It's the new year, and my big New Year's resolution this year (other than lose some weight and find a steady girlfriend, which are constants) is to start and finish my novel An American Symphony, which stalled on me last year, so I wrote a bunch of short stories instead. But this is the year of Symphony, and come Hell or high water, it will finished by December 31, 2002. This may only be the first draft that will be finished (I'm expecting to go through at least three drafts before it'll be ready to send out), but it will be finished. I've never attempted a novel before, not seriously, so this is going to be a challenge, but also, I hope, great fun. The first chapter is in the can, and I wrote most of the second (~1000 words) last night at the Borders near my apt on my new laptop. Wish me luck!

In the CD player right now is Jewel's new album, This Way. I've enjoyed her music in the past, but this album is definitely her strongest one yet. She seems to have migrated from folk over to rock (even doing a mean Janis Joplin immitation in "Love Me, Just Leave Me Alone") as well as a bit of new country. It's a really good album, and I'm glad to see her back producing music after two years of hiatus.

My nighttime reading at the moment is Caitlin R. Kiernan's new novel, Threshold. So far, I like this novel much better than her previous novel, Silk. It is much better written, and has characters I can actually empathize with, instead of the usual motley crue which make up the majority of her fiction: the junkies, the transsexuals, the shattered and alone. Her writing has really grown up with this new novel, and I'm enjoying the hell out of it so far.