A serious lack of blogging on here – life took over! Moving house principally among them. My apologies. However, on the subject of life…… The traditional view – somewhat outdated, I think – is that creative artists, be they musicians, painters, actors, sculptors, writers or whatever exist in some sort of ethereal detached world where the mundane issues of life hardly touch them. Of course that may be true for some fortunate souls but for most we definitely have the usual clod-hopping feet of clay. We have to eat and pay bills, deal with family issues, do the housework and clean the floors! The reason why I’m thinking of this today is that I picked up a Facebook thread about readers ‘not liking authors to push their books’. What’s your own opinion this? There is a distinction of course between showing what you do, and ‘pushing’ it to the point of neurosis, but on the other hand, why shouldn’t authors push their products? It’s their lifeblood and their income stream. They need to get their work noticed not only because they want to share it but because they need to not be declared bankrupt! Publishers today also expect authors to do their fair share of merchandising, especially online. Do you have any sympathy with the author trying to sell their product? Or do you prefer not to think of it as a ‘product’ at all, but a work of art? If it’s a work of art, should it be out there fighting for the pennies, or seen as something apart from the dirty process of trade? ( insert smiling emoji here). Or do you think that the author should employ someone else (an individual, or a company) to publicise their work, and not become involved themselves?