TODAY’S STATS:

# of pages revised: 14

# of literary mags submitted to:

# of days left to complete 2^nd draft: 57

 
I have a new penpal. He’s the guy from okcupid who sent me the intriguing article about “Codpiece” a few weeks ago. (Yes, that’s the type of thing I’m looking for in a penpal.) This week he’s at a conference in Los Angeles and emailed to tell me how much he likes LA.

My go-to sentiment whenever someone mentions Los Angeles is a groan. “Horrible traffic. Horrible smog. Horrible people,” I say automatically.

But I think I’ve been unfair.

Let’s wind the clock back to January of 2000, which is when I moved to L.A. I was nineteen, and the research I’d done prior to the move involved flipping through a few books at Barnes and Noble and emailing some sisters of friends of friends…