🌧 Thunder, Typing, and the Radio DJ Who Knows Too Much

Today’s Weather in Illinois
Homer Glen finally remembered it’s fall — thick clouds, low rumbles, and the kind of rain that takes its time. Perfect writing weather if you don’t mind the thunder correcting your sentences.

☕ Caffeine & Preventive Maintenance
Writing snack: one lonely strawberry Pop-Tart, a small glass of pop, and two ibuprofens — half recovery from yesterday’s errands, half pre-emptive strike. The house is quiet except for US99, which apparently decided to narrate my morning.

Vince Gill opened with “Don’t Let Our Love Start Slippin’ Away.”
Lainey Wilson followed with “Somewhere Over Laredo.”
By the time Carrie Underwood’s “Blown Away” hit, thunder was rolling and I started to wonder if the DJ had my outline.

✍️ On the Page
The new section drops a writer back into Dante’s Harbor — half-awake, maybe dreaming, maybe not — losing something on the road and finding something darker instead. The line between sleep and the town’s shadow version keeps blurring, which feels about right for this stage of the draft.

🌦 Word Count Forecast
Ten thousand words are staring at me.
Current conditions: 50 percent chance I tackle half of them, 50 percent chance I finish them all, and 100 percent chance I overthink the forecast while refilling my mug.

✍️ Progress Report
+3,020 words today, bringing the total to 72,406.
I thought I’d barely hit halfway, but apparently the words had other plans. Turns out caffeine, ibuprofen, and US99 make a decent writing group.

💭 Final Thoughts
Turns out 3,020 words looks a lot smaller in a notebook than it feels in the heart.
I thought I barely made halfway, but apparently the story disagreed.
I’ll take that kind of rebellion any day.

— A.L. Bellettiere