March 19, 2006

--making good money freelancing, should think about quitting fiction, which is a giant black hole that sucks up time and money.

--agent provides long list of markets that have turned down Bad Intentions, plus a decent list of larger markets she is sending it to or that still have it. Assures me: "We'll sell it." I tell her:

--"I'll stay optimistic if you will."

--Do a short bit of volunteer work for the International Thriller Writers, Inc newsletter and visit the website of author Thomas Perry. I'm struck by just how many books he's written and published, and I've never read any of them, and presumably he's quite successful. I think--that's a career, man. Wouldn't you like to have a list of book publications like that? Yes, I would.

--Lee Goldberg provides a link to a website of short films of headshots of people having organisms. Where the hell does this thought come from? Oh, from the movie, "Fame," where the professor tells the electronic composer and musician, "That's not music, that's masturbation." Can see the parallel to writing fiction without pulblication. Don't go there.

--Prep a novel to send to someone who ordered one. It feels good. One less Dirty Deeds in my office.

--oldest son, who wants to be a writer, lingers in my office while I'm working on chapter 39 of the novel-to-be-identified-later, asking me if that's a lot of chapters. I tell him that "The Serpent's Kiss" has 100 chapters (felt kind of karmic, actually), but most of them are pretty short. He also says something about "The Devil's Pitchfork" along the lines of: "So they're actually publishing a book for you?"

--Yes, two, as a matter of fact. Have I made it? (Whatever "it" is.)

--work on the novel-to-be-identified-later, feel like I might be getting back in the groove. Also worried that it will be too short. Not an uncommon feeling when I'm closing in on the 300 page range.

--wonder if "The Devil's Pitchfork" will get reviewed by Publishers Weekly, Kirkus and Library Journal. Wonder if they will like it.

--wonder how much the mailings, pr person, conferences and travel to signings is going to cost me in money and time

--don't want to think about two months of promotion. Exhausting. Never seems to be enough. Time spent away from family, because they all seem to end up on the weekends.

--everybody who's seen the cover art on "The Devil's Pitchfork" thinks it's great. I think it'll get people to pick it up. Hopefully they'll buy it. Hopefully, the book will be in bookstores so people CAN pick it up and buy it.

--think I should probably work on ANgels Falling instead of trying to finish up the novel-to-be-identified-later, but I need to finish that.

--two novels a year? If they make money, sure.

--what if Ashley sells "Bad Intentions?" Gee, life should get so complicated. Hope if she does it makes some money or I'm going to get buried in books that suck up time but don't pay me enough to write them.

--you're whining

--shut up!

--you are! Nobody wants to hear you whine about being too successful!

--I'm not! I'm just free associating

--it's not free.

--it isn't?

--call it a day, Mark.

--okay.

Best,
Mark Terry