Prompt: Wraith child

I’ve known Jesse since we were four. His family moved next door to mine, and I chased him under the moving truck while they unloaded. I’d never seen tires that big. He hid behind one and we went around and around until I turned back and ran smack into him and we fell down laughing. We’ve been best friends ever since. I knew he was afraid of the dark, but I never really understood why. Until tonight.

We had our first sleepover that first night, both in sleeping bags in my living room. By the time we were old enough that our parents said it wasn’t proper, we were old enough to stuff pillows in our beds and sneak in and out of windows like ninjas. Most nights, Jesse climbed in my window and we slept with our arms wrapped around each other. No matter how hot it was, Jesse always had to have at least a sheet over us, tucked around hands and feet. He would have preferred to keep our heads under the covers, too, but I can’t sleep with anything over my face, not even a light sheet.

I always thought it was for comfort. Jesse never talked about the nightmares that made him tremble and thrash in his sleep. I would just wrap my arms tighter around him and whisper in his ear until he calmed down. “I’m here. It’s okay. I’m here.”

#

“Cut,” yells the director. “From the top…”

#

Jesse’s been my best friend since we were four. Tonight he tried to kill me. Didn’t he? But then he saved my life. Ogodogodogod, did that really happen? Where is he now? He should be here…. No! Maybe I should go find him, try to help…Against what? What where they? What is he? Oh, Jesse, I don’t know…

“Jesse,” I moaned, dropping my forehead against my knees, pressing my back against the wall and tucking the sheet tight over my head as he always told me. How can this possibly protect me? Save me? But somehow, it always has. I just never knew the nightmares were real. Until tonight.

It’s all racing around and around in my brain, until I want to scream! I am so mad at Jesse—he lied to me! All these years? He knew…didn’t he? He had to have known. That he wasn’t …what? Say it, Annie.

“He’s not human,” I whispered, my lips brushing against my jeans. I clenched my arms tighter around my shins. And then the window rattled, and I tried to make myself even smaller under the sheet. Invisible to them as they were to us.

“Trust me,” I heard Jesse’s voice in my head, my memory. The first night he climbed in my bed and tucked the sheets around us. “We’re safe under here…”

Dogs in House	Houdini, Brindle
Time writing	~1 hour, interrupted
July word count	8,959

Professional Milestone: D.B. Jackson Interview on BullSpec.com

In the Spring of 2010, I attended the launch party for the new BullSpec Magazine, at the Regulator Bookshop in Durham, NC. Today, my name is in the first title.

More importantly, one of my favorite authors—D.B. Jackson (aka David B. Coe)—is coming to another area bookstore—Quail Ridge Books & Music—on Monday, July 21^st at 7:30 pm.

David is touring with the release of A Plunder of Souls, the third in his magnificent historical urban fantasy series, the Thieftaker Chronicles. I read the first book, Thieftaker, in one sitting. I savored the second, Thieves Quarry, plowing through ¾ of the book, then drawing out the last few pages as long as I could bear the suspense. Now I have A Plunder of Souls in my hands, I might not be heard from for the rest of this weekend!

I appreciate Sam Montgomery-Blinn for asking me to interview David. And I appreciate David as a writer and a mentor—and a friend. A lot of things are brewing in 2014, and this was an unexpectedly wonderful surprise that results in a really satisfying payoff:

You know where I’ll be Monday night!

Dogs in House	Houdini, Brindle
Music Playing	Soundtrack to Life of Pi
Time writing	15 minutes
July word count	8,490

Con Report: ConGregate, Winston Salem, Sunday (Day 3)

...Continued from Day 2

Having learned our lesson about breakfast options on Saturday, my friends agreed to meet at 8am for the hotel buffet—and more omelettes!

First up for Sunday programming? The Magical Words “Live Action Slush Pile” – hugely successful when debuted last month at ConCarolinas. In fact, the ConGregate staff heard about how popular and successful this event was and worked out a repeat appearance at Congregate on the spot!

The idea is to bring to life an overworked editor’s attempt to slash through their daily slush pile. The “editors” are MagicalWords.net founders, Faith Hunter, David B. Coe, and Misty Massey  Participants anonymously submit one page—the first 300 words—of a manuscript. A guest reader, in today’s instance, A.J. Hartley, reads each page, and as each “editor” hears something that would cause them to pass on the manuscript in their slush pile, they raise their hand. When all three hands are raised, they stop and discuss what “killed” the story for them. Sometimes it’s as simple as poor grammar or structure or word choice in the first sentence. Sometimes it’s an overdone trope or theme or scene (beginning with someone waking up, for instance). Every once in awhile, they reach the end of the page. And once or twice, a manuscript gets a spontaneous ovation from the room. After their comments, they invite the author to “out” themselves, though it’s not required.

My submission almost reached the end of the page – and A.J. actually asked to read the last two lines, because he thought they would influence the listeners’ opinions. Thanks for that, A.J.! As at ConCarolinas, the panelists gave excellent feedback and ideas which immediately had me busily rewriting the opening scene, definitely for the better (including getting to those 2 lines a little sooner).

After the LASP (tm), I headed across the hall to the Social Media/Marketing for Authors/Artists/Others. GailMartin served as moderator, with panelists Jennifer McCollom, Nicole Kurtz, Randy Richards, Tricia Barr, and Sharon Stogner. Interesting debate/discussion over (primarily) Facebook vs Twitter as the current “king”. I think the key takeaway was find what works for you, where your community grows, and continue to build that. Randy “lives” in Facebook, and finds Twitter more or less a bust, for instance, while Tricia thrives in the Twitterverse, and indeed was live-tweeting throughout the con – and, impressively, even throughout her panels. Jennifer discussed the differences for her as a film special effects artist – much of her work is under wraps until the film’s release, so she *can’t* display or talk about her work in the same “real time” way that writers and other artists can (usually) talk about – and share pictures of –theirs.

I asked about the challenges working with Facebook, because of the kingpin’s control and limitations of newsfeeds, fan pages, etc. Is it better to have an individual account, or a business or fan page, for instance? Some found the advertising a waste of effort and money, while others found it worthwhile. No clear answer, it seems. YMMV.

Interesting discussion about blogging and across-the-board cross-promotion in social media, reflecting much of what Sharon and I had discussed the day before. People are willing to boost each other—share, and ask!

In fact, I am just now realizing we didn’t have a discussion about any of the negative aspects of social media, including trolls or bullying. It’s on my mind from an unpleasant incident earlier this year, and it’s certainly something I hear more and more about on social media (very meta) and in real life, unfortunately. I will have to remember to ask if people have dealt with these unpleasant circumstances and how successful they have been in resolving them (i.e., making them go away).

Since I had to make an early return home, my last event of the day was the second half of the Magical Words Writing Workshop. David, Faith, and Misty continued their manuscript critiques. I’ll share the more generally useful comments here:

Misty recalls a great piece of advice on where to start your story: Start where things begin to go wrong!

The reader should know what the book is about by the end of page 2…the central conflict(s) should be introduced in the first 500-1000 words.

Trust your reader = trust yourself as a writer!

Names that sound or look too similar can be confusing to readers – consider whether you can change one.

Point of view (POV) is one of the most vital aspects of strong storytelling – be consistent!

Said-bookisms are words used instead of “said” – for awhile people said to avoid “said”, but it’s now considered “invisible” – les distracting to the reader than other words.

Introduce elements with brief phrases and lines – you can flesh them out later.

Get rid of POV self-aware phrases like “I saw”, “I felt”, “I knew”, “I noticed”, “I thought”…start with what comes next (i.e., instead of “I watched them dancing and knew they were falling in love”, you might say, “They danced with exuberance until the music slowed, then they pressed their bodies together, cheek to cheek, lips moving as they whispered to each other under the cover of the music.”

If you have a flashback scene, it should be near the end of the 2^nd third of the book – the reader is fully engaged by then and will be ready/want it.

Vernor’s Law (Vernor Vinge):

Develop Character Further Plot Fill in Back Story

If you’re not doing at least 2 of these 3 things in any given scene, you’ve stalled your story.

So with a flurry of hall goodbyes, I headed home from ConGregate. So many panels I wished I had made, so many people I saw in passing, with never enough time to stop and talk. The ConGregate folks threw a fine shindig, and I plan to return next year.

Time writing	~1 hour
July word count	8,303

Con Report: ConGregate, Winston Salem, Saturday (Day 2, part 2)

...Continued from Part 1

Coming out of the “Epic Fantasy” panel, David B. Coe offered time for an interview for BullSpec magazine (I’ll add the link when the interview goes live). We sat down for over an hour and talked about his Thieftaker Chronicles, a historical urban fantasy series written under the “open secret” pseudonym D.B. Jackson, and a new urban fantasy series with Baen Books called The Case Files of Justis Fearsson – the first book, Spell Blind, will come out in January. We also chatted about MagicalWord.net, raising teen daughters, and much more. I’ve known David for *mumblemumble* years, so I was positively gleeful when Sam Montgomery-Blinn asked me if I’d “be interested” to interview David. Oh, twist my rubber arm…

Returning to the convention, I missed the beginning my next planned panel, “Urban Fantasy: Future of the Genre,” with moderator Faith Hunter, and guests Larry Correia, Marcia Colette, Nicole Kurtz, and Sharon Stogner. By the time I came in, they were *slightly* off topic, talking about more of the business of writing, with Larry Correia offering strong warnings to be careful and read your contracts! He also encouraged the writers in the crowd to simply do you best as a writer.

This was followed by a good discussion of genre blending across speculative fiction (or all fiction), or sub-genre blending within urban fantasy. Faith said her Jane Yellowrock series started as straight-up urban fantasy, and Laurell K. Hamilton has called it “blaster porn” (due to Jane’s love of weaponry to fight vamps and other Big Bads). There’s also a slowly developing romance element, and alternative future/world building.

Larry says all rules will be broken. “If you like it, and readers love it, do that. If readers hate it, take it out.”

World building has to make sense—within its own rules. Magic has rules – it’s not just “anything goes”. If you drop an exception, it better have a believable context, or your reader won’t “buy” it—they’ll disconnect.

Larry describes the Monster Hunter series as X-Files meets Expendibles.

Faith describes her Rogue Mage series as X-Men meets Left Behind, without God.

These kinds of “mashups” give a prospective reader something to identify and connect with.

#

After the Urban Fantasy panel, it was time for my personal highlight, the Magical Words Writing Workshop. We had submitted the 1^st 2500 words of our manuscript in April, and I have refrained from making any edits since then. I was looking forward to some valuable insight from David B. Coe, Faith Hunter, and Misty Massey to help me “punch up” my opening sequence. Well, I certainly got a lot of valuable feedback. I don’t have a crystal clear picture of how to “fix” the beginning, but I do have a lot of ideas about what I need to include that isn’t currently there. And some insight into questions I had about when to introduce certain points in the context of the story.

There were 7 writers in the workshop—not bad for a first-time turnout at a first-time con. We each received about 30 minutes of focused attention from the panel, over the two separate sessions (Saturday and Sunday). As much as I appreciated the panel’s comments on my own work, I also really enjoyed hearing their recommendations on the other writers’ works as well. Many times, in this kind of situation, I gain valuable insights into the craft of writing, because I’m not personally vested, and I’m not trying to immediately apply it to words on the page.

When I came out of the workshop, I was talking with a friend in the hall, when Sharon Stogner, of the I Smell Sheep blog, passed by. She stopped and offered to sit down with me to brainstorm building my blog brand, value, and audience. We both agreed we had time right then, and Sharon was so generous to talk with me for about an hour. I came away with a host of ideas, some of which I am already implementing, and others I am working into a long-term plan for the blog. I am so grateful for her time and generous spirit!

David B. Coe was celebrating the book launch of his third Thieftaker Chronicle, A Plunder of Souls, written as D.B. Jackson. The ConGregate folks put together a lovely small reception with cheese and fruit and a delicious cake! It was standing room only as David read from the new book and raffled prizes including hardcover and paperbacks of the series, t-shirts of the Boston Thieftakers Guild, and more.

And with that, it was time for dinner with friends, and another night of delightful conversation in the bar with John Hartness, Misty Massy, Emily Leveritt, and many other friends.

One last day of ConGregate panels, to be shared tomorrow!

Continued on Day 3...

Time writing	~1 hour
July word count	7,348

Con Report: ConGregate, Winston Salem, Saturday (Day 2, part 1)

...Continued from Day 1

I began the day meeting up with three friends for breakfast. We decided to walk around the corner to a local bakery. When we arrived, it looked (and smelled) delicious—but all sugary goodness. No protein in sight. So with great reluctance—I mean, I walked away from a chocolate croissant, people—we returned to the hotel for their breakfast buffet. Where we had to wait for over ten minutes while they “refreshed the tables”…Seriously? The omelette maker is an artisan, however, and all was forgiven.

One of my friends accompanied me to the 9am Epic Fantasy panel, moderated by Danny Birt, and featuring Debra Killeen, Gail Martin, Tricia Barr, and David B. Coe. Here are my lightly edited notes:

Question(s): What is epic fantasy? How do you know when you’re writing an epic fantasy? Is length the determining factor?

• Gail Martin pointed out that while Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files series is considered urban fantasy, by the11th book, with the story sweeping far beyond the natural and supernatural borders of Chicago, it has certainly taken on an epic scope.
• Multiple points of view (POV) is another hallmark of epic fantasy
• Scope, size, POV, and worldbuilding contribute to the definition of epic fantasy

Question: When you’re reading, what do you look for in epic fantasy?

• History – it’s *big*! It has everything: kingdoms, individuals, geography, special forces, like plague, cultures, “sweep”
• A lot of moving parts that all come together
• Avoid the info dump! Work it in pieces!
• Story moving to a final event – don’t meander without making clear *why* the diversion is there
• How quickly can the author get to the “you bumped me out of the story…but then you hooked me with the next story!

Character is a major part of epic fantasy

Quote: “Scifi is about how. Fantasy is about why.”

“Why” is all about the people!

David disagrees with the quote –Orson Scott Card’s Ender’s Game is an SF novel, that’s all about the “why” – it’s a very personal story!

Question: Can epic fantasy be short?

Sometimes shorts are based on longer works, so not as much worldbuilding needed

Very impressed that Tricia Barr was apparently live tweeting throughout the panel, though she may have had someone else tweeting in her stead -- or she can talk and tweet at the same time ;)

Question about crossover with other genres/subgenres/styles?

• Ellen Kushner, Sword Point, alternate world, urban fantasy, epic sweep
• Butcher’s Dresden Files
• Fanfic has lots of crossover
• Neil Gaiman, “Fortunately the Milk”
• Gaiman and Charles Vess, Stardust
• Willam Goldman, The Princess Bride

Labels can limit us from readers, as well as help guide them to us

Sean McMullen’s Glass Dragons series, the Moonworlds Saga

Anne McCaffrey’s Pern series – she always insisted was SF because it’s on another planet, but many people consider fantasy

One tradition of epic fantasy is that it’s removed from our time by 100-200 years in the past or future (in terms of society, technology)

Epic fantasy doesn’t *have* to be a “Chihuahua killer”! (that if you dropped the book on a chihuahua, well….)

• The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History by John M. Barry is historical, but reds with the feel of epic fantasy in many ways
• The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America by Erik Larson is another historical non-fiction with the scope of epic fantasy

Dr. Who… what’s the difference between a sonic screwdriver and Harry Potter’s wand?

Australis refers to all of the subgenres collectively as “Speculative Fiction” – perhaps we should adopt this more inclusive model!

• Reese’s Collision [I can’t find this reference—anyone have more details?]
• Mary Doria Russell, The Sparrow, starts off as SF space travel, but once the adventurers reach the planet, reads more like epic fantasy
• Esther Friedman Coldfire trilogy begins with space travel, but the culture loses technology in favor of magic…
• James S. A. Corey, Expanse series, going to be an HBO series, combines space opera with noir and fantasy elements
• Simon R. Green, Secret History – James Bond feel, alternate dimensions, Mars
• David Weber, Safehold
• Maleficent, the new Disney movie, is part of an epic fantasy
• Jean Claude Bemis, Clockwork Dark series
• Diane Basteen, Irish fantasy

Arthur C. Clarke: “Any science sufficiently advanced is indistinguishable from magic”

POV can determine how the story evolved

Epic fantasy is the “Rasputin” of speculative fiction – it cycles through popularity

It’s driven the market in the U.S. for the past 30 years!

As a reader, you can really settle in for awhile and get comfortable in the world

As a writer, you can have lots of stories to tell in the world

Continued in Part 2...

Time writing	~1 hour
July word count	6,553

Con Report: ConGregate, Winston Salem, Friday (Day 1)

ConGregate is a first-year speculative fiction convention (“con”) held this past weekend in Winston Salem. A first year con, but experienced con runners, and it showed. Smooth registration, a slew of interesting panels, a full dealers room, well attended costume contest and charity auction, and more.

When the con was announced, one of the things that excited me most was word that the MagicalWords.net founders, Faith Hunter, David B. Coe, and Misty Massey, would be leading some writing panels and a small-group workshop to critique the first 2500 words of a manuscript. I was the first person to sign up for the workshop!

I arrived later than originally planned on Friday, so I missed what looked like some interesting early panels. As a con runner, I know what a challenge Friday programming can be, balancing incoming guests and attendees interests and availability. Next year, I will definitely plan to arrive earlier in the day!

So my start to the con was with David B. Coe reading from his (under the pen name of D.B.Jackson) newly released novel Plunder of Souls, third in the excellent Thieftaker trilogy, a historical urban fantasy based in my old hometown of Boston on the eve of the Revolutionary War. David has a smooth and expressive reading voice, and the story begins in the middle of the action, so he carried us right along for almost 30 minutes. The other people in the room were all fellow fans, so he didn’t need to engage in much explanation or Q&A.

A.J. Hartley followed with a reading of an entirely new novel. He said one of the main challenges in writing it had been getting into the voice of a 17-year-old girl. We all agreed he did an excellent job. Her “voice” came through loud and clear in this beautiful tale, set in an historical African city. I found myself thinking about the story frequently throughout the weekend. That lingering sensation is one of the strongest signs of a compelling story, for me, and I am very hopeful this book will be successful – I want to read more!

One of the first people I saw out in the hallway was Sharon Stogner, of ISmellSheep.com, featuring reviews of paranormal books, movies and comics. I stopped her to remind her I had attended one of her panels at Mysticon in 2013 – turned out it was her very first panel – and to ask if I could pick her brain at some point over the weekend, as I want to grow my social media presence as a writer and blogger. She’s super friendly and agreed to sit down with me sometime during the con.

Making my way downstairs to the hotel bar, I found John Hartness and Emily Leverett already settled in with several other friends. I spent the rest of the evening chatting with them – when I wasn’t jumping up to say hi and offer hugs to friends coming in. It was suggested I could be the con’s official greeter. Which sounded great at the time, but on reflection sounds more like being a WalMart greeter…

I was having such a good time, I didn’t’ make it back upstairs to any other panels on Friday night. The other hazard of cons – there’s always too much going on to do *everything* you want to. *wry grin*

I actually didn’t stay up that late Friday night, knowing I wanted to get an early start with a 9am panel (yes, that’s wicked early in con time). Making arrangements to meet friends at 8am for breakfast, I bid everyone good night.

Tomorrow, con panels, the MW workshop, and more!

Continued on Day 2...

Time writing	~1 hour, interrupted
July word count	5,776

Con Report: ConGregate, Winston Salem (teaser)

Confession: I. Am. Tired. June and July have been overload months for me, and I hit my “wall” Tuesday night. Apparently, I was hilarious. I still haven’t gotten much more sleep since then.

So here’s the deal. I’m at ConGregate this weekend, in Winston Salem, and it is an excellent con! And even better, I am getting to hang with some of my favorite authors, like Faith Hunter, David B. Coe, Misty Massey, John Hartness, and A.J. Fletcher, along with many other writers and friends. And, even better, Faith, David, and Misty broke down my novel intro with constructive feedback that will ultimately help me to make it even better.

In addition, Sharon Stogner, of the wonderful I Smell Sheep blog, generously talked with me for about an hour regarding my own blog and how I can work toward building more of a community here. We came up with a lot of great brainstorming ideas that I will be building upon in the next few weeks.

That’s not much of a con report, I know. Here’s the rest of the deal. I’m going to get some real sleep, and I will do a full con report tomorrow. Promise.

Time writing	15 minutes
July word count	5,171

Prompt: Attacked by the Soldiers of the Underground, Part 2

…Continued from Part 1

Without a word, Bojdehn moved to the other stall and opened the door. “Jirrewl,” he called, his voice more tender than Darryn had ever heard. “Come and give us your opinion of my young apprentice.”

Another griffin walked out, eyeing Darryn. She was smaller than the male, with delicate feathers in her forelock and mane. Her fur was palest silver, and her tail lifted and spread wide in a magnificent peacock fan. “To ride? Or to spell?”

Bojdehn shrugged, watching her closely.

Jirrewl swung her head back to Darryn and snapped her curved beak twice, tossing her head up as if she were smelling him on the air. “He is more than he knows himself, isn’t he?”

Darryn frowned and cocked his head to the side. What did she mean by that? He was just Darryn, the Master’s apprentice. He wasn’t more than anything. His attention jumped back to Bojdehn, but he had missed his reply.

“…these past four years. So, if you’re ready Guzhek?” The great male griffin nodded. “And Jirrewl?” She stepped toward Darryn and dipped her head in assent. “Then shall we make haste, Apprentice? Or would you prefer to stand here in the courtyard until dinner?”

Darryn jerked into motion, walking toward Jirrewl with his hand outstretched. She regarded him with a glimmer of amusement—or irritation?—in her eyes. As he reached out to touch her face, she drew back and said sharply “I am not a horse, Apprentice. Do not pet me. Now, ride.”

Darryn jerked his hand down to his side, face burning. How could he ride such a magnificent creature? He looked over to see his Master rising up in the air until he easily lifted his leg over Guzhek’s back. Well, Darryn could do that. He shut his eyes briefly and muttered, “Aumento no aire.”

When he was seated, Jirrewl looked back at him with a nod of approval. “Well done, young one. Now, are you ready to fly?”

Her wings unfurled beneath him, and with one powerful leap, they were in the air. Darryn expected to tumble off her back, with no saddle or reigns to hold on to, and he dared not bury his hands in her mane. But to his surprise, he stayed upright, even as she flew higher and higher. Above the trees, she flew straight, and Darryn leaned forward to see around them. “How did I do that?” He called to her.

“You? Not you, young one. That’s all me. Now relax. While we ride, you will never fall.”

To be continued?

Dogs in house:	Houdini, Brindle
Time writing	~45 minutes
July word count	4,976

Prompt: Attacked by the Soldiers of the Underground, Part 1

Thanks to Fantasy Scroll for some fun new writing prompts!

Darryn sipped the hot coffee that helped fuel his tired brain and wiped the last of his runny eggs with fresh sourdough bread. There was no talking at the breakfast table. Master’s rule, and Darryn had not broken it once in four years.

Master Bojdehn sipped his own coffee and studied the scroll rolled out in the air before him. With a wave of his hand, he sent it back to the study and considered his young apprentice. It was time.

“Today we will journey to Pockswold,” he said, and Darryn sloshed the coffee out of his mug, startled by his voice.

Wiping the coffee from the table, Darryn tried to hide his excitement. “What takes us there, Master?” They never went anywhere. He’d been cooped up in the Master’s keep for four years, never leaving the warded grounds. The prospect of visiting even such a pathetic blight on the map as Pockswold made him want to run out the gated doors immediately.

“We have business to attend to,” Bojdehn said shortly. He relented when he saw Darryn’s disappointment. “Master Sodrehd has sent a load of supplies too much to be magicked. So they will be waiting in the village for us to bring back.”

Darryn looked dismayed. “We have to carry it? How much will it be?”

Bojdehn laughed. “Not we, my young apprentice. Come, let us make ready.”

In four years, Darryn had learned every square inch of the entire keep. He followed Master Bojdehn into the front courtyard and stopped short, staring at the stables lining the left wall. His hand trembled slightly as he pointed. “What? Where? How?”

Bojdehn strode ahead without looking back. “All good questions, Apprentice. But we don’t have time now. On the journey, we can talk.” He opened the closest stall door and stepped back, bowing slightly.

Darryn had followed along, mouth gaping open with disbelief at the sudden appearance of the stalls. He stopped again when he noted his Master’s sudden courtesy. He took a step backward as a griffin walked out of the stall. “That…that…”

The griffin eyed him with disdain. “I am a he, not a that, thank you.” He turned to Bojdehn. “Really, my old friend, you think he is ready?”

Bojdehn eyed Darryn and stroked his jaw, as if considering. Darryn snapped his mouth shut and stood tall, trying to look more impressive than the slack-witted first impression he had already provided.

[description of the griffin here]

Continued in Part 2…

Dogs in house:	Houdini, Brindle
Time writing	~45 minutes
July word count	4,976