Works in Progress

Congrats to Kelly and Jess on winning a signed copy of Karen McQuestion's most-excellent latest, Edgewood! And thanks again to Karen for participating, and for her generosity.

I am being sucked into a vortex at work, but I still have a fun surprise for y'all in the next week or two. I also sent the manuscript of the new novel off to my editor, and I feel a little pukey about it. I've been working on this sucker for fourteen YEARS, and I'm still not sure if I'm ready to release it. It's much darker than anything I've ever written before. A twisted, in-your-face mash-up of chick lit and lad lit. And have I mentioned it takes place in a prison? Am I nuts to even think about putting this out there?

People want books that take place in France and Bali and Nantucket ... don't they? And other than Me Before You by Jojo Moyes, I can't think of too many love stories featuring a male lead confined to a wheelchair.

Weirdly, it's become something of a security blanket for me, or an old friend I'll meet for happy hour after a rough day at work. I'll pull the manuscript up on the screen, tinker with some dialogue here, tighten some phrasing there ... Last night I axed three pages entirely and rewrote another small section, but I haven't given much thought to more massive changes, which could be coming down the pike.


If I do pull the trigger on this book, all I can pray is someone says this about it somewhere: "Fans of indie black comedy rejoice! Because I've found the slutty, snarky love child of Chuck Palahniuk and Laurie Notaro."

In the meantime, there is other writing to do, other books to read. AND: I'll be hosting another great author and giveaway this Sunday. More free books to win, kiddos!