On the Introduction of My Life as a Myth... The Real Story
Recently, I was asked by an admirer of My Life as a Myth about the blog entry "My Life as a Myth, Introduced by the Author" from back in May. With some minor changes, this entry has found its way to the Amazon listing for the book.
The question was whether the story recounted in the blog entry is in fact how My Life as a Myth came about. Frankly, I had never considered the possibility that anyone would think of it as anything other than a fictional account of the origin of a piece of fiction. Therefore, let me clarify the matter here: No, the blog entry "My Life as a Myth, Introduced by the Author" is not a factual account; it is itself a piece of fiction thought up for publication day.
The actual story of Myth's origin has been mentioned in several interviews and I'll recount it here. On a Monday morning in the autumn of last year I was getting ready to leave for an appointment. Suddenly, the phrase "my life is a myth" crept through my mind and it just seemed important to jot it down. When I returned later in the day, I sat down and wrote what became the opening scene, Nick waiting for the bus on his first day of high school. That scene read fairly closely to what was eventually published, and with it the story was underway.
As I initially coneived it, the book would be about a poor schlemiel who kept getting into trouble through no fault of his own. Therefore, I thought Myth would just be a comical story. But I wrote a scene where Nick meets a group of guys, including Bobby Warren and at that moment, I realized the story had to be about Nick and Bobby's flowering relationship. Then certain themes began to bubble to the surface and as I've noted before, some scenes/sections left me as startled as anyone. In short, I was at the mercy of the Muses (they're quite the bullies, you know) to write the story they wanted. Thus, six or seven months from that Monday morning when a phrase popped into my head I received an offer, and five months or so after that the book was published.
Since that day in May, I've been astonished by the positive response to Myth and deeply humbled by the generous compliments I've received by so many readers, reviewers, and other authors. I want to thank everyone for their support and say how much I appreciate your kind words.
Thank you each and all!
But no, "My Life as a Myth, Introduced by the Author" is just another myth.
Maybe a future edition will include it as a prologue.
The question was whether the story recounted in the blog entry is in fact how My Life as a Myth came about. Frankly, I had never considered the possibility that anyone would think of it as anything other than a fictional account of the origin of a piece of fiction. Therefore, let me clarify the matter here: No, the blog entry "My Life as a Myth, Introduced by the Author" is not a factual account; it is itself a piece of fiction thought up for publication day.
The actual story of Myth's origin has been mentioned in several interviews and I'll recount it here. On a Monday morning in the autumn of last year I was getting ready to leave for an appointment. Suddenly, the phrase "my life is a myth" crept through my mind and it just seemed important to jot it down. When I returned later in the day, I sat down and wrote what became the opening scene, Nick waiting for the bus on his first day of high school. That scene read fairly closely to what was eventually published, and with it the story was underway.
As I initially coneived it, the book would be about a poor schlemiel who kept getting into trouble through no fault of his own. Therefore, I thought Myth would just be a comical story. But I wrote a scene where Nick meets a group of guys, including Bobby Warren and at that moment, I realized the story had to be about Nick and Bobby's flowering relationship. Then certain themes began to bubble to the surface and as I've noted before, some scenes/sections left me as startled as anyone. In short, I was at the mercy of the Muses (they're quite the bullies, you know) to write the story they wanted. Thus, six or seven months from that Monday morning when a phrase popped into my head I received an offer, and five months or so after that the book was published.
Since that day in May, I've been astonished by the positive response to Myth and deeply humbled by the generous compliments I've received by so many readers, reviewers, and other authors. I want to thank everyone for their support and say how much I appreciate your kind words.
Thank you each and all!
But no, "My Life as a Myth, Introduced by the Author" is just another myth.
Maybe a future edition will include it as a prologue.
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