Picking up the pieces

It's Day seven or so of post-Rain, and I still find myself depressed over it. I had gotten more used to the idea of being a published novelist with active books on the table than I had realized. Now I feel as if I'm starting from scratch, which I guess I am.

Still, I'm in better shape than many. My agent has agreed to begin resubmissions, despite having had nothing to do with my signing with Rain. So in the long run, I might well end up with a larger house, anyway. But in publishing parlance, "long run" means 12-36 months ... or more. Sigh.

I started Book One of my six-book series in September 2003 and finished Book Six (including revisions) in January 2008. All those months in between, I wrote virtually seven days a week. It became a very large part of how I defined myself. Since the Rain collapse, I find myself unable to write. So I guess that for a time, at least, I am redefining myself.

During the time period that I wrote the series, I was not working, except to play the role of house-husband with three young children. But as of April 14, I am rejoining the workforce as multimedia editor of the Greenville (S.C.) News. It's going to be an exciting but demanding job that will require a huge portion of my creative juices, if I'm to do it justice. Will I have any juices left to write another novel? I have a great idea for a very scary ghost story. So we'll see.

In the living vicariously department, my good friend Dave Scheiber's co-written book entitled Covert: My Years Infiltrating the Mob is doing extremely well. Bob Delaney, the undercover police officer turned NBA ref who is the subject of the book, hit a grand slam today on the Jim Rome show. You can hear this amazing interview here.

Covert is a big-time book that is close enough to best-seller status to taste. Maybe the appearance on Rome's show, which attracts more than 2-million listeners per week, will push Covert over the top. I certainly hope so.