Week 5: Word Count Update

Making loads of progress on word count this week, plus a sneaky peek of some new character art!

Welcome to another Friday Writing Update!

Some brutal subzero temperatures drove me down to the basement throughout this week, so I’ve been working away in a makeshift area that’s actually warm rather than my office/writing nook that relies on a space heater.

This update is later than I prefer, but I wanted to let you guys know where we are. As I announced last week, I did finish KAGAMI, the fifth of these six origin novellas I’m currently writing. That freed me up to start working on the final origin novella for my samurai superheroes.

Here are the word counts I’ve managed to achieve this week:

• Monday: 3,292 (Project: REISHOSAN)

• Tuesday: 2,909 (Project: REISHOSAN)

• Wednesday: 2,481 (Project: REISHOSAN)

• Thursday: 2,478 (Project: REISHOSAN)

• Friday: 5,661 (Project: REISHOSAN)

That’s a total of 16,821 words this week. Writing in Mia Davalos’s perspective is certainly different, but I’m having a lot of fun with it. Additionally, as much as I was trying to prevent it, I think this sixth novella is going to be longer than the others. I have been aiming for 40K-45K for each of these, but I wouldn’t be surprised if this one goes to at least 50K. There are so many more characters to juggle, and the logistics are C-R-A-Z-Y.

PROJECT: KAZAN

As I am working on finishing up this final novella, I figured I should let you know where we stand with the first one in the series. KAZAN, novella number 1, just came back from my editor today. As I expected, there are several areas that need tweaking. We will see what happens, but I am planning to dive into revisions on that novella probably in March or April. That’s the plan at this point. If I can do that, then there is a good possibility that I can release KAZAN before the end of 2026.

However, if you just can’t wait for a weekly dose of samurai superheroes, you can upgrade your subscription to paid and get a raw chapter to read every Wednesday morning.

Speaking of KAZAN …

I might have also gotten a little piece of artwork that has something to do with him.

It’s a bit blurry becuase low-res iamge, but hopefully you can get an idea for what it is. I’ll show you the full image as soon as I have it!

Farewell, January!

I can’t believe we are at the end of January, you guys. Thanks for sticking it out with me so far. In case you are wondering, here’s my overall word count for the month of January:

• Fiction: 56,546 words

• Non-Fiction: 58,102 words

• Total Word Count: 114,648 words

That’s almost half and half! I’ll take it.

Redwall by Brian Jacques (audiobook)

Writing Invisible: Building A Career in Fiction While Going (mostly) Unnoticed by Noelle Adams

For those of you who are paid subscribers, don’t forget that KAZAN chapter 3 will be dropping on Wednesday morning!

Have a wonderful weekend, my friends, and I will check in again next Friday.

Blessings!

Amy