As of this moment, I’ve completed 21,691 words of my targeted 50,000 by the end of the month. That puts me way ahead of the 1,666 words per day if I did only what was required each day to finish on time. It’s a good thing, because yesterday I wrote a paltry 402 words – better than nothing, but pretty close to nothing.

Two things I’ve figured out about productivity. First, my brain doesn’t work as well with two cats napping in my lap and I’m trying to balance my laptop on the arm of my recliner. Second, I have a hard time typing with a cat on my desk sweeping her bushy tail across the keyboard. The things we writers suffer for our craft!

This year’s story is running more smoothly because I planned ahead and actually had an idea for a plot thread. Sometimes I deviate because it’s the right thing to do. The preacher was the one murdered, but my designated murderer may not be the one who did it. And if he did (oops! I gave it away – it’s a man) he may not have acted alone.

The police detective’s father just died after a heart attack and both of the detective’s ex-wives are interested in reconciliation. One of the ex-wives is on the rebound because her husband just died from a recurrence of cancer. If the story starts to drag, I may have to kill someone else. I have several possibilities, all with good reason.

Living in a land of make believe is something I like about writing fiction. It’s playing with imaginary friends and doing fun things, or sometimes naughty things, without repercussions. We fly helicopters, drive luxury automobiles, have fun jobs and unlimited piles of cash. And every day is a good hair day.

More later.