{"id":6632,"date":"2023-04-30T14:34:50","date_gmt":"2023-04-30T21:34:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dresan.com\/blog\/?p=6632"},"modified":"2023-04-30T14:34:52","modified_gmt":"2023-04-30T21:34:52","slug":"viiictory-thirty-five-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dresan.com\/blog\/2023\/04\/30\/viiictory-thirty-five-times\/","title":{"rendered":"Viiictory, Thirty-Five Times"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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the Camp Nano victory badge for 2023<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Woohoo! After being just about as behind on a Nano challenge as I have ever been and still won, I managed not only to complete 50,000 words in the month of April, but to blow past it to 53,266 words! Hooray!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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progress chart for PLAGUE OF GEARS this April<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

To be frank, that steep slope over the top there feels really good, and I’m quite proud of the effort that I put in to make sure I made it this Nano. But, to be equally frank, the steep slope there PRIOR to going over the top really su-u-u-cked, and I pulled two almost-all-nighters (and one actual all-nighter) to finish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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what, me eating breakfast before noon? it’s less likely than you think, though I do like it<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Early in the month, I prioritized Clockwork Alchemy, and the Social Navigation paper, and getting work done in our old house in California that we’re trying to renovate. But once I was back in the East Coast, I really had to knuckle down, writing up to 6,000 words a day near the end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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deficits and progress on April’s nano<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

But, by the end, I was so far ahead that the “velocity required” to stay on track actually went negative (as you can see at the very end of the graph). I broke 50,000 words yesterday, but I still had a scene in mind involving the Big Bad of the Jeremiah Willstone stories, the dreaded Black Queen, Victoria. I didn’t want to lose that inspiration, so I wrote it today, and the next scene, which is starting to roll back together with other parts I’ve written already. So now will be a good time to take a break and take stock of my life, to resume editing Dakota Frost #4 SPECTRAL IRON, and to get my new consulting business, Logical Robotics, rolling. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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twenty-one years of nano challenges<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

According to my records, I’ve attempted Nanowrimo challenges (Nanowrimo, Camp Nano, and Script Frenzy) 37 times, with 35 successes, producing over 1.85 million words in successful months. If I’m lucky, and I can keep up the pace, I may crack two million words next year – wish me luck. But I think it’s more pressing to get the editing of the existing books done – so wish me even more luck with that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oh, one more thing, the excerpt:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cAlive, but deposed,\u201d Jeremiah said, as the proboscis of the thing behind her touched the back of her head\u2014then bit in with a sickening CRACK. \u201cAaah! Deposed in 1865\u2014or enslaved by the Plague today,\u201d she moaned, as it dug in. \u201cIt\u2019s y-your \u2026 choice \u2026 your \u2026 Majesty\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Queen raised the pistol. \u201cI am no-one\u2019s slave,\u201d she said, and pulled the\u2014<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Falconer Cadet Specialist Jeremiah Willstone awoke with a start. Staring at the ceiling, she tried to hold on to the dream \u2026 no. She knew better than that. It felt like a fading dream \u2026 but they were echoes of memories, the last remnants of some disruption in time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The jumbled recollections were slipping away, the tangled thoughts dissipating: canaries and scarabs and plagues and queens. But she remembered at least three key things: there was a war on, in time; her memories would be out of date; and she had to rise to the occasion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jeremiah glanced at the clock: 4:45AM<\/strong> on a radium dial that did not look familiar\u2014no, did not look like her style at all, a frilly elegant thing more French than Austrian. She looked over, found what she expected from seeing the clock, and considered. It was late enough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOi, roommate,\u201d Jeremiah sat up, feet off her cot. \u201cName, rank, year. No joke.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The human computer on the cot opposite her groaned. \u201cWha\u2014\u201d the woman muttered, a dark-skinned woman with impressive curls and chest, who managed to make waking up seem elegant. Then one of the vacuum tubes in her head sparked, and she sat bolt upright, blinking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Lady Westenhoq,\u201d the woman whispered icily, then swiveled to look at Jeremiah. \u201cLiberation Academy Cadet. And, like you, Cadet Willstone, I\u2019m a first year.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThank you, Lady Westenhoq,\u201d Jeremiah said quietly, \u201cbut I meant the date.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Westenhoq looked at her, then swiveled her own feet of the cot to face her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEighteen-ninety five,\u201d Westenhoq whispered. \u201cOut drinking again, Mya?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo, and I \u2026 think I\u2019m going to start going by Jeremiah.\u201d She rubbed her face. \u201cSounds more professional, and pet names remind me of my uncle anyway. But, since you knew my nickname and used it freely, I \u2026 take it we\u2019ve worked together before.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Oh, have they. Prevail, Victoriana!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

-the Centaur<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pictured: Breakfast at Stax Omega, lots of graphs, and the Camp Nano winner’s badge.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Woohoo! After being just about as behind on a Nano challenge as I have ever been and still won, I managed not only to complete 50,000 words in the month…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[204,197,199,202],"tags":[4,67,91,66],"class_list":["post-6632","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-challenges","category-fiction","category-steampunk","category-writing","tag-dragon-writers","tag-gaslights-and-rayguns","tag-nanowrimo","tag-the-clockwork-time-machine","ratio-2-1","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dresan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6632","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dresan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dresan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dresan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dresan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6632"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dresan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6632\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6639,"href":"https:\/\/dresan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6632\/revisions\/6639"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dresan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6632"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dresan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6632"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dresan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6632"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}