Thursday, January 14, 2010

Tell the Truth Thursday

Before I start this post, I just want to say that my heart goes out to the people of Haiti. I made a donation yesterday to Doctors without Borders, and I hope everyone else will open their hearts and wallets as well and give whatever they can to help alleviate the tremendous suffering that is going on there.

Since I can't really move on from that to something light, here is an unusually serious topic: POST-MORTEM PUBLICATION. (you didn't see that one coming, did ya?)

A friend of mine sent me an email the other day titled "Weird Request." In it, she wrote, "Not to sound morbid, but in the event that something happened to me, would you try to get my manuscript published for me?"

Maybe it's my wacky, neurotic mind, but this request didn't seem the least bit odd to me. I have actually made my husband promise me the same thing!

Promise me, if I die, you won't rest until Shoo, Scoot, Skidoo is on bookshelves!

If we pour our hearts into a manuscript that we want to share with the world, why should a little thing like an untimely death interfere with that cosmic plan?

The classic, A Confederacy of Dunces, was published 11 years after the author's death due to the tireless efforts of his mother.

What better way to live on than through our labor of love- our printed words?

20 comments:

Unknown said...

OMG - I was just thinking about this same thing yesterday. Morbid, yes, but I envisioned (fantasized?) my best bloggy friends collaborating to get my book published and it becoming a best-seller and then a movie yada, yada, yada. LOL!

Corey Schwartz said...

Oh good, so it's not only me! (Was wondering if I was nuts :)

Tricia J. O'Brien said...

Believe me, I've thought the same and wondered if my daughter or my best friend would do it. It shows how deeply we care about what we write, how much we want it to live on.

Corey Schwartz said...

I'm sure one of them would do it for you, Tricia. I was very flattered to be asked Shows how much faith that friend puts in me!

Tiffany Strelitz Haber said...

wow..i did NOT know that about A Confederacy of Dunces! That is pretty incredible. For some reason it almost makes me cry! disclaimer: i am on an emotional roller coaster today for no apparent reason, and burst out crying at a commercial where one year olds were jumping up and down laughing, b/c i was like "look how happy they all are!!" LOLOL...oh boy.

Susan R. Mills said...

I just asked my mom to do the same thing for me. It's something I would definitely want to happen after my death. Before death would be better, but I'd settle for after.

Kristi Faith said...

well, you know the saying...artists aren't artists until they're dead. *cringe* Yes, I would want my work to still be worked on. But I plan on world domination in the meantime, so I'll be remembered somehow. :0)

Elana Johnson said...

This is great! I'm so going to ask my husband this when I get home tonight.

Kim said...

You don't know how close to home this post hits. I have a feeling both of my parents and my grandmother are not going to make it to 2011. And, BSD just left for Haiti yesterday to help with relief efforts.

So...I am surrounded by heavy thoughts about now.

Kate Karyus Quinn said...

Ha - I love the idea of post-mortem publication... I think my husband and I will be having a serious discussion about this tonight;)

Shelli (srjohannes) said...

i do the same thing. I have a couple critique partners in charge if something ever happens :)

Ms. P said...

I think we writers are just weird by nature! :-)

MrBibleHead said...

Writers are a bit strange..... Not really :o) Imagine if Margaret Mitchell would have died before she met with the publisher and no one ever thought to get Gone With The Wind published? One thing about us artists, after we die, our stuff becomes a lot more valuable! Great blog you have Corey.

J.A. Palermo said...

This has occurred to me as well. I guess I'd better get a bigger safe deposit box!

Kelly H-Y said...

I have to agree ... I don't think it's an odd request at all. I haven't really thought about it for myself, but will soon be helping a woman who lost her teenage son - a prolific writer - who wrote a children's book before he died at the age of 15. I have yet to see the manuscript, but I absolutely understand how important this is to her.

Corey Schwartz said...

OMG, Kelly. That is so sad. Let me know if there is anything I can do to help!

Rebecca Gomez said...

I've talked about that with my hubby too!

Shannon O'Donnell said...

I think we writers just have a naturally morbid streak - either that or we're just naturally weirdos! :-)

Tana said...

LOL, I think of that every now and again. Will my books get published if I die? Can they God? I'd still love that. I love how our hearts desires superceed our will to live. ALthough, I'm convinced I'll be around a really long time ;) positive thinking, right?

Anonymous said...

I recently read about a posthumous novel that was getting published due to the efforts of the author's husband. Portions of the book were published as short stories first...wish I could remember the name of the author now.

I think about this, too. How can you not with the lead time for a picture book now hovering at around 3 years?