I Am Such A Dirty Cheater

Twelve days ago I made myself a deal:  I would not buy any books until I had worked out for 30 days in a row.  I made this bargain with myself because I’ve been working out for such a long time now, and if I had just done it consistently, I’d be pretty smokin’ about now.  So, thirty days.  No books.

Now, this was already a bit of a fishy deal because I have plenty of stuff to read around here.  I still have two of my books from Christmas, plus assorted odds and ends Mark or I have picked up along the way.

But still, I love the buying of the books, so I thought it was a fair incentive.  And I’ve gone around over the last twelve days bragging to anyone who would listen.  “I made myself a deal,” I say.  “No books for thirty days.  Thirty days.  No books.”

So here’s where I fell down.

I’ve been wanting to read Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet for a while, mostly because it has a badass title, but also because it’s by Jamie Ford, one of the best known authors represented by the agent who has my manuscript.  Also, seperately, I’m applying to Orson Scott Card’s Literary Boot Camp this year, and while searching for info about it, I found a very good walkthrough on Jamie Ford’s site.  So, after reading that I was even more into taking a look at Ford’s work.  Still, I remained firm on my deal.  A deal is a deal, after all.

But then, the coup de grace was delivered.  Mark and I decided to go out of town to visit friends this weekend.  And we didn’t have a new audiobook.

Now, an audiobook is not, technically, what I meant when I said no books.  Also, I had a credit on my Audible account, so I was not technically “buying” it.  And furthermore, there were two people in need of a book for the trip, and one of them was not me.

However, I can’t help but feel that this whole scenario was a trifle illegit.

We’re heading back to the ATL this morning, and we’ll be finishing up Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet.  And loving it.  Mark, who isn’t normally a litfic guy, keeps looking at me and saying “This is a good book.”

On a side note, isn’t it weird how the Web makes you feel like you know people you don’t?  I keep imagining a scenario in which this agent calls to offer me representation.  Perhaps I’d mention my plans for Literary Boot Camp, and she’d say, “Oh, my client went to Literary Boot Camp.”

“I know,” I’d say.  “I read it on his blog.”

And then we could discuss his family, and his opinions about the whole Amazon/McMillan thing.