Following Austen

A Walk with JA -- Reading Group Tour

A comment from Bonnie on the daily quote blog got me thinking.  If you're part of a reading group and planning to read A Walk with Jane Austen when it comes out, I would love to join your group for a discussion of the book.  Here's what I'm thinking:

What: Reading Group Tour

When: November and December, 2007

Times Available:  7:00 pm - 11:00 pm EST

Details: I would love to chat with your group about A Walk with JA.  I would spend up to thirty minutes with each group by phone.  You would need to have a phone with speakerphone capability (which could be a cell phone).  We can talk through some of the Reading Group questions in the back of the book, or you can send me questions ahead of time, or we can just chat about anything Austen-related.

If you'd like to sign your group up for this, respond to this post or email me at austenquotes AT gmail DOT com.

Or if you're in a reading group and ideas for how to make this work best, let me know!

Really look forward to chatting with you.

I'm alive!

If you've been reading the Jane Austen quote blog, you know that already, but after not posting here for six-plus months, I thought perhaps I should clarify that.

The book is completely done other than proofreading (whoo-hoo, whoo-hoo!) and review copies have already gone out, so we should start seeing some reviews in the next month or so.  I can't wait!

The title has changed once more (but this is really it):  A Walk with Jane Austen: A Journey into Adventure, Love and Faith.  And -- as you may already know -- it's available for pre-order on Amazon.  It's official release date is October 16.

I'm still struggling with the Lyme disease, but beginning to feel better.  I'm very thankful for that.  The doctors think it could be as much as another three years on treatment to get it to go into remission.  I'm continuing to pray for complete healing, and at the same time trying to mentally and emotionally accept what may be a long-term energy deficiency.

It's very nice to be back!

It's all in a name...

Drumroll please:  As you'll notice on the masthead above, we have an official title for the book.  It will be... A Walk with Jane:  Following Austen, Finding Grace.  I'm very pleased.  My thanks to the WaterBrook editorial team!

Ack!

I had no intention of waiting a month to post again.  First there was a horrible I-was-only-capable-of-sitting-on-the-couch-and-moaning cold.  Then there was the manuscript to finish.  And then Thanksgiving, which plumb wore me out.

I'm thrilled the manuscript is in.  I don't think I've been able to properly celebrate, but the morning I turned it in I was in North Carolina with my parents, at the beach.  We got doughnuts from The Orange Blossom in Buxton, which are the best in all of creation.  They make me ridiculously happy.  And then I sat on the beach for an hour in the sun, just thinking about the journey of this book.  A year ago I only had a draft proposal, and today--in spite of all the sickness and darkness of this year--I have a manuscript.  I'm very thankful. 

I have declared December the month of bubbly juice (because I am still forbidden real bubbly

) and flowers.  So far, I have tried apple, cranberry and blueberry.  I'm looking for pear.  And Trader Joe's may have pomegranate.

Shhh...

The manuscript is turned in!  Whoo-hoo!

"How ill I have written..."

"How ill I have written.  I begin to hate myself." -- JA

   

Jane wrote this at the close of a letter to her sister, Cassandra, on September 18, 1796 (letter number 7 in Deirdre Le Faye's collection for anyone who wants to look it up).  She is only referring to the letter, either to her writing style or her handwriting, but I echo these sentiments.

One of the things I have always loved about writing is what Anne Lamott calls the shitty first draft.  I don't particularly love the SFD, or the necessity of writing one, but I love that it is completely and entirely my own and that no one else knows how poorly I have written because I keep everything to myself until it is cleaned up and presentable.

Then came the blog, and now there are all of these little pieces of writing out there, all of these pieces of my draft, some of which rightly belong in the SFD and will never see the light of day.  Except that they're there for you to read.  I have been panicking about this (particularly some of the posts from Hampshire, but I don't want to tell you which ones for fear that you will run off and read them).  I have been wanting to keep everything to myself lately.

Last week I ran into another problem.  I have just begun the process of serious editing--serious, okay-let's-make-this-publishable editing.  I discovered that the entire thing was crap.  (The beginning, at least.  The middle has some potential.)  I begin to hate myself.

Every writer goes through this, I tell myself.  The publishers liked it.  You liked it.  I even liked it for a while.  If nothing else, I try to remember, much more ridiculous things have been published, so in the end, it will probably be okay.

Today was a difficult day and I was only able to edit for about 20 minutes.  It was enough to make me think that maybe it isn't entirely hopeless.  And there are some things I would really like you to read.

A very real sort of book...

Dear friends,

I've not written here for so long that I barely know how to start. I'm very pleased to announce that it's official -- Following Austen will be published by WaterBrook, a division of Random House, to be released on Sept. 1, 2007. I'm thrilled.

But -- as you may have guessed by my silence here -- my life is nearly overwhelmed at the moment by the terrifying darkness that is Lyme disease. There are moments of light, but they are more like lightning bugs than anything else -- showing up briefly and quickly fading away. Three weeks ago Friday I was able to make a pot of tea, and sit outside to write a little, and actually go for a little walk on the trail behind my house. I can't tell you how good, how significant, these small things are to me. (There are things that require energy that I never realized required energy -- things like sitting up straight, taking a bath, reading a book. Only when everything is taken away do you realize how much you take for granted in your everyday life.)

I have been writing parts of the book in my head, but have been unable to actually start writing again. Pray that I will be able to write.

600 words

It's begun:  deadline hell.  No contract is signed, no publishing decision made, but it's close enough that I know I've got to start seriously writing if I'm going to finish in time.  600 words a day, six days a week, for roughly the next four months (though that bit is still up in the air).  With any luck, many of them will be decent and I'll post them here.

Since I throw out about half of what I write, I should probably aim for 1,200 a day, just to be safe.  And then, in the evenings, research and editing, and in the cracks and crevices various other assignments and the (forgive me, P.) rather boring work I do that helps to pay the bills.  (Which all feels nearly impossible, considering that on my good days, I've been able to do about 3 hours worth of work.) And thanks to the economics of the publishing business, I'll still be toiling in relative poverty.

600 words a day sounds manageable -- Bird by Bird, as Anne Lamott would say, bird by bird, baby.  What keeps me awake at night is the days I know I will miss, or write horrible, awful stuff that no one could ever print.  Or be mysteriously unable to get off the couch again.  And then I will get to a Saturday and be 3,600 or 7,200 words behind and the most attractive option, at that point, will be to slit my wrists.

It's at this point in the process that sheer panic sets in. WHAT THE #@$#! WAS I THINKING?  Why exactly did I think I could write a book about JANE AUSTEN -- only one of the most beloved writers EVER?  And more importantly, WHY DIDN'T YOU STOP ME?

(If you've ever thought about writing a book, please reconsider now.)

I am considering crawling under a rock to await my fate.  Maybe you will hear from me again.  Maybe you will not.

If I could afford the ticket to Oxford, you would find me mumbling and shuffling along the Folly Bridge at night.  That sounds like a lovely life, actually...

And the very good news...

In the midst of this month of travel and exhaustion, there's been a lot of activity on the publishing front.  More than one publisher is interested in the book.  Very interested.

I've never been in the position of saying to a publisher, Tell me again, why should I work with you?  And that is a nice place to be.

Like Elizabeth in P&P (after Darcy proposes), I know that I'm happy more than feeling that I am.  I'm sure when I recover enough I will feel the weight of this very good news.  But it seems -- there's no signed contract, so I don't want to jinx anything -- it seems that this book will actually come to be.  With a publisher who's darn enthusiastic about it.  Which is very, very cool.

On plumbers and book proposals

I've been woefully absent here lately, and missing the writing and blogging very much.

I woke up this morning for the first time in three weeks without a deadline hanging over my head. It was the best feeling in the world -- this little gap to squeeze in some of the things I love. I'm incredibly thankful for the work, so I'm not complaining. As a freelancer, it's a gift to be busy.

I'm finding that I need a lot of quiet in order to write -- or, in order to write books. Articles aren't really a problem. But, for this project, I have to be able to get into a soul-quiet space somehow, with permission to ramble and explore.  Which is impossible when the heater is broken and your roommate discovers a leak in her bathroom and the person you need to interview for a piece just refuses to return your calls and your deadline is tomorrow.

And then there's the fatigue thing.  On days I've not been able to work, I've been on the couch worrying about the deadlines I'm pushing back.  On the days I get back at it, I work late and struggle to catch up and often find myself working weekends because I just can't get everything done any other way.  I feel like I'm running constantly -- in slow motion, everyone still moving so much faster than I am.

I got feedback from my agent on the book proposal. It's nearly ready to go, just a few small tweaks and she will be Fed-exing it to acquisition editors. I've been dying to work on it.  So, that's my lofty goal for this afternoon.  Right after I meet the plumber.  And set up interviews for another article.

Here's to more energy and more quiet, both of which I hope are right around the corner.