Fanfare! (?) The Orangutan Says All

[Octopus Messiah]

Last night I handed a friend a book to be read.
First one in fifteen years I've felt happy sharing.
I'd like to think I'm better now than I was then, as a man and as a writer. More open, less judgmental.
It's a rare and precious thing, a finished piece of art, especially one that's taken many months to craft.
My wife counsels "Don't be attached to outcomes."
Which is wise and Buddhist but also hard.
Because now a different type of work begins. One that I am not alone in finding much more challenging.
Colony, I feel you.
Maktub. It is written
x
(photo from a tiny corner of Malaysian Borneo, in one of the last remaining bastions of the orang utan, meaning "people of the forest")

 

[Katie-Ellen]

It is hard. I wonder if anyone said that to Keats on his deathbed. On the one hand, why should the world care about another book. It's asking too much to let the Universe take care of helping worthy work find a place in the published pantheon without a major investment of concerted will, thought and effort.

On the other, you have done it. It is written, and you felt brave/proud enough to let someone see it.

It calls for a Fanfare, for sure. Well done.

His Lovely Tubbiness the Buddha was right. So was whoever wrote Ecclesiastes 3. There is a season for every purpose under heaven. That which is, will always be.

Best of luck.

 

[Octopus Messiah]

Fanks dah'lin'-- tis indeed an effort that may or may not be worth it but if you never roll those dice...
We hoist a glass in your general direction!

 

[Katie-Ellen]

Cheers! It might be an interesting exercise if you get your S.O to pull some cards for you about it. Pull one for an oracle's eye view of your USP. You can use them for feedback, to do a SWOT analysis on the MSS, or to do an assessment of the chances, submitting here or there. I only bother to submit if I sense a chance of at least 50:50. I dinna bother where I see the chances are utterly dooooooooooomed.
Such fun!

 

[1408]

"Don't be attached to outcomes."View attachment 34

I really like that quote, I think it's one I'm going to try to keep with me.

Also, well done on reaching that point! One of the ways I tried to work out whether or not I was finished was thinking how I would feel if my friends read it. They still haven't, but I wouldn't feel as embarrassed if they did!

 

[Richard Sutton]

I never tire of recommending a wonderful environmental fantasy read for anyone who enjoys getting some answers you didn't think you could find: Ishmael by Daniel Quinn. It involves an unlikely, Simian teacher who imparts the reason Human Beings are here on the planet. If apes that can speak are not of interest, you won't like it. Jus' sayin'.

 

[Octopus Messiah]

I never tire of recommending a wonderful environmental fantasy read for anyone who enjoys getting some answers you didn't think you could find: Ishmael by Daniel Quinn. It involves an unlikely, Simian teacher who imparts the reason Human Beings are here on the planet. If apes that can speak are not of interest, you won't like it. Jus' sayin'.

Already a big fan of Ishmael-- used to pass the book out when I was younger. Finally the bible made sense from an anthropological perspective!
Remember when they tried to do a film adaptation and it ended up being absolutely mangled into a thriller called Instinct with Anthony Hopkins? I remember Quinn doing a very fine impression of the backstroke at the time. (Wonder if Agent Pete has the backstory!)
A dark, dark day in Hollywood...