Hi, Boomers:
I hope you are all having a relaxing weekend.
Dots sie asked some questions. My answers are in caps--hope that works for you.

How long did it take you to write your book? THIS IS THE PLACE TOOK THREE YEARS. I THOUGHT I KNEW WHAT WRITING A NOVEL WOULD BE LIKE, AFTER ALL, I HAD BEEN A JOURNALIST AND AN ENGLISH LIT MAJOR, RIGHT? WRONG. I HAD TO BACK TRACK, LEARN STRUCTURE, SOME SPECIAL DIALOGUE TRICKS AND A WHOLE LOT MORE. NOVELS NOW ARE DIFFERENT THAN THE CLASSICS. I PUNCHED FRUGAL OUT IN ABOUT 6 MONTHS. I UTILIZED LOTS OF ARTICLES I HAD WRITTEN ON PROMOTION FOR A TRADE MAGAZINE I WRITE FOR AND HAD MOST OF THAT INFORMATION IN MY HEAD FROM PROMOTING MY FIRST TWO BOOKS. SO IT WAS WRITING AND EDITING, MOSTLY. NOT RESEARCH.

How many hours do you spend writing, promoting, and networking a week? MORE THAN ANY OF YOU WANT TO HEAR. THAT DOESN'T MEAN YOU NEED TO DO THAT. I WROTE FRUGAL SO THAT YOU COULD PICK AND CHOOSE AND BENEFIT FROM MY EXPERIENCE IF IT SEEMED THAT MY OPINIONS WOULD FIT YOUR PERSONALITY, TOO. (JAW,JAW, THOSE BOOK SIGNINGS! THEY'RE A PROMOTION THAT I ONLY LIKE UNDER VERY STRINGENT CONDITIONS!) REMEMBER, LADIES, WRITING (AND PROMOTING) IS NOW MY FIRST JOB--I DON'T HAVE TO JAM IT INTO A DAY JOB SCHEDULE ANY MORE.

I know you must be working on something now. Mind telling us? OHHH, I'VE GOT A BOOK OF POETRY SORT OF GOING AND A NEW NOVEL CALLED LABYRINTH THAT I HAVE WRITTEN 8 CHAPTERS OF AND THEN, WHEN I SAY I GAVE UP FICTION FOR FRUGAL, I MEAN IT. IT'S BEEN MORE THAN A YEAR SINCE I TOUCHED IT. BUT I WILL GET BACK TO IT. THE GREEK MYTH OF KING MINOS OF CRETE UNDERLIES THE PLOT. I'M VERY EXCITED ABOUT IT BUT I HAVE TO TAKE CARE OF FRUGAL'S FUTURE FIRST.

BY THE WAY, I APPRECIATE ALL THAT MANY OF YOU HAVE DONE TO SPREAD THE WORD ABOUT FRUGAL.