Dark King Rising passed 50K.

My current project, "Dark King Rising," has just passed the 50k mark for this draft. In its honor, I am putting up a small excerpt:

Turning back to the book, Marie closed her eyes and envisioned again what it had been like writing the coming scene. She could smell the coffee going cold in the mug on her desk and hear the understated hum of her netbook. Her hands caressed the keys, then pounded out each individual word. It was a satisfying thing to write.

“As the mural finished speaking, the laughter came again but it was followed by applause. Timothy scanned the theater. The seats were empty, but it was as loud as a standing ovation around him. He turned away from the wall again heading for the stage. He reached the orchestra pit and found himself face to face with the front of the stage. Looking left then right, he searched for a way to get up there. The only light was still coming from the spotlight. It was so bright it brightened some of the room. Timothy walked along the front of the stage cringing at the rolling laughter which came and went in tides. Finally at the edge, he saw a staircase. Some of the children were mounting those stairs from the wall. Timothy put his hand on the railing but snatched it back when he encountered something sticky. He held his hand up before his eyes. It was streaked with blood. Just then another wave of laughter rolled through and he reconsidered whether or not to continue forward, but he couldn’t go back. Back meant into the hallway of desperate mouths and wagging tongues. It also meant going without his objective: the voice of the Dark King. No, he had to press forward and face what lay ahead. Without touching the railing, he headed up the stairs.”

Marie paused.

Hope you enjoyed. Watch the page for more milestone markers.