Le maudit Mo D.

mo's artistic statement

I realize that the market is flooded with novels. Some are good. Some suck. Some I think suck but others really love and vice versa. The truth is, I don't think that the market or the American public really need what I write. I'm just another writer doing what I love. I'm not changing the world, here. I've had numerous unrelated people tell me that I'm talented and funny, and so with that in mind I have put my mind to realizing my dream of writing novels. I don't expect anyone to be terribly impressed by that. You know who impresses me? Firefighters. They put out fires. Much more important than what I do.

I like to think that I'm not full of shit or pretentious or annoying or high on myself. I like to be funny and my books reflect that. If you don't like what I write, that's okay. Everyone has their tastes. Mostly, I like to make people laugh. I don't have a political agenda. I don't think I need to have one. Some artists are masters at the intersection of Politics and Entertainment. I think my intersection is somewhere up the street, like the corner of Entertainment and Eating a Mango.

Also, I am a very privileged person from a privileged background. I am acutely aware of how damn lucky I am to be able to write full-time for as long as I had and not have to take some soul-crushing job. If my novels get published, it will have more to do with loving, supportive hands helping along the way than with talent. That's just how these things work and I know that it's a lot of work and that I will (and already do) have a lot to be thankful for.

If my novels never sell, if they remain dusty relics of my 30s, then I will come to terms with that. The universe doesn't owe me anything more. I do long to hold my novel in published form in my hand someday. Everything I have weathered in my life will be so worth it in that moment. But if not, I've had a great life, full of love and promise and fun. Mo cannot complain about anything. I have friends, I get to spend my life with an amazing man whom I love dearly, and I have an excellent education and a great network of Smith and improv people. I'm also a bad-ass in many things. There has always been a place for me at the table. I just have to figure out where that table is.

I do hope to be a bestselling author, but if not, I can be a bestselling something else.

Love,
Mo

(I got a really annoying letter from someone today, and I just want to put out there that my idea of the art I make and her idea of the art she makes are really different)

Posted by Zerd at May 8, 2008 07:56 PM