Sunday, December 2, 2007
Five O'Clock Shadow 95
Listening to: Various tunes by Soul Coughing
While sitting at: Mama Java's coffee shop in Phoenix
Accomplishing: Some Podiobooks.com updates and general information housekeeping
When I should be: Nothing. This is Sunday.
But I'm really looking forward: To making dinner tonight. Salmon and pasta, me thinks.
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Hey Evo,
ReplyDeleteI've been trying to post this for weeks, and the podiobooks site never lets me post (it gives me this thing saying my message has been picked up by the spam filter). Anyway, if you could put this on my site, and direct people to it, I would really appreciate it. Please don't think an asshole. I never meant to be. I ver much appreciate the work you did for me, and what podiobooks is doing. Here's my note to my readers:
Hello Everyone,
I apologize for taking so long to write a response. As many of you may appreciate, life is complicated, and things happen that render podcasting fantasy novels trivial. I don't mean to belittle what I or any of the other authors do here, but for reasons more personal than fiscal, other things have taken priority in my life.
First of all, to defend against a bit of defamation. I am 24 years old. I have written four complete novels. I have had two major agents, including ICM, which is the agency that represented F. Scott Fitzgerald, and many other great authors in the last six decades. I have written numerous short stories and articles, and had them published in major magazines (Tin House, McSweeney's, ReadyMade and others). I am not an amateur. I am not lazy. I write for two hours every day, and have for the last six years.
I stopped writing this book because it was making me unhappy. I don't typically write genre fiction. As a child, I loved science-fiction and fantasy, but these days, I find it escapist. In a world with so much television and film, so much fantasy, I think literature should aspire to more. Much work on this site does. I am not trying to denigrate what anyone is doing. I still have a soft spot for genre fiction. But it wasn't inspiring me. I felt like I was writing for no reason that mattered. So I stopped, and started work on a book that truly interests me.
Again, I apologize sincerely for not talking to you about this decision. However, I would like to say this: I don't care about money. That's so unbelievably ridiculous, it insults all of us. No one who writes professionally cares about money. (The other work I do is as a professional musician; a song/video of mine was recently featured on the front page of YouTube (which is a site that pays nothing, in spite of the fact that my video received over 150,000 views), which was part of my distraction from TBC, along with applying to graduate schools, and personal issues). However, if you expect to read books being written for no money, you do have to create a new set of criteria. I realize it's frustrating to get involved in a story and not get an ending. However, this is the price you pay for getting entertainment, entertainment that requires hours of thought, work and dedication, for no money. I do not feel obligated to you, because I have not received a single thing from you. I received far more frustrated emails after I stopped than friendly emails while I was writing. Just so you know, I have not received a single cent for the 35,000 words of fiction I presented on the site. I am not greedy. I am not lazy.
So there you are. Believe me when I say that I'm sorry to those of you who truly loved the book. I hope someday to return to it. But you will not make me feel guilty for my decision. And perhaps, next time you think to malign someone creating art for your benefit, you might consider that it is the responsibility of those who appreciate art to help support it, not just with money, but with respect.
Tommy Wallach
'The Bright Child'