Possible Problem

I've been heating up on the CGUS novel again. Somehow, all the progress I've made on Trouble and Ruin have made me impatient to get to that one, the science fiction set in solar system colonies, possibly called "Common Heritage". Yesterday and today's research has concerned International Commerce Law, Space Law and The Law of the Sea. I've been reading about the 1967 treaty and the Moon Treaty, and, VERY importantly, an article written in 1917 about air space. I'm getting a really good idea about what the hell's going on politically, commercially, etc. in the novel - which of course I can't overty write about.

That's SO frustrating, to have to invest so much time and effort putting together FASCINATING stuff (to me and about five other geeks, anyway) and then using it only as a framework for the "real" book. People like Kim Stanley Robinson or Jerry Pournelle can get away with pages of exposition, but there's no way for me. Uh uh.

Yesterday I was upstairs and started chapter five, which for right now begins with Parker running out of the scuba shop and into even more trouble than he can imagine, being stuck in a small space with a zombie. But then Carol Kennedy wanted me to do some stuff, so I ended up with about three minutes to work. I managed 78 words. Sucks, but I keep telling myself, at least I'm still writing on it, and at least I still want to finish it. I'm now at 13,100 words, which is a typical length short story for someone like Elizabeth Moon.