twenty-seven years and one million words
I have completed the first draft of my novel. It's been really quite a lot of fun. Now the serious work begins.
I cannot describe the feeling of accomplishment with this. And I enjoy the story!
In the wake of 9/11, we [in America] have made the decision as a society that we can never again create something in which we can take pride, for fear that someone will destroy it. Moreover, we must suppress any trace of individualism, lest someone have the desire to rise above the bland sameness that protects us. I have, alas, no idea how to recapture our courage.
—Anonymous post to boingboing.net, 2009