Last week I handed in the final section of my book manuscript to my publisher. I think I originally anticipated completing it in June or July. So yeah, it took me a little longer than anticipated.
The title, I've recently learned, is going to be
Electrified Sheep. This refers to a series of experiments in which sheep were placed in lightning simulators. I didn't actually come up with this title. I suggested a whole bunch of other titles including
The Indestructible Atomic Pig and
Psychoneurotic Atomic Goats, but the publisher decided to go with the sheep. The lesson is that authors don't get to choose the titles of their books! But the sheep title has been growing on me. I like the fact that it evokes Philip K. Dick's
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep.
Anyway, I took a few days to decompress, and now I'm ready to turn my attention back to the Museum of Hoaxes. I'm not sure if there are any people still reading the site, except for the forum regulars... but that gives me the opportunity to make a fresh start and change things around a bit.
First of all, the comments pages need to be completely revamped, because the comment spam has run out of control. I'm thinking of making it so that all non-member comments have to be approved by a moderator, and all new members also have to be approved by a moderator. This will mean that far fewer comments get posted, but to me that's an acceptable trade-off.
And before I do that, I need to upgrade the entire site software, which will take a couple of days.
I also want to change around the front page of the site to highlight the fact that the site isn't just a blog, but is more like a blog sitting on top of a hoax encyclopedia. I want to put a "featured hoax of the day" on the front page, much like wikipedia has a featured article of the day.
So that's my plan.
I'd also like to say hello to everyone whom I haven't communicated with in almost a year. I'm finally back from secluding myself in the archives! I don't know why I write such research-intensive books. I guess I just like torturing myself. If I were smart I'd write my next book on a topic that doesn't require any research at all... maybe a novel about teenage vampires. I've heard those kind of books sell well -- a lot better than non-fiction books about sheep in lightning simulators, that's for sure!
Comments
Any chance you will be returning to Weird Universe after you get caught up on Museum of Hoaxes?
I'm not liking the sound of all this extra work, though...although I'm sure that it will be better in the long run! 😉
I kid because I love.
And thanks for dealing with the spam, that was hugely annoying.
J. Jacob -- Well, I haven't actually dealt with it yet. I just have plans to deal with it.
I missed the Museum of Hoaxes.
Congratulations on putting the book to bed. I would have preferred "The Indestructible Atomic Pig," but I'm looking forward to reading "Electrified Sheep," anyway.
Maybe the publisher thinks that title goes better with "Elephants on Acid"?
There's an episode of the old sitcom Dharma and Greg where Greg is confronted by UFO believers/conspiracy types, and does his best to debunk the conspiracy - in the process discovering that there -is- a conspiracy - a conspiracy to make people believe in UFOs....
Maybe that latter would be a good subject for you novel?
😊
Congratulations on the new book. I like the title, but I liked yours better (Atomic Pig).
Welcome back!
Can't wait to read the new book!
I missed the Museum of Hoaxes.
Congratulations on putting the book to bed. I would have preferred "The Indestructible Atomic Pig," but I'm looking forward to reading "Electrified Sheep," anyway.