Hailey's Novel Diary – 12/19/17

Chapter 10 is now chapter 9 and less graphic than before. It did not need to be graphic. In fact, it works better if everything is described clinically. It's supposed to be as arousing as a colonoscopy.

I have gotten in trouble with adult themes before. That is kind of ironic when you think about how uptight and vanilla I am in real life. I had to rewrite parts of Nudist Cruise because the publisher I was dealing with at the time thought it was an erotic novel, and that was a genre they did not cover. That one is kind of a long story, but the main issue was that, like a lot of people, they could not see the difference between nudists doing their thing and swingers at an orgy. There was never anything swinger or orgy about Nudist Cruise, but I had to tone down the minuscule hint of sexuality that was in there. Now, it is as innocent as a puppy. But it's still considered a “sensitive” topic because some of the people are nudists.

In this story, which is not about nudists or swingers, I'm describing anything that can be even remotely considered sexual in two different ways. It is either clinical and sterile or vulgar and flamboyant, depending on the situation. Ideally, readers will see the difference and understand why. If you find details of Harvey Weinstein's crimes arousing, you might not get it. If you find him and his actions appalling, you will.

Chapter 10, formerly chapter 11, is now much shorter. It kind of dragged on and on, so I cut it down from a long, poetic soliloquy to just stating the facts.

In some circles, there is a rule that you should not use adverbs. That is completely, utterly, absolutely, downright wrong. Adverbs are good. Verbs love adverbs. They can also modify adjectives and nouns. They are pretty versatile little guys.

But chapter 10 was too flowery. Sometimes you just have to get down to the heart of the matter. But my will gets weak and my thoughts seem to scatter. And sometimes Don Henley is in the news.

The Eagles will most likely never come back to Hong Kong, but I saw them in 2011, without Don Felder, and they were fantastic. I will never get to see them with both Frey and Felder, but they put on a great show.