At last, back on track for National Novel Writer’s Month. I like the graph: I like seeing how the week of a software release has taken a neat chunk out of my progress, and how a few days on vacation gets things back on track again. This reminds me to continue taking of the week of Thanksgiving every year if I want to get new novels done.
The title comes from a scene I’ve just written, in which Dakota Frost is baited into a battle with a wand-wielding priest. Soon Dakota realizes they were set up — and figures out how to de-escalate:
The priest cried out, striking me with the back of his free hand.
I winced … then turned the other cheek.
The priest stared, drawing back his hand again. I reached up and put my thumbs through the straps of my backpack. Then I turned my head even further, exposing the cheek, eyes glaring at him sidelong in silent accusation. The priest frowned, then lowered his hand.
“Dakota Frost,” I said, extending mine. “Best magical tattooist in the Southeast.”
The priest stared at my hand dumbly, then realized he had a free one.
“Father Aidan Cosgrave, SJ.”
“A Jesuit,” I said. “Interesting to find a Jesuit wielding a wand.”
“God’s Marines,” Cosgrave said, “often find themselves wielding strange weapons.”
I’m over the halfway point of Nano now, with 6 or so free days on vacation to try to really get a head. Onward!
-the Centaur
