October 1, 2009 – finished the first draft of Blight of Muirwood. Right now, it’s around 450 pages, so longer than the first book and I’m heaving a sigh of relief for being done. Last weekend my wife read it all and we’ve had some good discussions about it. I need to read it again for continuity (I know there are some inconsistencies in there), but after that, it will be ready for some proofreaders.
It’s funny how writing can meld into reality sometimes, so here is a funny story. One of the ongoing elements of this series is Lia’s fascination with Muirwood apples (Fuji apples in our world). I’ve found that certain kinds taste the sweetest and showed my kids how to spot the tell-tale signs. Well, my wife told me this week that the kids will stare at the apple bin with the fridge door open for *way too long* trying to find the ‘best’ apple to put in their lunch. I admit I’m pretty picky myself. At Intel, our Corporate Services group provides free fruit to employees in the cafe and so I pick one up every day and always linger over the apples to find the best one. This week, I found an especially promising one and brought it home and my daughter’s eyes widened with delight. She would have picked that one too.
Glad to be done with book 2 of the series. After doing some proofreading over the next month or two, I’ll probably start on the final book in January.
