Working Columbus
August 29, 2008
I drift inside the book during my days. I’ll hear music in someone’s office, or feel the warm sun on my face at lunch, or hear a conversation in a throng waiting for the elevator – and something will push my head/imagination/mind into the book. Who ever it was who said writing a novel is a long-distance race was bang-on. I’m into the second set of revisions on Columbus at 4AM and I have no doubt in my mind that this book is getting better. I can feel the book becoming more and more like my dream book – a great, multi-layered story that explores what it is to be human. My editors are perceptive, clever and gentle. They encourage, and they push me. Sometimes, suggested cuts are painful but I am able to see why these cuts were suggested. I get it. I’m writing my ass off. I want to first, please myself (I hope this book is an evolution. I hope I’m improving, challenging myself and changing each time out.) And I want to please my editors too (apart from my contractual obligation to make them happy). I trust them. They understand the heart of this book – sometimes, I think, better than I. I’m sure the people who come this site are getting sick and tired of hearing me blather on and on about Columbus, and the book isn’t slated for publication until fall 2009. But my vision for this site was for it to be more about writing than about my private life. My new revision due date is September 22. It’s a joy to work on this book. If that’s not nice, I don’t know what is.