New Book Coming!

I have a new book coming out soon. It is currently in the proofing process. Don't know how long that will take.

But I'm excited about all this.

This excitement is a little strange to me. My last two books did not create the anticipation I'm experiencing with this new book. I'm not sure why. It should always be a grand moment when one's book is published. In a way, it's almost like giving birth, but without the physical pain (though there's often pain of other sorts).

I think part of the reason is that the book drove me for a while until it ran out of steam. Then I had to take over driving it to the finish line. There was some agony in that.

But I also think that it seems like this will be my penultimate book.

There's one more I want to finish that's been in the works for a few years. After that, I have no plans for any more books. Not sure what to think about that at this point.

Anyway, here's the front cover.



Echoes from the Antechamber is a similar format to Hallucination of Majestic Elephants which I published in 2010. It starts off with short stories, goes into poetry and finishes with essays. I like that format - it gives me the freedom to write in any manner I feel like.

This probably isn't a formula for success in the mass market. I gave up thinking about the mass market a long time ago. Seems all it wants are stories about vampires and erotica. Or motivational/kiss-and-tell/political/DIY-type books. Or cheap 99¢ e-books. The thirst for sensationalism, sex and fantasy has supplanted literary quality for quite a while in our culture. That's why Harry Potter and the Twilight series outsell more thoughtful works on a regular basis.

What we consume is a reflection of our mindset. I guess those who are smart write to satisfy that mindset and make a living doing so.

The rest of us just wanted to write books until we were done saying whatever it was that caused us to write in the first place.

Maybe we should have just started diaries instead.