Zanski: Blog

Still slow going due to the rotator cuff injury, but that seems to be gradually healing, or at least becoming a bit less painful, week by week. Still, some wincing and beaucoup ibuprofen is involved.

Nonetheless, I crossed the 50K milestone today, on my way to about 120K words. Sneak preview: Elfego Baca's in this one.

Seasonal salutations!

Well, that's not strictly true. I'm better than 30K words into Nuevo Mexico, and that despite having two cataract surgeries and a torn rotator cuff over the past six weeks, including a half dozen appointments with various doctors. I won't bore you with further detail, but the combination has slowed me down, and continues to do so.

I was amused, though, when the cataract experience brought to mind something from back in the day, when I was working in community mental health. As a corollary to the saying, "seeing the world through rose-colored glasses," I would sometimes liken the experience of depression to "seeing the world through shit-colored glasses."

That simile took on new meaning after the first cataract procedure, on my left eye. After that, white objects took on an almost blue hue when viewed through the new artificial lens. Meanwhile, my right eye, to be operated on two weeks later, was still seeing the world in a sepia tint, the deleterious effect of the cataracts. It was an unexpected experience. At this point, both eyes see whiter whites and brighter colors. Go figure.

Then there's the torn rotator cuff, a sheet muscle that stretches over the shoulder joint. SIGH. It begins to be a distraction after about thirty minutes at the keyboard. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

As of the moment, I'm 17K words into the third book of the trilogy, working title, Nuevo Mexico. But I have several relatively routine medical procedures looming over the next few months, so my pace may slow a bit. We'll see.

The first two books, War Party and Bootleg Justice are 121K words and 135K words, respectively. I imagine Nuevo Mexico will end up being somewhere in between.

Later.

I have today finished the second book in my next western trilogy, the Seneca Series. Working titles for the first two books are War Party and Bootleg Justice, 121K words and 135K words, respectively. I still consider both in draft form, though mostly in need of fine tuning more than revisions.

In any event, I have already begun the final book which currently enjoys the working title Book Three.

Still hacking away, every darn day. I'm 83k words into the second book of a three-book series. I figure to wrap it up between 100k and 120k words.

I'll provide a sketch of the premise, but with a caveat: I could change it. My Arenoso Trails series, for instance, started as a sailing epic during the Napoleonic Wars, so I'm never quite sure how things will turn out.

Anyway, at the moment I'm calling it the Seneca series. The protagonist, Judah Becker, with one-quarter Onodowa'ga (Seneca) heritage, turns eighteen in January of 1864 and, inspired by reading Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, joins a regiment of Ohio volunteers.

Flash forward to 1883 when he's working as a Deputy U.S. Marshal in the Territory of New Mexico, pursuing a fugitive across the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. And he enjoys fly fishing. Go figure.