First Draft Done!

So, the second book is now well underway. I finished the sample chapter tonight at 10.30 p.m., or should I say, the first draft. I'm still playing around with the argument, possibly wanting to add more material on Valley of the Dolls (really, how could I not given its utter fabulousness?) and I still have to cut it back. At somewhere around 80 pages, it is too long--50-60 pages would be better, but I think the topic of this chapter could easily be a book--and maybe it will one day. That topic is the female group film--and there are many wonderful examples--and equally many terrible incarnations (like Bratz--part of Ben's and my Saturday night viewing--it is as bad as you think).

But for now I have to leave it alone and return to my actual proposal. Again, it's way too long at 25 pages, and it also needs some work. But I'm getting there. I have a couple of interested university presses--so I'm hoping that I can get everything emailed off in the next two weeks. A few days away from the chapter will only help--as I work on the proposal itself, I"ll get the necessary distance to edit the chapter with a clear head.

Unfortunately, I don't think I can finish any of the three articles I was finishing off over the summer but hopefully that's what September and October are for. Even with teaching, I am determined to have these finished by Christmas--especially as one will effectively be the sample chapter for the third book, which I hope to have in by the semester's end.