The Vanishing of Owen Taylor is now 543 pages long. And the ending...it alternates between brutal and tender in ways I hope work. You never really know. I want to do one more pass through it to smooth out some things I added. Then I'm ready to get reactions.
I already have some people lined up. Sort-of strangers who will be honest. Members of GoodReads. People who've liked my writing in the past. All I can do is hand it out and see what triggers what.
It's rained all day, so that helped keep me in. I used the building laundromat to do some clothes, even though the dryer isn't all that great. I kept the loads light -- just what I had to have -- and that worked okay.
I'm reading a lovely book called This Is Not The End of the Book;, which is a conversation between Umberto Eco, Jean-Clude Carriere, and Jean-Philippe de Tonnac. Eco wrote The Name of the Rose; Carriere is a playwright and screenwriter; de Tonnac is a writer and editor. It's a discussion about the future of the book and knowledge, in general, and is fascinating to follow.
So far my favorite bit is a story told by Carriere about a man whose father was a book collector. The son was the only one in the family to see the value of the books, so when his father died, he told his brothers and sisters they could have the rest of the estate if they'd just let him keep the library. They happily agreed. So he took the books away...and sold them to book dealers throughout Europe. Apparently, he lived off that for years, and his siblings never knew the true value of those old books.
This comes in very handy for The Alice '65 and Adam's way of viewing the world. I guess that's getting close to being ready to write. Along with half a dozen other stories in my head.
I need to win the lottery so I can stop working and start treating my writing seriously.
I already have some people lined up. Sort-of strangers who will be honest. Members of GoodReads. People who've liked my writing in the past. All I can do is hand it out and see what triggers what.
It's rained all day, so that helped keep me in. I used the building laundromat to do some clothes, even though the dryer isn't all that great. I kept the loads light -- just what I had to have -- and that worked okay.
I'm reading a lovely book called This Is Not The End of the Book;, which is a conversation between Umberto Eco, Jean-Clude Carriere, and Jean-Philippe de Tonnac. Eco wrote The Name of the Rose; Carriere is a playwright and screenwriter; de Tonnac is a writer and editor. It's a discussion about the future of the book and knowledge, in general, and is fascinating to follow.
So far my favorite bit is a story told by Carriere about a man whose father was a book collector. The son was the only one in the family to see the value of the books, so when his father died, he told his brothers and sisters they could have the rest of the estate if they'd just let him keep the library. They happily agreed. So he took the books away...and sold them to book dealers throughout Europe. Apparently, he lived off that for years, and his siblings never knew the true value of those old books.
This comes in very handy for The Alice '65 and Adam's way of viewing the world. I guess that's getting close to being ready to write. Along with half a dozen other stories in my head.
I need to win the lottery so I can stop working and start treating my writing seriously.
4 comments:
How exciting... almost to the finish line once again. Congrats my friend. XOXO
Thanks, Mac. Would you have time to read it and give me some feedback on whether or not it works?
Definitely... it would be an honor.
Great! When I get it done...eventually sometime in the future, perhaps...I'll send you a copy.
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