I have been glorying in the publication of 'De loser die wint ...' these past few weeks. The high point for me was the opportunity to sign my book at the christian book store in Delft. A couple of friends and my parents came by to get their books signed, the shop keepers provided good snacks (carrot cake with cream and falafel) and coffee! And I was grinning the whole time. I don't think the smile has left my face yet, to be honest.
Also, the first reviews of my book were very good. There were a couple of reactions on facebook and on blogs, of thoughtful interaction with the text, and people saying that the book brought up a desire for positive things, an acceptance of living in the story God is already telling, and openness to the reality of his presence working. One reviewer praised the focus on weakness in my book, as a powerful antidote to prosperity gospel, which is an anti-gospel if you ask me. God became weak in our weakness, so that we will be resurrected from our weakness as He was resurrected. This reviewer took some issue with some of my claims in the book with regards to the church or the ultimate fate of people, but I think those are worth talking about with a glass of wine and see if we do not have more in common than divides us. So, all in all, I am very happy with the reactions to the book! If you manage to read the book, please let me know what you think, e.g. by leaving a comment here on goodreads, or on bol.com.
I worked on this book with Reinier Sonneveld, with whom I participated on several other projects in the past. He is a very insightful and also patient editor, helping me to strive to excellence. Yesterday evening we came together in Utrecht to drink some beers together, but more importantly, to talk about my next project! A book I have talked a lot about already, but which now is ready to be written. It's about the sacramental (or pariticpatory) way of looking at our reality: seeing the invisible God become visible in our world, contrasted with a transactional view that sees our lives in terms of transactions, and nature as something to act upon. Reinier had some great idea's and input and challenged me to set myself some goals for improvement in my work. I will try to do that, but will probably not lose my somewhat meandering, expansive style. I have taken a week off from the office the first week of March, and I will use that time to get a start on the project. Then I hope to work on the book probably until summer, finishing at the end of june/early august with the first draft.
It could take some more time, though, as there's another book that's going to be published this year. My fantasy novel 'De Krakenvorst'. My publisher is still very enthusiastic but he's busy with some other projects before mine can get his full attention, so it will take some time before the first book of the duology will see the light of day. When the editor has looked at the manuscript I will have to do some rewrites, and those could interfere with the manuscript about a sacramental worldview. A small price to pay for the opportunity to work on so many cool projects!
I'm still writing short stories these months. I am now on my fourth short story of the year. And I will be looking for venues to publish them or participate in competitions. I learned last week about a competition organized by Luitingh Sijthoff where the winner will be announced at the Elfia fantasy fair and today I hope to send in my story. Fingers crossed! I also recently took subscriptions to two magazines: SF Terra and Fantastische Vertellingen and I hope to submit stories to them as well! I like to stretch myself and my writing abilities with every short story that I write. I'm also slowly starting to think about a new fiction project. I think it will be a hard SF novel. I don't know what it will be about yet, but my unconscious is of course hard at work to provide a meaty, juicy idea. I hope it doesn't work too hard at it, because this year and the year after that I will probably not have time to write the story. But the first inspiration is there, and it will come to fruition in due time.
I'm also still writing poetry on my blog and I hope to be able to write more film reviews this year. Both of which I hope to turn into books as well, farther down the road. In the mean time I will go on enjoying the fact that 'De loser die wint ...' got published and is now in the hands of the readers! It's heady stuff, being an author, harder than it looks, but I wouldn't want anything else!