Friday 14 August 2009

MAKING BEAUTY PUBLISHABLE

This post by thoughtful and clever author, Emma Darwin, contains lots of apt stuff for all of us, whether published or trying to be. It also connects with this recent post of mine on pigeon-holes.

I like the way it rather successfully answers that thorny question, "So, you mean I have to sell my soul, sell my art, in order to be published? I have to sell out???" No, you don't. You can if you want to but you don't have to. What you do have to do is not be so self-indulgent, so self-obsessed, that you earn no readers with your unattractive selfishness.

It's a bit like Pointy Thought 1 - that the world doesn't owe you a contract.

I was going to treat you with a photo of the Edinburgh Book Festival DDay minus 1, but I walked all the way up there in the rain and then forgot to take a picture of it. Instead, you can have a picture of my sitting-room four days before the AGM and party which are pretty much all I'm thinking about at the moment (with apologies to all the people who are coming to my events which I should be thinking about - fear not, I'll be perfectly prepared when the time comes.)



And yes, those are Starbucks bags that you see before you. In them are not only 200 bags of coffee but 200 bars of chocolate, I'll have you know. Chocolate that I may not eat. It's killing me.

Oh, I have just remembered that although I forgot to take a pictire of the outside of the book festival and the sign saying One Day To Go, I did take a picture inside the foyer. Doesn't it look calm? You'd never know that this time tomorrow it will be buzzing.

3 comments:

Suzanne Jones said...

Am getting goosebumps just looking at that pic of the foyer - can't wait for tomorrow. (Sorry, I know you're going to be working hard.)

:-)

PS I think you should eat the chocolate. I can't tell you how much chocolate I've eaten over the years that was bought for other people (and then I wonder why I'm fat).

Jane Smith said...

That Emma Darwin is good, isn't she? I love her blog AND her books.

And despite all your panic I wish I were there. That foyer shot fills me with trembling delight (I am easily pleased). Now go and eat more chocolate because we all know you've had some.

catdownunder said...

Chocolate, like tuna, is best savoured slowly and meditatively.