“The great and tragic fact of experience is the fact of effort and passionate toil which never finds complete satisfaction. This eternal frustration of our ideals or will is an essential part of spiritual life, and enriches it just as the shadows enrich the picture or certain discords bring about richer harmony.” — Morris R. Cohen, The Cambridge History of English and American Literature, Vol. XVII, Ch. XVI, Sec. 21
Artists know
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5 thoughts on “Artists know”
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Not complete satisfaction, perhaps. But I hope you will savor this accomplishment and know how very happy we are for you. Of all my writer-friends, you have been the most patient and careful with your work, and the most steady and unfailingly kind to everyone you meet. This is not your first literary success, but I know what it means to you and I could not be more pleased to hear that you will soon have a book with your name on the cover.
Dibs on the interview!
Thank you, Averil. I don’t see myself as being “steady and unfailingly kind.” I do try.
Did you see what Betsy did on her blog tonight? I just saw that. Holy shit. Now I gotta step up.
I’ll go do that in a minute. The book is High Street. The version I sent you is different from the version you read on my website. The version you read on my website is pretty close to the version that got accepted. The editors said I might want to give it another run-through, make sure it looks like I want it to look, so I did that this weekend, cutting another seventeen pages worth of fat and slack.
I haven’t signed the contract yet. I wasn’t going to tell anyone–except I told my wife, my son, and my parents–until I signed the contract, but when Betsy asked last night about submission strategies, the news seemed to fit. I’ll be signing the contract in the morning.
Yes, I could do an interview, I think. They make me nervous. Not enough control. Working without a net. That sort of thing.
I’ll admit to a little tear in my eye when I saw her post tonight. I fucking love it when the good guy wins. And that is you, my friend. (Man, there go the waterworks again.)
*sniff*
Anyway, the interview would just be a series of questions that you could answer or not at your leisure–like I did with Laura. Things that occurred to me as I read the work and have gotten to know you. And after all, my blog is only us, your friends, who are thrilled to death for you. Let us help in our small way.
XO
An interview with you is almost definitely a yes-thing, gonna happen. My publisher will want it. My ego will want it.
I’m over at Betsy’s right now on another browser tab, getting ready to try and put the right words together in the right order.
I’ll be gentle with you.