I finished.

When I made a promise in February to complete the first draft of my second novel by March, I was serious. Since mid-March, this book has been sitting in completion, waiting for an expected publication.

The desire to bring this story to the light of publicity is great, but the load of darkness in these written words has been greater. For this reason, among others, I must inform any patient readers and curious wanderers that this book will NOT be published. At least, not in any anticipated future.

When I made this decision, I admit that I felt like a failed artist; that my craft had abandoned me, or my hands had wronged the art. Yet, I knew that it was not poorly written. In fact, I do consider this novel to contain some of my best writing. Perhaps instead, in ways not understood, it is just not meant to be told for the world. I ponder every day against the guilt I feel for enslaving this story into pages, only to realize that in the world, the inspired battle had not finished. There could be no true, concluding tale without some real exemplar of console.

Once I was ashamed of my decision to not publish, as if it disvalued the work—as if it didn’t count because it wasn’t “copyrighted” or “for official sale”. What I wish to say is simple: just because you have to make a decision different than what people expect, doesn’t mean it’s wrong. Never let your hard work go unknown because it wasn’t finished like the timelines of success entail.

In conclusion, I have decided to admit this novel’s existence out of humility. No matter one’s measure of skill, there’s time: a time to work and appreciate, and a time to change and learn.

— General book information —
Title: Those Awful Things
Page count: 400+ (unformatted)
Genre: Drama, Dark Drama

Much love.

05/06/2022