15 May '08

Viewer Mail

It's been a long time since I received any Gods-related fan mail. Back when it first hit the shelves, accompanied by a sprinkling of publicity, a few readers sent their praises and criticisms. Then it launched in Italy, and clawed its way to the top of the best-seller heap (courtesy of Sonzogno's killer marketing team), and the fan mail I received was all in Italian. I didn't understand a word of it. Well, maybe a few words. Mostly the good ones.

But it seems Gods is still floating around out there, in the capitalist version of limbo: the dollar store. A recent emailer came to read Gods courtesy of a Dollartree, and he wanted to tell me the backstory. I love backstories, especially when they end with praise.

Hello Mr. Nathan,
 
This would be the first time in short life of 22 years that i've actually written a letter or e-mail to anyone I don't know.  Normally, doing something like this would just be an afterthought and I would go about my life, soon to forget it.
 
However, I was... entranced by your book and the almost funny circumstances surrounding how I came to procure your novel.  Before I start, I just want to let you know that I am long winded but out of respect, i'll try to keep my story short and sweet.  Anyway, without further ado...
 
I work at a small independent advertising sales office and i've been working their for two years, now.  I have often wondered if it would ever get any easier to call unsuspecting businesses around America asking them to advertise with us but after all this time, it hasn't.  My boss had me run an errand to get the whole office (5 people in total) a bunch of energy drinks to help us get through a particularly dreary day and as I was waiting in the line at my local Dollartree, standing behind two elderly ladies paying with what seemed to be a bunch of pennies, I saw your book and thought that reading might help me get through my day.  I saw "Gods of Aberdeen" amongst some of the other books and I read through a couple synopsis' of the books, including yours. Gods was the most intriguing.
 
I didn't expect much, to be honest with you.  I thought you were a female author when I first saw the name because I had a co-worker who was named Micah and she wasn't with us, too long but still, that was the only other time I had ever heard or seen that name.  I couldn't imagine a first person narrative coming from a male character being too accurate coming from a female author as they have just not been on that side of the fence while growing up but, during the first third of the book; I found the narrative to be incredibly intimate and I was sucked in, almost effortlessly.  This book absorbed me from cover to cover and I found out after those first hundred pages that you were a male author and it made more sense so...
 
Anyway, I just want to tell you that I really enjoyed the book and I almost feel bad for only spending a dollar on it.  I felt like I owed you this letter, at least.  It must take ages to finish a novel and while I have wanted be an author since I was young, the undertaking has seemed almost futile.  The allure of a safer job in accounting or something like that beckons me when I think of my dream of living in a house on the beach in Oregon, someday.  But your book has kind of helped to remind me that i'm still young.  I still have time to make a change in my life and i'll have to make a decision between following my heart and following the almighty dollar.
 
I don't want to rant on too much longer but I just want you to know that I loved Eric and the rest of the characters in Gods.  I don't read books too often and when I get something good, I don't stop reading until i'm finished... only i'm always disappointed when a good book ends because that's the last thing i'll know about a character that i've grown attached to.  Keep up the good work and i'll keep my eye out for any future works you come out with... and not just at the Dollartree.
 
Take care and thanks for being an author,
 
Caleb Lowrance

I'm heartened to hear the synopsis actually performed its duty--that is, selling the book without giving away too much. Writing book jacket copy is a nail-chewing prospect, and the good news is your marketing team takes on the challenge, then sends you the first draft. The bad news is that we authors are a territorial, nit-picky bunch. I spent way too long editing the synopsis, and I'm pretty sure my final version was close to my first version. The hours (days) spent between first attempt and last, desperate gasp were almost useless. Almost as in 90%.

There are far more experienced writers than I who can talk about the inherent futility of the writing life--and maybe years from now I'll look back on this post and chastise my younger self for saying futility is inherent, rather than symptomatic--but I don't think this futility is a bad thing. All artists struggle with futility, even the really happy ones. In fact, forget I said artists. Futility finds its way into all pursuits, so you may as well let it find its way into a pursuit you love.