NaNo update: made 50K

And I’m on a roll …

This evening (Wednesday), just before midnight, I crossed the 50,000 word line with my National Novel Writing Month novel, Murder on the Sports Desk. It’s not anywhere near finished, as the first dead body didn’t even turn up until nearly 43,000 words into the novel, but I’ve made the goal that NaNo sets every November.

I’m feeling good about this one. It’s a repeat of 2005, which was my most successful NaNo ever. In that year, I reached 50K well ahead of the end of the month, and I actually managed to finish the novel. My other novels have all reached the 50,000 word mark, but haven’t been taken all the way to the end.

Part of my 2005 success was that November that year had five weekends and so had more writing time, and the Thanksgiving weekend gave the final extra time I needed to get things done. That’s happening this year.

This excerpt involves how the Siete Mares Capitan reported on the death of the photographer.

Hannah unrolled the newspaper and looked at the headline at the top of the front page: “Sports Photographer Slain.” Beneath that, in smaller, italic type, was a line that read, “Award winning photojournalist covered local events; police seek Seagulls goalie in case.” Hannah read on.

Sports photographer George Spencer was found dead Tuesday night in the Capitan newsroom, his body stuffed underneath a desk. According to the medical examiner’s office, the cause of death appears to be a blunt force trauma to the head.

Police announced that they are seeking Siete Mares Seagulls goalie Pierre LeFevre as a person of interest in the case. LeFevre has been involved in several violent events in the past few days, including one in which he assaulted an off-duty police officer; Spencer had been present at that incident and had taken photos of it.

LeFevre subsequently assaulted another officer and then came to the Capitan newsroom, threatening Spencer. In that incident, LeFevre was injured; he escaped from police custody while being treated in the emergency room at Siete Mares Medical Center.

Police warn that LeFevre is to be considered armed and dangerous, and caution anybody who sees him not to confront him but to notify authorities immediately.

Spencer, who had won many awards for his work over the years, had been working for the Capitan for the last eight years. He shot primarily sports events, but he had also worked news stories and features.

Prior to working at the Capitan, Spencer worked for newspapers in Memphis, Pittsburgh, Miami, and Cincinnati.

Spencer was unmarried and had no children. He is survived by his parents, Wanda and Bruce Spencer, of La Crosse, Wisconsin; a brother, Bruce Spencer Jr. of Seattle; and a half-brother, Douglas Sterling, currently an inmate at Mid State Mental Hospital seven miles east of Siete Mares.

“Harry, look at this,” Hannah said, handing him the newspaper. “Look who George Spencer’s brother is!”

Harry took the newspaper and read. “So George Spencer is – was – the brother of the guy who tried to bash your brains in, and now George is dead with his brains bashed in. You don’t think there’s a connection here, do you?”

“I think it’s just coincidence,” Hannah said. “But maybe somebody should check with Mid State to make sure Douglas Sterling hasn’t escaped.”

“And maybe the medical examiner should check whether George’s fatal head wounds are consistent not just with a hockey stick but with an AK 47,” Harry said.

Honestly, I did not know about the relationship between the two characters until I wrote that news story.