Sunday, August 25, 2013

About my afterword to The Man Who Sold the Moon/Orphans of the Sky


I mentioned in my blog yesterday that my author copies of this book had arrived and that seeing them made me happy.  (The book goes on sale generally on Sept. 3.)

Click on the image to see a larger version.


What I didn't say in that earlier entry is that I found the book waiting for me on Friday night, which was a nice after-work treat.  Upon seeing it, I offered to read the afterword to the small group of folks who were at my house then.  They accepted, so some time later, after dinner and a movie, I grabbed a copy of the book and read aloud the afterword.

That proved to be an extremely difficult task.

Much of the essay is a straightforward discussion of various aspects of the Heinlein stories that compose the two books this volume includes.  The very beginning, though, and the last several pages are extremely personal. 

I had a great deal of trouble finishing the reading.  I had to pause several times, choked up by what I had written.  By the time I ended, my face was wet, and I am not a man who cries.  (In my defense, I did not so much cry as leak.)  So, when Dave, in his comment on yesterday's post, says that it is a strong bit of work, I cannot argue with him, at least when it comes to how it hits me. 

I confess to being rather embarrassed at how uncomfortable the reading must have made the others present, so to them I must offer my apology.

I'm not sure if this entry will motivate people to seek out or to avoid the afterword, but if you want to read a piece of my writing that chokes me up, this is a fine place to start.


1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I look forward to reading it.

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