CrimeFictionbook.com

I plan to chronicle the steps I take as the Writer's Digest thriller/crime fiction weapons guide moves forward. The latest is submitting an expanded TOC (table of contents) to the editor this week.

On the outside, drafting a TOC seems like an almost trivial step. How hard could it be to scratch one out? It's just some chapter names and page numbers, right?

To readers, that's true. A TOC is just a leaping off point. It's a leaping off point for me, too. The difference is I have to make sure my jump looks more like Evel Knievel and not Wile E. Coyote.

Pictured: Why nine lives isn't always a good thing.

That's not to say there wasn't a TOC in the first place. WD's seen the entire thing, from the TOC to my B-I-O. But with the project now on the docket for a print release, the guide's approach needs to change. That's part of the conversation I had with the editor last week.

A revamped TOC is the natural place to start. Once we finalize exactly what's going to be in this puppy, I'll rent that cabin on Mars and leave the planet intermittenly. When I get my nose stuck in researching, double-checking, re-wording, run-it-past-ing, photo gathering, I sometimes have to remember to eat. The last time I went full-bore on this project back in January, things got a little Howard Hughes-y. 

Fortunately, I can spend plenty of time back on planet Earth during this new leg. The completed 'script isn't due back until early next year. That doesn't mean I'm going to slack off. But it does mean I won't be repeating the January Crunch of 2013, either.

Nah, the weather's just a little too nice for that. The month of January was ideal for holing up in my office, so I, well, holed up in my office. I was also gunning to push this guide over the edge of even what I expected it to become. Now that the core of the project is in place, it's time to flesh everything out. I have the time to do this right, so that's what I'll do.

So long as I keep my inner Evel Knievel fed with copious amounts of easily digestible, fiberous, legume-based vittles and 6 a.m. coffee pots, it'll all work out.