9, 10...

First drafts of chapters nine and ten, though short, are done. Have started eleven.

I recently met a literary agent who laughed at my 5 days in Dearborn. Rightly so. I thought about it all some and think I may have found a way to do a month-long run there relatively soon. Will post when I know for certain. All in all, I'm happy with the book's progress and how the story's working out.

I continue to read more Christopher Buckley, this time Florence of Arabia which has a great premise (finding peace in the Middle East through the emancipation of the region's women). The story, though, becomes rather intricate, which I don't think to that extent is necessary for my work. Buckley does do a good job of working in Arab cultural and historical references; something I need to work on.