This is a continuation of the story featured in The Accident, an article I published on August 1, 2019.

It got cut from the original article, mainly, in an effort to distill rather than amplify the piece. It was a painful casualty of the creative process, but since I heard from so many people about the accident I figure it would be cool to resuscitate it. Plus, I thought it might be good enough to warrant its own day in the sun. But you’ll be a better judge than me.

Oh, and I decided to leave it in the buff and totally untouched from when I first wrote it. Yes, there are typos, tense problems, grammar flubs, and battle wounds. C’mon, if I edited the outtake, how much fun would that be. Enjoy!…

Several years back, I was at a business conference in Chicago. Each night starting around 3ish, I would have some downtime. Two days into the trip, I’d already done all the Chicago things—boat tour, deep-dish pizza, visit Wrigley Field, etc. 

Sitting in the hotel lobby, flipping through those what-to-do-in-Chicago pamphlets, I notice men and women walking by wearing provocative Halloween costumes. Or so it seems. I put my head back into the pamphlet while laughing to myself, “Geez, Chicago is pretty freaky.” Not even thirty seconds later, I pick my head up again and notice more costumed people—it’s literally just one after the other streaming by. Now I’m thinking, “What the heck is going on?”…

Creative work is hard. Really hard. It’s emotional. It’s revealing. It’s time-consuming. It’s draining. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a song, album, movie, article, painting, or book. Whatever it is, it took way longer to create than it did to consume. I have immense appreciation for anyone who has the guts to do creative work and deliver it to the world. Who am I to say it sucks? That’s why I don’t. Not publically, anyway. I certainly have my opinions and preferences—have a drink with me, and you’re sure to hear plenty about both. I just don’t find negative criticism to be particularly useful. You might love something I think sucks. I don’t want to ruin it for you. This is why I choose to not publically add to the already enormous amount of people ready and willing to tell you a book sucks. I trust your ability to form your own opinion on whatever you’re reading. So what do I do?…