My husband - the author

Something kind of odd has been going on at my house lately.

Nope, it's not more kitchen remodeling.. oh wait, that's not true, there actually is, but that's not what I was thinking of. It's not a mysterious odor, a 2 headed goat or a flying nun or anything (but that'd be kinda cool). Nope... this guy is up to something:

Heck, no, he's not reading.

He's *writing*.

An actual book folks.

Gene is a creative person. He's written several songs, some of which I really think need to be recorded by Toby Keith or something. *good songs*. He's also written some poetry years ago. He's made things with his hands (which I keep asking him to make me something but NADA) and he's written a few short stories.

Uhh.. ever hear that story, "the Diaper Pin of Revenge"? It was kinda big on ebay a few years ago. Yeah... Gene wrote that story... and sold that diaper pin too. In case you're wondering, yes, the girl got all the money for her car.

About 6 weeks ago, Gene asked me one day to set him up in Microsoft Word, so he could write something down. He'd had an idea for a story, and wanted to get it on paper. I thought it was going to be a short story again, but he said no, it was going to be a full novel. This kind of surpised me, and at the same time, I thought this is something that would pass and he'd soon forget about it and move on to another interest.

That didn't happen though. To be fair, he started with one story, worked on it for a couple weeks, and then decided to start on a second one at the same time. The first story, is a scifi novel about people that are forced to move underground, and what their life is like after 800 years of living subterranean. It actually sounds very interesting, despite the fact that I am not a scifi fan.

He started the second book about 2 weeks in, with the intentions of working on both at the same time, but that did not happen. He's gotten so involved in the writing, that he's focused everything on the one book... and he's not stopped. He writes like it's his J.O.B. Every day, he comes home from work, sits down and immediately starts writing until dinner, we eat, watch TV for a very short time, then he gets back up and writes until bedtime.

Every.
Single.
Day.

The day that we got snowed in, and could not leave our house, he wrote about 10 hours straight.

The second book is a story about the US owing more money to China that we would ever be able to repay. China, realizing they have the upper hand in this situation, decides to call in their notes. Guess what... we couldn't pay it. Rather than putting up a fight, our "leaders" basically sign over the country to China.

The story centers around a super max prison in Maryville, Missouri ;) John Dycheman is a guard on death row and a former football hero. The chinese have a plan ... to systematically kill off anyone on death row, and a few more... but John Dycheman has other plans.

I've read none of it because he wants me to wait until he's done. However, every day he tells me what the characters did that day. There's the warden, the guards, the prisoners, John's family, and even the guy that owns the chinese restaurant. Don't be shocked if you're related to us, and you see your name pop up in a book someday. LOL. And just so you know, when you think about John Dycheman, you need to visualize Billy Bob Thorton... because that's what Gene does.

I even get a starring role as Lana, an investigator with the feds, and also a stone cold bitch. His words, not mine. LOL

He's currently at approximately 175 pages - considering a paper back size. I'm figuring he'll be finished around 225-250 pages. A respectable size for a book.

The longer he's stuck with it, the more I got to thinking that this is a great accomplishment for him. That even if he never becomes a world famous author, he's accomplished so much but just finishing a book. Do you know how many people out there talk big about writing a novel, but *never do it*? Yeah, even I have said I wanted to. He's actually DOING it! I've been so proud of him.

So I decided to take some initiative, and start doing some research for him, and found a publisher!

I told him that this is what I wanted to do for him for his 50th birthday coming up next year. So, as soon as he finishes the book, we'll start going through the editing process, which unfortunately starts with me. Yuck. I don't think I like that job. lol, but I want it to have the least amount of editing required before it heads out to the "real editors".

By his birthday, he should have his own ISBN number, the cover (which btw, I'll be shooting the cover wooot!), and even listed on Amazon and Barnes and Noble!!

I have a few other special surprises up my sleeve, but I'm going to save those until the day gets closer.

In the meantime, if you see my husband out installing glass, ask him how John Dycheman is doing. That should freak him out. LOL

And entertain me half to death.