June 29, 2006
MIscellaneous musings. Shall I come or shall I go? Is it time to close the blog? I happily thank those of you--both of you!--who drop by regularly, but am I really writing for myself?

Why aren't I in Arizona? That question is on my mind this morning as many of my fellow thriller authors head for Arizona for the first annual Thriller Fest. I'm a charter member and I volunteer for the newsletter. Why aren't I there? Well, time and money. [Which I believe can be calculated $=MC(2)] Granted, writing cons tend to be the first thing I jettison when I prioritize. Even though there are definitely fans there, too often I feel like I'm preaching to the choir, that the crowds are so thick with writers who aren't necessarily going to buy your book that you're not there for promotion, but to have a good time. Which is fine, but again... time and money.

Busy. Probably too busy. I'm working on this yearly report/nonfiction survey/outlook project, about 250 pages of business and economic data. It's tough going, but since it pays, literally, more than 10 times what my advance for The Devil's Pitchfork was, I happily take on the challenge. I'm not sure it's really a writing project as much as a data analysis/accumulation/organization project. Not quite what I got into the business for, but since it pays so much and there's so much of this type of work out there, I have to consider the possibility my writing career has evolved. Again. (And the equally true possibility that, yes, I am crass and money-fixated and can rather easily be bought).

At the same time, I'm working on the page proofs for The Devil's Pitchfork. No big issues and not many small. My editor suggested we reverse chapters 24 and 26, and I think it was good advice. I know I'm going to run afoul of some problems at the end--in other words, after 3 or 4 passes, my editor caught what Alfred Hitchcock called "the refrigerator moment." That is to say, at the time it makes a lot of sense, but when you're up in the middle of the night getting yourself a midnight snack and you open the refrigerator and say, "Now wait a minute..." I, on the other hand, was aware of this and made a decision about it. He caught it and is asking me about it. What to do, what to do?

I'm also working on the final draft of the third Derek Stillwater novel. It's going well, but I'm so busy it's slow. Three big projects simultaneously are probably too many.

Plus I've got a column due tomorrow, and 6 more short news articles, and Journal business to attend to, and interviews for an article for Bankrate...

So why am I writing here today?

Sigh. Back to work.

Best,
Mark