90, 000

Today my novel reached 90,000 words.

I'm so proud of myself and completely stunned that I've gotten so far. This is the longest piece of original fiction I've ever written.  At times I feared I'd never reach the end, and though I haven't quite yet, I've hung in there and now the finish line is clearly in sight.

I was aiming to finish on 100,000 words, but I don't think I can wrap everything up in just 10k. We'll see. I wouldn't be surprised if I finish up with 110,00 or more by the end of the story.

And things are still going well.  I know this is only a first draft, and a lot will have to be edited, cut and changed.  But I like how this story had progressed.  I feel once it's finished I will have something decent to work with for draft two.

Now I just have to get to the end!

I've just written big battle number one and it went very well, even if I do say so myself.  I liked the magical action I created.  I've got a shape-shifter lynx fighting a summoned wolf, and a time-traveller outsmarting someone with super speed (among other things).  There's even some zombies in there!

I have a couple of big character revelations coming up next, and possibly a declaration of love.

Then it's only the final battle, and the defeating of the big bad.

After that, I plan on tying up the loose ends and solidifying the romances, and then the book is complete.

I'll leave things here with another excerpt as I go to work on tomorrow's post for the I'm Hearing Voices! Character Blogfest.

Thanks for reading, and enjoy!

"Let's even the score a little," came a snide voice. From around a piece of debris strode a man in tattered black jeans that were tucked into the top of his Dr. Martens boots. He was also wearing a white t-shit that looked as though it had seen better days and a long black leather trench coat.

He took off the coat and boots and threw them to the floor and then transformed from a human into a Liberian Lynx.

The Lynx charged at Quinn, but when it was less then half way across the battle field, Quinn summoned the wolf he and Maggie had spent so long studying.

The wolf leaped from Quinn's side and bound towards the Lynx, then lunged at the cat's throat. The Lynx retaliated with scratches and angry hisses. The two animals fought, teeth bared as they bit and tore at any piece of flesh they could find.

For one terrible moment Quinn thought he was going to lose control of his wolf, but then he pictured Maggie in his mind. The image of her mossy green eyes, glasses that always slipped down her nose, and auburn hair that was so often tied in a messy bun, inspired him to fight harder.

His wolf pounced on the Lynx, knocking it to the ground, and pinning it to the floor. Then as the wolf was about to tear the creature's throat out it turned back into a man.