One enormous pile of research notes and failed drafts…

Plus scads of notes to self, scribbled while out on walks, in the middle of the night, and sometimes even at my desk…

Plus innumerable exchanges with a brilliant editor who refused to accept anything murky, hackeneyed, or too hot-messy… 

Equals…

A book! I just finished copyediting the manuscript. There’s a cover sketch. Amnesia has already set in. That wasn’t so bad! I think I’ll do it again!