At first I bristled when an agent said, “I think this novel is actually a Chick Lit/Cozy Crime mashup.” Then my first beta reader (also known as my husband) said, “This is supposed to appeal to women, right?” Ok, Chick Lit.

I do not wish I’d written the Harry Potter series. I do, however, wish I’d written Outlander. Then I would know what happens in book 9.

A day of giving thanks with friends and family. Also known as “The day Carol will not be writing.”

About an hour ago in my writing spot the emergency lights started flashing. Once a minute a robotic voice announced that everyone should leave the building. Not a single person got up. Hardly anyone even looked up, though this went on for ten minutes. We were writing. We were drinking soy mochas. We were standing our ground.*

Now two guys at the table next to me are having a loud conference with a disembodied voice on speakerphone. They are discussing addiction clinics. If they don’t leave soon I will need drugs.**

*Please note the restraint I exhibited in avoiding an obvious pun.

**Thank God for headphones and Chuck Mangione.

Spent 30 minutes of valuable writing time trying to figure out how I could reasonably have three high school seniors in a standard junior year class. AND I DID IT. And nobody cares…*

*Except possible my fellow #amwriting friends.

It is a sobering thought that the little girl who played Bielke, or one of the five other Tevye girls in the first Equity show I did, is now a totally grownup woman. So I’m not going to think about it. Hi, Jane.

The agent who requested my full manuscript asked if I thought there was potential for a sequel. So I’m writing one. Even though she hasn’t said ‘yes’ to the first one, yet.