Now a national historic monument amidst a bustling waterfront, Heinold’s Last Chance Bar in Jack London Square, Oakland, CA where the one and only drank with legendary gusto. Fortunately for us, his muse didn’t mind.
I was down there yesterday to have lunch with my writing buddy, Julia Allenby, at Bocanova in Jack London Square, Oakland, CA. She has just self-published a novel through Lulu.com, Taste Everything. We compared notes on our mutual experiences and found that we had similar positive and negative things to say. We’re very grateful to Lulu for the ease of uploading our digital documents for manufacture, but when something goes amiss, the automation means there’s nobody at the wheel. The on-line chat can be seriously un-helpful.
What occurs to me as the highlight of our lunch however, is not the shop talk, it was the camaraderie. This self-publishing endeavor is fraught with self-doubt, at least for me it is. There’s always a whispering menace that tells me, “You’re doing this all wrong. They’re laughing at you.” They, they, they, that secret society that lurks in dark places. It’s crazy making. It takes great fortitude to stay in the game, to not pack up the books and pretend they never happened. Lunch with Julia renewed my enthusiasm for this relatively small but rapidly growing community of brave writers. As my friend Cary Tennis says, “We’re in the vanguard.”
Have a great week. I’ll post again next Friday. If you feel like it, comment on where in your life you feel like the lone wolf, and where you’re part of a pack.