6. the lost novel

Poor Traits of an Artist as a Young Man: the lost novel

For a table of contents of the entire series, click here. 

I was on the right path in terms of ability. However, any competent author can write a bad book. A movie can be filmed beautifully, but still be terrible.

I was bitter over [sic]’s rejection from Simon & Schuster. So, I decided to write something more commercial, something that fit the popular trends of the time but still carried my brand and style.

A young adult supernatural book. I already had a bunch of fans on Wattpad, and Wattpad is primarily made up of teenage girls between the ages 13 and 18. As you might imagine, this was around the era of the “Twilight” phenomenon and supernatural young adult stories were all the rage.

Another beautiful cover courtesy of Greg Poszywak.

Ten Minutes to Midnight is about a group of kids who uncover “the truth,” in an existential sense. Except if they tell anyone the truth, that person immediately dies.

Drama and action ensues. I completed the book, had a cover made, sent it to my agent – ready to move forward with this hybrid attempt at commercialism.

But something became apparent as I began reflecting on it. This book was poison, because it was average. Boring. Normal. I’d cut too much of myself out. I’d much rather have an audience that hates me for my particular style than one who cannot pick my books out of a lineup.

Never got into this to be normal. I never released Ten Minutes to Midnight to anyone. It remains locked in my vault, a reminder that I can’t sell out. Whatever came next had to be true.

For the next entry in the Poor Traits series, click here.