A year to the day (almost)

1 year ago I gathered up my belongings and headed to the house for an unpaid leave of absence from work and a month of writing. Once I was at the house I settled into a routine of sorts. The goal was to write for a minimum of 4 hours per day, whenever it struck my fancy. I tend to be a night person so it was very strange on the three mornings when I woke up and said, "It's time to write." And got to writing at 6 a.m.

Mostly I got up and headed to a Walmart a few towns over and walked the perimeter of the parking lot ten times, which I think was equal to a few miles. (It was hunting season and I was not interested in being shot on my land. (I can sit in my livingroom and listen as poacher fire their rifles at game. Get off my land you f*cking trespassers!)

After the morning walk I headed back to the house where I kept the temp at a brisk 55 degrees. And I'd write, eat simple meals, and watch movies on DVD.

I was back in New York City on December 12, returning to the office the next morning

My month of writing resulted in a First Draft. This was read by about 5 people who gave me awesome feedback. And sadly all seemed to agree on a couple of major points which meant it was back to editing.

In the Springtime of 2011 I commenced with revisions. Each and every weekend from April through September I wrote for about 4 hours on Saturday and Sunday. (Ok, when Hurricane Irene knocked out the power I didn't end up writing that weekend.)

At the end of September I concluded work on the Second Draft.

It was time to go hunting for an Agent. I have a friend who is somewhat famous and she was gracious enough to put me in touch with her agent. Her agent was not feeling my book. At all. I was told the characters were "unlikable." Fair enough. Thanks for your opinion. Next.

And now, G*d bless my weary soul, I've been in touch with another agent. Both he and his assistant were "taken" with the story and I'm set to meet with him soon to discuss moving forward. (Do I hear a small bird whispering in my ear? She's saying, "More revisions are on the way.")

At the rate I'm going, the book pubs sometime in 2013.