NaNoSitmo Day 11

Day Eleven! You're probably wondering where the previous week went. Well, Friday I got up late and then had to run errands, and by the time I got home it was too late to go out and run thanks to the time change.

That night the bottom fell out--it rained non-stop Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. I survived a spot of pneumonia a couple years ago and I don't plan on taking another whack at it, so I decided to play it safe and stay inside. This let my calves rest a little bit more anyway, so it turned out to be for the best.

Unfortunately Sunday I rearranged my bedroom and must have done something to my air mattress when I moved it, because now it won't hold any air. Monday, Tuesday, and this morning I've been reinflating it every night and waking up on the floor every morning. Guess I'll have to remedy that somehow. I wish I could find where the air is coming out, but it's such a slow leak that I can't hear the puncture, if there even is one. I'm not convinced it's not the valve.

Yesterday, Tuesday, the sun came back out, and even though the roads were still wet and covered in slimy dead leaves, I decided to strap the FiveFingers back on and head out. It's finally starting to get cold, an oddity for the middle of November. Usually it's already cool in October, but I guess that's the way the world is now. Somebody said something about El Nino, but that sounds like an excuse to me.

On the way, I ran into my neighbor / cousin / family friend Lightning,* a country boy in his 60s or 70s, checking the mailbox and hobbling around with a cane. Apparently he'd recently had back surgery. As I was standing there talking to him, one of his friends pulled up on a motorcycle, a Santa Claus-looking old fella on a pearl-white Harley, and they "shot the shit" for a few minutes. Presently I offered my future assistance, bid them adieu, and went back to my circuit.

This run wore my legs out again, but I guess that's to be expected--I haven't really done much running since I timed out of the Army a couple years ago, so I'm seriously rusty. At least this time I got in some more sprints, and I'm not as sweaty or busted as I was the first couple times.

It's actually a good thing I'm taking a break right now, because it's given me some space to do some brainstorming and planning.

When I return to it, I'm jumping right back into Outlaw King 4 (tentative title "Wordslinger"). I'm almost 20,000 words into it right now, and I've got an idea as to how I'm going to begin it: a huge Equilibrium-style action sequence where the gunslinger Walter single-handedly assaults the Organon's desert compound and its battalion of private-security contractors. I haven't written the scene yet, and I'm looking forward to it.

Outlaw 4 is going to be a hell of a thing. I've got some pretty crazy stuff planned out for this, plenty of insane visuals, more feels, and hellacious fights. And after that's done, I'm going to go back and write Normand's tale in The Fiddle and The Fire.

*I have no idea what his real name is. I've known him all my life. This entire neighborhood, as are many neighborhoods in rural Georgia, is basically one big extended family.