The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Writer

... or, to be more accurate, the next stage of the journey begins.

A publishing contract has been signed and so the first leg, writing the thing, is over.  I now must treat it as though hewn from stone, rather than the waters of creativity.  No more tweaking, time to move on.  It's been with me so long that it might be hard to let go ... but let go I must!

So what are my hopes and fears for ‘Grosse Fugue’?  Should I reveal my innermost thoughts?  Perhaps not yet.  As any author knows, the greatest hunger is for an audience, preferably one as large as possible.  Of course, there's a revenue attraction to that.  But for many, it's just the notion of our work being read by many hearts and minds.

A few may love it, many may loathe it.  A handful might be moved, others offended.  With any luck, no-one will be indifferent, the true mark of failure.  But I hope that some may be tempted for the first time to delve into the music that permeates the novel - Bach, Beethoven, Schubert - and then perhaps relish the consolation, inspiration and transportation that I have sought to communicate.  And if one or two are stimulated to think about the Holocaust, its meaning and legacy, then I might just begin to think that the journey was worthwhile.

There, the context is set.  The purpose of this blog series is to share the experience of writing a novel and seeking a publisher, and to explain the process of getting the work out there in print and digitally.  It will be a serial of excitement and frustration, bloody-mindedness and compromise, highs and lows, hopes and fears.

My next post will return to the very beginning.

Ian Phillips is a freelance writer for businesses whose first novel, Grosse Fugue, will be published by Alliance Publishing Press this Spring