Revising!!

Forget writing. It is revising that is taking the time. The book gets funnier and funnier as I make it more accurate. There are so many jerks in the arts.

Breakthrough!

Another breakthrough making the novel readable and a lecture on Contemporary Art at the same time. All the feedback on Work Shy I am getting has been terrific and helpful.

Great Guns!

This overall edit of Work Shy may take a while but it is falling into place. Sometimes it feels like a diatribe with a story attached. I like that.

New Print Out!

I never realized my printer was so lousy. I have a new edit with type I can actually read without straining. Such is age. Get up to 40 pages without a narrative "drop off." That is what I have been slaving towards.

Struggles!

Slowing down now as I edit and re-edit. But, Work Shy sounds like a book when I read it aloud to my classes. Must be doing something right.

Book is almost done!

Sending manuscript out to some folks. Fingers crossed in knots.

Warhol Grant Application

What a great idea. Ask for money to write a novel about art. Why didn't I think of this before? It is a long shot, of course. Who do I think I am, Douglas Crimp?

Keep hearing about writers self publishing, then getting a deal. I like that idea. By the time the digi-book era sorts itself out, my edits and revisions will be done. The final laugh is on me, or at me?

Here Comes Summer!

Getting great response to first draft and updating it often. Got it to an agent agency in NYC, but not sure if they realize that it is brilliant. Thanks everyone.

Losing Track?

Trying to get as many people to read the first forty pages or so and recommend literary agents and tricks of the trade. It is going well so far. Still aiming at finishing the damn thing this summer when I have absolutely no teaching.

Early Days?

My goal was to write a thousand words a day. That is possible and actually not too tough. But then you get on and try to link and edit passages. That can take a lot of time. I don't think I've ever read through the same material so many times in my life. Then, there is the reading aloud, which lets you in on other little mistakes only noticed upon hearing. It is unadulterated fun.

Springtime?

I am setting the mark of Spring to see if I can finish the book. I may be doing some readings this summer as an unpublished novelist. Stay Tuned. Can I make 100 thousand words by then?

Post Number Two!

Hey, this may be habit forming. My Mother, who just turned 85 did a great reading of the first chapter of Work Shy. She is, of course, an English Major. We did edit the "F" word.

First Posting!

For all you Pocket Intellectuals, here is a blog about writing my first novel, Work Shy. It is bound to be successful because anything is easier than being an artist. So, stay alert all you literary agents. Here is your first spoof literary-slash-genre, book for the millenium! I thought all books were literary?