I quit my job. It’s quite a bold move but I feel it’s what I had to do. I have been writing since I was a child, but it wasn’t until recently that I realized I wanted to devote the rest of my life to writing. This realization is in part owed to the reaction of my Tumblr family toward the excerpts of my novel I have been posting. It’s quite intoxicating to receive Facebook and Tumblr messages from those of you who are touched by my words. It has done a lot for me. Perhaps more than you know. Thank you. Tumblr will always be my creative outlet.
But the realization is also owed to the way writing makes me feel. I love words. I love that we all have access to the same words but that there are infinite possibilities for the ways we can combine them, or mold them, or play with them.
Writing is the only thing in my life that makes sense. From the original thought, to the scribbled notes in my Moleskine, to the blank page on my computer screen, to the typed notes, to the building of a sentence, to the reworking of a sentence, and finally to a filled page on my computer screen. It’s a feeling that drives me every day. It’s a feeling that gets me out of bed. It’s a feeling that gives me the confidence to walk into a room full of people. It’s a feeling that makes me appreciate my time here.
Fuck it. One life to live. I am going to go after my dream with every thought, with every movement, with every part of me. The main character in John Fante’s novel Ask the Dust ate oranges every day until he could finally afford to eat something better. I think I can get by eating oranges. I will do what it takes.
There is a small team of people working with me. Remember that guy who asked me to write a letter of recommendation for his admittance into graduate school? He has asked me to forgo trying to publish my novel in the traditional way. He has asked me to consider being a part of something potentially greater, a grass-roots campaign where the little guy can rise up and do something spectacular. He seems to think I have written something special enough to make this happen.
We have taken my novel to Kickstarter, which will allow me to pay my editors, designers, proofreaders, publisher, and eat food while I work on my novel, Isn’t it Pretty To Think So, every day, uninterrupted until I believe it is complete. I only agreed to do this because of the support I have received from the Tumblr community. It feels right.
Anyone who gives $20 will receive a signed copy of my book when it’s published. Anyone who gives $50 will receive a signed copy of my book and a new Moleskine notebook. The one person who gives $5,000 will receive a signed copy of my book, a copy of the unedited manuscript, the Moleskine I used to make notes, and the Macbook Pro that I used to write the book.
Thank you for being a part of my journey so far. I would have never made the decision to go after this dream if it wasn’t for your support. Now, let’s make it happen: http://kck.st/f5YSeB
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