Hmm, what to talk about?

We're in kind of a lull right now with my book stuff. It's gone to press, they're mapping out my release tour, not a whole lot going on. There might be some cool news regarding Borders bookstores, but not yet.

Meanwhile, I'm still working hard on Book 2. Right now it stands at 41,163 words, and I'm truly loving every minute of writing it. It'll probably end up around 100,000 words, so I'm purtin near close to being halfway done with the first draft. And the second half of a book is even MORE fun to write than the first half. In my humble opinion.

This book is weird. Of course, all my books are weird, but this one is really weird. I like it because it's so different from Book 1, and yet it has some of the same elements. For example, there are riddles, but in a different context. All of the same characters return, but we learn a lot more about them, especially Sato. Most of you don't know who Sato is, duh. But I hope by the end of Book 1 you'll wonder what in the heck is up with that guy.

We also have new characters, of course. The dude named Sally is my favorite one.

Hmm, what else to talk about? Annie Baily asked in the comments on my "Q&A: Writing Process" post about my word counts and how much they change from draft to draft. Boy, every author is really different on this one. Our recently exalted friend, Brandon Sanderson, says he goes back and basically cuts out ten percent of the manuscript because he's too wordy.

Not me. I rush things when I write the first draft. I need to be more wordy. Alway, always, in every case, the word count of my second draft is more than the first. Always. For example, Book 1. Thinking back, I'm pretty sure the 1st draft was actually a little less than 90,000 words. I might have lied a little in my initial story on that one, without meaning to. The final draft was 95,000 words, not the first one. Anyway, there you have it.

Hmm, what else? Christmas is coming - did you hear about that? You're supposed to get presents and stuff. It's kinda cool.

Umm, oh, Authorpalooza! That went really great last week. I met some great people, saw old friends, had a blast. One kid came in, his name was Josh. This guy is a stud of studs. He said he was a fan way back during the ORIGINAL Jimmy Fincher cover days. This just about brought tears to my eyes.

His cool parents bought some books, and I just had to give Josh an ARC for the new one. Pretty sure I'll never forget the look on his face when I gave him that. What a great, great kid. I hope he reads this post.

Afterward, I had dinner with some awesome people: Shannon Hale, Nathan Hale, Jessica Day George, Rick Walton and his wife, Randall Wright, Kim Justesen, and the greatest person in the world - Angie Wager from Barnes and Noble. I love this woman. She is just as responsible for my career as any other person on the planet. Shannon had a friend there, and dang it all if I didn't forget her name. Sorry, if you're reading this, truly I am.

One last thing. I went and saw Brandon Mull do a school event yesterday to learn a thing or two. Now I know one reason why he is so successful. It was really good, and the kids loved him.

Well, that's about enough for one day. I hope all people of all faiths are enjoying this awesome time of year. Peace on Earth. good will to men.