I Support Writers


I support writers. Much to the detriment of my wallet. I walked into Borders on my lunch break yesterday and saw a sign for a local author who was scheduled to do a reading. So I go upstairs and see that there's a good-sized crowd, which was nice, as I've been there on occasions when there is no crowd at all.
That always makes me feel bad for the writer.

Anyway, this guy Brendan Short is the author of Dream City. It's literary fiction in the tradition of Nelson Algren and Michael Chabon. I will admit that I don't read much literary fiction these days. In my twenties and thirties, when I thought I would be the next James Baldwin, that's all I read. But after I decided to write YA it became about the only genre I read. Blah, blah, blah.

So Brendan gave his reading, complete with singing from a participating audience member. Yes. Singing. There's an Irish lullaby in the book and she sang the passage in a very beautiful voice.

From what I heard, it sounds like an interesting story. So I bought it and got him to sign it for me. I asked him about agents and he mentioned Miss Snark and Agent Query, two sites I'm sure you're all familiar with. I couldn't resist buying, just to support fellow writers. So that's my Good Literary Deed for the Day.

Maybe I'll read it in a few years.

4 comments:

Lift Heavy Rock said...

I support writers so much that it angers my wife :)

Ray Veen said...

Maybe you'll read it in a few years?

Thanks for the good laugh.

Carrie Harris said...

The cover is cool, anyway. You could prop it up on your desk and say it's decorative. :)

Anonymous said...

I'm a great believer in supporting living writers by buying their books and buying the dead ones' books second-hand.

Good for you, on an impulse, supporting another writer. Sounds like you got a good experience out of it.