Catching up...

Okay, been concentrating very much on the 9-5. We have our company meeting in Minneapolis coming next week and I have a presentation to give in Chicago. Plus, I'm in training to take over more responsibility at work. So busy, busy, busy.

Since the New Year, I've been decidedly unproductive when it comes to my writing. That probably explains why I have lagged on the blog. But I'm about to knuckle down and get somethings done.

I've always bragged that I wrote five books lying on the couch, and I think it's time to change up. My three white boards containing my writing objectives haven't been looked at in three weeks. It just ain't working, Esther, rock and roll.

I know I used to drone on about getting in shape, but I'm convinced that as I've gotten out of shape, my writing has gotten less sharp. Don't know if I can prove it, but I know I need to get in shape this year. A lot of things are happening and I need to be at my peak performance.

Okay, on to my writing. Writing the umpteenth draft of The Bestsellers. My boys Ben and Aram from UCLA are giving notes and they're good. Problem is that I'm writing it one line at a time. Right now, I'm on page 63 of the latest version and I think I want to get to page 75 by the end of the night. I'm going to stop grinding as much as I used to. Terrible on the sleep patterns, and basically makes me feel crappy.

Next on the docket is Slaveryland, my next novel. I did a bit more work on it, so I'm in around 42,000 words. I think I'm going to go for about five thousand words per week. A nice steady rate. This means I should be done with Slaveryland around the middle of March. More or less.

My Jackboots and Monkey Calls proposal needs to be sent to Manie. He'll vet it and I kind of expect that he'll see problems with it. It's pretty much written, but it still seems to be vague. And I know it. But I'll take a look at it this weekend and read it again. Boy do I hate book proposals. They're a pain in the ass.

Lastly, I'm pecking out The Dreaded Beautician. Not too bad. So far, I've got a lot of dreaded, but not too much beautician. I need to do a bit more research on the lives of black beauticians before I feel comfortable with my character. It's crucial that her profession influence her violent actions.

That's pretty much it. The writers strike looks like it'll be settled in a month or so. So this town will be back in business, which is good for everyone.

My son needed to learn a poem, so I taught him Langston Hughes' A Dream Deferred. He learned it in about an hour. Memorized. Last year, I taught him Invictus and he learned it in a snap. Just a smart kid.

So that's it. Look for fairly regular blog entries.

Project: Slaveryland

This week, I'm going to concentrate on finishing one of two fiction projects that have been hanging around. I started SLAVERYLAND two years ago, and stopped writing it when I started UCLA. But I really like the story and I think it's time to put it back on the front burner.

So this week, I'm going to see if I can knock out an average of 1000 words per day. Right now, I'm at 33,000 words, and the first thing I'll do is read through it and add as I go. The final target word count will probably be between 80,000 to 100,000 words.

Where I am...

Thanks for being patient, as I've tried to let my brain rest a bit. I'm still waking up at 4:30am each morning, but at least I've been getting to bed around 11pm. So, I'm getting a bit of sleep, and my body isn't trying to crash around mid day. So here's what I have on tap.

Icono: Last week was a weird week for me. I had good observations to write about, but the brain just wasn't firing on all cylinders. But I have an understanding editor, so no worries. Anyway, things are going along pretty smoothly, and I'm getting ready to flow out to Minneapolis next week for our all company confab. I'm actually looking forward to it because since we work in isolation, it's kind of like a field trip to see folks in the flesh. But being that I'm TERRIBLE with faces, it'll be a bit of torture for me as everyone will know me and my name (there are only three black folks in the company, and the other brother is about sixty) so it's not to hard to know me. But it should be fun.

Lecture: Spoke at Morehouse on Monday and I must say that these Morehouse men are impressive as hell. I made the determination that Langston will be going to Morehouse. I will be building a building at Morehouse. The Ross Center sounds good. The Lawrence Ross Center sounds even better.

USC Script: Met with Krystal, who has to be the only other person who is as busy as I am. She is acting as a showrunner for a USC pilot they're shooting, and also doing her thesis, which is my script. We have a hard deadline of February 22nd. I took down her notes, and I'm going to bang out a second draft by next week.

434 Script: Took a break from it. I know this story so well, I think I'm going to write about thirty pages this weekend. Really, it's sort of a no-brainer script, at least as a first draft.

Showcase: We have our first Showcase meeting tomorrow. This is where we let all of the first years know the deal. It's funny, I remember looking at the dour faces of the second years last year, and wondering why they were so lifeless. I understand now.

TheYack: The Publishers Weekly article came out and I've been deluged with different companies suddenly wanting to partner with us. We'll see what people have to say. I'll talk next week and then talk to my Anderson Business mentor about the needs I have for TheYack.

The Book: My editor is still reading the book. I need to find a new foreward person since my initial one flaked. Also, she wants some more analysis. Fair notes. I just need to know how long I have to do that analysis.

Slaveryland: Going over the manuscript, and I still like it. Actually, I REALLY like it. I have note inserts that tell me that I've been working on this novel for two years, which is a long time for me. But I think it's my next fiction manuscript to shop.

The wife and the kid are heading up to the Bay Area tomorrow. One of our best friend's, and the person who introed the wife to me, is having her 40th b'thday. So there's going to be a party. I'm flying up on Saturday so I can get my Icono work done in peace.

The Divine Nine is selling like hot cakes on Amazon. I got a random royalty check from William Morris for some book club revenue. That was nice.

My beloved Manchester United lost a heartbreaker to Arsenal. It still hurts.

I know I'm forgetting something, but I'll think of it later. Oh, I'm working with a trainer for the first time tomorrow. Getting my fat ass back in the gym.