Author Intrusion

By Cliff Fazzolari

I really wish I had a nickel for every man, woman, or child who has approached me at one of my book-signings with the idea that they too will one day write a book. I try real hard to encourage every potential near-writer, but I have been through the process of having a book published and I am a little skeptical. As our “great” president has acknowledged about his own job, “It’s hard, hard work.”

Currently, an unemployed man who hurt his back while running away from a drug dealer is stalking me. This man assures me that his story is the stuff of legend. “They’ll make a movie about it, no doubt.”

I asked him what experience he had with writing and he responded, “I never got out of the third grade. I hate writing, but this book will make millions.” I haven’t returned his calls.

I also work with a man whose son is the next John Steinbeck. Never mind that the child is just in the fourth-grade; he “can write circles around you already,” the man explains.

Yes, yes, call me when his voice changes and he becomes the next Frank Sinatra. It is always comforting to know, by the way, that a fourth-grader can write circles around me.

The bottom line is that writing is a tremendous endeavor that certainly does take hard work, dedication, and comes with little fanfare. It is a task that is not designed for those who want to make a quick million. Play the lottery if that is what you’re writing for.

For me, writing is a passion that was inspired by a desire to read. I am still searching to write the sorts of stories that allow the reader to dream of bigger and better things. Writing is certainly a way to make sense of life, but if your life doesn’t quite add up, writing is not a task that is easily handled.

Perhaps one day I will attend the book-signings of my drug runner friend, or the prodigal child from the fourth-grade. I just sort of doubt it.