The Surreal 6×9
March 4, 2011
IT IS A SUBLIME EXPERIENCE HOLDING YOUR OWN BOOK IN YOUR HAND FOR THE FIRST TIME.
It’s difficult to describe. You feel happiness, of course, and a bit of pride as well along with satisfaction and a tinge of sadness for having come to the end of a long journey
.
For me, it’s surreal. All the daydreaming and planning, pacing a trench in the patio stones, all those late nights typing away, all the editing and tweaking, all the fuss. Drafts and drafts–revelation and innovation. More editing. More hair-pulling.
There’s the moments of frustration and indecision, and you cry aloud: “Is this really worth it?” I used to have hobbies and a semblance of a life. My annoyed wife waiting to go to the movies. The world outside my basement and the more nefarious one churning in my own head.
And then there it is, sitting in your hand, bound and glossy. A rectangle of you all painted and pretty.
Bowl Naked.
RG
The Temple of the Exploding Head 
It’s WONDERFUL, Ren: )There is nothing lovelier than completing a work of art, and feeling satisfied afterward. The only thing better is having others relate to you how their lives have been touched by something you have created–something which was only a bunch of scribbled notes in a notebook, a bunch of ideas. I am proud of you. I will certainly never have your gift for writing such complex and interwoven worlds and characters. Nicely done, and congratulations!
Well said, Chris, and thank you. I was absolutely captivated by Precipice. I’ve been to San Francisco once (for two whole days) and I saw nothing. Having read your work, I feel as if I’ve lived there all my life.