Saturday, December 31, 2005

The Wrap-up

Following in a long tradition -- established last year -- here's the wrap-up on the reading and writing I did in 2005.

I read 156 books this year, up a little from last year. Here are my Top Ten, in alphabetical order by author:

THE POET, Michael Connelly
THE MAN WITH THE IRON-ON BADGE, Lee Goldberg
CASSIDY'S GIRL, David Goodis
THE COMING OF CONAN THE CIMMERIAN, Robert E. Howard
HOME IS THE SAILOR, Day Keene
BLONDE LIGHTNING, Terrill Lee Lankford
THE COMPLETE WESTERN STORIES OF ELMORE LEONARD, Elmore Leonard
CREEPERS, David Morrell
BIG CITY GIRL, Charles Williams
HILL GIRL, Charles Williams

You really can't go wrong with any of these books.

Over on the writing front, I wrote 5524 pages of fiction, my all-time high. This translates into 14 books, and a little over 1.1 million words, the first time I've hit the old pulpster level of a million words a year. Also, 13 of my books were published in 2005 under six different names, including my own. This isn't a record. I had 14 books published in 1998. I sometimes hesitate to talk about how much I've written because some people always think that if something is written fast, it can't be any good. My theory is that all writing is words on paper, and if the right words are on the paper, it doesn't really matter how they got there. But the good thing is that, love 'em or hate 'em, the books are out there and people can judge them for themselves.

So it was a good year professionally. My best wishes to all of you for a fine 2006.

10 comments:

Unknown said...

Wow.

Happy New Year, James!

Mystery Dawg said...

Damn....

James that is amazing.

Happy New Year to you and yours.

Mindy Tarquini said...

Hello. I wandered over from Lee Goldberg's blog. This is an amazing record. Happy New Year to you and yours. May it be healthy and hopeful. Mindy.

Juri said...

James, that is amazing. May your future years be as productive!

JA Konrath said...

You're making us all look bad.

Oh, wait... we're doing that on our own.

Anonymous said...

That is amazing. After reading last year that you keep track of the books you read I decided to do the same this year. I didn't come anywhere close to your amount, but I did beat my goal of 52. Keep up the good work writing.

Danny

JD Rhoades said...

Check this article out:

http://www.slate.com/id/2133638/

Wherein Slate writer Jack Shafer tries to figure out how many words H.L. Mencken published in his life and goggles with amazement at the idea of "100,000 words a year for 50 years, or about 2,000 words a week."

heh.

Oh, and congratulations!

Cap'n Bob said...

Incredible, James. Not only the tremendous writing output, but the reading as well. When do you eat and sleep?

Sandra Scoppettone said...

I'm amazed that you can write so much. I agree that speed has nothing to do with quality anymore than lack of speed has anything to do with "literature."

I like and have read a number of books on your list. But, alas, once again here is another 10 best with no women on it. Couldn't you come up with one?

Ray Banks says he doesn't read women. Is that true for you, too?

Rob Gregory Browne said...

I'm happy to write ONE book a year. I feel like a sloth.