Almost a totally wasted day...

On Amazon.com, in the fantasy forums, there are several threads called KTT. The object is to be the last person to post and 'kill the thread' to win a signed book. The real pleasure is in actually participating in the conversations and enjoying the rather insane banter that goes on there. Somewhere during the last part of KTT 11, I got busy and did not keep up with it. Today, after a twelve hour effort, I finally caught up. It is now a 'zombie' thread, since the book has already been won and the thread killed per se. But people are still posting. I think one of my favorite aspects are the filks that get posted there.

As a result of wasting all that time catching up with KTT 11, I thought my 1k a day quota would fall by the wayside. Fortunately, my muse cooperated tonight and Vengeance is still progressing at just over 1000 words a day. I think I'm going to try to break the 50k mark tomorrow. We'll see.

Have a great whatever, more later...

Blasted muse and the tricky games she plays...

There are times when the muse gives you a perfectly played out scene then sits back and laughs at you as you struggle to find a way to get to it. Tonight was one of those times. It took over three frustrating hours to write the first fifty or so words of Chapter 16. Afterwards, the story flowed like a flash flood. In spite of the little games my muse likes to play, I made my daily quota. Unfortunately, kaben nine had to be neglected. He is currently sleeping off a rather rough day in Martel's torture cellar so probably needs the rest anyway.

Edited to add: I should wait until I'm awake to rant. The next paragraph is not targeted to the entire group of atheists/agnostics. I'm sure the vast majority of them are intelligent, open-minded people. The ones I had in mind are the obnoxious, ignorant, and noisy few who do not believe that their religious freedom rights end where the next person's begin. If they are so easily offended, that is their problem, and their problem alone.

On another note, I read an article in Linn's Stamp News that an atheist/agnostic organization is protesting the release of the upcoming Mother Theresa stamp. I find it a shame that these people, who must be very unhappy, can find nothing better to do than to try to make everyone else's life as miserable as their own. My thoughts are: if you don't like the stamp, don't buy it. On the last census I read, only 2% of our nation's population fall into the atheist/agnostic religious category. That works out to be about 2 people out of a hundred. Granted, there are other religions besides Christianity out there, this group seems to be the only one who is offended by such things. Since they are so few in number, maybe they should find an isolated island where they could all go and be miserably happy together without ruining everyone else's lives.

Anyway, more updates later...

Combined Council - 1

Chapter 15 is completed and with it the Combined Council loses another member. I won't go into details and spoil the fun. Both Vengeance of the Ghost and kaben nine enjoyed my attention today. The 1k a day quota was met, though barely. I'll be starting Chapter 16 tomorrow which will focus on a little chaos at the farm.

So far in this volume, Delmaria has refrained from kicking anymore buckets.

Updates and such...

Both Vengeance of the Ghost and kaben nine are progressing well. I've set a personal quota of at least 1,000 words a day for Vengeance. So far, I've been doing well with keeping that goal. kaben nine is the story I intend to finish after the release of Vengeance. There is no quota for it. I work on it when it becomes a distraction. It is a completely different style from the Lord of Chaos Trilogy. There is only one main character and it is a darker tale. The chapters are also much longer. So far, it fits more into the 'Horror/Thriller' genre with a bit of fantasy thrown in for good measure.

Vengeance will explain the origins of Stumpy. Several of the other gods have already been introduced this way in the first book. Some who have not, died before the opportunity to do so presented itself. The trilogy will end with the third book. Although some of the characters may appear in future stories, I'll be taking a break from them at least until kaben nine is complete.

Stamps:
I managed to find an older edition of Michel's Austria Specialized catalog rather cheaply priced and am now the proud owner of it. Mr. Schneider told me that even though it was written in German, it would be a great help in identifying the earlier stamps and their variations. I find this to be very true so far. Besides, Google Translate is very helpful. I've learned that sometimes I have to split the German words to get a translation, and with some fiddling here and there, everything I've encountered in the Michel guide, Google can translate.

I've begun working on a web site for my stamp collection. Part of it includes a cross reference of three of the major stamp guides and their numbering systems. I'm not totally happy with the layout yet, so expect it to change. It is also far from completed, although, the majority of my feeble collection is posted. You can find those pages here.

Autographs:
Slowly but surely, I'm getting my autograph collection scanned and posted to my facebook page. There are over a hundred there already and there will be at least that many more to come. Drop by and check them out!