I have this great friend B. who supports anything I do or say I might do or dream out loud in his general direction…you get the picture.  Not only is this friend a wonderful supporter, he is incredibly smart BUT he never pushes it on you, he’s just smart.  Not only is this wonderful friend smart, but he’s also very discerning and without debate he can present the big picture so that there seems to be a clearer purpose than all of my vague and general dreaming.

My great, wonderful and smart friend pointed out something about my plan to write in the parking lot that was worrying me, also (although I didn’t tell him).  I don’t want to seem like I’m taking away anything from the 12 people that actually made it into the finals.  As much as I’m disheartened about not getting in, I’m still a huge fan of the show, and I wouldn’t want to ruin it or spoil anything.  It never my purpose to be on television, I just want to write a book.

So hear is the new plan:  I’m going to ask my boss if I can write my 3-Day Novel at my own Chapters store I work at, during the open hours.  Since I live nearby, the travel loss won’t be significant.  I don’t know if I’ll be able to collect donations, but I made up these little index cards called “Write the World!  Send your love letters to Malawi.” that I thought people could write on and I’ll take them with me.

The thing is that the people I work with have been really positive about this whole process for two years running, and Chapters is really like a second home anyway, so why not write there?  Of course, there will have to be ground rules like ‘I’m not there to answer questions about how to open the safe’, or ‘chat with the staff’ but I think it can be a win-win for both sides.

And Juls, I’m sure they have space for one more!  (And I have a guestbed ).