I am gathering that it is slightly traumatic for a writer to go those final measures of getting into print. A lot of attention to edits, a lot of questions over what was written, etc., etc., etc. Finally, a sense of something being done, for better or worse, and to move on, and start again with exploring the mother lode of stream of consciousness. A couple of helpful examples to read, Hrabal, I Served the King of England, and Dharma Bums. So it's back to thinking what you think, and making yourself more or less comfortable with that.

Jesus is the original creative writer. The things he says could all be taken as a defense of it.

A friend I ran into at the teahouse. I just came in from hiking Old Rag with boss, a gentleman in excellent shape and strength. Plopped my pack down. Ordered a salmon bento. Now, I must admit, I shy away from conversations when I could pull out a notepad and get some headway done, but, a fellow writer, a poet, you compare notes with, a kind old neighbor who's moved out to the glorious Virginia countryside I just came from, admiringly. What are you reading? Kerouac. Oh. She's seen the scroll original manuscript of On The Road up there at New York Public Library.

Great, I think. I want to hear about this. I'd like to see it myself. It must be impressive, inspiring, maybe even more, like somewhat humanly holy.

A woman-hater, obviously from letter tirades picking on Flannery O'Connor. An angry repressed homosexual, refused to admit he was gay.

Okay.

Well, I'm sorry, I can't see him beyond being heroic at his creativity, advancing literature forward. I mean, I know it's more complex than that, that you could fault him for making his mom work in a shoe factory, but, he's an inspiration if you read him, I think, if you are a creative person.

It might not always be easy to maintain a faith in the benefits of stream of consciousness writing as a practice. But it's much like yoga, a good healthy workout that strengthens a person from within. After going through your first book, you appreciate it more, to the point of daily craving for a good five hours of it.