New Book, Day 2

Word Count: 2,308 (not too bad considering I just now remembered a series of 5 articles I promised to get written by tomorrow)

Okay. The file is open - and named Untitled, so if anyone can think of a sexy/intriguing/awe-inspiring title, let me know. Of course, I can't tell you what the book is about, so it's more of a shot in the dark at this point. Sat at the kitchen counter last night and cranked out about 1200 words, despite the constant interruptions. I have discovered that there is very little I hate more than writing fiction with someone looking over my shoulder. Very little. Got the other 1k in this afternoon with nobody bothering me. So far, we're still on chapter one, which seems to be going on for a fairly long time. One thing I think I know - this book will be longer than Dirty Little Secrets, which came out to about 200 manuscript pages (about 60,000 words). Maybe I've just learned how to take my time in getting from point A to point B. Or maybe I'm just leaving myself a lot of room to cut when I revise the thing. It's my turn in critique group today, so I might just torture them all and turn in the pages I just wrote. In general, it's not fair to anyone to send out such a rough, rough draft, but it's either that or a series of articles on job descriptions for online degrees.

I don't usually comment on blogs, but I couldn't help myself over at agent Kristin Nelson's blog Pubrants. Apparently, Harlequin books has opened up a vanity press for those authors who get rejected by their traditional publishing arm. Pay a ton of money and you can self-publish your book under the Harlequin umbrella. There is a LOT of fallout over this on so many levels. You might guess that I have VERY strong opinions on self-publishing in general (unless you are pubbing a family cookbook to give out to the folks at the holidays - then it's fine). As in, don't do it. Bad for you, bad for books and bad for readers. Just my .02.

On this date: In 1978, the Jonestown mass suicides.