On the Sense Memory of Ghosts (Tuesday Word Metrics — and some healthy links!)

Here’s today’s word metrics for Ghost of a Chance:

Today’s word count: 1,174
Total word count: 23,603
Words of fiction written this year: 6,476

Today’s output wasn’t great as far as quantity goes, but I had a late start and a lot of interruptions, mostly in the form of a needy Chihuahua and a cat who doesn’t quite know how to lap kitty but has recently decided that’s no longer going to be a barrier between herself and my lap. Just goes to show you that it’s possible to make considerable progress under less-than-ideal circumstances.

I’m pretty proud of how this paragraph turned out, though, which is the main reason I paused to do an update today. Here’s an unspoilery snippet of today’s output:

They stood on the back porch, at the top of the steps. The sun shone on them. Joe couldn’t feel its warmth, of course, nor could he feel the breeze that made the trees gently sway, or breathe in the fresh air, although Ron told him that the air these days wasn’t anywhere near as fresh as he remembered. And he did remember. Though the memory was distant, if he thought real hard he could recall how it felt to be warmed by the sunshine, to breathe deeply and fill his lungs with clean air, to smell the scents that mingled in it, which in his day had included a lot of manure and other barnyard smells, but also clean hay and newly mown grass and the honeysuckle and milkweed that grew along the fence around the yard where his girl had played. And that was almost as good as feeling it.

***

After the writing session I ate lunch (stuffed pepper soup–good stuff!) and did the warm up and part of the first leg of this kickboxing workout. I was up to being able to do the entire first leg before my jaw would start to ache and I’d feel like passing out, but since the last time I did it I realized that I could combine podcast listening with spinning on my husband’s stationary bike, which is about a million times more motivating, so I’ve been doing that. Which apparently is not the same level of cardio because MAN that kickboxing routine kicked my hinder today.

And now it’s back to the word mines, this time for freelance stuff.