Coming back to life

Time to wake up and get back to business. What with three trips to Canada in the six weeks, I didn’t get much done with my writing. I carried the manuscript of Missing Persons with me each time I traveled, but only on one trip did I do anything with it, getting about 1/3 of the book edited. This past weekend, I keyed those edits into the electro-manuscript and now it’s time to pick up from where I left off.

I had a Cemetery Dance column due last week and, for the first time, I was late turning it in, but only by a few days. Thankfully, I had the bulk of the column complete and all that remained was to add some late-breaking news, tidy up the writing and add my Outside the Zone section, which this time highlights eight of my favorite books of 2004.

I’ve gone on a story submitting binge in the past week, too. I have a few manuscripts lying around that have been fallow for a while, so I researched some new markets for ’em and got ’em out. One of them piqued an editor’s interest to the extent that is being held on their short list, with no decisions being made until September, which seems a long time off at present but I’m sure will be here before we know it.

I received my proof copies of The Illustrated Stephen King Trivia Book on Friday, and what a handsome book it turned out to be. I hope people enjoy it. I still get a big kick out of Glenn Chadbourne’s illustrations.

I should have news about something upcoming from CD Pubs, a fun little ditty that should see the light of day this year. I haven’t signed the contract yet, so I’ll remain mum about it for the time being.

Currently Reading: The Plot Against America, Philip Roth. Roth takes a huge concept (What if Lindbergh ran against FDR in 1940, won, and kept the US out of WWII and adopted an anti-Semetic stance?) and paints it with a small brush, focusing on the impact of this alternate history on a single family. Powerful stuff.