Welcome to Book Preview Month

Or maybe it should be called Abbreviated Book Preview Month since it's already September 9th, and I'm hoping to have a draft complete by October 1. But "Book Preview Three Weeks" doesn't have quite the same ring to it.

And maybe "preview" isn't the correct word because I don't anticipate previewing anything.

Maybe "Book Promotion Three Weeks"?

Anyway, I'm taking the rest of the month off (hopefully) to finish compiling and editing a book I've been wanting to put together for a while. Cindy has set a bunch of deadlines to motivate me over the last year-and-a-half, and I was certain I'd meet every one, but never have. I think the first deadline was Mother's Day.

She sets the deadlines because whenever I've taken time-off to work on this, she'll ask how my day went, and I'll say it was fairly unproductive because there's not much to do -- it's not like I'm writing the entire thing from scratch. But this Labor Day weekend when Cindy asked whether it was possible to have a readable draft finished by October 1, I said yes (which I always do), and I meant it (which I always do), and now a week later I plan on sticking with it (which I've never done.)

So to commemorate that, I plan on blogging every day this month to prepare you for the book -- which if you're reading this blog, you might like. (If a reader of this blog doesn't like at least part of the book, the book is in trouble.)

So here goes, one post a day, and I'll try my best to keep it short:

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This extended ad for Stumptown Coffee Roasters might be considered coffee porn. It's over the top. At the very least watch until about :45 (and pause it at :45 and look at that shot.) (7:50-8:10 might be my favorite line.)

I've been drinking coffee lately (a cup a day, usually in the afternoon) but can't quite pinpoint its effect. When I drink alcohol, I can tell when I first get a buzz; and when I smoke I can tell when I get stoned; but with coffee I'm not so sure.

Bowtruss is probably my favorite place to get coffee. It's kind of pricey ($3.25 for a 12 oz, and lately I've been tossing in the $.75 as a tip.) Today I saw a guy get a $4 drink and leave a $2 tip. I'm still perplexed about how to tip for take-out orders.

I considered asking Bowtruss to sponsor me: if they give me a free cup of coffee every day, I'd create a "brought to you by..." section at the end of my book and mention that they were my favorite coffee shop and gave me free coffee as I worked on the book. I ran it by a couple of people there one day and they thought it was funny and gave me the manager's card, but I haven't followed up.

I've never tried writing there because I think I'd be too distracted. A baristo who's also a writer told me he loves writing in coffee shops because their energy motivates him. The back of Intelligentsia's coffee shop is pretty much set up like a classroom full of people working on laptops. I respect their ability to focus in such an environment, but don't think I can do it. I struggle to focus alone in my kitchen.

I suppose that's a benefit to starting Book Preview Month: it'll force me to focus and try to have a readable draft ready by October 1st and reward my long-suffering readers.

Is it safe to call my readers long-suffering? I feel like 80% of this blog is a reminder that my blog and I are still alive.