Brain Fertilizer

I tried that, Nathan. No joy there. Readers simply haven't yet come to trust the Internet as a source of fiction. If I could...but I can't.

Anyway, best of luck with the novel. When it's finished, I'd like to see it.

No, Francis, it wouldn't be an attempt at web-publishing...but at least 5 people have expressed interest in reading it when I'm done. The one person who has read the first few chapters said it was coming along nicely, so offering it to the readers here isn't some way to make any cash, it's just to say "Thanks for hanging with me". A $2 surcharge is just because people don't value things that are free, generally, and if I charge something, then there is a transaction record for legal purposes...plus, a $2 charge clears out the casual individual, making it less likely I might turn around and find my novel published with someone else's name!
Sure, the odds are against me (as they are against any aspiring writer). So what? Someone gets published. And there are good things that don't get published simply because they didn't get in front of the right publisher/editor on the right day...not necessarily that the novel isn't good enough or the system is broken beyond hope. Persistence and obsession seem to be the keys to getting published...
In any case, I'm going to finish this thing for me. I play guitar, but not to become a rock star (anymore); I shoot guns, but not to become a sniper; so I don't necessarily need to become a famous, rich, or even published author to make it worth my time to write.
The way I see it, I've overcome longer odds than these several times in my life. That may mean my luck has run out...it also may mean that I have the ability to pull it off...with persistence. Dunno. We'll see.