The Women's Club

Ta Da! Felix is weak but recovered from his near-death experience. He was well enough this past week to contribute to a final polish of our crime novel, 'The Women's Club.'

The novel is done! The novel is done! lalalalalala The Novel is done!

'The Women's Club' will be published in fall 2010 by MaxCrime in the UK. Yes, our editor, Maxim Jakubowski has his own imprint. WOW!

This is the first time Felix and I have co-written a book and it was a terrific experience. Our biggest difference of opinion? He thinks a book shouldn't be set in a specific place. I absolutely believe that it should. Happily for me Maxim is of the same mind as me on this one, so 'The Women's Club' is set in Seattle, Washington, USA.

This will be the first time a novel I've written will be published under my real name. Funny how I'm okay with a major body count attributed to me, but not if the bodies are fucking, as opposed to dead.

I finished my run-through at 10 pm Sunday. Around here we don't celebrate the 'end of the project' with champagne or any other sort of party drug. We say 'well done' to each other and carry on.

But I was excited because I finished in time to call my youngest daughter, who lives in residence at University. She' in first year. We'd arranged to talk if I finished before eleven.

I didn't even get to see her over the holidays because of Felix's illness. In fact I saw her for one 24 hr period over my birthday in August. Before that? Can't even remember. So I was looking forward to finding out all about life as a first year student.

But she didn't want to talk about that. She wanted to talk about how I have failed as a writer and need to get a real job.

Ouch.

She really roasted me over the coals, my friends. The fact that I just finished my fourth novel means nothing, because the other three are smut. She tells me there are a ton of kids on campus studying english who plan to be writers.

She's worried about me because I don't have much money. So her solution is to bully me into getting a 'real' job. When she was done with that topic, she moved on to her parents' divorce. She wants to know what I think I did wrong to cause the end of the marriage. She doesn't need to pester her dad about this, apparently, just me.
I guess I'd had enough by then, as I replied, 'I should've gotten out sooner.' Whereupon she told me to fuck off, (not for the first time in this conversatoin) and hung up.




Oh Boo hoo major sobs.

It's Tuesday now. I'm still sad. She is a powerhouse, this girl, a brilliant redheaded tornado of a person. But she's had it out for me for awhile now.

I've resolved to love her, forgive her, and be here for her when she's ready to see me. But I'm not going to go get an office job so she can stop worrying about me.
She is so much her father's daughter. I thought when he and I divorced that I was done with verbal abuse and mental cruelty. Apparently not.

We give up lot to be writers. We give up a lot to be parents, too. I'm okay with that.

I'm okay.