Rewriter

My friend Lee, who is a bit of an agent provocateur, asked me about the progress on the novel. An agent provocateur, by the way, is an undercover agent who acts to entice another person to commit an illegal or rash act. I doubt my novel is illegal -- under the meaning of the act, as they say -- although it may be rash.

At any rate, I have lost all momentum in the rewrite. Unlike James Michener, I do not consider myself an excellent rewriter. At some point, I am not longer rewriting, I am just fiddling. Or worse, just muddling. I am so close to completing the novel that I could probably do it in a week of work. I am just not energized.

Since no one else is going to energize me, however, I will set a goal of completing the novel and its final edit by Thanksgiving. In the best of all possible worlds, that would mean it would be published and available by Christmas or the end of the year. The odds are against that, however, given the hectic nature of things as the holidays approach. But I will see what I can do on my part. This is a busy week, but snow -- !!!! -- is in the forecast again for Thursday, and that should give me a reason to descend to the basement office and type merrily away.

On another note, when I went by the library last week to return some things, there was a package waiting for me. One of the people I had helped with computers left me a copy of the book she had just published. I had helped her with basic formatting and publishing suggestions. She included a very nice thank-you note and told me she is already at work on a second one. I believe the one she gave me, in fact, is a revised version of a volume she had previously published. So perhaps there is a connection with the whole rewrite theme ... and her note and its kind words about my John of the Cross mystery, which she had read, is an incitement for me to get to work myself!