12 to Midnight

Last week, I reported that soon I’d reach the end of the manuscript and the first round of revisions. So how did that work out for me? Pretty darn good! I’m extremely pleased to report that I reached the end of the Savage Tales chapter after a lengthy stint on Saturday. What did I do next? I started all over! Since Saturday, I returned to the beginning of the chapter and I’ve been working my way through all the Tales a second time. This time around I’m making sure I didn’t overlook any mechanics such as calling for Fear rolls. I’m also taking an even more critical look at the word count and trimming wherever possible. Since Saturday I’ve reviewed the first twelve Tales again, cutting more than 1,000 words in the process. I’ve got 9 more to go, for a total of 21 Savage Tales. I should finish these up in another day or two, then it’ll be onward to the characters and bestiary.

This is probably only amusing to me, but I have to brag just a tiny bit about an encounter I rewrote on the second pass through. I mentioned it very briefly on our Facebook page. I don’t think it’s giving much away to say that I rewrote a scene involving a Chupacabra to be a living scarecrow instead. This encounter has the potential to be really spooky–and deadly! I’m really looking forward to hearing some play reports on that one!

And that’s the news on Degrees of Horror this week. I continue to be pleased with my progress, which helps keeps me motivated to make even more progress. Now, with that out of the way, it’s time for the monthly shameless self-promotion. With Halloween around the corner, maybe you’re in the mood for some spooky reading? Or maybe you just can’t wait to get your hands on more Pinebox horror? Buried Tales of Pinebox, Texas and Haunted: 11 Tales of Ghostly Horror are both excellent horror anthologies. Also, it just so happens that I’ve contributed to both, but don’t let that deter you! Both books are full of writers way more talented than I. Finally, in other self-promotion news, 12 to Midnight is on the schedule for a “Horror in Gaming” chat over at Beautiful Brains on October 25. I have no idea what I’m going to say, so it’s up to you people to be there and help carry the conversation. Seriously. Put it on your calendars now.

P.S. – I’ll be traveling on business next week, so I can’t guarantee that there will be a Class Notes. I hope on Degrees of Horror some in the evenings, but there’s a strong likelihood that work will slow down quite a lot. I should finish revisiting the Tales before I get on the airplane, so it’ll just be down to the bestiary.