We’re five days into NaNoWriMo, and so far things are going well!  My goal this year is 25,000 words, or a half-NaNo, and I’m keeping on track for that.  In fact, I’m a little ahead – I’m at 5,063, which puts me almost exactly one full day ahead of schedule.  I always like to get a cushion at the beginning – and I have a slightly superstitious feeling that if I get behind early on, I’ll never catch up!

I was able to write a little above 1,000 words the first three days.  I was busier yesterday so I only got to 757, but had my current high day today with 1,143.  Not too bad!

I just finished Chapter One, and have managed to introduce three major characters.  We’ve been almost entirely at the Opera Garnier so far, but have been mostly visiting places we never went to in my Guardian of the Opera series, like the costume department and the stables.  I can’t actually find any history to tell me whether the stables of the Opera were still active in 1939, but…I decided to pretend they are, at least for now!

My heroine, Maggie, ventured below the Opera near the end of the chapter, taking us back to the Phantom’s parlor.  She also goes into the kitchen – a place we never actually went in the original trilogy.  I mentioned that Erik had a kitchen down there (he’d have to, right? He has to eat!) but it was such a prosaic thing for the Phantom of the Opera to have that we never once actually saw it.  This isn’t a very detailed description, but it’s still the first glimpse we’ve ever had of that particular room!

I turned away from the mantle.  Best to get to business.  I went out the parlor’s side door and walked briskly down the hall to the kitchen.  It was far more practical than elegant, a simple room with stone counters, an old wooden table, a multitude of cabinets and, most importantly, running water.  I checked the pantry and found that, while I’d have to go out shopping to create any feasts, there were enough canned goods that I wouldn’t starve if I put that off until tomorrow morning.  But first, I found the cleaning supplies.  An even coat of dust might mean everything was safe and undisturbed, but that didn’t make it altogether comfortable to live with, even temporarily.