New Beginnings

I broke down and started Simply Sara yesterday, partly out of a fit of boredom. Have to say, though, starting another novel at the moment feels like getting a positive pregnancy test six weeks after delivery.

Not that I've had that experience, but I'm currently under the impression that novels are like babies. The gestation process, at the moment, takes about the same length of time. There's a similar amount of commitment involved. Now that I'm starting another book, a part of me is shouting inside, "Not yet! I'm not ready for another one!"

The trick is that I hate valuing my life depending on my word count for the day, but if I haven't been writing, I really don't know what to do. I feel like I'm floating around without accomplishing anything concrete. For better or for worse, there's no arguing with the concreteness of the word count, even if it is just a number on my computer screen.

Enough complaining. I started it. This book is funny because I kind of wanted to kick it off right where the last one left off, except that it's from Sara's perspective. I'm not a fan of having to restate who and what everyone is, but it is one of those necessary fiction evils because readers are legally allowed to read the second book first.

I'm waiting for the delight of the beginning of the book to set in. This is usually my favorite part; the options are nearly unlimited, the characters unexplored. And I really like some of the characters in this one, so the beginning euphoria should set in shortly.

Hm. I'm hungry.

(Note: over the next five minutes I contemplated the reality of my emptyish cupboards and the sadness over being out of oatmeal, before I realized that I wasn't entirely out of oatmeal and had just enough for a petit yet satisfying serving. Made the oatmeal, ate, and moved on.)

I'm reading Diane Abu-Jaber's "Crescent" at the moment and really enjoying it. Hoping for better luck with it than "The Last Dickens," which I could not get through with anything resembling speed. I began to think I just didn't read as fast as I used to, then I polished off Sandra Byrd's "Bon Appetit" in two days. "Crescent" is about a chef in a Lebanese restaurant in LA, so I have high hopes for completion, mainly because it involves food. I like food. I love reading about food.

Oh! Happy news! I'm teaching a class for the February OCW day-conference. Registration isn't open yet, but I'll post when it is. The best part about the whole thing is that Plain Jayne should be very much in print by then, so I'll have books available to sell while I'm teaching about creating ensemble casts for novels.

Still waiting for the book euphoria. Any minute now...