Another manuscript update

It's the end of May. In Virginia, that means the weather is chancy but mostly beautiful, the trees are flush with leaves and bird nests, and my university is quiet except for the occasional summer course or admissions tour. 

This is a refreshing time of year, when I turn my attention near full-time towards the book manuscript. A heavy teaching load means little progress can be made during the spring and fall semesters, unfortunately. But summer is different. I often work in my office.

My regular work office

 

I'm typically the only person in the building -- an ideal set-up for concentrated work, especially when the alternative is home with the family and pets. If I find I don't have any other pressing engagement later that day, I've taken to riding my Ebike to work. The trip from home to office is about 15 minutes. It's a bit risky, but fun. The key is to head home before the commuter traffic picks up.

I haven't yet named this bike. Which is odd, since I typically give names to everything else. Suggestions?

Transportation, yet-to-be-named

My goal now is to have a draft book proposal and polished versions of the first three chapters in my agent's hands by the end of June at the latest. I may well get it done sooner.  (I have at least two other chapters drafted, but they require more research and structural work). Then, I'll await my agent's approval, working in the meantime on the less polished chapters. Hopefully, what I hand over to her next month will be good enough for submission to a publisher with minimal edits.

I did pen a book proposal when I started my search for a literary agent last summer, so I'm not starting de novo. But, I really am. The project has sort of an independent, almost sentient life. What I thought it would become last summer isn't completely what I see it becoming now. But now, as then, I find one of the hardest things to do is to write (honestly) about future, yet-to-be-drafted chapters. A non-fiction book proposal requires short descriptions of upcoming chapters that may exist -- if at all -- only in the mind of the author.  

This is tricky for me. I certainly have ideas of what to write about, but my normal way of writing is to follow my interests and where the material takes me. It's an organic and not terribly linear process. I can't say for sure just what the latter chapters will be about. I only know they will be on topics and themes I find compelling. A bit of a moving target.

But I do know one thing: I am persistent. In my life I have learned to speak and read Arabic, acquired a black belt in Tae Kwon Do, completed a PhD, trained for and run a marathon, and more things that take time and commitment. What I lack in raw talent I compensate for with staying power. So, I'm optimistic.

So, onwards.  

Here's a beautiful, "weeping eye" Indigenous mask unearthed on Potomac Creek. Today, I believe it resides in the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC. Read about it here.