Report From the Trenches

My deadline to get my new thriller to my publisher is February 1. This year.

I woke up the day after New Year's Eve -- or maybe that afternoon -- in a state of complete panic.

I had an outline, a character list, a box of research, and around 100 written pages. I also had a huge panic attack -- which is exactly what I was counting on to push me along.

Today, I am closing in on the finished draft. I'm pretty pleased with it.

I have a nearly complete manuscript, a new title, and just enough time to finish and polish it up a bit.

I set the bar pretty high this year. Remember those stress scales? Well, mine is off the charts. During 2007, I have (1) put our beloved apartment on the market, (2) started a new and very time-consuming and creatively demanding job, (3) taken over my aging mother's finances, (4) launched and promoted LADYKILLER, the thriller my husband and I co-authored, (5) written and sold a short story to EQMM which will be out in May, and (6) written a novel. Yikes! Those are the high-stress items.

On the relaxing side, I hosted a couple dozen dinner parties, went to a bunch more, saw most plays on Broadway and off, watched all the important TV series and most of the year's best movies, traveled a little and read a couple hundred thrillers.

All this is by way of apologizing for not blogging more. And I want to salute those who have. I read our blog with pleasure and post only ocassionally. But I'm proud to be a part of it and look forward to contributing more this year!