This morning I began my day at 1:42. I was eager to work through edits on chapter 12 of Earning Freedom, the final chapter of the manuscript. I finished the edit in time to send the chapter out in this morning’s mail.
Carole ought to receive the chapter on Tuesday and I’m hoping that she will update the chapter by Friday, the 16th. I’ve received the first six revised chapters in the mail, and this weekend I’ll begin reading through the manuscript a final time before I send it to Jim, my literary agent.
I’m thrilled to reach this stage of the process. As a prisoner, I’ve learned to create excitement in my life through projects I work on over sustained periods of time. In retrospect, I’ve been living this manuscript through 22 years of prison. But it was in early spring of this year that I began to outline how I would write the story. After a first effort that I discarded, I settled on a first-person narrative that would show my prison journey as I experienced it, in a present-tense voice from my arrest through the events going on in my life today.
My agent will review the manuscript, and if it passes his review he will submit the manuscript to St. Martin’s Press for first consideration. That will begin a period of anxiety for me as I wait to learn about the publisher’s reaction. I hope to hear about a decision before the end of this year. If I receive a publishing agreement, the book ought to reach bookstores by the end of 2010.
I’m glad to have this publishing project alive as it helps me through these last years that I’m scheduled to serve. By the end of 2010, I’ll be much closer to liberty and I’ll have these two meaningful projects to work through until then.
This morning I ran three miles, boosting my running tally to 2,672 miles over the past 301 days. I followed my run with 200 pushups. Then I enjoyed a magnificent visit with Carole.
Friday, 9 October 2009
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