you were wondering

Or worried if I'd filled up the list. Nope, can still make use of at least 10 more people destined for death and destruction. I want Rainey to have at least 20 people lost at the end of the book (in the big 3-part fight scene at the end) and a handful of the current Redshirts are slated to die long before that scene by other means.

Not to mention there are opportunities for untimely deaths in each of the 3 or 4 scenes of "jobs gone bad" that Rainey leads in between (a) the time of the "assassin" incident (when Steffan dies and Lisa hits back with an ice pick) and (b) the big fight scene.

Oh, and I might have to have Lacey kill a few people here or there. She is, after all, a gun for hire, right? But in that time frame between (a) and (b), she's "on the run" and hiding (not working), so anyone she kills is incidental and uneventful beyond inconveniencing her (causing her to have to move again).

The main focus of death and destruction will be around Rainey and his jobs going bad while he's trying to track down where Lacey's hiding at the moment--or who else has taken the contract on her and getting to them before they get to her.

This whole little cat and mouse will take most of the book. Lacey is back in Rainey's "circle of influence" when the big one goes down at the end, but she's out of the game at that point. After a month or so of running and hiding, she's had a few "accidents" and needs to recuperate ;) She's just there at the end to annoy Rainey - every woman's job, eh? *smirk*

Please do volunteer for either "job screwup" redshirting or "big fight scene death" (state this in your comment of submission to my literary knife) if you have a preference. Also, spread the word around in your favorite Bar haunts. I only visit the Tavern and MtG, so I see only a limited number of Barflies.

For some reason, I've had this inkling to use Barflies only for the supporting cast. All minor characters (with lines and depth) have been cast already, but I still need bodies to redshirt. If I could make every last one of the supporting cast out of Barflies, I think it would be a really fun Barfly game. Since I don't really intend to ever submit the book ANYWHERE for publication, all that matters is the next Con where we congratulate each other on "dying well and living fleetingly." Sign up to be killed right now!

Except Joe Buckley, who just won't stay dead and is going to die like the miserable, double-crossing louse he is. Just kidding, Joe, we love ya!! But sorry, man, you're dead meat.

:)

Lookout for Lisa!! She's Armed :)

With an ice pick and a mean and nasty temper. This does happen to some of us girls when our toys are broken by big, mean men with a chip on their shoulder.

Naturally, I'm speaking of the Tuckerization of Steffan's soon-to-be babe girlfriend, Lisa of Seattle. Lisa, by her own admission, is a tall (5'8"), sleek and sexy Scandinavian brunette who, as you'll recall, drives a classic E Type Jaguar, just like Steffan's. When Rainey leads them on a car chase and gets Steffan killed--not to mention, more importantly, totalling a perfectly good E Type Jag!! The horror of it!--Lisa will weild her ice pick with all the fervor and venom afforded to an insane (if not insanely jealous) ex-girlfriend (ex due to the fact that Steffan is now dead, the louse). I'm thinking gin martinis for introducing the ice pick. She and Steffan have been friends with Rainey and Lacey for years. What's a little martini turned ice pick incident between old friends? :)

Lisa's normal weapon of choice is the Beretta 93R semi-auto out of Italy (H/T Steve Yee for getting me looking at Berettas more closely). Note, yes, these guns do take NATO rounds (9x19mm Luger/Parabellum/NATO all good here). And yes, I know it's a bit heavy for what you sexist boyz might think a girly girl would choose as a weapon of choice, but let me point out again, Lisa is a 5'8" sleek and sexy Scandinavian--brunette. She can handle it. She's not a sniper but is an all-purpose killer, more of a bounty hunter type than a sniper type like Lacey.

Redshirts and Identifying Marks

Well, we can all identify Mark Townsend because he flatly refuses to volunteer for a Tuckerization in this story--and I have two other Townsends to whom he could be connected already in the story. Mark T. you are a coward! :) I wouldn't even have to kill you, I promise.

All of you other "Marks" :) listen up, I'm dealing the game like this:

I can slap a name onto a character - any name, any character - but that immortalizes your name on a piece of flat paper. Your fictional self will be what's called a "cardboard character" - I guarantee you will be a walk-on and your death will be swift but probably not memorable, probably one of many in that scene. I have a few positions for cardboard walk-ons, so if this appeals to you, go ahead, take it.

Many of you have asked for me to make your death memorable or more to the point, be inventive with your character. You've gotta help me out here if you want "you" to look like you in any way, shape or form.

What will make the character "you" to your real-life friends and family is if there is some habit, tic or twitch, some pet turn of phrase, some kind of little thing that people will "see" and realize "Oh my God! That's REALLY [your_name_here]"

At the same time, it has to be transparent enough that people who don't know "you" (or you or anything about you) will read right along without having been jerked out of the text by an incongruence (the Tuckerization part of your redshirting experience in my story).

That is, I have to incorporate said feature or facet into your fictional self in such a way that anyone who has no clue who you are (uhhh, that's 99.99999999% of the people on the planet where this will be read, probably Earth ;-))) won't wonder why you are doing [whatever]. I can't bet anyone will recognize said twitch, habit, tic, pet phrase or favorite sidearm--a Reader might even own the same wristwatch themselves so telling me what you're wearing won't make your fictional self "unique." Try again.

Although most of us won't admit it, most of us do actually have some identifying feature that those who know us after the initial stages of "Hello, how do you do? What a pleasure to meet you." fake-talk chatting would recognize us in a heartbeat based on that one thing we say or do. Waving your hands, pulling at your hair, please don't tell me picking your nose but hey, some people do this in public--I've seen it when I people-watch!! You see all kinds of things when you just fade into the background and watch with notepad in hand.

So.

Go back down to the comment thread on the redshirt requests--or start a new one on this post--and give me these kinds of identifying marks or I can leave you as a walk-on made of cardboard or worse (for you--better, for me), assign you a tic I think suits your fictional self and serves my story.

Candy Corn, Oh, Candy Corn

Wherefore art thou, my Candy Corn pal? So if I don't finish eating all of my candy corn before midnight Tuesday, October 31st, does that mean I'll turn into a pumpkin?

Just wondering.

I Must Be Going Crazy...this is FUN!!

I am actually psyched to have gotten a hold of a list of US Army Field Manuals (FMs) on a wide variety of subjects that I figure, "Oh, this kinda info would come in handy." I mean, do you know anyone who has actually served in the US Army who likes to read FMs? Maybe they like paper cuts, too!

But the way I look at it, I guess, is that at least if I'm immersed in reading this Guaranteed-to-Dull-Even-the-Sharpest-Brain material, then I can't be cheating on NaNoWriMo Rulez and getting a head start on writing the damn story before Wednesday. I'm really chomping at the bit to write this Lacey & Rainey story. Haven't been this eager to write a new concept in several years. Good feeling.

So topics (not complete) that I've found interesting and have or will be downloading are:

• 5-250 Explosives & Demolition (should be obvious)


• 5-103 Survivability (Lacey's "run")


• 9-15 EOD Service & Unit Ops (reverse-engr for ideas)


• 20-3 Camoflage (Lacey's a sniper, remember?)


• 20-32 Mine/Countermine (not sure, but would like to see it)


• 21-20 Physical Fitness Training


• 23-10 Sniper Training (I need to go to the Scout sources, too)


• 34-1 Intelligence & Electronic Warfare (IEW) Ops (Rainey's assault on Roger)


• 34-10-2 IEW Equipment Handbook (Rainey's assault on Roger)


• 34-37 EAC & IEW Ops (Rainey's assault on Roger)


• 34-40-7 Communications Jamming Handbook (Rainey's assault on Roger)


• 90-3 Desert Operations (Lacey's "run")


• 100-8 The Army in Multinational Ops (reverse engr for ideas)


• 3-34.119 IED Defeat (reverse engr for ideas)


• 5-31 Boobytraps (BETTER be obvious but this FM is no longer active :(