“The Next Big Thing: Blog Tour” has landed here. Thank you Lela Nargi for tagging me. Here are my answers to the NBT’s 10 Questions:

1. What is the title of your book?

The Book of Times: From Seconds to Centuries, A Compendium of Measures

2. Where did the idea for the book come from?

My obsession with time! I’ve always been interested in the time it takes to do all sorts of things. But the book morphed from my own obsessions (time spent on work, pet care, laundry, and etc.) to broader themes (art, war, homework, media). The book covers a wide range of timings: from how long it took to create great works of art to the time Americans spend watching TV, shopping and hugging!

3. What genre does your book fall under?

I’d like to say physics (which is how Amazon categorizes it), but it’s more like high-minded trivia.

4. What actors would you choose to play the parts of your characters in the movie?

Hah! My book is a collection of facts, and has no characters. But… if the book was to be narrated I would like Tommy Lee Jones to do the voice over!

5. What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

The Book of Times is an endlessly fascinating survey of time. Packed with compelling charts, lists and quizzes, as well as new and intriguing research, the book examines a wide swath of life—love, art, work, education—through the unerring meter of the clock.

6. Who published your book?

WilliamMorrow

7. How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript?

A long time! The book was a gigantic research project. It took nearly a year to compile all the data and then write it up in a fun, readable format. Then there were many revisions….

8. What other books would you compare this to within your genre?

Schott’s Original Miscellany. Buy Shoes on Wednesday and Tweet at 4:00: More of the Best Times to Buy This, Do That and Go There by Mark Di Vincenzo.

9. Who or what Inspired you to write this book?

The idea came in a flash. The title and concept popped into my head one morning and then I was off and running. But years of reporting on finance and science probably laid the ground work.

10. What else about this book might pique a reader’s interest?

The book is much more than a collection of facts. It puts the era we live in into perspective. From prison sentences to homework hours to work life imbalance — the book looks at how our society uses time to punish, to elevate, and to keep the GDP running.

Thanks for reading my 10 Questions. Now, I’m tagging Sherri Rifkin, who wrote the wonderful beach read, LoveHampton.  People magazine wrote: “Appealing heroine, heartsick and unemployed, rediscovers herself in a Hamptons share house…fun.”

Rifkin is also working on a second novel about the weather!