Sunday, March 18, 2018

'The Erotic Writer's Thesaurus' Nears Completion


As of this writing, The Erotic Writer’s Thesaurus is nearing completion. Hard to believe I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel after nearly five years, but, then, I’m not complaining. I estimate another four to six weeks to complete the editorial work, and maybe another month beyond that to finish the formatting. The book will be widely available in paperback—a rather thick paperback at around 500 8.5 x 11 pages—and I am currently exploring the possibility of making a PDF version available on CD-R or even flash drive so that users can have easy access to it on their computers.

Still, I wonder, will anybody really want this book? Will the literally thousands of hours I’ve put into it make any difference when potential buyers balk at the price? (And the paperback will probably be a bit expensive given size and production costs. I estimate in the 20-dollar (USD) range.)  Will it be of any use to anybody? With over 20,000 entries, will people complain that it’s unnecessarily nebulous, too unfocused, or not nearly close to exhaustive? (An exhaustive exploration of erotic vocabulary would be impossible, of course, and, as with all reference books of this type, the book will be obsolete even before it hits the market.) Will all my hard work be for naught?

In any case, I plan to take a long sabbatical once the work is complete. I haven’t had a real vacation in over ten years, and, it seems, my whole life has been consumed by work to the exclusion of everything else. I’ve kept at it in spite of depression, illness (the last six weeks), and all the various headwinds that life has chosen to blow in my direction, determined not to quit, even though sometimes it feels like I’m rolling a rock up a hill in Hades. I will finish, but I want it to be over—and with good reason. After the recent launch of my novel The Seven Seductions—which appears to be going over like a gaudy lead balloon—and the continuing slog on the Thesaurus, I need a break, some breathing space in which I don’t feel obligated to have an opinion about…anything. Some time to recharge my creative batteries.

OK. Rant off.




Thursday, March 1, 2018

Short story by TAS in the final issue of 'A Café in Space'



Delighted and thrilled to have my short story Ad Astra included in the final issue of A Café in Space, The Anaïs Nin Literary Journal Vol. 15. The story was inspired by this short quote from Nin:

The life of the unconscious is life without pattern, certainty, or rigidity. It approximates the dream. It is pure flow.

This is a beautiful issue, chock full of valuable scholarly work, never-before published excerpts from Nin's diaries, biographical sketches, personal remembrances, poetry, and short fiction, with a number of fascinating black and white photographs depicting Nin and her circle. Kudos and thanks to editor Paul Heron!