I was going through my paper mail this morning, and I found a letter from the school district where I used to do time as a kid. Apparently the high school English department head found out that I've written a couple of novels, and wants to make my first one required summer reading.

I'm horrified by this. I don't want a captive audience, and I don't want people to grow up despising my work because it was shoved down their throats at school. Save that shit for when I'm dead and buried, please.

@starbreaker The noble thought process here is refreshing. I'm so used to authors on birdsite pouncing on any opportunity for exposure and readership.

Being from ruby red, God and guns, small-town America, I have a lot of sympathy for the animus toward the hometown, too.

You're doing good work, friend.

@kevinja Thanks, but the truth is that I'm reluctant to gain readers using underhanded means. My pride demands that I earn my readership, not have it handed to me.

Besides, it's easy to take a principled stand when you've got a relatively cushy day job. :)

@starbreaker I am not published, and I freely admit I know next to nothing about the pressures of publishing, but I like to think I can tell the difference between when authors are trying to gain readers and when they're fostering a readership. There's an honesty that shows through, and I have a lot of respect for it.

@kevinja Want to tell us a bit about your project?

@starbreaker I have a near-future sci-fi about the end of the U.S. as we know it that I write on pretty sporadically when life doesn't get in the way. It has some foundational issues and I need to re-plot it, but one of these days, it just might see a completed first draft. :)