The Real Deal

It took me a long time to figure out that some kinds of responsiveness to my work came from a doubt of my sincerity. And I was really shocked. Some people thought my work was just something I'd presented for communication with me and not authentic fiction. After all, lots of people take up "writing" for a while in their lives, as a time-filler, or a therapy, or a distraction from something else like the approach of midlife. I wasn't different from that.

​And, moreover, they thought they knew what my little "writing" behavior was about. I was amazed to discover that people actually viewed it as not the real deal. At times, I even detected some impatience, won't you talk about something real already? We all know this is unimportant. What are you really up to?

​All of this is the most arrant nonsense I've ever heard. Writing is not a cover for me. It IS who I am. It is the most important thing about me and if you're looking for something else that's the real deal about me, you'll never find it. It's not a way to communicate with me, a means to a goal of yours. Just because you didn’t warm to a couple of moments or ideas in a book or two doesn’t mean I am not a writer. The correct question is “What are you getting at?” Not “Why are you so insincere?” And if you think some things I write are boring, that doesn’t matter at all. One weaker book does not discredit an author. Just look at all the books out there, classics included, and you’ll know that’s true.

Interest in my storytelling is your reason for being here if you have approached me online. A belief we can have a different conversation is more imaginative than anything I've ever written and I write fiction.

If you want to know "what I'm really up to," think about that.

And there will be more updates.