On 23 000 and Counting

November 21, 2008 by maureen.ulrich.

Yes, it’s happening, and much faster than I thought. It’s  downright easy when the characters take over. And so much more fun when I don’t have to figure out who Jessie is multiple times. I just follow her voice. So far I have reintroduced previous members of the Xtreme — fleshing them out a little. I didn’t know until two days ago that Miranda, the goalie, moved to Canada from Minnesota with her mother. Nor did I know that Larissa’s roots are in Kenya. And I wasn’t too sure about moving the setting from EJH to ECS, a school with which I am less familiar. Nevertheless, I have a working knowledge of the school, and with a little help from some students I know, I think I can create a believable setting. I have set a goal of being finished by mid-December, and I am already one third of the way there. Not bad considering it took me THREE YEARS to write this many words in my first draft — most of which were changed/axed in the subsequent seven drafts. Just over a week to the book awards. And no, I won’t be in the least bit disappointed if I don’t win. It is just so awesome to be GOING under these circumstances. I can’t imagine that anything in my writing career is ever going to top that evening. I’ll keep you posted on the results. Check back on November 30th. 

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