Writing a novel for publication is something of an exercise in idealistic hubris–reaching for the green light that is a mere flicker across the vastness of an ocean of uncertainty. Despite the odds of producing something worthy of publication, authors write on, boats against the current until one day….you get shot in your swimming pool? Goodbye Gatsby!
No, wait. One day…it happens. It actually happens. You get to hold an actual physical copy of your work in your hands. For me, that was the check-off point of my bucket list item. I had actually done something that was a longshot.
But then it gets even more “orgiastic”. To quote F. Scott Fitzgerald. Who–by the way–agonized over what a “failure” The Great Gatsby was.
People outside of my immediate family are actually reading the book! And they like it!! The positive comments, the glowing reviews, the requests for book signings (what!!??), the conversations with former students and colleagues, the appearance of the book on the shelves of Barnes and Noble start happening.
And then last night, my first formal book signing at our local library. Not only was it humbling to have people line up to have the book signed and express their appreciations for the book, but it was also a lot of fun to get back in front of a “classroom” and lead a discussion. It felt so natural.
It is also kind of embarrassing to talk about what is essentially your thought process as you develop characters and try to get across themes. I’m glad that my closest friends didn’t mind that I co-opted their personalities and quirks for a few of the major characters in the book.
As Nick pointed out in Fitzgerald’s novel, Gatsby had the wrong dream, and his idealism, while admirable, cost him in the end.
He might have been better off adopting Ben Franklin’s philosophy, which I earnestly adhere to: If you expect the worst you are never disappointed.
And sometimes very pleasantly surprised!
The Q-View 