As of today, I'm at 28 thousand words and going strong. I plan to send the first batch of chapters to my proofreader at the end of the month.
I had intended to wait until I finish the story before letting anyone else look at it, but I'm finding that I need the extra motivation that a deadline provides. I'm not having problems with the writing, but I need to produce more and a deadline makes that easier for me.
Phoenix was written as a serial with week to week publication of chapters. That was great for motivation, but terrible for story development.
I'm hoping to finish the current story by the end of February if all goes well.