OF COURSE YOU DID

And Another Further Breathless Update

My new novella, Of Course You Did (shop here), is perched at number 9,740 on Amazon Canada’s list of literary fiction bestsellers. It’s a bit like breaking into the Top 10 except with a few extra zeroes. My head is swollen and I’ve not even popped a blue diamond pill yet.

The Amazon ranking reflects my obscurity. A recent item in The New York Times reminded me of this factual fact. A genre author complained about the unfairness of their books having to compete with those of more famous, albeit deceased, masters on the shelves of Barnes & Noble. Imagine browsing the jazz racks in a record shop, searching for Billie Holiday or Eartha Kitt only to be presented with Diana Krall. I’m not particularly gratified that Amazon readers prefer 9,739 literary titles to Of Course You Did, but this is reality. I’m not precious.

I’ve never approached the Canada Council for the Arts for funding. I’ve never asked anyone for a hand or a leg up. I always figured I’d sink or stand, swim or fall, on my merit as a writer. My game was never rigged and I worked hard to improve it as much as my life would permit. Right now, Of Course You Did is the best that I can do.

The wonder of the arts is its legacy, not current trends and market conditions, but the magic of all that has come before. Writers, painters, architects, choreographers, actors, directors, dancers, musicians and comedians must necessarily compete not only in the present but also with the documented past. Rich histories in the various arts aren’t to be resented; they are to be embraced as the foundations of the natural order of things. The poet who writes a sonnet must always be cognizant of Shakespeare and Shelley, just as Percy was of Will. It’s an honour just to be on the same playing field, be it paper, canvas, celluloid, stone and steel, or stage boards.

Here at the Crooked 9 my hardback author’s copy of Of Course You Did is nestled between Irish-Canadian novelist Brian Moore and a few works by the prolific English writer John Mortimer. Pretty fine company even though both men are deceased and will continue to sell more books than I ever possibly can. It’s no small joy to rub covers and mingle; I’m just delighted to be there.                

meGeoff has been your most unreliable, unbalanced and inaccurate alternative source of limp self-promotion since 2013. My novella Of Course You Did is out now. Visit www.megeoff.com to find your preferred format or retailer.