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| early Salinger |
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| early me |
Geoff (find his genius on Amazon.com) Peterson and I were talking long distance this afternoon. The recent PBS special on J.D. Salinger came up. We agreed J.D. might have been a borderline pedophile, but that's not the subject of this post. What came up between us was Salinger's reclusive retirement—a major theme of the special—and notable withdrawal to concentrate on his art, but I learned something from the special I didn't expect. Catcher In The Rye is still selling 250,000 copies a year, enough dough to supply a reclusive writer with all his earthly comforts while he scribbles away. Jerry (to his friends) was able to concentrate on his writing while making a living by it. Isn't that what all writers want to do?
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| early Rowling |
I've been confused. I'd no idea Salinger had it so easy after Catcher made him rich and gave him the option to become a recluse who wrote. In Rowling's case, she's had the option to give away money she doesn't need and become a well known philanthropist. I'd always thought of J.D's dedication to his craft as a sacrifice, but I've only my personal experience to go on. My experience is of a constant confusion of time in order to make a living and the destruction of several marriages to go on.
J.K. Rowling, Jerry Salinger and I have a lot in common. They wrote best sellers and I wish I could. Why is it, then, that when I say I want to make money writing and buy a condo in Portland, I feel like the beer chaser that follows a shot of the best whiskey?
It's Friday. Making progress this week toward my goal. Continued with the rewrite of Delinquent Lives, sent off inquiry to agent for Angie's Choice, participated happily in the Write To Publish meet up on Wednesday afternoon and attended the Ghost Town Poetry open mic on Thursday night, hosted by Cover To Cover Books and Chris Luna where I read two poems, one recently written and the 2nd scrubbed up from a series I wrote while living on the scabland outside of Cheney at The Hermitage. Some very interesting and entertaining poets there of all ages.
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| My Hermitage |
At age 75, I'm feeling more comfortable about writing prose and reading aloud at open mics than at any time in my past. Finally, I accept I'm a good enough writer to be published, but the question of this blog is will that happen? If some of my efforts do end up, as is my goal, at a publishing house other than a self-publishing venture, the end result might be very interesting, but I'm remembering to enjoy the process rather than anticipate the end.
No doubt what I'm writing will never be another Harry Potter series, but I'll settle for a smaller audience, and I don't have to become a millionaire, though it would be nice if I could send some additional money off to charity as J. K. Rowling has done. Should I promise, right here, that 10% of any profits I might make will go to a charity?
The people at the Write To Publish were very accepting and positive about my novel, and I took all comments to heart and gave them considerable attention when I got home. As I said earlier, I've made several very acceptable major alterations in Delinquent Lives for the sake of clarity. Smart thinking about structure and style is everything I can hope for from participating with fellow writers in a workshop. Thank you, Linda Triling.
