For Writers, There’s Something Worse Than Dying of Encouragement
It’s even worse that dying of criticism and public failure
At the time of this publication, the official launch of my new novel Deadpan is here.
The book has been available for a few weeks, however, to order online directly from its courageous publisher Heresy Press, and also Amazon and other web retailers. A flood of comments have already been offered by readers. I don’t mind a bit that, so far, they are overwhelmingly favorable.
Of course this provides me with cause for encouragement.
But as Dorothy Parker said years ago, Hollywood is the one place on Earth where you could die of encouragement.
I use the word ‘Hollywood’ here to refer not only to movies but public and popular expression in general, including literature.
I took special pleasure in my publisher’s report that he’d read Deadpan straight through in single sitting. He said that the narrative flowed so smoothly, so naturally, so effortlessly that it appeared to have been written precisely that way: a single sitting over just one afternoon.
In fact, the actual period it has taken me to write Deadpan, from the original notion to today’s published title, is approximately half a century.
