Surprise! I'm Writing A Book!

I wanted to wait until paper was signed before I made any noise about it, but I'm writing a book! It's going to be about why Americans vote against their own best interests.

How did this come about? In a very strange but interesting way.

I started blogging almost 2 years ago (blog-i-versary coming up!) just to save my own sanity and connect with others who felt the way I did, so I wouldn't feel so alone and crazy. Along the way I've made many fine friends and learned more about my country, my government, and the world than I ever imagined I would know. It also propelled me into action outside the blogosphere, as I realized that it was necessary to do more than write and talk.

Occasionally, I'd send something I had written to Mike Malloy, who would read it on his show. Not too long before his Air America show was cancelled, he read one of my articles on the air. He mentioned the Hooterville address, and I got some very nice e-mails.

One of those e-mails came from someone at a publishing company who asked if I would be interested in discussing writing a book about why Americans vote against their own best interests. At first I thought it was a hoax or a vanity-press thing ('for only $2500, you can be a published author!') but upon using the Google, I found out that the company was a real publisher. The person who contacted me said that they had been looking for someone to write this kind of book, and my writing apparently fit the bill.

So we talked about it, and they asked me to submit a book proposal. I went out and bought a book on how to write a book proposal, put one together and sent it to them. They liked it and sent me a contract, and here I am - an author-in-progress!

I'm really, really excited about this, as you all know how I feel about this subject. I'm hoping to be able to explain this in a way that regular people (non-bloggers or non-political junkies) will understand. But what blows me away about this is that it came about strictly from blogging. It didn't happen because I 'knew' anyone or had any literary contacts whatsoever. In fact, before I became a blogger, I never wrote at all. But I figure, if literary professionals think I can write a book, who am I to doubt them? They know more about it than I do!

It is a testament to the egalitarian nature of the Internet that I'm writing this book - that simply putting one's work out there - casting your bread upon the waters - can result in it finding a home and an audience. So I have to include all of you in this - all of you who have come here to comment and allowed me to get to know you; all of you whose own writing and passion for making our country better have inspired me; all of you who have shared your own selves on your blogs, and have become personal friends as well as blog friends.

I may not be posting as much while I'm working on this book, but I will be here and checking in regularly, so I hope you all won't forget about me. It would be so great to write something that may make a difference, open someone's eyes, or at least make them think. And I will be striking back at these venomous blowhards who have been dominating the media. I'll show them some 'liberal media', by God!