In sifting through my letters, I came to realize that I don’t have any negative comments to share with you this week. Sorry for the lack of entertainment. But I’d like to share with you something I received from a publisher about “Downriver”, which is still my only book:

If I were a junior high age girl, I would be looking for a fairy tale with a little more action in it. I absolutely loved your writing style and was captivated by the character development and the plot line. But kids who are accustomed to Tolkien and Paolini and even Stuart Little are expecting more action and excitement and danger from a fairy-tale story. “Downriver” has such a softly philosophical ending that it’s more suited to adults learning the Zen Way than to 11 year old girls dreaming of alternative realities.

This came from a very nice letter, but I’ll leave out most of the good stuff. I do appreciate these comments, and think they’re worth discussing. How in the world can I call “Downriver” a book for teens?

There’s a simple answer: many kids are convinced that they are living in their own alternative reality already. We don’t hear from them all that often. Could I have put more action into “Downriver”? Sure. I tried a few times, but I felt it was distracting. Perhaps that was a mistake, but I’m not going for the mass market here, I’m going for kids that are looking for someone to speak to them.

In all honesty, I didn’t really intend for this to be read by everyone. I wrote it for my kids, or more accurately who I thought they would be one day. As the years grow on, I find that I was pretty close in a lot of ways. The rest of you? Well, sorry to say that when I decided that “Downriver” was actually worth putting out into the world the whole experience became a bit unpleasant. I’ve written about the publishing industry and what I think is so messed up about it at length as it is. You don’t need to hear it again.

I write about, and to, the people at the margins of the world. I’m willing to bet a lot of money that most people who read my blog really don’t “get it”. There’s a fundamental premise that you have to buy into, which is basically that power doesn’t come from playing a bunch of games in some “system” and people are only human beings when they actively allow themselves to be genuine human beings.

I know that “Downriver” is a hard sell. I should try to do more mainstream stuff and put my sense of imagery to work in romance or a related field. Maybe I should re-cast “Downriver” as a philosophy book rather than teen. Whatever. I gotta mortgage to pay and two kids to raise. I like writing as a hobby, and like any hobby you do what you love most. That means I’ll probably never be saleable. I’m good with that.