Pieces of April

Snow. In the first week of April. Again. Two different snowstorms last week. On the plus side, I got to focus on only one project again.

Book 1 – Justicar Jhee and the Cursed Abbey

Finally, I made it through the big rewrite. I don’t anticipate any major plot changes from here on out, just more refinement and tweaking. A few plot holes remain and it’s definitely going to need major cleanup. But the story and characters are solid.

Random excerpt:

While Jhee waited at the gate until everyone in her charge had been safely seen inside, she noted the symbol above the gate, a sword and bridge.

Book 2 – Justicar Jhee and the “Big Thingy”

I made several tries at reworking the story. The uncovered plot holes and thin plot area in serious need of filling in are kicking my butt. I got nothing. I may be over-thinking it. The main mystery and the clues continue to flummox me, therefore I should go simple. I need to binge some more mystery books and media.

After putting it off, I embarked on the laborious process of rearranging the scene order. It required much flipping back and forth, a reason I avoided it so long. Some of the scenes consist of a single sentence or disembodied exchange. One of the downsides of the scatter-shot method I use to write a story. In those cases, numbering them works better than moving the scene. I also found it easier to do this with a spreadsheet than dragging-and-dropping directly in Scrivener. It’s still tedious.

Excerpt:

Jhee did her best to pay attention as Kanto introduced her to another dignitary or minor official.

Book 3 – “The Missing MacGuffin”

A line here and there pops in my head and I write it down.

Have a lovely day!