WiP Wednesdays 9/30

This is my 100th post.  So maybe take a look back through the archives and laugh at how silly I was when I first started this blog...or not.  On with the post!

Seriously, where does time go?  It's the last day of September.  Argh!

As for Lodestar I haven't written much since last Monday.  I took the week off from writing to either a) not work on anything related to my writing or b) work on more in-depth character bios for some of the side characters.

Then I wimped out on the bios and didn't go as in-depth as I should have.  But I have more on those characters than I did before.  And now, I'll introduce you to my characters.



First Lieutenant Derek Steventon is an Air Force pilot who has just begun training as a pilot for NASA.  He grew up in Atlanta but has lived pretty much on his own since starting at Florida State University.  He has very little contact with his parents at this stage in his life.  Derek's fairly gorgeous, of course, but he's not without his problems.  I especially love his hazelnut eyes and 6'3" frame.And he sees faults in a lot of places.  He also competes in fencing and archery.

Roxie Mitford is the astronomy instructor at the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, where the astronauts all train.  She has a rather large secret which will change Derek's life forever.  She looks to be 22 but no one can really tell for certain because her crystal blue eyes bear the shadows of heavy burdens.  She cannot physically touch a person and so is regarded a bit strangely among her peers at NASA.

Second Lieutenant Elizabeth Forster is an Air Force pilot and training with NASA.  She and Derek have become fast friends and there even might be a bit of romance blooming.  Her mother died and she was raised by her father, who is career military, all over the country.  She is of African-American and Thai descent.  Like Derek, she did AFROTC in college and received her commission upon graduation.

Grady Decker is an aerospace engineer training to be an astronaut.  He is also counted amongst Derek's friends during the two years of training.  He was raised to embrace both cultures of his heritage- caucasian and Cherokee.  He once wanted to major in theater arts, but went the more practical route of aerospace engineering.

Major Jared Evans, Air Force, is also in Derek's NASA training group.  He is a married father of three and a devoted husband.  He attended the Air Force Academy.  He is also the oldest of the four at age 37.  Major Evans was born to Guatemalan immigrants and raised in Gilbert, Arizona.


So, that's really all there is to it this week.  There hasn't been much progress on the book.  I did go back and tweak some things that I'd already written in order to better incorporate the main subplot into the book.  There were some minor tweaks to descriptions as I had to eliminate every reference to Derek and the others saluting each other.  I was finally able to track down some stuff about military courtesy and every salute I'd written was completely against the rules or unnecessary.  I did get some written last night and will update my status bar accordingly.  (Though exact word count eludes me, it's above 10K.)

I still feel like I'm sort of rushing through things.  Maybe I am a total hack.

Oh, I did come up with a couple of subplots to incorporate and hopefully I can give them all the credit and space they deserve.  (There are only 3 subplots and they are for sure all linked to the main plot.)