WITH A BANG, NOT A WHIMPER

As my friend and fellow author D says, we must be shameless in promoting our books. Competition is great in the writing world. Just walk into Barnes & Nobel and feel the force of the written word bombard you as you stand transfixed, a lilliputian in a world of giants. The experience is overwhelming, and makes us wonder why in the world we think we are good enough to compete? Why do we keep at it? Because, my friends, we have a story to tell. As we are Lilliputians in the world of giants, so are there Lilliputians in our heads, little folks waiting to be heard, begging for adventures, begging to materialize on the pages of our books. They are there and can't be ignored.

When we first sit to write, we think it is the hardest part of the process; the gut-wrenching, head-ache provoking process of feeding lines to our Lilliputians, giving them settings, facts, adventures; not to mention the endless research of the minutest detail. Indeed this is difficult, but nothing is as difficult as the promotion of a book. Nothing can twist your insides or turn your stomach to mush as the first moment of presenting a book to the public...to the unknown strangers who want to read stories, and be satisfied. As they walk away with your book in hand, you fight to keep the lilliputian in you standing tall, shameless and proud that the pages you took hours, months or years to complete and perfect, now belong to the world.

The Chestertown Book Fest held in charming Chestertown, MD, yesterday, is an example of writers being shameless. I was thrilled to be a part of the festival, held in the quaint Prince Theater. The quality of books and authors was impressive as all get-out. Sharing the day with my fellow writer friends was priceless. Were we shameless? Yes, because we need to be, we need to be proud of ourselves, and, besides, it is honestly joyful to meet new people, to converse and share ideas, experiences, and especially with those from other countries!