On the downhill side.

The worst is over THANK [DEITY OF CHOICE]. My head still hurts, but not as bad as earlier. I can actually think. With any luck, I might even sleep tonight. Assuming my characters STFU anyway.

So, it's back to work. So far, over 4,000 words today, all on Breaking the Rules. I'm hoping for 6,500 before I call it a night, but I'm not sure if I've got another 2,500 in me tonight, since I only have about 3 hours before bedtime.

And wouldn't you know it? I can't even get through chapter 1 without my characters running off with the story. Chapter 3 was supposed to be some morning-after "oh God, what did we just do?" wangsting, but they decided that they wanted a bit more to regret the next day, so they've postponed that nonsense until chapter 4. I also discovered a few things about my female main character that warrant one, possibly two additional chapters later on.

The first two chapters meet Scarlett's approval, so that's a good sign. Now it's just a question of plowing through the first 15,000 words. It seems that once I pass that 15K mark, I know if a book is going to sink or swim. It's very rare that I abandon a story after that point, though it has happened.

Onward to 15,000! CHARGE!