LUCKY THAT MY BREASTS ARE SMALL AND HUMBLE
SO THAT YOU DON'T CONFUSE THEM WITH MOUNTAINS

Confessors, it is 12:41 am and just moments ago I hit save on what I believe to be the first completed draft of the brand new novel.

Final word count: approx. 84,600. If that doesn't seem like a lot, think about the fact that the body of this post is about 500 words, and an average movie review for me is maybe 700 words. Then multiply.

What was started on 8/21/07 and begun in earnest in December is now a whole thing. This past autumn I traveled everywhere with a notebook that contained four possible projects that I was developing. Two were comics proposals that are now with my agents, Baker's Mark, and they are shopping them for prospective homes. Another was the comic book project with Mike Holmes. (Mike? You out there?) Not included in the notebook was the second series of Love the Way You Love.

The third was BP & MJ. It began as a single scene. There is a part of Starting Out in the Evening where Frank Langella says he writes a story because he sees a scene with one of his characters in it, and he wants to see what happens to him or her next. This is very much how BP & MJ started. Sitting in a San Diego hotel room, I suddenly envisioned a scene, the first page of the book. I carried the words and images around with me for about a month and finally wrote it down. Four months of planning and now four months of writing and I know where the character was going.

Though, honestly, I still have to marinate on the final scene a little. And the last line. I reached the end of the actual outlined story at about 11:00 pm tonight, and realized I didn't really have a final image. I took a walk, listened to some Cutting Crew, and then came back with a clear head, sat, and let it come.

When I grow up, other writers will want to be me. Until then...?

Maryanne and I were saying that people should try to guess the title. Give it a try. If anyone hits it, I'll send you a copy of the manuscript. But I can guarantee no one will. I've only told a handful of people, so I'll know if anyone squealed. (And if I did tell you, then you can't participate; keep that gob of yours zipped!)

As a hint, for those wondering what this book is about, think that if The Everlasting is UTFO's "Roxanne, Roxanne," then BP & MJ is "The Real Roxanne." This is a response record.

Or if The Everlasting is Goodfellas, this is Casino. With the part of Robert DeNiro played by Marion Cotillard.

The novel also is supposed to have some involvement from Joëlle Jones, and there is still a chance she could read it and hate it and then I have to throw it out because there is no point in doing it if Joëlle hates it. There's no point in doing anything Joëlle hates.

Interested parties who want to publish this book and think they can afford me should contact Gretchen Stelter at Baker's Mark. Link is in the sidebar.

And Lord help me, with this out of the way, I am thinking this summer I might start the next novel, a little something I'm currently calling Jamie S. Rich's 5 1/2.

Next step, though, is sitting down and reading what I have, making sure I haven't lost my mind, and then giving it to a couple of folks so they can double-check that to be true.

Viva Forever!

Current Soundtrack: the BP & MJ playlist; I'll post that here soon, I'm too tired to type it up now

Current Mood: accomplished

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All text (c) 2008 Jamie S. Rich