Writing and Con Thoughts

So, at Duckon this coming weekend I have a reading. It will be my first author reading, and actually the first time I've read anything aloud to an audience in a very long time. Over the weekend, I decided to practice, in part to see how long it takes to read a chapter. The answer, at least for Pirates of Mars, is 10 minutes per chapter. This is with me trying to go as slow as I can. Since I'm sharing time with Mike Williamson, I think I'm only going to try and read Chapter 1.

In other writing news, I think I've come up with a plausible B plot for The Night Watch. I've decided that the insurance companies are spending too much money on anti-piracy efforts, so they are not funding additional ships for Space Rescue. This forces the Service to go ask local political entities for money. I will have to add a character to what's now Book One (building the armed ships) and re-use the character during the bad guys assault as a witness. Baking this character in should get me to the 80,000 words I need.

Now, if you'll excuse me - work and writing call me!