From another side of the world

Hi, I'm Mick Parker, one of the BOOK writers. I live in Spain on the Costa Blanca, near Torrevieja. Perhaps some of you may know the area. There are a lot of writers living here, and from time to time you get to know them one way or another. I usually write as Michael Parker, but for the purposes of 'hiding my light under a bushel', I prefer to be known as Mick by all the other writers who are contributing to this unique project; it makes it less formal, I think. We all have great hopes for our project, and although we know it will be tough, perhaps a little fraught at times, we all intend to see it through. At the moment I have just completed the first draft of the first chapter. This will be studied by the members of my 'cell', known as the 'Shipmates' and they can edit my narrative, pick holes in it or butter me up; whatever! But in the end we are all in it together and I am sure we will produce a novel that could be a world beater. Let us know what you think about this project and whether you would be tempted to buy the novel when it is published, as I'm sure it will be. As time goes by, and this blog gets added to, followers of the blog will learn more about the BOOK and the writers who live all over the world.

Now to the other side of the world!

Thanks to Irene for the following Press Release in the Bicol Mail, her local paper in the Philippines.

http://www.bicolmail.com/issue/2009/jan29/xlocal.html

A few days ago Mick featured in his local media in Spain with the story about our project.

It's great to know we are already getting media coverage around the world!

Pete

Williamson County Update

The Friday meeting with the Director of Williamson County Libraries was wonderful.  Dickerson discussed the months near the beginning of the project, including interactions between the authors, as well as the mechanics of the writing process.  The director showed much interest in the process, and requested a formal presentation, along with a Q & A panel discussion in the upcoming months.  Dates and times will be posted to the blog as they are set, so keep checking back.

Now a team of eighteen

This morning we bade farewell to one of our comrades Sommer, who decided to resign from the project due to other commitments that needed her time. It was sad to see her leave our ranks, her presence will be missed. Sommer wishes the team well and looks forward to reading 'The Book' in 2010.

As of this moment, there are people waiting in the wings to join the project. However, the authors are happy to move on with their team of eighteen since the writing process is well underway.

We'll be back with more soon. See you!

The Book Project takes to Williamson County

Members of the project have been contacted by the Williamson County Libraries, in Tennessee, in regards to their interest in the collaborative effort.  Kyle Dickerson, one author close to Williamson County, is meeting with the library director Friday to discuss the project and possibly set up times to speak with groups within the library system about the project and collaborative writing.  If you are in the area surrounding Williamson County, check back here for updates.

Doc forced to leave

One of the stalwarts of our project team and a site moderator, Doc, has been taken ill and forced to leave at least for a while. Doc has made a huge contribution to both the writing and the management of our project.

We are all hoping he gets better soon and is able to rejoin us, but it was serious and he will need to rest and recover his strength.

Pete

2009 and the writing gets underway!

Even during the seasonal break some of our writers were hard at it working away on the story. As the rest of the group returns, our focus is upon the initial chapters for each story thread.

Most of the 'high level' story has been agreed and we are now filling in the gaps as well as developing all the characters. This work should be completed by the end of January.

One of the problems we have encountered is that with so many creative people, there are lots of really good ideas! It makes it quite hard to decide which to incorporate into our story. Still nobody said it would be easy!

Come back soon!
Pete