20,602 Plot clearing

No excerpt tonight unfortunately as the crack IT guys have shut me down somewhat/ I cant use a USB which means you have to wait until tomorrow morning for a post from sam for me.

Lots of great things happening in my novel though. A second murder has been committed and I have finally cleared up how everything will be connected in my head of course. My novel is devoid of Esmonde references which makes it more boring for me to write but I enjoy the fact that I am able to produce enough from my own imagination to develop a half decent plot.

I will post a nice long passage tomorrow with some 'awesome' dialogue.

also I seem to be more productive at work when I write and then do work. Its a little bizarre.

HOpe everyone else is doing well.

Behind again... But on top of the plot 15,103

My valient effort to get caught up took a big hit when I was unable/unwilling to write much this weekend which is a shame. Thankfully, I wrote a fair amount today 2,500 words to be exact and I moved on from the first unsolved murder to the second. I am not exactly happy with the killer's motive, which I have figured out but I realize people have killed for worst reasons.

I cant post an excerpt tonight but I will tomorrow.

I am very pleased where my novel is heading though. My characters actions and personal ties aren't in conflict and I am actually pleasantly surprised with how much of the plot has come into focus so quickly. the only thing missing is a love interest i guess.... perhaps I will tackle that soon as one of my detectives is losing faith in his abilities.

Closing in on caught up10, 197

It was another banner day for government workers. I while wrote 2000 words while a chunk of the office was off watching the soccer game. the finals must be weird for you Katie.

Anyway I must confessed I haven't had too much trouble moving my novel forward. I am several scenes ahead in ideas and in fact I feel I am rushing these scenes as I desperately want to move onto the second part of my book.

Also I realize I might have confused some of you with my first passage. Poor Brian was my original main character but i quickly wrote him off. He wasn't right.

My current main characters are the detectives handling the death that Brian found. they are Tom Sterling and A.J. Salty.

They are mediocre RCMP officers, competent but not perfect. And they love to ask dumb questions!

Its weird I haven't seen my killer yet but already i know a lot about him: occupation, motives, hair cut, favourite movie. My notebook is full of information about him. This first murder is dragging out a little too much. I think i will soon move on to better places.

Here's an excerpt of them just for fun unedited of course:

Tom Sterling’s sunglasses hid his icy grey eyes even though the skies were quite overcast. His dark short hair stayed neatly in place even as the hard cold spring winds whistle wildly around him. Tom was leaning up against his car with his partner, A.J. Salty, waiting for a local volunteer firefighter to lead them and various forensic and evidence collectors to the crime scene.
Tom puffed on his Marlboro light cigarette wondering why he had been called to crime scene in the middle of nowhere. Surely there was someone in this area who would be capable of handling this case. A.J. gave him a look that indicated he was thinking the same thing. They had been working cases for the past 7 years together and had seem some pretty horrific stuff but it mostly involved unfaithful spouses, gangs and drugs.
Usually things like that didn’t happen in small towns. Unfaithful spouses just beat each other or if it got really bad they just disappeared. In any case, these types of cases rarely crossed the desk of middle of the pack detectives of the OPP for whatever reason.
A.J., who was always prepared, was going over instructions to every group of evidence collectors. There were pairs who would be assigned to search the forest around the crime scene for trace evidence and other information that may be pertinent for the case.
A.J. also passed out black note books that would be used document anything and everything that was found or noted in the area around the body.
The head volunteer firefighter finally arrived back to the congregation of OPP officers and their Ford Crown Victoria’s. They were all different colours but they all served the same purposes. They were fast, explosive and readily burnable.
Joe Saunders, the head of the volunteer fire fighter corps, went straight to the A.J. and Tom. “This is horrible.” He mumbled to them.
Tom’s steely ice eyes directed their way towards him. “What’s horrible is the fact that we’ve been waiting twenty minutes for your ass to get back here.” Saunders jumped at the harshness and complete assholeness of Tom but Tom wasn’t even done yet he threw the lit cigarette down and disgust and tore into him. “When you call the OPP in on a case we don’t like to be kept waiting, volunteer. Now get your fucking ass in gear and get us to the crime scene.”
Joe didn’t move for a second but then Tom eyes bore into him and he quickly got into step. “Follow me.” He breathed not at all amused by Tom and his attitude. A.J. fell into step beside Joe to smooth over the tensions that he made be harbouring towards the OPP. A.J. played the good cop fairly well. Well enough that the fire chief would not be too unhappy by the time they made it to the crime scene. He began relaying what little information they knew about the man.
“He was discovered by a hiker yesterday afternoon, who was quite beat up himself. He busted his ankle getting the information to us and to tell you the true he was so pale I thought he was going to puke.”
A.J. interjected with a question, “Did he lead you back to the body.”
“Not quite. He was unable to walk and probably wouldn’t have been persuaded to go back to the place for a million dollars.”
“That bad?” A.J asked his face showing some faint worry lines.
Joe nodded at him glumly. “He is strung up like a piece of meat. We wanted to bring him down you know as a sign of respect but I thought you would not want the body to be touch.”
“That’s true. You did a good job.

Ha encryption be damned 8,057

I successfully managed to get my book onto a computer with internet access! yeah for excerpts.

I wrote 2500 words today and that has to be a success although sam is quick to remind me that I am still a ways away from catching up. It has been quite hot in here over the past day and a half and that managed to awkwardly make it to my novel.

I am reading everyone's blogs tomorrow and hope to start posting some comments. No NHL players yet but I decided everyone who dies with be free agents from the NBA... not actual NBA players but their names.

Here is th first part of my novel unedited and in all the glory of a newborn child.

Brian Gumball was a simple man. He lived alone in a townhouse in Mississauga and commuted to his boring everyday IT job in Toronto everyday. He provided technical support to Bell system and spent most of his days answering the phone and helping Bell employees across the country with their technical issues. Brian was unusual in the IT world because his favourite hobby was hiking in the hilly areas of the Niagara Escarpment with his dog. Unfortunately Brian did not realize that his peaceful and healthy hobby was about to give him nightmares for years to come and eventually drive him insane.
Brian began his day peacefully enough. He was slowly ascending the escarpment near Kimberly Ontario. The trip to the top of the escarpment was around 40 minutes given the leisurely pace that Brian was going, and today he wasn’t in any rush.
It was an overcast Sunday in early April. The snow had mostly melted although some remained on the nearby ski slope Talisman. Brian had driven up from Toronto for the day with his beautiful golden retriever, Marcella. Marcella was an obedient dog and she thoroughly enjoyed these days when Brian took her out. She would be unleashed and run for miles and miles always within earshot of Brian. Occasionally, Brian would toss a stick for her to retrieve but mostly she kept herself entertain and was the perfect company for Brian.
Together the reach the top of the escarpment without too much trouble. The view was magnificent. Together they looked down on the valley. It seemed a little barren as the trees had yet to have any of the magnificent green leafs that the region was normally known for.
Brian checked his watch and the skies to ensure it was safe to continue the hike. The paths that he normally hiked on were fairly well worn but there were some rocky patches that when wet were quite slippery and dangerous. The forecast had called for some rain but when have the weather man ever been right? Regrettably for Brian even a blind squirrel finds his nuts every once and a while. If only he had turned around and called it a day then.
Brian concluded it was safe to continue the hike and headed into a more overgrown trail. The forest literally towered above him and Brian went into a much darker place than he had been just a few seconds ago. It was noticeably cooler and Brian zipped up his windbreaker and push through with Marcella by his side.
The walk began as mostly enjoyable. He found a cool fresh water stream where he filled up his water bottle and found some nice smooth red rocks. He pocketed for his collection and to see what type of stones they would turn out to be. He went a little further and picked up a hiking stick that he thought even Edmund Hillary would have felt was appropriate. He continued deeper into the forest when he noticed that the forest was getting a shade darker than he wanted it to. In the distance he heard a rumble. Brian looked up and could barely see some dark clouds moving overhead towards him.
Brian swore violently. He had no recollection of a thunder storm in the area when he had checked his weather report. This worried him and he whistled for Marcella. His whistle perked not only Marcella ears but also of a brown squirrel in the area. Marcella spotted the squirrel and took off after it.
“No Marcella!” Brian yelled as he fled after her and that damn squirrel. Brian leapt over fallen logs and large protruding roots trying to catch up. Naturally this is when the Gods decided to take a piss. Large drops hit the top of the canopy and the drips that were hitting Brian soon began to form a full downpour. Brian’s old battered Expo’s cap that he had cherished since his childhood was soaked in moments and his glasses had large drops streaming across them obscuring his view. Brian had lost the squirrel some time ago and he sensed that Marcella had as well.
Marcella was sitting twenty metres in front of him looking up a tree. Brian slowed and confronted Marcella whom he did not appreciate running off like that. Brian called Marcella and whistled at her to no avail whatever was in that tree had her complete attention. He looked up to see what it was. The rain was obscuring his vision but he managed to make out the unmistakeable bandit eyes of an adult raccoon. Stupid small fuckin’ mammals.
Brian made the mistake that many men make, usually when they see a beautiful woman: he forgot to look where he was walking. He felt his left foot slip on the rock and experience the moment everyone dreaded, that feeling of going down and knowing there is absolutely nothing you can do to fix it. Brian’s body rolled left as he tumbled down the slick muddy slope.
The drop was more than twenty meters but Brian was incredibly lucky as the ground was mostly soft. Brian had shut his eyes and didn’t see the dead spin that he was in. He rolled to a clearing where two trees stood five meters apart. If Brian had rolled right through the two trees he would have fallen 20 feet to a rocky platform below and have almost certainly died. Instead he smoked the tree on the right with the back of his head halting his momentum and knocking him completely unconscious.
Marcella walked down the steep slope with the steadiness that only animals seemed to be blessed with. Marcella may have had an affinity for small mammals but she had a fierce loyalty that drew her back to Brian. She stayed by him through the stormy night and kept him safe from whatever ever may have been out there, never leaving his side.
* * * * * * * * * * *
Brian remained unconscious long after the rain had stopped falling and for all of the night as well. He was lucky that he had dressed warmly and had a mostly water proof outfit that had kept him dry. The night had been slightly cool but Marcella had cuddle up next to him and kept him warm. Brian had awoken the following morning as Marcella slobbered all over his face looking for her daily meal.
The moment Brian regained consciousness he immediately regretted it. He hurt all over. He felt like his head had been hammered with the back of an axe. His arms were dotted with dark blue bruises and his right ankle was extremely tendered as he lifted himself up to his feet. He slowly regained focus in his eyes to check out his surroundings. He was on a platform that was halfway up the escarpment and was fairly clear. There were stumps that appeared to have been recently cut. The area was fairly manicured for the middle of an area the escarpment that few went to. He looked back to the two trees that had saved his life and realized exactly why the area had been so manicured. It was in complete contrast to the rest of the valley. Someone wanted this area to have been found and Brian had been the unfortunate one to have found it.
He searched his pockets for his cell phone knowing that he would come up empty. He didn’t have anything except his keys; he always left his electronics in his car to experience the peacefulness of his hike. After today there would not be any peace for Brian in the Niagara Escarpment. Or any other forest for that matter.
* * * * * * * * * * *
Brian gazed at the thing in front of him. It was a hair raising sight. What little food was left in Brian’s stomach quickly as liberated itself from his system and ended up in a sickly looking pile of green goop.
Brian forced himself to look away from the body that was hanging between the two trees but it was difficult in the same way that it’s difficult to look away from a train wreck. The body was a male maybe 5’8” with long dirty blond hair that was streaked with the unmistakeable dark red hue of dried blood.
He was strung up by his wrists and ankles in a star position and luckily (hardly winning the lottery luck but luck nonetheless) his junk was facing towards the valley. The reason that Brian stomach was now empty was due to the fact that this man’s skin on his legs was mostly shredded and large chunks of muscle were protruding from what little skin remained. AS he Brian gazed up he realized that that was not the worst part.
The worst part of the man was above his mutilated ass. At the bottom of his lower back there was a hole four inches in diameter that went clear through his body. Brian could see the trees further down through this hole.
Brian bit his lip and summoned what little courage and strength he had left. He grabbed a long walking stick nearby and used it as a crouch. He whistled for Marcella and began the trek back to his car to alert the local authorities.
By the time Brian had stumbled his way back to his car it was mid afternoon. By the time local volunteer firefighter team had arrived it was late afternoon. After they had examined the body, thrown up, and realized that what they were dealing with was well above their heads they decided to call the RCMP.

whoops thats a little long... dont hate me for that

First Death: my sanity 5570 words

well it was a tough start and I am already well behind on the word count but surprisnly happy where my book is right now.

the cottage was nice though.

I dont have an excerpt because i umm.... am not writing on my laptop... we'll leave it at that.

So far in my book two detectives have a found a dead body in a forest near kimberly ontario. Quite exciting. They just identified the victim and are on the way to interview his girlfriend/wife... not sure what I decided.

writing has been slow but smooth. I hope to be slowly catching up on word count this week. i may be wasting some of your tax dollars this week writing. i hope you don't mind lol.

Tomorrow i will post an excerpt and comment on other blogs.

stupid free agency is keeping my focus off of ResNoWriMo!

COngrats to everyone else on a great start!