#tbdne

The flexibility of digital publishing provides opportunities for artists to reevaluate their work. I’ve been writing screenplays for the past two-plus years, and I’m reaching the end of that project phase. As I think through what to focus on in 2016, my brain has returned to fiction. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed collaborating with other artists for this stretch but perhaps everyone needs bursts of autonomy. I’m not sure. It’s something I’m thinking about. 

Nevertheless, I’ve also been considering whether I made a mistake in revising and updating the original manuscript for my novel This Book Does Not Exist. That first edit was messy, and in some ways, as a writer, embarrassing. However, it was also so incredibly true to that moment in my life that polishing it took away whatever power it had. I wrote to survive that breakup. Art is about truth and authenticity, now more so than ever since we are all capable of capturing and sharing our actual lives with others. It only makes sense then that the novel that poured out of my soul would be a better piece of art, if not a better piece of writing. 

Therefore, I have gone back in to the Amazon store and republished the original raw and uncut version of TBDNE in ebook form. The revised and updated second edition will remain available, but only in paperback. It feels right.

If you missed TBDNE the first time around, you can find it here. Please forgive the fact that my stand-in has a Blackberry. It is set in 2010. Nostalgia though...

I listen to a lot of rap. And I don't listen to Nipsey Hussle, but I respect and admire his yearn to experiment by selling his album for $100 (his logic is explained in this letter). I have had a similar thought about the paperback edition of my novel, This Book Does Not Exist - why not make it a premium product for collectors / super fans / supporters? Price can do that. It can make something scarcer than it otherwise would be. 

I've written in this space before about the artistic and commercial merits of volume, i.e. franchises, sequels, transmedia:

In a culture where the audience for art and entertainment is significantly fragmented then, it seems that the best chance to have a broad cultural impact is to stretch across multiple forms of media… to write a book that gets turned into a movie and then later on is adapted for TV… and maybe there’s a video game and an app and a Broadway play… to show up and stick your art has to be everywhere. If I had to bet, I would be more likely to put my money on people still watching HARRY POTTER 50 years from now than I would on PULP FICTION. 

To put this idea in industry speak, franchises and transmedia matter - not just for commercial reasons but for cultural reasons, as well. I admit that this is part of the reason I’m moving towards writing a sequel to This Book Does Not Exist while simultaneously exploring the possibility of broadening the source material into other forms of media, like television.

Well, I went and did it. I wrote a sequel to This Book Does Not Exist. More specifically, I wrote part one of the sequel, as I'm serializing the project, offering new installments every two to three months. The plan - right now at least - is to do five parts, although that could change, as could the timing of all of this since being a working writer necessitates juggling multiple projects simultaneously. But when I say I'm going to do something I do it; no need to worry that it won't get finished. 

For $.99 you can buy Part I of TBDNE 2: New Ghosts To Chase here. If you're a member of Amazon Prime you can borrow it for free. Part I is about 21K words long, or roughly 38% of the length of the original. 

***Spoilers regarding TBDNE follow***

The story of TBDNE 2 concerns Mike's struggle to overcome the loss of Naomi and the start of his search for new love. Concurrently, we follow a mysterious unidentified girl who discovers the Door after breaking up with her boyfriend. Her name: the girl. Part I even features a chapter written by Geppetto. And most important it explains why Naomi failed to get on the plane to Los Angeles, and how come she didn't show up at the movies after destroying the Door, two questions, I know, that a lot of people wished had been answered in the first book!

As always, I welcome your encouragement, discouragement, reviews, nudes... okay, not nudes, that was a joke, but everything else I'm deeply serious about. Your feedback will influence me as I write the rest of the parts of the book. You have the power to change what I write next!

With appreciation and love,

"Mike would never adjust to living at his parents’ house, a two-story colonial with light gray vinyl siding, dark gray shutters, a brick chimney, a pointed roof, and a freshly painted red front door that he repainted white in a rogue act, undertaken the first evening his mother and father left him home alone. They did not understand what he had done, and he could not explain himself, but his mother saw him shaking when his father brought the remainder of the red paint out of the basement and therefore let it be. The door could always be scraped and painted again, once her son was gone, once he had moved on. She prayed the rosary that night; her husband read the New Testament. Mike succumbed to paranoia, spending most of the night watching over the door, standing outside on the grass, terrified it would turn red the instant he closed his eyes or left his post. He pondered developing a drug habit to cope. He knew marijuana could make him paranoid, but if he was already paranoid, he thought, then maybe it could make him sane."

Based on this review, the answer is yes. 

I would, however, like to argue this advice. While I respect and appreciate all constructive feedback, I think anyone who encourages any writer to withhold their work from the public is misguided.

Why?

First off, if that piece of art has a meaningful impact on even one individual than it has served a purpose. 

Secondly, releasing work into the world yields some kind of reaction - a reaction you can learn from that will help improve your next project. 

"What's happening, Mike?" they shouted from across the Internet.

"Loneliness," I say, regrettably, as I update all of my social media profiles, watch an out of print movie on YouTube, and then continue to answer the question but only in my mind. The snow outside is relentless. Earlier, I walked to the gym with one goal: Avoid becoming Jack Nicholson, frozen to death at the end of THE SHINING. My dad has bronchitis. My brother is the only person in my family with blonde hair. My mom intentionally sets her clock to the wrong time. My girlfriend doesn't exist.

Apparently disappointed with the vocalized portion of my answer, the interrogator yaps at me again, "What are you doing tonight, Mike?" I don't bother replying because I don't think they care. Instead I ask a question: 

"Should I sign up for online dating or should I preheat my oven to 400 degrees and then open the door and lay on top of it?"