To be perfectly honest, I am somewhat perplexed to find myself here – and I have the perfect analogy to describe it. Bear with me. It’s like that moment when you’re on a road trip and you see a horse in front of a house that it shouldn’t be. Like in a neighborhood. Or the Bronx. Or standing in a vegetable garden. There is the house, and there is the horse. And the reconciliation of that relationship is a quizzical thing.
For the last decade I have poured myself into the creation of my corporate career, the solidification of my home, my marriage, and my stability. I feel like I have built a proper “house” for myself. But through all the building and stabilizing I’ve done, I’ve kept that old horse hanging around out front. Like a pet. A companion, though certainly not a part of the household. It’s a horse that, at first glance, doesn’t really belong there. I’ve brushed it, grazed it, and kept it in good health. But other than that, I haven’t really done much with it. The horse, of course, is my joy for writing.
An honest review of the facts would point out that I bear all the aspirations of a blogger – the creative mind of a scribbler – perhaps the penchant for flowery descriptors. I have the horse and therefore the potential. I, Micah Bobiak, could very well be an unrealized keyboard-jockey standing in his window of stability wearing a tattered bathrobe and staring out at the wild, somewhat terrifying equine that could be my destiny. My writing career is unrealized. It could be a thoroughbred (or a crippled nag, we’ll see). I could put it to work, or get it to jump. Hell, maybe I could hunt buffalo from it.
But the truth is, up until this point, I have kept it woefully penned up in the cramped pasture at the back of my life. Back there in the shadows. That ends now. For I am writing a blog. My first blog. A blog to throw the gate open. My horse is saddled – and this jockey is ready to ride. I believe I have created something special – and for the first time in my life, I am going to try to see what kind of legs this horse really has.
Welcome to my journey toward publishing my first novel.
In the early months of 2021, I wrote the first chapter of what would eventually become my story. Compared to my experience writing poetry, the development of that first meager chapter proved to be a thankless slog akin to running the required mile in your high school PE course during the bleakest days of February. I was disheartened. But I had an idea. What I did not realize, however, was just how sticky that idea would become. I did not intend to get stuck. I had other things to do. I had a whole host of things I had to do. But when I went to pull away from it like I had always done before, I found that I could not wrench myself free. I had a grip on the reins. Or maybe the horse had just started to walk. Then it ran. And all I could do was hold on, trapped in the rush of it.
There, in the sliver of inspiration that I had opened, I saw Meridian for the first time. It was a world of sprawling mountains and quiet plains. There were new creatures there, gods, and even the faraway trumpeting of soundtracks I have yet to write. The spool of threaded ideas that I had so tightly wound over the course of my life spilled from my grasp – and before I knew it, they were weaving themselves into the fabric of my story. A plot took form. A main character. Her twin. A villain. As it progressed, I was learning to ride. With the graceful support of my wife, I was writing and editing a true novel. I let the wind take my hair and I fell in love with it all.
I have wandered that world with untethered joy for two years – and picked myself up after a significant number of frustrations and pitfalls. The horse isn’t exactly an easy ride.
But now I am stepping free of Meridian with twigs in my hair, feathers in my mouth, and a residue of freshly harvested literary sap to... write a blog. A blog! Because dare I say it, I’m going to give this buffalo hunt a try.
Godmarked – the first installment of The Wars of Meridian – is complete. I’m starting to realize that I’d like to take this writing career somewhere. I’d like to see this book published. I would LOVE to see this book published. I want it so much that it keeps me up at night. But the pitch of my next climb is steep. Publication is a tough ride. Kind of like the one Viggo Mortensen accomplished in Hidalgo. Remember that one? Spoiler alert, most of the riders die in the desert.
My hope is, through this blog, you will have a chance to follow along with me. You can get to know me. My process. Because if I am going to swing this publication thing, I also need to grow my pasture a bit. I need to write, and I need to develop some exposure. So here’s where I am at: I’m having beta readers work through my novel, provide me feedback, and copy edit. As they do so, I am beginning the research process to find a Literary Agent. Finding an agent is a complex process. Imagine pitching a business idea. But your idea is entirely fantasy. It’s a fantasy rooted in fantasy – and it’s very hard not to feel like it’s... well... fantasy. I will be researching agents based on the following criteria:
1. Expertise within my genre
2. Submission availability and timelines
3. Mission/Values
Then – when my manuscript is reviewed, sanded, polished, and beautified – I will begin to send out my queries. Agents all have different requests in their initial queries – and I will need to put those assets together as I work through them. Throughout this process, I will be reporting to you all here. I will tell you of my meager victories, and potentially devastating defeats. And because it’s a mollusk of a process, I will be delivering those updates amid further creative thoughts, poems, wine tastings, music reviews, and general inspirations. Just to ride the horse around.
Maybe – just maybe – my queries will be answered.
Perhaps one of my favorite quotes was said by Alan Watts. “The most real state is the state of nothing. For it takes nothing to know something.” Considering the nothingness that I had before, this book has become something. A doorway to a much greater passion. Looking into Meridian, I can see a whole future of stories. A lifetime of adventures. As far as the path to publication – I have nothing but the pile of pages I’ve made. Anything, up or down, will be something.
So – welcome to the world of my writing. My internet soap box. But I am not here to deliver a speech. I am here to belt an opera!
The Wars of Meridian have begun!
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