Yesterday marked the end of a long, grueling three-month writing marathon.  The publishing world seems to enjoy making a lot of their deadlines during the summer months when writers would rather be outside.  I suspect this is a form of passive aggressive torture from the editors for all of the bad slush manuscripts that they have to read.

This year, I decided that I was not going to miss a single deadline or opportunity.  This required a new dedication to the freelancer life and leveling up my self-discipline.  I’ve had to work when all of my friends were outside playing.  I woefully ignored my wife and had to turn down fun activities with friends.

I woke up in the middle of the night trying to escape dreams of restful code and Numina powers.  My head feels like I tried to best Hemmingway in a drinking contest and then was chased by bulls.

Don’t fuck with the Jedi Master, son!

I did a review of my word count for the last three months.  This includes all of my fiction, freelance projects, and technical writing.

I managed a total word count of 145,284 words!  The breakdown works as follows:

• Technical Documentation (APIs, User Guides, Developer’s Guides, and Technical Overviews): 45,000 words.
• Two Novelettes (My Love is Vengeance and Fading Light From a Dying Star):  31,233 words
• Twelve Short Stories: 42,851 words
• Proposal for Secret Project Omega: 5,100 words (Pending Approval)
• Proposal for Secret Project 2: 1,100 words (Rejected)
• Proposal for Secret Project 3: 1,112 words (Rejected)
• Hunters Hunted 20, 000 words

I’ve never felt more like a writer.  There are huge leviathan projects coming up in the near future and for the first time I feel properly ready for them.

Until then, I’m recharging my batteries and sharing fellowship with the wife and friends that have been supporting me.  It takes a village to support village idiots and writers.