Greetings, Dan --
Thank you for taking the time to chronicle the story of LILA'S CHILD. Since Lila's Squad predates my history with the MD, I never quite understood how this book came about. You've now filled in the gaps for us.
Like you, Ham, I did all the work myself. No editor. No graphic artist. No help. I admit it is rough. I self-published with AuthorHouse back in 2002. ... I didn't do the work for anyone other than myself. I saw something that needed doing and I did it. That's all. I've been planning for years to re-edit the book but it is such a chore to get back into it again I just don't know if I have the wherewithall. One day, maybe. ...A few people have found value there. And that pleases me. But again, that's neither here nor there.
I would say that the value you've provided is both "here" and "there". And any realized value enhances the lives of us all.
Most personal projects are 'a labor of love', and in the literary arts anyway, also tend to be a 'work in progress'. I, too, have considered doing a sequel to 'Seizing the Essence', but only with a tradebook publisher, and then only if the thesis were to catch on with a significant number of people. "Exposure" by reviewers is what I need at this juncture. Incidentally, Xlibris just asked me to invest another $500 to exhibit my paperback at a NY book trade fair. I turned it down on the premise that a publisher has as much stake in the sales of a book as the author does, and should therefore be willing to assume the cost of an exposition they are sponsoring.
Congratulations on making LILA'S CHILD available, Dan. It's a valuable resource for anyone interested in Pirsig's Quality thesis.
Best wishes, Ham _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Hi Ham, John, Arlo, and all... Back in 1998, Bodvar Skutvik asked me if I thought it possible to put the old Lila Squad archives into some kind of coherent format. I told him: No. Absolutely not. But we all know Bodvar... he is nothing if not persistent. He asked me again and again, I told him: No. Truthfully, I thought he was joking. There was no way. Has anyone taken a look at those old archives? What a mess! A few months later, Bodvar asked me once again. It so happened that my (seasonal) businesses were slow at the time and I had nothing more pressing to do so I finally agreed to take a stab at putting those old archives in order. Once I got started, I was hooked. It took six months but finally I had produced a first draft, which I loaded onto a website (that I taught myself to build). I thought my work was finished. I called my work LILA'S CHILD. Imagine my surprise when Bodvar wrote me a few months later to inform me that Robert Pirsig had found my website while browsing the web! And that he liked my work! Bodvar noted as an afterthought that Mr. Pirsig was making annotations on some of the posts in LILA'S CHILD. I wrote Bodvar back and asked him if he thought Mr. Pirsig might like to share those annotations. Bodvar told me no. He didn't think that was a good idea. So I dropped it. But boy, did I want a look at those annotations! I immediately began working on the first draft to improve it, make it better. I guess a couple three more months went by. And one day Bodvar wrote me to say that Mr. Pirsig had agreed to take a look at the updated LILA'S CHILD when it was ready and perhaps add some annotations. I didn't understand that somewhere in between the uploading of my copy to their's that a vast array of mistakes crept into the manuscript. God, what a mess. It took me a year to straighten it out. Anyway, I didn't do any of it for money. I did it to make things better. To improve. I did it because it was fun. I had the greatest time! I'd never been so intellectually challenged. It saddens me that my old friend Bodvar thinks so little of LILA'S CHILD. But that's neither here nor there. Others weren't impressed either. I don't care. A few people have found value there. And that pleases me. But again, that's neither here nor there. Until then, enjoy, Dan Moq_Discuss mailing list Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org Archives: http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ http://moq.org.uk/pipermail/moq_discuss_archive/
