Up until now in Remove from Circulation (my current WIP), page count has been a sort of milestone. When I get to 100, I'm a quarter of the way done. 300--three quarters. But now I'm at page 380 (after ten more pages today). All of a sudden, page count becomes a crunch factor.

In much of fiction, novels have been getting shorter (perhaps Science Fiction/Fantasy is the one exception). While single title romances and romantic suspense used to average about 400 manuscript pages, now they tend to top out at around 400 pages. And I can't see how I can possibly have a climactic resolution of the terrorist threat and also work out the details of Sophia and Ryan's relationship in only 20 pages. Once again, it looks like I'm going long. This isn't a huge problem--it means my rewrite will not just be a rewrite, it'll be a trim as well, but it is a bit of a problem. A lot of times in rewrites, I find areas that need to be fleshed out, description that needs to be made more sensual. All of that tends to add pages rather than subtracting them. But I really don't want to go much over the 400 page limit, so I'll have to make do. In the world of eBooks, stories can go on until they're over. In the world of traditional paper publishers, books are over when the publisher doesn't want to pay for more print.

I finished and reviewed Judy Christenberry's SNOWBOUND WITH MR. RIGHT--which was very cute. Here's my review: www.booksforabuck.com/rompages/rom_2007/snowbound_mr_right.html. Now I'm reading DEVIL MAY CRY by Sherrilyn Kenyon. I also read Karen's proposal for her second book in the fishing series--this looks like a really good one.

Author Beth Wilde, who runs a writing website and very active e-mail loop, added BooksForABuck.com to her reviewers list--thanks, Beth. Here's her list: http://beth-wylde.tripod.com/id26.html. You might check out Beth if you're interested in writing.

I'm going to make FINDING FUNBOY by Matt Golec the www.BooksForABuck.com book of the day. Gus Frank needs to spend his summer break working but when his friend, Funboy, first steals Gus's bicycle and then vanishes, Gus is concerned. He's even more concerned when Funboy's sexy girlfriend asks for Gus's help in tracking him down. But Gus doesn't realize that Funboy is in danger--and that danger will come after Gus as well. A really compelling mystery. Only $3.99. Learn more, read the excerpt, or buy the complete eNovel here: www.booksforabuck.com/mystery/mys_07/finding_funboy.html. (Available in HTML, Adobe Acrobat PDF, Mobipocket, Palm DOC, and Microsoft Reader formats). Here's the cover (cover design by Karen Leabo):

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