Word count: 9642 Hit a big milestone on Sunday: the end of the third chapter. Now I have first drafts of the Prologue, Chapter 1, and Chapter A. (Chapter 2 is next, then Chapter B, and so on.) This point is important because 1) it establishes the major characters and conflicts for the first half of the book in both plot threads, 2) it gives me the three-chapters-and-synopsis that is the basis for selling a spec novel (though I’m not going to shop it around until finishing the first draft, this makes it feel more “real”), and 3) it gives me a solid <10,000 word chunk to critique at the Wiscon writers’ workshop (deadline April 1). I formatted and printed out that chunk on Sunday and Kate put it in the mail on Tuesday. And then I didn’t do a lick of writing for the rest of the week. Bad me! But then I wrote 500 words tonight. Yay! I do plan to get a bunch written this weekend. (He says.)