I’m usually not one for New Year’s resolutions, but for 2013 I am making a grand commitment that does not involve exercise. This year is the year of Ann Dvorak, meaning I will post an entry on this site every day. That’s right, this is the first of 365 consecutive posts on this site that will somehow relate to Ann Dvorak. My reasons for publicly proclaiming this foolish task are twofold. The full length Ann Dvorak biography I have been working on for way too long should be coming out this year from University Press of Kentucky, so I figured I had better start the marketing sooner than later. Also, I have been woefully neglectful of this website site the past year while I finished up the manuscript, so this is my way of making up for the lack of content in 2012.

For Day 1 of the 2013 Ann Dvorak Blogathon, I thought a Biography Progress Report is in order. Actually, there’s not too much to report from last time, when I had just turned in the manuscript to Kentucky. They sent it out to a “reader” who was going to review the manuscript for content. I was on pins and needles for almost three months, expecting the reader report to be returned with a mountain of revisions that would take me months to complete. Instead, the report came in right before the holiday break, which pointed out one typo and proclaimed the manuscript is in exceptionally good shape for publication. I could not have asked for a better Christmas gift!

My publishers will should be getting in touch with me later this week to set a deadline for the final manuscript, so in the meantime I continue wrangling photos from institutions and working on the mundane tasks of properly formatting citations and compiling Ann’s filmography. I think the hardest part is officially behind me, and I now look forward to figuring out how to effectively market a book about a relatively obscure Hollywood actress.

That’s one down, and 364 to go.

Happy New Year!