April 29, 2005
Of course, yesterday I started my blog with a comment that nothing exciting was going on. By the end of the day, however, I had received an e-mail from my agent saying that Midnight Ink had made an offer of a two-book contract for The Devil's Pitchfork and Serpent's Kiss. We're still negotiating--or rather, my agent and Midnight Ink are negotiating. I'm standing on the sidelines waiting for something to sign and something to cash, but that's the writer's life in these sorts of deals. I promptly called Irene to talk to her and assure her I was following her lead, whatever that was, and to get a sense of how she actually feels about the offer and the contract. So far so good.

I got the Journal stuff out this morning, wrote a book review, had lunch, walked the dog, cranked out a draft of a chapter on the next novel, and now I'm blogging before I start dealing with this Medicare article that's hanging over my head. Pretty decent amount being done for a Friday and I feel like I should just pat myself on the back over that--pat, pat, pat.

The chapter I worked on today had a lot of backstory, but I set it up as a White House intelligence briefing between the President, the National Intelligence Director, the President's Chief of Staff, and the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. I can't decide if it's too much talking heads, but it's pretty important information and I set it up so there's some intrigue involved and hints that the entire subject of this particular terrorist threat has higher-ups worried for a variety of different reasons. It may take some work to get it just right, but I think I'm on the right track.

Which reminds me, I read an interview with John Sandford as part of his press package and he commented that he thought the three elements of a thriller were stress, speed and character. He also commented about how obsessive he is about making sure every word is perfect--whether he succeeds or not--so as not to throw the reader out of the dream that is reading the book. I think a problem in the thriller is balancing the need for speed with characterization. Stress, well, that's another word for conflict, and the longer I write the more important I think it is. Stick your character in the grinder and make it tough for 'em. Have no sympathy for your main character! Make his or her life hell! That's your job!

All right. Back to work.
Best,
Mark Terry