A glimpse of the muse

It has been over a month since I last posted on this blog and I thought I should write a quick update to prove that I haven't disappeared or given up on the book. I haven't. I have been focusing on the first draft and I'm still on track to meet my first deadline of getting it complete by the end of March.

I am now up to 89,700 words and the end is in sight. I am in the last chapter, or maybe there'll be one more. I'm not sure. Extra things keep happening in the story that I didn't know would take place, which is weird. It is like magic. The words come and events transpire in this fictional story that didn't exist before. It is hard to know if it is any good, but it is new, and it comes from nowhere.
The muse. Imagination. Whatever you call it, it is a strange feeling when characters do things you weren't expecting when you sat down to write that day. I know some writers map out every beat and every tiny scene in their stories before they write, but I am enjoying not knowing everything in advance.

So now, until I come back to report that I've finished the first draft, I'll leave you with a little excerpt from it. A glimpse of the muse at work.

"From between two of the charcoal mounds stepped a tall warrior. He walked with the relaxed confidence of one assured in his power. He was clad in leather and metal, his hair was dark and unkempt. He exuded strength and malevolence in equal measure.  

Strang stared at the man’s face. If he needed any further proof of what had happened and what was soon to pass, that face took any doubt from his mind. It was hard, with dark shadows veiling the eyes. And it was horribly disfigured. A raw, red, seeping scar ran from the man’s left eyebrow all the way down to his lightly-bearded chin. When he smiled, the scar seemed to smile too, pulling his face into a distorted mask. The other side of his face was undamaged, and he would probably once have been handsome. But he was now repulsive. His was a ghoulish face, like some monster stepping from the darkness of a mead hall tale into the light of day."