Only 11 words shy of another 3,000 words banged out this morning means that I've tipped over the 30,000 word mark, and am now over 3/5ths of the way to being done. Woo-hoo! I'm acutely aware that the majority of the book so far has been dialogue with a couple of action scenes thrown in, and I definitely need to work on that, but maybe I can make the entire third act an extended case of the fit hitting the shan, so to speak. Which actually brings up something else – in this one, I've been taking careful measures to have my characters swear off-stage, by which I mean using the phrase "I swore" instead of the actual curse words. Maybe it's because I'm getting older, or maybe it's because of my recent research into negative capability, or maybe it's because when and if I do try to get this published I'm aware that it might be best targeted at a young adult audience – or at the very least, shouldn't exclude that audience due to something as arbitrary as foul language.

Best of all, I'm finally getting to introduce a character that I invented over a year ago in Frank Espinosa's class. This book has now officially given me space to trot out three of the characters that have been rattling around in my head for way too long now – and it's terrific getting to see what they actually do when placed on stage instead of being all cooped up in my notebooks and gray matter.

Also, Laura's been awesome throughout this entire project, completely supportive and curious about what happens next, and has largely left me alone when I need to be banging away at the keyboard, which as any author knows is amazingly endearing. Further, she's also using the time to create herself, and is currently in the middle of a Munny version of Captain Jack Sparrow that will blow your hair back.

Right. Now the lady and I are headed off to catch a celebratory matinee of Quantum of Solace and perhaps pick up a (very) early Christmas present for me, and then after that it's back to the grind on a freelance project and some other writing... Now rest for the wicked, hey?

Today's high point of the work-in-progress: an extended flashback scene that describes the actions of a Wolf Child during the Nazi occupation of Romania during World War II. Anyone who reads this will be able to see my Mignola fanboyhood painted with big, broad strokes, but it's still an incredibly fun thing to see unfold on the page!