In No Particular Order...

1. Proof that the internet connects people: A high school classmate of mine Googled the late, great Nick Alicino. He found this blog, e-mailed me, and announced that he lives about an hour away. I think that's one of my favorite things about this blog. I hear from old friends, other writers, and fellow Springsteen fans, sometimes on a daily basis.
2. A manuscript you'll never read begins: "A little baby monster got lost in the woods. Daddy, I'm too scared to finish this story." Aren't daughters wonderful?
3. Another Daughter vignette: Daughter has a "new" easel. Drawing is one of her favorite things. On Sunday, she said to the Saint, "Mommy, can I have some paper? Oh, never mind, I found some." An hour later, I said to the Saint, "Has anyone seen the top two pages of my manuscript?" Yes, you know where this is going. I found the pages on Daughter's easel, covered in beautiful pictures of princesses.
4. That manuscript, by the way, is finally (really, truly this time) on its way to New York.

Adam

And It's Finished

The manuscript (all ten copies) goes back to my agents on Monday.

More when I have news.

Adam

Please Stand By

We are NOT experiencing technical difficulties. We are not dead. We are busy. All of us.

The Saint is busy teaching and parenting. Oldest Son is busy studying and hanging out with his friends. Middle Child is busy studying and studying and teaching quantum physics and studying. Daughter is busy changing her clothes for the seventeenth time today, every day.

I am busy parenting and proofing this manuscript. It's the tedious stage, because I'm not trying to create new scenes; I'm not trying to edit it; I'm just trying to make sure it reads well and that I haven't made any mistakes. In other words, even though the sooner I finish, the sooner we submit, it's tough, bleary-eyed, my-head-shall-soon-explode tedium.

So that's why you haven't heard from me lately. You will hear from me soon, if I survive this last read-through.

Adam

News of the Day

For all those who've tried thousands of times to score tickets to Springsteen shows, only to (over)pay "ticket brokers" later, today's New York Times has a must-read article.

I had many of the same experiences in my recent attempts to purchase tickets for Hartford and Boston, so the story struck home. In fact, had it not been for the extraordinary generosity of friends during the National Holiday, I wouldn't have landed tickets at all. Yes, I realize that I am very lucky to have such friends.

In other news, Oldest Son and Middle Child are on their way to Washington and Northern Virginia with their grandparents. Daughter and The Saint are having Girls' Night this evening. Though I possess a Y Chromosome, I'm also invited.

Before that, we're heading North to see my uncle, my aunt and my rock star grandmother. A year ago this same weekend, we were all together in San Diego for my cousin Matt's wedding. You might have read about that experience somewhere.

Finally, yesterday my agents asked me to send them ten copies of my manuscript and bio. For those of you who have yet to consume your Saturday morning coffee, that means that they've signed off on the manuscript, all systems are go, and we'll be submitting very, very soon.

Adam

Department of Self-Promotion

My fabulous agents work very quickly. I sent them my edited manuscript earlier today. The agency sent out its regular newsletter this afternoon.

You can read about my novel in the third entry under "UP AND COMING FOR SUBMISSION".

Which means... well...

We're about to submit.

Batting practice is over. I'm in the game.

So if I seem both giddy and stressed out over the next few weeks, now you know why.

Adam

It's on the Way

My manuscript is officially on its way back to my agents.

I will now enjoy time with the Saint and the kids.

Adam

Truly Random

1. The Saint and the boys are back in school. Daughter is back in daycare. Everything seems to be going smoothly, though nobody is sleeping as much as we were a few days ago.

2. I saw the video for Radio Nowhere. I'm now all stressed out that I might not get concert tickets.

3. My manuscript will be winging its way to New York, via the ether, within days, probably within hours.

4. Go over and visit the Great and Gifted Jamie Ford. While you're there, congratulate him on his nifty, well-earned, six-figure publishing deal.

Adam

Fourth and Goal

I just finished the fourth draft of my novel. I need to do one quick read-through to make sure everything is coherent, and then the book goes to my agent.

I was afraid I wouldn't have the luxury of one final read, but the timing worked for me because my agent has asked me to e-mail the manuscript instead of my usual snail-mail. With the long weekend, that buys me several more days. Plenty of time to rip through the leaner, meaner version.

More later.

Adam

Proving Motive

I'm most of the way done with this latest draft. I'm thrilled with the edits. As usual, my agents suggested some very good fixes, and the book is better for it.

One of their suggested edits involved the motive for the central murder in this mystery. They were right: the original motive sucked. And now, finding a new motive is my last plot clot. I'll get this thing back to them by the end of this week, I think. The only problem is that I would have liked to have mailed it back last week.

I'll have more on this later. Hopefully, I'll be able to report to you at the end of this week that the manuscript is once again on its way to New York.

In the meantime, Oldest Son has returned from the Cape, Middle Child has already begun third grade, and Daughter still believes she's in charge of the household. She's certainly in charge of we who possess Y Chromosomes. The Saint has figured out Daughter.

The Saint, by the way, is still a rock star. She's preparing for another year, taking on an honors-level class in addition to all her other stuff. She's not terribly wild that I post about her here, but blogging about her is a lot more fun than blogging about my novel. Don't you agree?

Now that I've made that disclosure, let me mention that my college roommate, the first person not named Nick Alicino with whom I really discussed writing, married a woman (I also knew her in college) who grew up about four blocks from where I live now. We finally visited the other day. We'd spoken and e-mailed quite a bit, but we hadn't actually seen each other since Oldest Son's baptism, almost fourteen years ago. Of course, seeing each other again (the brief description, for each of us: significantly less on top, slightly more in the middle), we felt like fourteen seconds had elapsed instead of fourteen years. Nice having friends like that, right?

Finally, you might see a few vicarious travelogues here in the coming weeks. Seems my parents have decided to visit Italy. Best Man and Godfather has gone to Vegas. And Cousin Matt is in Merry Olde England.

I had a motive in writing all this, but I seem to have misplaced it. Oh, well. Back to my edits.

Adam

More Feedback

I meant to mention this earlier, but the Great and Gifted Jamie Ford, who read an earlier portion of my novel before it was finished, has read the whole thing.

Jamie is as great an editor as he is gifted a writer.

His comments mirrored my agent's in many ways. Which surprised me not a bit, since his comments on the first selection also mirrored my agent's in many ways. What surprised me is that he was as enthusiastic at the end as he had been at the beginning.

Jamie is always insightful. That's also no surprise to those of us in the blogosphere who know him and correspond with him. And I may have mentioned that his short story, "I Am Chinese", is the best short story I've read in many, many years. Nobody will be shocked when Jamie sells his novel (based on that short story), right? I didn't think so.

For me, the bottom line: Now that two readers I really trust have weighed in, I know I'm on the right track. And for those of you who want a really great read, go to Jamie's website and track down his short story. It's fabulous.

Adam

The Next Draft Commences

Call off the search party.

I am alive. I am working on Draft 4.

More details when I have time.

Adam

A Few Loose Ends

So my agent e-mailed me this morning. She loves the manuscript.

That said, yes, I have a few changes to make. I've had most of today to contemplate those changes, and they're relatively painless. Taken as a whole, they tighten the manuscript and make my protagonist into more of a badass.

We're shooting to move this in September, so I'll be back in edit mode for the next few weeks. The bottom line is that these are changes I'm more than willing to make, and they're pretty minor.

Today is a good day.

In the meantime, the Saint's Summer Shakespeare Odyssey is almost over. She's in the midst of a 25-page research paper on Falstaff. The other day, frustrated, she asked me when I'd last written anything based on research. She didn't like my answer: That 405 page manuscript I'm about to slice into again. I don't think my reply contributed toward our marital bliss.

Grandchildren's Week is over. The kids are back. We've commenced retraining them.

Finally, my cousin Matt and his wife Jeni are in from San Diego this weekend, so if you haven't heard from me by Tuesday or so, send out a search party.

Adam

The Next Step in the Process

That manuscript I've been editing?

It's on its way to New York right now. I cut almost 15,000 words between Draft 1 and Draft 3. It's a lot tighter, with more punch in the plot.

Hopefully, my agents will love it as much as they loved the preview they saw several months ago. I'll share their feedback when I have it.

Now that baseball is over and the manuscript is on its way to the big city, the Saint and I are about to make a quick trip to Cooperstown. Oldest Son, Middle Child and Daughter are spending Grandchildren's Week with... (follow me, here...) their Grandparents.

On our agenda, quality time with: Lt. Ed Novak, his wife and children; the Great Jim Atwell and his wife, Anne; my Grandmother the rock star; my parental types and various members of my extended family; and other friends and family who are dear to us (you don't generally read about them on this blog).

The Saint is off studying Falstaff right now. She's in a concrete building with no air conditioning and no screens in the windows. She has to choose between heat with bugs or heat without bugs. If it were up to me (it isn't), I'd choose to cut class.

It's 94 degrees at 6 in the evening, and we're inside increasing the size of our carbon footprint. Apologies to my environmentalist friends, but when the mercury shatters 90, we start using freon. If it's any consolation, the computer is running on battery power, I'm using a wireless connection right now, and all the electric stuff except the fans and the air conditioner is in the upright and locked... er... "off" position.

But about that manuscript. Have I mentioned that I mailed it today?

I thought so.

Adam

Blazing Through the Third Draft

I ended up cutting more than 10,000 words between my first draft and my second. I'm now roaring through draft 3. If I stay on my current pace (Middle Child's baseball season is over, so to my regret, I'm no longer coaching two games per week), I'll finish sometime next week.

That draft goes in the mail to New York.

In other news, Oldest Son and my tenured Saint finished school today. Daughter cuts back to one day per week of day care. Middle Child finishes school on Friday.

The Saint is taking not one, but two (and possibly three) courses this Summer. Though she's done teaching, she'll still be a student until at least the middle of July.

Wish her luck.

Adam

Summer Approaches

I'm 85% finished with draft 2 of this novel. I'll likely finish it this weekend. Draft 3 will go even faster than draft 2. My agent should have the manuscript on her desk sometime early next month. That means that if she likes it, draft four should be ready at the end of August.

In other news, Middle Child's baseball team proves to be a wonderful experience for him and for me. The other two coaches have already asked me to coach with them next year. Saying yes was a no-brainer. We have yet to win a game this season, but nearly everyone will return next Spring. The same thing happened with last year's last place team, which is running away with the league this year.

My tenured Saint finishes school in a little over a week. Oldest Son finishes when the Saint does. Middle Child finishes at the end of that week. Daughter will stop day care for the Summer.

Somewhere along the line, the Saint called the guy who painted our house last Summer. Turns out, his brother in law does bathrooms, so we'll be leaving town for a week or so while he renovates ours. I think that's a perfect excuse to leave town for a few days.

And thinking of travel is more than enough motivation to get back to the manuscript.

Adam

Nothing Philosophical Tonight

I got a little sidetracked recently, but I'm flying through the edits again. Still celebrating the Saint's magnificent achievement.

She started an eight-week class last night. I'm actually not sure what it is, but it's for English teachers and it sounds fun. She's reading Machiavelli right now.

Baseball season with Middle Child and his friends: a stunning success. I'm not talking about victories and defeats. We drafted a great bunch of kids. They've got character and talent, and they have fun together. We have another game tomorrow night, under the lights.

In the meantime, I have a manuscript to edit.

Adam

Halfway Through Draft 2

I'm rolling through the edits. The Saint, however, has caused a delightful dilemma. Yesterday she returned from a mini-shopping spree with the new Lee Child, in hardcover.

So I'm now curled up with Jack Reacher. Coincidentally, I'm also halfway done with Bad Luck and Trouble. Life is good.

Adam

Taking a Breather

As I finish the edits to this book, I'll be posting sporadically at best.

Check back in once in a while. Updates will continue at some point.

Adam

While I'm Editing...

Go over and congratulate the Great and Gifted Jamie Ford. He had an agent offer him representation yesterday. I suspect other agents will call him as well.

Having experienced this myself, I know just how wild a feeling it is. Those are frozen in time moments.

As in:

Jane Dystel called me at 8:42 on a Friday evening in January of 2004, after I'd had a few e-mail exchanges and a conversation with her partner, Miriam Goderich. The Saint was a little over a week away from giving birth to Daughter. I'd just gotten off the phone with my mother. Sarcastically, I'd told Mom, "I have to hang up now. My exclusive with my dream agency ends in a little over three hours. Somebody might call."

Not fifteen seconds later, Jane phoned. After "We love your book and we want to represent you," nothing else in the conversation mattered.

Jane told me to take the weekend to decide. I accepted on the spot. I'd already done all my research. As a writer, it was the second best decision I ever made. The best? Marrying the Saint. But you knew that already.

Back to Jamie for a second: He's also a hell of an editor. He read an early draft of my current manuscript and his editorial comments were nearly identical to Miriam's. So go visit his blog and let him know that he might be surprised, but we aren't. He earned it.

Adam

The Famous Final Scene

I finished the first draft five minutes ago. 116,382 words.

Draft two begins on the weekend. I expect to deliver draft 3 to my agents in about six weeks.

I am exhausted. I am thrilled. I am behind schedule again.

Adam