I Wrote Another Book!

I am overjoyed to inform you that I've completed writing my 3rd book. What is it about, you may ask? Well, I'll excerpt the two sections from my book introduction that explain that:

"How this book came to be

I cannot remember how NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) entered my consciousness. I suppose the concept was always buzzing around in my brain until it took hold when I became aware of its existence in reality. What is NaNoWriMo? I shall quote directly from the website: “National Novel Writing Month is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to novel writing. Participants begin writing on November 1. The goal is to write a 50,000 word, (approximately 175 page) novel by 11:59:59, November 30.”
For months I walked around daydreaming about what I might possibly write about over this 30-day span. My first two books were non-fiction. I’ve written short stories before, but I’m poor with dense plotting. Anything I’ve ever written in that arena consists of few characters and perhaps a single twist, but no more. I did realize, however, that in my mind I was constantly creating dialogues amongst my many methods of daydreaming. I daydream a lot, as you might imagine.
Dialogue would be the novel, but what kind of dialogue? Who is talking with whom about what? Where are they? In what time? Why would anyone read this?
I recalled a book I head read in my youth called Vox, by Nicholson Baker (looking back, I realize I was a bit young for that book). It is a conversation between a man and a woman over a party line. The dialogue was free-flowing. I could recreate something like that, but what would my characters talk about? What would bring my characters together? Could I create believable dialogue for a woman?
I then recalled a film where two Jewish fellows rehash a decades-old grievance and converse for two hours on a park bench. I could not remember the name. I e-mailed my father, who had it in a nano-second: The Quarrel. He offered that he had actually written papers for college in the style of the conversation. Interesting!
I then ruminated on my enjoyment of business fable books, specifically the One Minute books by Ken Blanchard and Spencer Johnson and the books by Patrick Lencioni. The style resonated with me and informed me very well. The dialogues were an excellent way to relay the gobs of information both explicit and implied.
I then realized the answer was staring at me right in the face. Nearly every Shabbos morning, I pick up a friend on the way to synagogue, and invariably heavily discuss matters concerning God, religion, evolution, science, knowledge, ignorance, truth and faith. The regrettable problem is that these conversations are always interrupted and never allowed to complete or come full-circle, just as many public debates regarding similar themes are hampered by various constraints, most notably time itself.
My book would be our full imagined dialogue, unencumbered by physical limitation. I would give our opinions full voice and allow them to pour forth like a mighty stream. This would also allow me to more fully explore the concepts and educate myself further.
The pieces were now aligned on the chessboard. I now needed only to wait until midnight of the first of November to hit the clock.

And so, it began

At the stroke of midnight on November 1, 2011, I began to write. At the midnight toll of November 30, 2011 I did not make deadline, having fallen 7,850 words short. On December 14, 2011, I hit the 50,000 word mark. On December 17 – my grandfather’s 93rd birthday, may he continue to be well – the book was complete. Following rewrites and edits over a several-month period, this is what I wrote:"

There is much yet to be done. I need to do an initial rewrite, then a rewrite based on all the feedback I've gotten from friends, then a rewrite with proper footnotes, then I have to run it through some volunteer editors, then I have to go through the painstaking rejection process, then if that doesn't work, self-publish again. I do have a feeling that I might have something here that publishers might want. We shall see.

While I'm going through that process, I'm actively writing Bush II, Book II and Bad Behavior II: More Scalawags, Dirtbags, Bullyrags and Lollygags. Oh, and a few children's books and a book on running and my grandfather's memoirs and many other ideas while I try to crank out another issue of TheKnish.com and another iteration of my surname column.

As you can see, I hope to do this for a living one day. Because for now, if I may quote the words of the recently late Christopher Hitchens: "Being a writer's what I am rather than what I do."

While I'm sweating away at all this, please consider purchasing one or more of my first two books (50% off!): http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/mbodekatgmaildotcom
Kindle versions are available here: http://www.amazon.com/Martin-Bodek/e/B004GAVBZ8/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1324405444&sr=8-1

If you'd be so kind, I'll be sure to say I knew you when. :-)

Thank you, as ever, for your support, encouragement and business.

-Martin (Mordechi) Bodek

My blog: http://www.martinbodek.com
My site: http://www.theknish.com/
My column: http://www.jewishworldreview.com/1110/bodek2.php3
My finest: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/apr/06/mean-regs-and-scam/
My books: http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/mbodekatgmaildotcom