* ‘Do we get to know what the novel is about?’ — Pete
* ‘You are a fast worker on that novel. What’s it about, pray tell?’ — Sharon
* ‘Wow, 88% done. It won’t be long before we can search Amazon and pre-order. Any sneak clues as to what’s the book about/title yet Nik?’ — Kev

Lots of similar questions about the book have started to arrive since I added the gauge that measures my writing efforts to the top of the site, so I’ll answer a few at once. These three are very similar.

So, as to what it’s about. Well, not wanting to sound too mysterious I don’t really want to give away the plot before I’ve pitched it to a publisher, but it kicks off in China, and takes in Korea, middle America and a big chunk of Europe before the end.

I don’t know what it’s called yet. I’ve been planning it for five years. Procrastination is a wonderful thing. In the early days, though, I had some great ideas on titles. As the story has grown, though, none of them seem to fit. Perhaps I’ll just name it after the main character, kind of like they did with Huckleberry Finn of Jane Eyre. Suggested titles, bearing in mind the places mentioned above, would be gratefully received.

Finally, Kev’s comments about my progress. Sadly it’s not quite as good as it looks. The 88% is actually only 80% as the gauge uses a strange font I can’t change where the 0 has a slash through the centre, which makes it look like an 8. Also, that 80% is only 80% of this month’s target of 50,000 words, not 80% of the whole book. The precise word count stands at 40,200. I think it’s probably impossible to have a gauge that counts up to the completed book as to define a novel purely by its length would either cut out big chunks, or stretch it so the plot is way too thin, depending on how much work you put into it.

And ordering my stuff on Amazon… well, technically you already can as a book I wrote is already listed on there, but there is a long and twisted story behind why I never got paid for it and why, in spite of the fact that I wrote every single word and produced every picture in it, my name doesn’t appear on Amazon’s database. If you want to know what it is, ask.

In the meantime, buy a copy of In Cold Blood, the best piece of extended journalism ever published.

1. Why 50,000?
   So I have 11 days to go if I'm going to make it to my self-imposed quota of 50,000 words within 4 weeks. I'm feeling...
   
   
2. Hitting the target
   Woohoo! I passed the 50,000 word mark on my novel with almost a week to spare, which means I've written the equivalent of a 175-page...
   
   
3. Microwave pressed flowers
   And I thought it was only for cooking... It's a real book; it's on Amazon....