Work update

It's confession time. I've been hiding the fact that . . . I'm reading Xmas Carol. Yes, again. I wasn't sure you could take the news so I hid this from you. But I'm well into my reading of the book now and can report that it sounds darned good. I'm hardly changing a word as I go along. I may have the final version in my hands. I'll report again when I'm finished reading it. Like last time, I want to read it slowly so I appreciate the value of each scene. 

Meanwhile, Carmine tells me he's enjoying the book. I think he's almost at the halfway point. So far I haven't heard a bad word about Xmas Carol from a reader. The plot seems to agree with folks -- well, liberal folks, anyway.

I just wanted to let you know this is still the blog of a working fiction writer. So hang on. Xmas Carol will soon be with you.

By the way, I've started to post my blog stuff late in the evening rather than in the mornings. This way there will be something fresh here each day for early risers. This has been your work update.

Work update

Short version: there hasn't been any. Longer version: I got sick last weekend with a killer virus and floated through my week, doing anything (like blogging or watching baseball) to distract me from how I felt. I have this idea that I shouldn't work on my fiction when I'm sick. It feels like I haven't got all my artistic smarts up and running. I worry that I might ruin something, so I avoid writing or editing.

In this instance, the time off segued nicely with my mental work. The last thing I did was write the synopsis and cover letter for Xmas Carol. Then I got sick and began to float through my days. On Monday, I'll return to that work. But in the interim, though I haven't read the synopsis, I reworked it in my head. Rather than read it on Monday, I'm going to sit down and do it a very different way. Then I'll have two synopses. Surely, between them I'll find happiness.

So that's the plan. And beginning Monday, posting may be light for a while. I need to get some real work done. But never fear, I'll get something up fairly often and I'll surely return to heavy posting soon. In the meantime, tune in tomorrow. Fun post coming up.

Oh, and Carmine read chapter 1 of Xmas Carol and said he loved it. There's nothing like positive reader reactions. Since the book only gets better after the first chapter, I think I've garnered another fan for the book. Hooray!