Friday, August 04, 2006

Done Deal


Well, I signed my contract last week, so it's a done deal! A nice check should be forthcoming. Now I just need to finish the book by January. I am done with Chapter 4, and this month I really want to finish Chapters 5 and 6. January--the due date--is going to sneak up on me. I am taking off a week in August for a little writing vacation. I really hope I'm productive, or else I'll have wasted a week. But it's hot and unpleasant outside, so it's the perfect weather to stay inside and write.

Actually, Chapter 1(with a few minor minor changes) of my novel has just been published in this YA anthology called Rush Hour. People who've read it have been very kind and encouraging, so it's nice to know that I'm on the right track. I'm actually reading the anthology right now. I loved the first story by Greg Galloway, and David Levithan's as well. I don't think they are going to publish the Rush Hour series anymore, however, which is sad. My agent says it was "ahead of its time." Oh well.

What I'm Reading



As usual, I have too many books going at once. I am working on the publicity for Myla Goldberg's second novel this fall (Wickett's Remedy), so right now I'm reading Bee Season. It's as wonderful as everyone says it is. Scarily enough, I should start reading my Spring 07 books soon--Kevin Brockmeier's The Brief History of the Dead, Max Barry's Company, Charles D'Ambrosio's The Dead Fish Museum, to name just a few.

But, as always, non-work books still hold sway over me. I'm reading a YA novel called Crooked by Tom and Laura McNeal, recommended by my editor. So far it's great. I need to read a LOT more in the YA world, since I'm soon to be a part of it. I'm also reading About Town, a history of The New Yorker by Ben Yagoda. It's fascinating reading about the early days of the magazine. I love literary histories in general. I finished the Melville bio, which was fantastic, and now I may start the oral history/bio of Truman Capote.

I'm still reading Deborah Eisenberg's Twilight of the Superheroes. I've read about a story a month--very slow, I know. I love her stuff, and it's nice to slowly savor it. But I need to finish it, b/c there are about five other new story collections I'm dying to dip into (by Ben Fountain, Scott Snyder, and Edward JOnes). I got a galley of Alice Munro's new book coming out in November, The View from Castle Rock, so I'm dying to start that. Her last story in the New Yorker was great--and it's not included in the new book. The new book was rumored to be her last, so this new story gives me hope that she's still going to keep writing her brilliant short stories.