Well, dear readers, I have finished the new novel. Yes, you heard it here, dear readers, I, BK, have finished the new novel. I finished it in a marathon writing session. I normally don’t write more than seven or eight pages in a day, but I did almost twenty, because I knew I had to barrel through to the end – if I’d stopped and waited until today I don’t think it would have been much more difficult. In other words, I was in the mode. Speaking of the mode, yesterday was a day in which I was determined to do everything that I wanted to do. Actually, I wanted to jog, but it was too gray looking out and I was concerned that I’d get two blocks in and it would start pouring. So, instead I did a little revising and then jumped into the new pages. I managed to do seven before I had to leave for the Sean McDermott work session. That took about ninety minutes and was very productive, and I think we’ll have a very good interim show in two weeks. I then did some errands, then came home and wrote another four or five pages. I then took a brief break and got a foot-long Subway spicy Eyetalian sandwich, which was yummilicous. I then went back to the writing and in a burst of whatever I wrote eight or nine more pages and finished. I was elated, exhausted, and so happy. I find writing a book like no other creative endeavor that I’ve done. It’s just so personal – you, your ideas, your words, and a blank page. No rules, no regulations, no one telling you yay or nay or do this or do that, with the exception of muse Margaret – I always listen to her because she really knows me and how I work and she’s never been wrong yet. And the way in which I write like doing a tightrope act without a net – I don’t outline because I find it constricts me, so I’m flying by the seat of my pants quite often, but I find that works for me – it’s how the Kritzer books came to be and I’ve done it for every book since. I just type up several pages of notes – things I know I want in the book, character ideas, plot ideas, location ideas, all of it. And then I just go.
I wasn’t sure what book I was going to write until the very end of last year. I had actually started on something about eight months ago, which I liked very much, an idea I’ve had for years. But I could not decide whether it was going to be compelling enough to be a full novel – it felt more like a novella or long short story to me. But I was still thinking about trying it as late as October. But in the end, I decided to do a third Adriana Hofstetter mystery. One reason is because I believe in the rule of threes and it felt like there should be a third book. Another reason is because I already had the idea for this book – it was a toss-up between this and Murder At The Grove for the second. I chose the latter because it felt to me more like a second book in a series. The new book is a little different, involving Adriana reacting with much older people than the first two books, which were basically about people her own age. And I love the setting of the new book, and it really was fun to write, even though I got frustrated along the way a couple of times, but that’s happened on every book. Thank goodness for long jogs and hot showers, because every time I did a jog or took a hot shower I came up with new ideas, new ways to solve problems, and, my hot shower on Friday night provided me with the last of the plot points that had been eluding me. In a sense, I’m really like Adriana Hofstetter – I discover things as she discovers them – that’s part of the fun for me. In any case, I’m delighted to be done with it.
I then left to see some one-act shows – two short musicals by my friends Doug Haverty and Adryan Russ, and one short play. The play was fairly dreadful and seemed much longer than its running time. The best part of the evening was seeing Lee Merriwether on stage, performing in the second of the two short musicals. This woman is still incredibly beautiful. I also saw my pal Bridget Hanley, who looked wonderful, and I said hey to Fred Willard and his lovely wife. I then came home and ate some melon balls.
Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because to paraphrase my close personal friend, Mr. Stephen Sondheim – Look I made a book – where there never was a book.
Today, I shall print out pages, Xerox them, and bring them to muse Margaret. She probably won’t get to read them until the evening or maybe even tomorrow, as she has a busy day. I’m hoping she likes them. Other than that, I’m hoping to do the long jog, and then do nothing other than zone out the entire day and evening, although I do have to start writing the liner notes for the new Kritzerland release. I may wait until tomorrow morning to do so, depending on how I feel.
This week has a few work sessions and one very important meeting on Tuesday. And I must get everything done for the new Kritzerland release so I can get it announced and begin preorders. And there’s a lot to do, so I will buckle down Winsocki and do it.
Tomorrow morning I’ll be picking up the tapes for the next two Kritzerland projects. Color me excited.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, do the long jog (weather permitting), print pages, Xerox, deliver pages to muse Margaret, and watch a DVD or three and perhaps even have a celebratory meal somewhere nice. Today’s topic of discussion: It’s free-for-all day, the day in which you dear readers get to make with the topics and we all get to post about them. So, let’s have loads of lovely topics and loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst we all sing Finishing The Book.