Inhaling Briefly
Inhaling Briefly
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Publication day is quieter than you’ll anticipate. You might image an alignment of stars, press, attention, validation. It is not this. It is more like a seal slipping into the water.
And so it is quiet and there is a low because the last two years of work have come to a head. The work is out there. Now people say lovely things and ask about the next book. And you thank them for their kindness and silently hope for a few weeks at least before you have to concern yourself with the next project. The calling card of capitalism, the anxiety to be constantly productive, bleeds itself into even the arts.
And there are disappointments still. Like being uninvited to literary festivals or being turned down for desired opportunities. These things happen at the same time as the best things. Nothing waits its turn. And so it becomes difficult to be grateful for all the good when all the bad happens in tandem. This contradiction splits a seem across your back. There are only a few solitary seconds in the morning when it doesn’t exist.
Strange to feel completely lost, or stuck, or failing in the days following a new book’s publication. This is certainly unexpected. You would have assumed the opposite. Is success the thing that makes us the most sick?
No matter what, the sun rises and sets and all the worries in-between affect nothing save for the minds they consume. And I wonder if it will all work out. I wonder this the most.
My latest book, A Brief Inhalation, is now available to purchase, online, and in good bookshops.