(Dick by the chimney)
(Hanging up the handbag)It might be a slight exaggeration to say that ‘practically’ every spare minute I have is taken up with tasks all associated with the forthcoming book, but it sometimes feels like that... – I never knew it would be so time-consuming or that indeed I would end up working finger-to-bone to make sure that I get all the things on the ‘Salt - To Do’ list done in time for the book to be published in September. It’s like entering a totally new world – and I’m stalling and sinking and spinning and sending things flying and flying too...it is exciting even if I know that the part that I’m most looking forward to is just being able to get back to writing again – in the dark, incognito with the inner-critic safely tucked up in her bunk bed on the highest rung of my head-ladder…at the moment, she is in her element, high-fiving, high-dohing and generally whipping up a frenzy with her pointy ruler and red pen….saying ‘get to it, get to it’ as she snaps her snazzy fingers in front of my eyes…
Even in sleep, peace can be hard to come by – the other night I dreamt that the book title was no longer The Wrong Miracle but The Christmas Pig and that the cover consisted of a woodcutter and axe and a piglet with a look of terror on his face – my mission was to stop the publication of said-book as there were thousands of copies all flying out of the printers…luckily, in the nightmare, Salt came to the rescue – we had a massive bonfire to get rid of the The Christmas Pig books and started from scratch with The Wrong Miracle! Revealing or what…?
Another thing my inner-critic has made me do is reduce all capitals in ‘God’ to lower case letters – ‘god’. I’ve noticed that God does pop up in my poems quite a bit, but in very strange situations that are not at all God-like so in order not to cause consternation to my folks, I’ve ended up demoting ‘God’ so that ‘god’ won’t appear as …well, you know...irreverent or something... Is this a cowardly act? Should I stick to my poetry-guns and forget about my inner-critic?
So have others noticed weird things happening in the mind at pre-book stage? (or at any stage, actually…) And proofing – not my forté at all - I skive off whenever I can and when I'm at it, it's a consistent comma-alert act…(but colons are not getting a look-in…no way…) Just wondering what your experiences are if you're working up to having a book coming out or if you have a book out or whatever...what is it that you like least or best about it all? And is it worth it? (or should I just beg, steal or borrow a 1000 € and buy all the books myself and keep them in the basement, thus avoiding having to promote the book...? It's looking like a tempting option... (just joking, honestly!...; ))
I never realised till recently all that is involved in launching a book. Naively I thought that the poet just wrote the book and that was the end of their duties, that the publisher did everyhing else - now wouldn't that be nice? Great pic of Bosco, er, I mean Dick the Boyo, by the way.Good luck with the proof reading and if you do decide to buy all the wrong miracles be sure and save one fer me. :)
ResponderEliminarWhat a great dream! That should be a poem (or even a story maybe) - such great imagery (and this from a person who's not particularly image-heavy). It's very much like a pre-giving-birth dream.
ResponderEliminarIt's interesting all this anxiety...especially as you strike me as a person who isn't hugely anxious in every day life (I could be wrong there of course). I'm kind of the other way round...though I did keep changing my mind about which poems to include and where to put them. But then I was pretty much my own editor (rightly or wrongly!).
As for god (or God) in your heart of hearts you know which version you prefer. It might even be that in some places one version is truer to what you are saying/writing than the other...I don't think it has to be either/or....depends on the poem.
xxx
Hi TFE, I got that illusion shattered too - every move is more or less up to the writer...which is good really as the Publisher is saying they trust the writer to get it right...I'd prefer it this way than to having a Publisher take over completely... and yes, Dicko, he loves looking down at us from above and planning ways to scamper... ; )
ResponderEliminarI see myself in Moore street with the Christmas- wrapping-paper ladies, flogging Wrong Miracle for a dozen of eggs ; ) (I'll swap you a book for a bit of shit-fortune-telling that you talked of earlier...; ))
Hi Rachel,
True about the pre-birthing, even though I've never given birth, it seems to fit in with what I've read...
I am a bit of a worrier, at times, it mixes in with devil-may-care too though...a mixed-bag is me ... : )
I'm basically my own editor in this too - see above wee note to TFE... it's good - better than the alternative of having to jump too many hoops for someone else.
And yeah, the God/god thing - you're right and I see it that way too but some hidden Catholic-guilt thing must be making me lower those capitals now that the poems will be going public! ; ) (I may change my mind a few times on this, though!)
Hi
ResponderEliminarI don't do poems but fiction - when my book was on the chocks with Salt, I dreamed more than once that we were sitting down to a family lunch and had to eat the book.
Cover stories - we had a serious nightmare with mine. The cover pic we'd been working on for months and had bought from the agency... was withdrawn at the 11th hour. Chris H E put mine together within the last 24 hrs before going to print.
enjoy... it will all come right.
Hi Vanessa,
ResponderEliminarWhat a scenario - the book-appearing-in-the casserole-dish type of dream, I like it : )
And wow! that was a dramatic run-up to the book going to print, I love the cover of your book - Chris did a good job there.
Yes, it is all very exciting - a whole mix of emotions really and enjoyment is definitely there too, thankfully. : )
Hi Sarah,
ResponderEliminarNice to meet you...thanks for dropping by...and for commenting - am about to pop over to your blog/webpage! : )