The Best Thing About My Newfound Authorship

I’m a guy who lives on the little things. I have a brief conversation with someone, and it sparks an idea. From there, it marinates in my brain until it becomes a thought. Most times, when someone gives me even a minute of their time to have a discussion, it’s an interaction that divides and multiplies until it’s something much bigger than it actually was, for better or for worse.

By this, I mean to say, if you’ve played even a small part in my life, you mean more to me than you know. (Unless you were a jerk.)

Yesterday, I ran into a neighbor, and he took a minute to congratulate me on my novel. It got me talking, and it got me thinking. Much like when I’m writing, I express a thought, and it leads to another bigger thought. I told my neighbor that it’s been awesome to see Carrier get into the world after it’s been in my head for so long, and the best part is people are starting to talk to me about it and express their own ideas about it.

I realized the best thing about getting my work out there is finally getting to deliver those ideas to other people. The best thing about fiction, in general, is being able to interpret a story and then talk to someone else about it who may have their own ideas. And together, your discussion leads to even greater ideas.

It’s such a simple thing, and I’ve been doing it with other people’s work for as long as I can remember.

The best part of being an author is getting to be a fan. You see, it’s been so long since I’ve seen the Carrier text that I’m no longer the closest person to it. Sure, I’ll always have the experience of writing it to draw upon, but it’s interesting to finally feel like I’ve pushed it away from me and that there are other people on the other side of the table who are reading it and having their own ideas about it. And now we’re talking about it. And it’s leading to more ideas. And we’re learning. We’re learning so much.

It isn’t vanity. I’m honestly not great at dealing with this kind of attention. I’d almost rather scratch my name off of the cover and hand it to you just to see what you think.

It’s genuine passion for storytelling. Carrier was an idea that occurred to me. It was a passive thing. It flew out of the ether, and I just happened to snatch it out of the air before it fell out of my reach. The idea led to another idea, and I went along for the ride.

And now it’s in your hands, and it’s leading you places. It’s just incredibly humbling to me. I have no illusions that I created this thing because, whatever Carrier is, it’s still occurring. Someone may be reading it right now, and Carrier is happening. And hopefully they will tell me what kinds of ideas they had while reading it.

The best part of being an author is the sharing of ideas. I may have started this conversation, but it’s in your hands now. Speak up. Feel free to leave me a message here or on Facebook or Twitter. I’m always around.