My first post

I posted the following on Facebook last weekend:

Good morning my friends,

After a two-week hiatus due to a bit of surgery (and subsequent loss of focus), I have found renewed interest in Chapter 20 of Nor Things to Come - A Novel of the West. This chapter continues the exploits of one of the seven primary characters of the story (Priscilla Kimball of Salt Lake City) and takes place in Boise City, Idaho Territory in August 1871. However, after writing over a thousand words effortlessly, my enthusiasm abruptly vanished. I forced myself to continue several times during the last three days, but could not find the words. This morning, as I drank coffee and devoured a waffle, a new idea flashed into my mind—something quite different from the original story outline I had prepared last February—and my enthusiasm abruptly reappeared. I expect to finish the chapter by the end of the weekend. With luck I will commence chapter 21 by Monday evening. Since I have not mentioned this before, here is a list of the primary characters in the novel:

• Gordania Sinclair (Dunnet Head, Scotland)
• Manfred Herman (Des Moines, Iowa)
• Tseng Longwei (Nanjing, China)
• Roshan Kuznetsov (Sitka, Alaska)
• Csongor Toth (Budapest, Hungary)
• Joshua Hotah (half-Sioux, half-English, birthplace unknown)
• Priscilla Kimball (Salt Lake City, Utah Territory)

I trust that all is well,

R. Phillip Ritter

Miraculously, because I never know when I will find the time or energy or inspiration to write, I did complete chapter 20 last Sunday and I did commence chapter 21 last Monday night (although I must confess that two hours of thrashing about produced only the first sentence of chapter 21). Much of my "writing" time during this last week consisted of thinking about chapter 21, which is usually how I work. I wrote another 800 words or so this weekend, and expect to finish the last chapter of Book One of Nor Things to Come by mid-week. I anticipate reaching 112,000 words in Book One, which sets me on a pace of 260,000 to 300,000 words for the entire novel. This pace also indicates completion of the first draft in April 2013.

UPDATE: Due to an unfortunate bout with melanoma, including three surgeries and 9 months of chemotherapy, I did not finish the first draft until March 2014. I did manage to complete a dozen chapters between rounds of chemotherapy, and I plan to finish my final revisions today. I commenced the story outline in February 2010. It has therefore taken me four years and five months to realize the final manuscript. But I'm not done yet. I'm sure the publisher will require more revisions before sending it to the printer. Wish me luck.