Book Report

I am happy to report to my many tens of fans that after a lengthy delay, progress on my book Naked Snow Angels is coming along quite nicely. After the first draft of the manuscript was completed back in the waning days of winter, I set aside the work and put it out of my mind for awhile in order to be able to attack it from a fresh perspective later. As spring and the beginning of summer came and went, I struggled to find the ideal format for telling my story. This week, I finally made a breakthrough.

You may recall from my past updates that when I first decided to write a book, I grappled with the notion of writing a purely fictional novel. (I have two unfinished manuscripts saved on my hard drive that will likely never see the light of day.) Somehow, a novel felt contrived and artificial, so I gave up the idea--for now. Next, I attempted to compile a collection of essays gleaned from my blog and from the two aborted novels. The result was a mish-mash of disconnect that left me scratching my head searching for any rhyme or reason to my yammerings. Eventually I came to realize that by re-ordering my essays, what I had actually written was really a pretty decent memoir. However, I wasn't comfortable with the notion of a 38 year old, relatively unknown person writing his life's story. It seemed like a bit of a stretch to believe anyone would want to read it. As an acquaintance once quipped when I told her I was writing my memoir, "Honey, you haven't been alive long enough. That'll be one short story."

My immediate response was, "I've done a lot of livin' in 38 years." My more reasoned response has taken up until this week to formulate. I have begun re-writing my "memoir" in a completely new way. To my knowledge, a book has never been written in the manner that I have decided upon, so if I'm right, I am currently writing a truly original style of book. Of course I can't tell you what that style is just yet. Suffice it to say, of the myriad variations of memoirs, biographies, and autobiographies that have ever been written, I have found no examples using the exact device that I have implemented for my book. There are a few books out there that are somewhat similar, but I believe I've come up with a novel twist (pun intended).

So stay tuned, my loyal followers. Your devotion and patience will be rewarded soon. I expect to have the manuscript completed by the end of summer and will then begin the process of trying to get it published. Any help you can provide in that department would be greatly appreciated.