Illinoir

Word count: 41342

Microsoft Word has a feature you probably haven’t used. Or, at least, I’ve never used it before. It’s called ‘AutoSummarize…’ and it’s a lot of fun. I will periodically post various summaries of the novel.

Here is a 20 sentence summary:

The lighter works. If only, if only, if only!” I’ve just been working.”
“Sal!” “Bonnet!” Right?)

Law asks.
“Detective? “Livvy?” Law laughs. “Charlie!” Right? Call 911.”
“Bonnet!” Bonnet! “Sorry, Law. “Alright, Law. Guys!” “Guys. Bonnet Detective Agency

Is…….

“water”

Finally back into running. Bought a wind jacket yesterday (thanks to an early Christmas present from Mom. Thanks Mom!) and it worked great (though it was too warm and not windy enough to wear today….whoops…). Very comfortable and I’m happy to have zippered pockets.

Also stumbled onto a fantastic new online running log (which I spent time transferring all my data from an old log to and then found forum posts where the webmaster said he’d do it for you…oh well….)

The new log includes Javascript tools to include a log in your blog (a log in your blog!) which is cool and is living down the right side of this page — just below the archives menu.

And I’m eventually going to work on my running page on chaoskid.com and somehow integrate the public summary (which ishere) into the site.

Woobywoo!

Only wrote 1406 words yesterday, the lowest single day total so far. Had to let go of the need to constantly match 2000 and know that the only thing that matters is that I get to 50,000 by the end of the month. There’s not much to be gained by finishing next Tuesday (as my pace says I will) and a lot to be gained by dropping back down to a more reasonable pace. Just spat out 300 words about the relatively inconsequential searching of a garage, but still decent prose.

Reading The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler. Have I mentioned that yet? The book is just incredible. Chandler’s prose style is absolutely amazing. I know what I’m going to be reading for the next several months….

Modeling the new wind jacket that Mom and Frank bought me.

Word count: 38066
This chunk (for reference’s sake): 397
Percent of current: 1.04
Percent of target: .794

It draws me back in. I zoom in on the picture, on the spot where, in my copy of the photo, I am lying, posing while unconscious. I look for any signs of alterations trying to see if I had been stripped out of the picture by some highly-trained digital photography expert. I find nothing. There’s nothing that looks like it’s been brushed or blurred; no obvious repeating patterns that would indicate a copy and paste; not a single pixel out of place.
I go back to the bathroom and fish my wallet out of my pants. I retrieve the photo with me in it and take it back to the study. I flip on the scanner and digitize the image, hoping to take a look at it as well, trying to see if I’d been stripped into this one. Again, I come up with nothing.
I’m no Photoshop expert, but I’ve done my share of forging images. It’s not what you think: I never doctored something to close a case; never falsified evidence. But sometimes clients want what they want and when money was tight, I was willing to give it to them. The point is that I’ve seen falsified pictures before and even those that are very good at doing it will leave some trace that the picture isn’t 100% legitimate.
Maybe the people who did this are better than very good. They certainly haven’t pulled any punches or spared any expense when it has come to any other aspect of this drama. I sit back in my chair, looking at the pictures side by side and wonder what they could possibly mean. The woman in the photos is in the exact same pose in both pictures. The floors appear the same, though the lighting isn’t good enough, even when I fiddle with the levels, to compare the grain of the wood.
I think about the cigarettes in the drawer, lean forward to grab them and that’s when I see a shadow across the woman’s face that doesn’t continue onto the floor. I look closer and sure enough, there is just the faintest trace of a second light source being obscured by another presence in the room. In the photo that I’m in, the shadow continues uninterrupted. I wonder how much they paid whoever did the doctoring. Whatever it was, it was probably too much.

I’m on the verge of hitting 37,500 words in the NaNovel (which is significant as that’s 75% completion) and I’m stalling like Stalin.

Found this in a word doc called “yellow”.

She pulls my hand towards her mouth, her pink tongue darts out between her lips. I pull away.
“Don’t,” I tell her. She is confused, hurt. “It’s nothing personal, it’s just that if you lick that finger, you’ll become addicted to heroin.” I offer her the other hand, which she takes, still unsure of my veracity. She hesitates and then touches her tongue to my cleaner (right) hand, the one still untouched by the mark of evil.
Two weeks ago, the skin on the index finger of my left hand turned yellow.

Do I know what it was? Nah. Just that it was written January 26, 2004. That’s all, folks!

I watch The Office every week when it’s on. I really enjoy the show. Something funny this week:

Kevin is tasked with shredding some documents and he goes on about the shredder he uses — they show it and it clearly has a Staples label on it. They work for a paper company that’s facing hard times because of mega stores like Staples. They often speak ill of Staples. Last week, one character left the company to go work at Staples….

So Kevin shows how it shreds documents, shreds CDs, shreds credit cards.

Then it cuts to a commercial.

For that specific Staples shredder.

Product placement? An apology to Staples for badmouthing them?

Just hit 37,500 which puts me squarely at 75% done with this thing. Groovy!

Word count: 36707
Words to go: 13293
Percent complete: 73%

Charlie had a revelation while taking a bath, so I figured I’d take one too. Turned out to be a decent idea. Was able to work out a timeline of events of the story. Should probably write it down somewhere……Okay, that’s better.

The Bloomington-Normal Area Convention & Visitors Bureau will tell you that the Bloomington-Normal area has endless amounts of attractions including historical and artistic sites, sporting and cultural events and boundless opportunities for small and large business alike. This is bullshit and should not be believed. Bloomington-Normal is a shithole and like all metropolitan shitholes, it is attempting to pull the wool over your eyes with pretty talk of being the fastest growing area in Illinois and a wonderful place to live. They all say the same things – pick Parumph, Nevada; Aberdeen, Maryland; or Derby, Kansas. It doesn’t matter much which one you choose, they’ll all tell you that they’re a wonderful place to be, a fast growing community, a safe haven away from the hustle and bustle of the big, mean cities. It’s all crap. It’s all marketing and deception. Don’t believe their hype.

It’s amazing, writing this thing, how scared I am of moving forward past the point the story is at currently. I’m spending a lot of time going back to earlier scenes and filling them in rather than pushing the story forward.

I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that I rely a lot on my characters to dictate how things are going to go and I let them drive the story. Often, I’m surprised at things they do. Writing a mystery is tough — you need to have some idea of what the final outcome is, and I do, but the problem is that I’ve set Charlie Bonnet up to be this waffling, somewhat weak fraud of a detective and right now he’s having a huge “should I keep going or should I give up” crisis…. Not that I personally am — at 35,000 words, there’s no way I can stop now — but what if he decides to give up? Story’s over. And he never finds out all the secrets…..

I’ve been putting off the standard-issue road trip/change of scenery that I used in 2003, but it’s about to happen.

Also: started reading The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler last night. Talk about a brilliant book. Just the very beginning is a great hook, an amazing character set up, brilliant description, great dialogue…. Damn.