May 2004

April was a fairly busy month, as might be expected. In addition to doing the DVD commentary for The Notebook (due in theaters June 25th), I also went on tour to promote Three Weeks with my Brother. Because my brother traveled with me, the tour was a little different than in the past. Not only was it great to spend "another three weeks with my brother" (sorry for the pun, I just couldn't help it), but it made the signings proceed much more quickly. As you can tell from the calendar, we hit about 18 bookstores in a 17 day period; the largest signing was in New Bern (2,200 books) and the smallest was in Wayzata, Minnesota (240). In most places, we were able to give a speech and answer questions, but if you didn't have the chance to see us, you can always go to the FAQ section of the website. I posted those questions (and answers), because those are the ones that readers almost always ask.

After the tour, there was a bit more travelling, simply to cover those shows that we couldn't get to. I gave a speech for the Friends of the Library in Plano, and also appeared on EWTN (Eternal Word Television Network), which is out of Birmingham.

Oy, I'm glad to be home.

I spent the first couple of weeks in May catching up in the office (and doing the rest of the publicity), and sat down to begin writing again on May 7th. I spent the first week and a half editing the forty pages I'd already written for my new novel, True Believer. It should be out sometime next spring; I don't have the date yet, but when I do, I'll post the information. I'm excited about the story; like most of my other work, it's a love story set in North Carolina, and now that the editing is completed, I've begun to write new material. For those who don't know my writing schedule, I usually try to write 2,000 words a day, and I do my best to pull that off 5 days a week. While most of my novels range from 70,000 words to 90,000 words, I find that I usually have to write about 120,000 words to get there. Doing the math, that means that most books take around 12 weeks for the first draft. Since I already have 20,000 words, it means that in about ten weeks, I'll be able to put this one to bed.

Yeah, right.

After that comes the editing, and usually, the edits take around two months from start to finish. Most of that time, however, is simply spent waiting. In those two months, I noodle with the manuscript while my agent reads it. Incorporating her suggestions usually takes about a week, and then it's off to my editor. Again, she takes a couple of weeks, and her edits usually take two to three weeks. I'm fairly fortunate in that most of my manuscripts (with the exception of The Guardian and A Bend in the Road) are fairly close on the first draft. The due date for the novel is September, and I'm hopeful that I can meet the deadline.

From there, I begin another novel; the sequel to A Walk to Remember. But no, I can't tell you about the story, just as I can't say anything about the novel I'm working on. I make it a point to keep that information private, until the book is finished.

But back to the really exciting news: As I mentioned, The Notebook will be coming out on June 25th. It's a very close adaptation to the novel and I'm pleased with it. Honestly, I think it's one of the most passionate films about young -- and everlasting -- love that I've ever seen. I know there are some people who never like films adapted from novels, and this makes sense, at least on surface. It's impossible for a film to match someone's imagination. But I think The Notebook does a pretty good job.

What else is on the agenda? Well, The Guardian is now out in mass-market paperback and The Wedding is due in trade paperback sometime this month. The movie-tie-in paperback of The Notebook is coming out in June.

And finally, in last month's USA today, there was a list of the top 100 selling books in the past decade. A quick perusal of the list showed that only four novelists (J.K. Rowling, John Grisham, Tom Clancy and myself) had three or more books on the list. Many of the most famous writers you can think of had no novels listed at all, so I'd like to thank you all very much for all that you've done for me.

Until next month. . .

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