Although I'm a
conventionally published writer, much of my work
has never passed through a printing press and has remained either in
typescript form or as a computer file. The Canadian
publisher who took on "The Chocolate Man", in 1995, rejected
my
next novel (don't bother, it's not on this website) and then left the
business. Maybe a message there somewhere.
Anyway, publishers and producers have taken only intermittent interest
in
what I have to offer. They don't see me as a money-spinner - and
they're probably right. I've never written a
best-seller.
On the other hand, I don't devote
much effort to attracting them. When material gets rejected at
the
first approach, I tend to put it aside and go onto something else.
That's contrary to all the best advice. Every writer - well almost
every writer - gets turned down. The trick is to persist.
Sending out manuscripts and individually-crafted covering letters,
however, is not only time-consuming; it is also humiliating, more than
faintly ridiculous and likely to be futile. I think of it as akin to
putting a
message into a bottle and throwing it into the sea in the hope that
someone will find it.
Moreover - as Robert Frost succinctly and beautifully expressed it - I
have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep.
If you find anything
here that pleases or interests or even irritates you - feel free to let
me know!
WORK IN PROGRESS
- Novel - "The Conquest of Mexico" (first draft completed)
- Book of essays and short pieces entitled "Canada Dry"
(substantially complete)
- Book of short stories provisionally entitled
"Latinoamérica Mía" (50% complete)
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