Friday...

Spent last weekend at the Long's Peak Scottish / Irish Festival (aka highland games) in Estes Park, Colorado. We had excellent weather for a change, too. Then Tuesday a weather system moved through and gave Denver twelve hours of much needed slow rain - I haven't needed to water for a couple of days.

I'm still working on the second draft of The Druid's Son. So far I've only found a couple of short sections which needed some rewriting, along with a large number of minor changes. The latter includes things like making sure spelling of names and capitalization of certain words is uniform, checking moon phase / time correspondences, etc. I know there are a couple of sections in the next two chapters which will need revision / expansion, and one or two minor loose ends I need to deal with, but on the whole everything is on track to go to my proofreaders by the end of the month.

Meanwhile the seasons are changing. We've started having distinctly cold nights - this morning's low by my backdoor was 40 F - and cooler days. Tuesday was particularly good in this respect, and I took advantage of the milder weather to make a small batch of chutney with some of my garden surplus (tomatoes, sweet peppers, etc.). The beans have got ahead of me, as they tend to do at this time of year, but I remember from last year that the late season mature ones make great fresh shell beans, so that's OK. Not sure how long we have before frost - probably two or three weeks, but we'll see. Time to enjoy the morning glories while they last:



-GRG

Thursday...

Behind on blogging again, but I've had some distractions. After a few days off, I've started on the second draft of The Druid's Son. Not really rewriting anything, just changing a word here or adding a phrase there. I'm also making a list as I go of things to check, change, add, explain, etc. I don't think I have any major loose ends, but there are a few threads here and there which I think need to be developed a little more or tied off more securely. So far, though, things are looking good. When I finish this draft I'll pass it on to a couple of friends who've offered to proofread it for continuity, clarity, typos, etc. While they're doing that I'll finish the map(s) and the back cover. Then it'll be time for a final draft, and a e-book friendly version to upload to smashwords. After that I'll work on getting it through Lulu and on Amazon etc. I'll also be looking for blog reviewers at that stage.

All in all, still plenty of work to do, but the e-book at least should be out before Christmas, and perhaps proof copies of the paperback as well!

Then on to the next book....

Garden picture today: pumpkin-squash hybrid (they're cross-fertile, so growing them close together results in some strange fruits sometimes).



You can see a normal dark green immature pumpkin in the background, but this fellow has been yellow from the beginning.

-GRG

Some additional discussion re: finishing the first draft, from my LibraryThing discussion thread:

 (WARNING: possible mild spoilers (by some definitions)):

 "As to whether the story worked out as expected - it depends on the time scale. The book I ended up with is a good bit different from what I expected when I started it a year ago, not so different from what I expected a few months ago. Part of the difference is due to my finding a good bit more Roman-related history in the time frame and area I'd chosen than I expected. To simplify extremely, I started with the idea "hero is born, grows up, goes to another country, has many adventures" and ended with "hero is born, grows up, goes to another country". The "many adventures" part, it seems, will eventually require another book...

"I haven't ended with any major loose ends, although I think I'll find a few places which need a little more explanation, but that's OK because although my word count is currently very close to my estimate (103,870 at the moment, with up to 1,000 more to go, vs. an original guess 6 months or so ago of 100,000) the page count is still comfortably below my maximum. On the other hand, there were certainly some bits I didn't expect along the way - as you say, characters (if they're good, well developed ones) frequently have a will of their own. This is one reason I don't write to a detailed outline - I find it more fun this way!

"The afterword, by the way, explains which characters and places are invented (almost all and only a couple, respectively), and includes most of my blog comment re: lack of information on druids in general and British and Irish ones in particular. I wouldn't want anyone to confuse any of my invented druidry with established fact, although from what I've heard about other writers' experiences, it's likely to happen anyway."

-GRG

Tuesday...

First draft of The Druid's Son is finished! Now the revising begins... -GRG

Saturday...

One more chapter to go in The Druid's Son, but the action sequences are over, and this is just the final-tying-off-of-loose-ends, so I've paused to think a little. After that, it'll be time to start on the second draft...

Still a few apples out there that the coons and squirrels didn't get...



-GRG

Monday...

Been doing too much writing in the last week to blog. I'm at 92,386 words and 17.5 chapters - 88% completion of the first draft. Not much today due to some other stuff, but full speed ahead again tomorrow. Last pieces of the plot are coming together - just have to grind it out!

Garden picture from a couple of days ago... yes, we have beans now!



And that's it for today...

-GRG

Tuesday...

Not much actual writing since Friday, but a good bit of looking at maps and reference books and thinking. Conclusions: we know very little about Britain in this period (other than what Tacitus has to say); we know even less about British Druids (i.e. they may have existed, and if so were probably on Anglesey at some point in the 1st century AD, but we have no idea what they were doing there); and we know rather less about Ireland and Irish Druids (if any). Ireland was where it is today; there was some sort of (probably complex) "Celtic" society there, speaking (probably) a Godelic language; there were probably religious / magical specialists of some kind (who may or may not have called themselves Druids) in that society at the time in question; there is a possibility (supported to some extent by archaeological discoveries of Roman material) that Agricola may have sent some sort of military expedition to Ireland, most probably in late 81 AD, with outcome unknown; if he did send such an expedition, they most probably crossed from the vicinity of Galloway (Scotland), as he was operating in that area at that time with the required manpower and naval support; Agricola (according to Tacitus) had in his entourage at that time an exiled Irish noble of some sort who could have served as a focal point for such an expedition. What any Druids (if they existed and were interested) might have had to do this is entirely conjecture.

It's a good thing I'm writing fiction.

-GRG

Friday...

84,765 words and 221 pages. Four more chapters to go. Whew - it's been a week.

Wednesday...

Almost missed blogging again today - too busy writing. Passed 80,000 words - almost 80% complete for the first draft.

Monday...

The last week has been busy. Miscellaneous stuff Monday and Tuesday, writing like crazy Wednesday, Thursday and Friday; our private Lughnasadh celebration Friday night; and Saturday and Sunday at the Highlands Ranch Scottish Festival with the Colorado Welsh Society. Today, trying to get back on track with writing. I've done over 5,000 words in the last week and hope to keep to that pace!

Today's picture: a group of oak trees on the U of U campus in Salt Lake City, where I was on the Cymdeithas Madog Welsh Course two weeks ago.