Wednesday, April 5, 2017

So, my kid is reading my novel....

So, there’s this novel I’ve written and will be trying to sell this weekend.  If you know me at all, this is not news.  That said, if this is your first time here, ALOHA!  Welcome aboard!



My oldest daughter is now enthusiastically reading my novel, The Last Good Day.  I didn’t force her to or anything but I’m glad she was interested to try it as she’s smack in the middle of the target audience.  I’m also more glad, relieved in fact that now that she’s plowed through ¼ of it, she likes it and is engaged in the story. 



She’s finding more typos than I would like, but at this point, I’m still too close to it to even see them.  And it’s been really encouraging to talk to her about what she likes and what she thinks about the characters.  She knows that there are some conglomerations of real people and events in the story and she keeps inquiring about who people are and if certain things actually happened.  No spoilers, but there was one anecdote told in the protagonists’ backstory that actually happened to me in sixth grade which she found confusing based on knowing me now, but we talked it out. 



While it’s been really fun and reassuring to have her respond positively to the story, I find it equally if not more exciting that on some level, whether or not this book ever gets released, I feel like I’m modeling something positive for her and her siblings.  “Bird” as we sometimes call her loves to write and is working on her own book.  When she talks about her publishing future it’s, “When I publish my books” and not, like I tend to think most of the time, “If I can convince someone to read the whole thing then maybe…”  Her head is in the right place and she writes for the joy of it.  I needed that reminder this week as regardless of what happens in Philadelphia, I wrote this book not only out of a need to tell the story but because it was fun to do.  There were times that the characters really surprised me and others where they made me laugh out loud.  One way or another it will soon be time for me to move on from these characters and work on something else.  I’ve been wrapped up in this narrative for over six years now and it is definitely time for them to get out into the world.  I hope I’ll have the opportunity to share their story with you formally.



Whatever happens with my pitches this weekend, there’s a reason they call it the writing process.  This part is obviously very different from the heady days when those first thirty pages come flying out faster than you can type and those amazing moments when your Beta Readers tell you they like it and give concrete feedback and suggestions to make it better, and then it does!  This part is where I have the chance to advocate not only for my book but for the characters themselves.  They’ve done their part and now, it’s my turn.  I hope I don’t let them down.



I’m pretty sure my daughter is proud of me and that’s very important to me, and so far she likes it.  If my writing never amounts to much at the very least, it’s given me a chance to connect with her creatively.  If it never gets published, I’ll still have been a model of trying something difficult.  I’ll be disappointed if it doesn’t get a chance to find an audience beyond my household and friends as, I really believe in it.  But, should the industry pass and I joins other projects back on the shelf, then I’ll get to model to my children what a mature person (not something I’m often accused of being) does when something doesn’t go their way. 



I’ll get to work on the next thing.  And that’s not a bad thing either.  I know my good friend Freddy Pinkerton is waiting for me to get back to his story…



Thanks for reading.  Please feel free to peruse the other columns here-they aren’t all about writing.  Many of them cover our years in Hawaii, Craft Beer, my family, Sports, and of course there are “The Duster Chronicles” from a few years ago.  Feel free to contact me through the comments as well.  Mahalo for now! 

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