Attacus Atlas & Other Inventions: on money and madness

Aloha: It’s tax season and this is a perfect time to remember that unless your last name is GRISHAM or KING, it is difficult to make a living writing books. Don’t let it deter you: creating a writing life is a noble calling, it just doesn’t pay well for the aspiring or newbie writers. It doesn’t pay well for poets. You should know that it’s madness in a way, to spend your life essentially alone, writing – with no guarantee of financial success. I subscribe to this creative madness. If you feel a compulsion to write and create, then you should do it: just know that your chances of material wealth are not high. Don’t do it for the expectation of money.

I have always wanted to be a published writer and I’m so grateful that my dream has come true. I am grateful that I have developed a writing practice, and I have the chance to share my work. I am so grateful for what I have, the backing of a wonderful independent press here in the United States, and enthusiastic presses in the U.K. and India. I cannot tell you how thrilled I am to see friends and strangers alike hold up The Atlas of Reds and Blues and tell me that the book moved them, changed them. A labor of love – paid back tenfold in support and encouragement. Mahalo.