I don't think you're being a jackass. I'd give advice only I don't have any idea.

Nope, you're not being a jackass. I think it's a fine idea. You might read back through this thread if you've got the patience for it, and skim for some of the fine advice deb's been giving Susan who's got a couple of books in process herself, and for a sense of how the process works. Like Nova, I don't have any personal or direct advice to give myself, but this is definitely the right place for it. This thread does move a little slower than the norm, though. I find it invaluable.

And the one piece of advice I do have is to start. You can sort the other stuff out on the way, but take advantage of your confidence and enthusiasm, and get the ball rolling now.

Allyson, you aren't being a jackass -- the people who have been published are probably just not around right now. Rest assured, they'll offer plenty of info.

Whew! I have many worries about my abilities, but I'm culling old essays, writing new ones, and trying hard to not think about rejection, too much. I'm feeling as though I'm being awfully presumptuous that I can just do a thing and get it published. But I'm just going to presume that it's not that hard until it proves otherwise.

Determined to not be heartbroken.

I'm not one of the published ones (yet), but Allyson, you'd probably do well to develop a book proposal, since it's non-fic.

I know it's mostly a marketing tool, but it seems to me that it can also help organize your thoughts about how to proceed.

This link: [link] gives some pointers.

FTR, I'd buy such a book.

Allyson--I don't know much about book-length nonfiction writing, except that the process is a bit different than for fiction. But I think you should go for it. As I keep telling myself, the only way to guarantee you'll never see a book in print is to not try.

Allyson, email me. I'm here for backup, for agent advice, for editing and for anything else. sf_deb@yahoo.com gets me.

I was out taking Bev and Ginger to the airport. My house is untenanted.

For this week's "escape" challenge:

This Flight Tonight (for the escape challenge)

I've done my time here.

It hasn't been bad, despite my wanting to romanticise the negatives. I did school here, and theatre here. I ate freshly-made cannoli, and watched giant terrifying floats bobbing ominously over Fifth Avenue during the Macy's parade. I saw Paul Simon here, the Beatles at Shea, Bob Dylan before he was Dylan.

But everything I want is in California, the Bay Area, blue and green. The man I want is there. The music I love is there.

I leave my tenseness, my anger, my need to compete, on the tarmac at LaGuardia Airport, and fly away.

Ooh. That's good, deb. I can feel that.

I'm mulling over this drabble. The ironic bit is I'm actually in the midst of writing an escape scene, but I'm still trying to think of a way to distill its essence into 100 words.