It’s been a very thankful week in the world of Jackson Speed.

Wednesday I took most of the day off from work and stayed home to write. It wasn’t planned or expected, but by 9 p.m. I had finished writing the second Jackson Speed novel. Even better, I added a final chapter to the book that was a surprise to me, and I really loved the way it turned out.

With both of the Jackson Speed novels now written (and those that I have not yet written) I started with an idea of putting Ol’ Speedy in a specific place and time and the general overview of the story was clear to me from the outset. As I wrote, the details emerged, but I knew where I was heading with it.

But Wednesday morning as I was writing, I had a little bit of inspiration. I rewrote a few lines to add a final twist to the plot I had initially envisioned. And that was fun. A good book, for me, is one that provides moments where I cannot predict what will come next. But when I write a book, my expectation is that I generally know where my characters and I are headed. So this last little bit, unplanned, was pretty fun for me as the writer, and I’m really, really pleased with the way it turned out.

Then Wednesday evening – just as I was finishing – one of my best friends from all those decades ago when we were in high school sent me a text. Drew Mapp was up from Florida for the holidays, so we went out and grabbed a beer late Wednesday night. The last time I saw Drew in September I’d given him a copy of the first Jackson Speed book. Wednesday he told me he’d read it and enjoyed it, and it was great fun to be out sort-of celebrating the completion of the second Jackson Speed book with someone who’d read the first Jackson Speed book.

As I noted last week, I’ve gotten another review at Amazon.com for Jackson Speed (it was Review Number 4).

This morning I came into the office and got two more Jackson Speed surprises: I sold a book over Thanksgiving, and it’s always fun to see that I’ve increased sales. Also, I’ve gotten a fifth review at Amazon.com.

The reviewer referred to Jackson Speed as a twisted, Southern Casanova, which is very ironic because I’m fairly sure that was one of my nicknames in college.

Despite my book sale over Thanksgiving, I am still well short of becoming a wealthy novelist (haha!) but I am continuing to have so much fun writing about Jackson Speed and getting feedback from people who have read about him, that I’ve got to say I am very, very thankful this year for Jackson Speed and the massive amount of fun he’s brought into my life.