Saturday, October 27, 2007

A little healthy competition can't hurt

My husband and I are competitive with each other, in a good way. The first marathon he ever ran was in January 2007 in Florida. He ran a second one in April 2007 in California, and a few weeks ago he ran his third in Victoria, BC.

See the connection? Three novels, three marathons.

With two of the marathons he ran this year, he qualified for Boston which he plans to run in April '08 weeks after my 3rd novel, The Silver Compass, comes out. And as he so nicely pointed out to me yesterday, that will be his 4th marathon so he'll be ahead of me.

In no way did I want him to think this bothered me, so I gave him a bored stare and went back to work. However, as soon as he left the room, I did grab a calendar to plot and plan my 4th novel a bit more aggressively than usual. Afterall, I know the story, I'm excited about writing it, and if I can get the first draft completed by the time he runs his fourth little marathon in Boston (yawn) then I guess technically we'd be tied again, right?

16 comments:

Larramie said...

Of course that would "qualify" you, Holly. ;) Btw, how great would it be for you and the boys to come east to Boston?

Adam said...

Tough one. I know I should be on your side but running 3 marathons a year?!!!! I'm trying to figure out which would be harder writign a book or running like Forest Gump!

Anonymous said...

I'm not sure about but either way you're both waaaaay ahead of moi. Three marathons and three books up against one messed up WIP in need of a torch!!! H-e-l-p...

Melissa Amateis said...

Maybe I could walk a marathon, but run? ;-)

Anonymous said...

Sounds fair to me!
I loved both of your books
so the faster you can pump
em out the better

Ramona said...

Ooh! A fourth novel!!? What's it
about? Can you share? Isn't Silver Compass going to be in book stores this April? CAn't wait for both.

ORION said...

Yaaaahoooo!!!! Holly can now devote MORE time to MEEEEEE instead of actually writing....
MWA HA HA...
In reality?
Now I'M the one with a deadline!
and in that respect she MILES ahead of me!

ORION said...

she's
she's
she's
miles ahead of me.

Wendy Roberts said...

LOL well, IMO writing four books is harder than running 4 marathons. Then again, it's not like I'll ever run a marathon so it's safe for me to say that's true.

Anonymous said...

I'd call it a tie.
As a runner, I can tell you
running a marathon is no easy
feat, but writing a novel seems
like it'd be pretty tough too.
Good for both of you.

Mindy Tarquini said...

Writing a novel is like running a marathon.

Trish Ryan said...

Does this mean you'll be coming to Boston??? WRITE SISTER, WRITE!

If you need us to stand along the road with you here in cyberspace, cheering you on and yelling, "You can do it!" just say the word :)

Holly Kennedy said...

Larramie - How are things with you, Daisy Girl? I've been locked in a cave writing, but I'M ALMOST DONE and will be resurfacing next week. BTW, I do plan to come to Boston in April for 4-5 days to watch my husband run the marathon and to do some research for my 5th novel, which is going to be set in the Boston Common.

Adam -- They're both equally hard and take a lot of mental mind power, I'd say.

Kyla-Dale -- Ack! You can do it. One paragraph at a time, one page at a time; break it down and you'll be okay :)

Melissa -- I'm with you. I power walk on my treadmill, sometimes breaking into a trot for 4-5 mins, but a marathon? I couldn't do it.

Holly Kennedy said...

Wordman17 -- I would give ANYTHING to write them as fast as readers read them, trust me.

Ramona -- Yes, Silver Compass will be out April 1st of 2008. Please watch for it. It's a pretty interesting story (at least I think so).

Re: my 4th novel? All I'll say is that it's titled PENGUIN HILL. Otherwise, I'm not sharing.

ORION -- You write like the wind so within two years I predict I'll be in YOUR dust!

Holly Kennedy said...

Wendy -- I always enjoy your viewpoint, mostly cause it matches my own :)

Maryanne -- You sound like a diplomat. I honestly do think they're equally difficult, all joking aside.

M.G. - How are the edits going? Full of angst or are you almost done?

Trish -- Yes, I do plan to be in Boston in April for 4-5 days (see comment posted above). If you're around and are able, maybe you can make it out to one of my readings? I'd love to meet you!

Travis Erwin said...

Take him down.

(insert my best Rob Schneider voice here)

You Can Do It!