Rochester, NY
12:42 AM
I’m sitting in the living room, in one of the rockers. The 11th inning of the World Series is on. The White Sox are up. I don’t care who wins, but I’ve been watching.
It has been a very exciting few days. My meeting on Thursday of last week with the editor went very well. We met at Spot Coffee for about an hour. I gave her two chapters to look at, the astronaut and the sports columnist. My nerves were going crazy as I waited for her to show up. This was the first time I had given anything of the book to be read and critiqued. I bounced all around the room. I called her cell phone, making sure she was coming. Her VM was all that I got. Immediately after the phone call she walked in.
I hadn’t seen her in probably 15 years. Julie is a few years younger than me. She had a big smile as we shook hands. I was psyched to see her and get some feedback on my writing. We caught up for a few minutes. She had a cup of coffee and I had a bottle of water.
Over the course of the next 45 minutes Julie dissected what worked and what didn’t. My nerves went away and I was now energized by the feedback. Most of what I had was good. I had to fix a few things, but the major stuff, the content, worked. A huge hurdle was gone. I had a book that was interesting!
She gave me a lot of pointers and I went home that night and got started. I tired to cut a lot of things that didn’t add to the story. I also tried to lose some of the quotes. I am finding there is a lot to do. But the work has really got me going. I’m getting these ready to send back to her. They are close.
I just finished making my table of contents. It is hard to have to try and cut things. I wish I could use all 100 plus interviews, but I don’t think this first time author will get 1,000 pages published.
Last night I spent part of the evening with another editor, my buddy Sean’s brother Pat. He is a professor in town and has a little bit of time. He just got married and was excited about that. He had the music composer chapter. It was different to get his words. I tried to contrast them to Julie’s. He had some different advice than her, but again, he said I was on the right track. He wanted more of the interview subject and less of me. That is probably a good idea.
I have spent most of the day writing and editing. The time is now to get these chapters ready for press. The book proposal is next. That gets sent to agents who then try and sell it to publishers. I can also go the self-publishing route, but that is a last resort.
As I write, I love the information that I have and the feeling of getting it on paper in a way that reads well. This is going to be good.
I now wonder what the hell I’ve been waiting for. I have all of the information I need. Why has it taken me so long to have the fire to go at it hard? I don’t know. I can’t do much about that now. Write and write some more.
Bottom of the 11th, still tied. I need to go to bed.