The Second Act
Seventy-five thousand words! The first quarter of The Fracture of the High Kingdom is done.
The setup is finished. The reader knows who Lira, Zeph, and Brin are, what they want, and what’s standing between them and surviving. Now comes the long middle which is part where I have to deliver on every promise the first act made. Feeling excited at 75000 words. One quarter done and 3 quarters to go!
Sixty Thousand Words In
Sixty thousand words into The Fracture Saga. The draft is 20% done, which means I’ve written Part 1, and now it’s time for Part 2. I fully outlined the book in 2025, so this has really set me up to just go create. It’s going well, POVs are immersive, and it’s fun as heck. Lu and Abby (both 13 lbs and black American shorthairs) have destroyed the armrests of my leather writing chair…systematically and with intent. I adopted them from the Tampa humane society two years ago, bought the chair a month before that decision : ).
Building Momentum
Today felt like a real author day. I finally got my website up and running—nothing fancy yet, but it's mine. The big win? My two cats, Lu and Abby behaving? Never. Adding a live word count tracker to show my progress toward 300,000 words. There's something satisfying about seeing that donut chart fill up, even if it's only at 15% right now. It's a visual reminder that every word counts, literally. After wrestling with code blocks and fonts (who knew matching a theme could be so particular?), I rewarded myself by diving back into The Fracture of the High Kingdom. Finished two chapters today—one following Zeph, and another with Lira. The writing felt good. Sharp. I'm celebrating the small wins. A website that works. Been reading Atomic Habits by James Clear after seeing him interviewed by Mel Robbins. —Patrick