How I Snowboard

My friend invited me upstate to his family's house in Port Ewen to go snowboarding. I don't snowboard. I just don't. But I really needed to get off Long Island and I figured mountains have lodges and lodges have fireplaces and I like those. So I took Little Women, my notebook and a pen and headed to upstate New York.

Wonderfully, I imagined an okay plot on the drive up to the house. I wrote for three hours at the lodge and churned out a little under 2,000 words. So far, its working title is The Story of Anabel and Paul because I don't know what's going to happen yet and how can you title something without knowing what's going to happen. I think I finished the first chapter. The last paragraph:

When her tea was finished she turned out the light and snuggled into bed, replacing Paul’s pillow. An hour or two later, she heard him come in and make his way around their dark bedroom. As he climbed into bed, she realized it was very nearly Christmas.

Chapter One is titled The House and is just an introduction to the characters and the house they live in. Chapter Two is going to be titled The Lot and is going to be a flashback to Paul buying the land on the mountain and clearing the lot to build he and Ana's house with her brother, Charlie.

So far, this is my rough outline:

Chapter One - The House
Chapter Two - The Lot
Chapter Three - Christmas Eve
Chapter Four - The Watch Shop (about the father's death)
Chapter Five - The Spring
Chapter Six - The Proposal

Top Ten of 2009

Since the woman in the upstairs apartment is blaring her TV and stomping around like it isn't 11 at night, I'm going to take the time to post my Top Ten of 2009. Though it's a tad premature, I'm confident it's complete, as I'm using these last weeks to finish up Lolita and possibly Raven. Sometime during the WEEK I HAVE OFF BETWEEN CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEARS (working in publishing is so great) I'll post a full list of the books I've read this year with their ratings.

This list only includes books I've read for the first time. So, Pride and Prejudice has a much higher rating than Mansfield Park and is on my reading list for the year, I've already read it about a thousand times and it doesn't count.

Drum roll. Please.

Top Ten of 2009!

10. American Psycho - Brett Easton Ellis
9. The Beach - Alex Garland
8. Mansfield Park - Jane Austen
7. V for Vendetta - Alan Moore, David Lloyd
6. Song of Ice and Fire - George R.R. Martin
5. The Likeness - Tana French
4. Wintergirls - Laurie Halse Andersen
3. Stitches - David Small
2. Watchmen - Alan Moore, Dave Gibbons
1. The Shining - Stephen King

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