Status Update! The power of one-third

23,000 words. Some lovely, some wretched, some in need of significant restructuring. But 23,000 words nonetheless. With my mental guidepost of a 70,000 word manuscript, that puts me officially at 32.8% complete.

So far, so good. I've got my characters locked into a race against pirates, the Royal Navy, a psychopathic spy and Mother Nature. I've thrown an unknown traitor and a dead Captain in their way and now they have to figure out a way to carry out their mission despite it all getting blown to hell. I'm pretty damn excited to see how they figure this one out.

I still stress about the authenticity of voice and style vs. the necessity of speaking to a modern YA audience. I don't want it to read like a documentary, but I also don't want Sophia Coppola's Marie Antoinette with Kirsten Dunst prancing around in side bustles and 2-ft wigs to a soundtrack of New Order.

[Tangent: I friggin love New Order. I've been revisiting their old albums recently and damn that is some fine song writing. My favorite is their second album Power, Corruption and Lies. "Age of Consent," "Your Silent Face," "The Village" = BRILLIANT. Trust me. /Tangent]

I also worry that I'm not sufficiently knowledgeable about the time period. Sure, I've done lots of research, but can I really get a sense for what sailing a tall ship was life if I've never been, er, sailing? We shall see. I should probably stop stressing about that facet of the novel for the time. It'll only worry me.