Two drafts down

A second draft in the books, plus my weekly shareables: Rush, Doonesbury, and Thanksgiving gratitude

After a couple of stressful weeks, I sent off a revised version of the DOGLAND manuscript on Wednesday morning. I brought the stress on myself. I’ve pushed my deadlines to the brink on this one and I didn’t have as much time to turn around the second draft as I would like. There were a couple of … well, not all-nighters, because my brain can’t take that anymore, but late-nighters. It’s not the way I work best. But part of being a pro is getting the work done when you have to.

There’s still a lot of sculpting between now and the finished script. The editor will take a pass or two or three, the copyeditors will clean up all the details, and the lawyers will look it over to make sure no one’s going to sue me. (That’s standard for nonfiction books.) We’ve still got figure out the rest of the cover, the jacket copy, the layout and design—there are so many little details to consider, all the way down to whether the pages should have a smooth edge or a deckle edge. (I’m a smooth-edge guy.) The author’s name is on the cover but many, many people make it happen. I’ll walk you through the process as much as I can in the weeks to come.

I finished the last few bits of the manuscript at home but I wrote a lot of this book in various coffeeshops, and I have a question: Is it just me, or are all coffeeshops freezing inside? I’m not someone who gets cold, as a rule, but it seems like every time I work in a coffeeshop I end up shivering. Is this so we’ll buy more coffee? If so, it damn sure works.

I normally drink black coffee but the other day I felt like something different so I ordered the first chai tea of my life. It was really good! I have no idea what’s in it and I have decided not to look it up. Sometimes it’s better to enjoy the mystery.

10 things I wanted to share this week:

1. My weekly for WFAE was about the brilliance of Brooks’ Sandwich House, which is likely to be leaving the little corner where it has served the best burgers in America for 50 years.

2. A Thanksgiving gift for you and your loved ones: A gratitude zine that you can print and give out at the table! (Austin Kleon)

3. Blue Cross messed with the wrong guy: a Louisiana lawyer named Skeeter. (ProPublica)

4. Just a beautifully rendered story in illustrated form by Michael de Adder on a man who finally found a home. (Washington Post)

5. DOG NEWS: From now until DOGLAND comes out (April 2024!), I’m devoting this slot to dog stories. This week: Bobi, the oldest dog in the world has died. He was 31. (CNN)

6. I developed an allergic reaction to the band Rush in college—I had four roommates who were huge fans and played their records a LOT. I can’t say I have come to love them, but I have come to appreciate them, especially on the human level—three friends who made music together for a very long time. Lead singer Geddy Lee has a new memoir out called MY EFFIN’ LIFE, and Geoff Edgers wrote a lovely profile of him. (Washington Post)

7. Nick Cave’s advice to an aspiring but hesitant singer: “We are obligated to make our best attempts to become the thing we wish to be, otherwise we forever remain the sorry consorts of our own defeat.” (Red Hand Files)

8. If you don’t get a print newspaper these days, you might not know that Garry Trudeau is still drawing DOONESBURY every Sunday. The strip started way back in 1970, and if last Sunday’s installment is any indication, he can still throw a heater.

9. Oliver Burkeman on making sure your productivity tools don’t become productivity crutches. (The Imperfectionist)

10. Reading that profile of Geddy Lee got Rush stuck in my damn head and so I’m passing them along to you. My favorite song of theirs is the early track “Working Man,” but that doesn’t really represent their sound. The best cut from their prime is “Subdivisions.” Please do not tell my old roommate David that I enjoyed any of this.

    
    Have a great week, everybody.