Get back to work! *whip crack*

In my usual non-linear writing fashion I've now written the preliminary final chapter of Project Samurai. However, I've only just gotten to the bulk of Part II, and bits of Part I still need to be written and revised, though it's close to having all the parts in one place even if they need more work. It's coming along, however slowly, and this seems to be one of my more productive periods on it, as they come and go.

I've actually known what the epilogue and the final line would look like for a while and have had it stored away , but it's entirely different from the last chapter in tone and location (partly due to a timeskip of several years). I also have part of the last chapter that I can ax if it doesn't work in the final product, but I'm a bit ahead of myself on that. I still need to get Part II in one form before I even think about that. It also looks like Part II will be shorter than Part I, which fits with the respective themes. Part I is tentatively called "Rebuild" while Part II is "Let Go". I also drew up the rough outline of the order of chapters, so I have a sense of what else I still need to do and where to fill in.

And speaking of getting ahead of myself, I also have the first bits of the sequel, but that one probably won't see the light of day until(if) the first one gets finished, since the very first part of this sequel is a huge spoiler for the end of the first one, so ideally one should read the first one first and the second one second. On second thought that should be obvious, but my mind does not always work linearly. Must be the right brain at work.

I've been revising parts of Part II and realizing that even though it's only been a year or so since I've written it I've learned a lot. IE I'm now a subscriber of the "show, don't tell" school of exposition, so I've been taking out a lot of things that should be obvious enough in the action of the characters, especially the body language. I keep wincing a bit at the old narration and axing the appropriate parts. Oh well, it's a continually evolving process.

Hey Satan, want to borrow my snow shovel?

Utah Governor: I'll back gay rights

Utah Governor Jon Huntsman Jr. says he would support a legislative effort to provide some rights to gay and transgender individuals... The governor has also stated his support for same-sex civil unions, something opposed by other Republicans and 70% of Utah residents.

*picks jaw up off the floor*

I also can't help but be amused by one senator blasting the governor by saying that civil unions are "gay marriage light." Thank you, Senator, for confirming what we've been thinking for a while now, mainly that you don't want gays to have any rights at all even if there's no intrusion on religious institutions involved, so can we stop having this fight now and get to work on the real issue?

I find this string of support in unexpected places especially amusing in light of Prop 8 and Ken Starr's B.S. since it shows what I've known for a long time: Hurting a marginalized group with a low blow like that always backfires, because guess what? We fight back, and acting in an uncalled for and vindictive manner makes the people who might not have had an opinion on it step back and reevaluate what's going on, and more importantly see how thin the justification is for that behavior.