So Go On

I've read a couple articles lately, including this one and one in the current issue of P&W, that essentially say: fiction is dead, books are dead, so write whatever the hell you want. Take chances - no one's going to read it anyway. It's basically a roundabout way of saying be yourself. It's disappointing that it takes the perceived irrelevance of fiction to inspire writers to do what they want; that may be why fiction is irrelevant to some people. Following the herd will always be an issue in art, as it is in life; art will always be 'dead.' It's died now several times since I've been alive.

My first novel comes out in November, and I have no expectation it will be any kind of success. It's definitely a book I'd write, one I'd like to read. My only hope is that I get the opportunity to keep writing the books I want to, and that somewhere in the storm of voices I'm heard.

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