30 Copies In A Day!

Wow, what a Christmas Present!  Summer Horse is flying...it's not really off the shelves, is it.  (Edit--It wound up making it to #8)  It's #700 in rank overall at BN which is amazing yet only #20 in its category.  I'm guessing that everyone is seeing the same kind of activity so the placing isn't changing.  I have no idea, don't listen to my explanations.  Here's another theory, maybe a better one.  Parents are buying readers for Christmas and pre-loading them with books for the kids.  The good thing about Summer Horse is that it really is age appropriate.  There's nothing "adult" or complicated emotionally about it.  There are no rivalries particularly, no difficult situations, no language, no sex (!) except that Wynne would like to see her mother get remarried.  No feminism, no gurrrlll power.  It's just about a summer full of adventures on horseback.

I thought I would be finished with the writing of Bad Apple 2 by now but I think I probably have another 30 or 40 pages to go.  It's less structured than Bad Apple 1, more episodic, more like a soap opera in that it's a continuing story.  While it does have an arc, it's not as well defined as in a stand-alone book.  The 3-act structure isn't there.

I must admit I find this somewhat troubling because it goes against the norm.  But what is the norm for digital books?  Are we going to reproduce what print books did or is there the potential for expanding our horizons.

One of the first computer games was solitaire.  First known as Patience, it was a card game first noted c. 1765.  So you have all the computing power to send a man to the moon and we're playing Free Cell.

It's something of a chance, I suppose.  If I wanted to do a sure thing, I would write about vampires and have a bang-up Act 3 with all kinds of fireworks.  But let's see how this works.  Let's see if there aren't other ways to tell story when you're not dealing with paper or bulk or storage or the fears of editors.  Let's see if compelling characters and situations like life, hold readers and make them want to find out what happens next.

Merry Christmas Eve.  This is my favorite Christmas carol, yes, a Jewish girl can have a favorite Christmas carol.  I first heard it in French so after much searching I found you a version that is stirring and induces chills..  (And not tarted up like some female singers insist on doing.  What's next the rap version?)



For those reading my blog at Amazon, here's the link  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBJObglpL9A&feature=related