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ESPN just ran a "Breaking News" segment on Tom Brady. The announcer was breathless in replaying a phone conversation Tom had with a Canadian radio station. Tom gave all the blah-blah a New England Patriot is trained to deliver, high word count but no content. Any public statement from the injured quarterback earns a flashing banner on Sports Center, even when he says nothing. And if Tom appeared in public with a limp or knee brace, all of Patriot nation will go weak-kneed.

Here's the thing about writing. There's no breaking news when we work through our injuries. No one watches what we do or wonders how our work is progressing. No one cares if we've broken a shoulder or endured a sinus infection or (like one of my dear friends) have cancer.

Tom Brady is larger than life. Writers are nine-point font, words on the page, maybe a catchy cover and a flash on a website. We want it like this, don't we? Readers should enjoy our books, not worry about the sweat and suffering it took to get there.