I'm right on track with "Takeover."  Writing each chapter as they come. I'm not sure they are inspired, but they lay down the marker.

As far as being "emotional" is concerned, I'm having some second thoughts. I'm thinking about the thriller writers I read. You've got the world weary detectives (Connelly, Crais, Hammett, Chandler, Macdonald); you've got philosophers (James Lee Burke); you've got techno thrillers; you've got near superhero operatives (Silva, Child), you've got ironic and funny (Leonard, Hiassen),  and so on.

None of them dive deep into "emotion."

So far, I don't believe I've taken any false steps. The beginning of the book is a little messy, but instead of trying to fix it, I'm going to claim the messiness--this is supposed to feel real, after all. I've maintained the real and the authentic, at least I hope so, though these middle chapters are influenced as much by plot as by character, but I think that's all right as long as the plot COMES from the characters.

I've included nothing silly or far-fetched. In a way, this is my first mature book. My first book that I've tried for realism as much as possible.

I'm not saying it's better that way, just that this book needed it. I will probably go right back to writing my fictional stories again and be happy as can be. (However, for some reason I seem to have a knack for taking true events and fictionalizing them, so that will always be part of my repertoire.)

I've got this plotted out to about 50K words or more, and then I just have to create a slambam finish, which I refuse to think about until I get there. But I have total faith it will be there, because so far this book has come to me naturally and without straining. How nice is that?

I'll be 40K words by the end of this weekend, which is more than halfway for a first draft. I just need to keep trucking along.

I've decided against writing drunk for the moment. I'm making too much progress this way, and I don't want to risk derailing it. Get this first draft down, then step back and look it over.

This first draft is about character, above all, followed by plot. The second draft will be about ramping up the action and emotion as much as possible. The third draft will be about trying to layer in depth and research.

This is my best book so far, so I don't want to rush it. I want it to continue to be my best book.