10.3.11

October already? How is this possible???

Well, it has been quite a day! Amanda Knox has been freed from jail in Perugia, Italy, which is very heartening. I admit shutting things off for an hour to watch the verdict - it is so good to see justice done here. I am a firm believer that she was railroaded, and am very happy to see her walk. I smell a massive book deal coming - which will be fascinating. I hope my agent lands her.

All of my signings are behind me, and I have a full, open week of nothing ahead of me. Nothing but writing, that is. With all the hoopla around the launch and such, I haven't been doing a very good job of keeping up with my daily word counts. In my defense, I did have to do one last revision on the May '12 book, which took several days. And then the worst happened. I got the news that my editor is leaving. 

: (

I've been working with Adam Wilson since I started with Mira in 2006, first as an assistant editor to Linda McFall, and then as my actual editor. We've done seven books together, three of which he edited solely, and I'm very sad to see him go. But he's landed a great job with Gallery, and I of all people understand wanting to broaden horizons. And so I must bid him adieu. Thank you, Mr. Wilson, for all your tender loving care with my words, my career, and my ego for the past six years. You will be sorely missed.

Excitement ensued Friday when I got reassigned to the lovely and talented Miranda Indrigo - a legendary Mira editor who I'm convinced is going to take me to heights previously unknown. This process of losing an editor and gaining an editor always has an big effect on your writing. It's hard for it not to. But I've found that the more eyes I have on my pages, the better my work gets, so I look at these moments as opportunities. Will report in what happens next.

So I'm very proud that in the midst of all this craziness, I did finish and turn in the revision, got my inbox cleared, addressed nearly everything I had on my to do list, and today, sat down and CREATED!!!!!!!

It was only 1300 words, but hey, that's better than nothing, right? Realized I am not going to make my self-imposed October 15 deadline, so I may push it back to November 1. I really want to get this book done and stashed away for a rainy day. This is not a goal. This is just something for me. Sometimes you need to write what's in your heart, you know?

Leftover Cottage Pie tonight. I haven't been this excited for leftovers in months.

As always, questions welcome.