I find myself with mixed feelings about being a writer today. On the one hand, I heard via BoingBoing that poor Harry Nicolaides has found himself in a Thailand prison for the crime of – get this – insulting the royal family. Hell, he didn’t even throw a shoe at them. He just made some harsh remarks in a book hardly anyone had read. Reading the comments I was, on the one hand, inspired by the Western rally cry of free speech, one person after another taking shots at Thailand’s royalty. On the other, I wonder how brave we’d all be if we were in Thailand right now. Hell, even CNN is silent about the actual insults, due to the fear that any correspondents in the country could get similar treatment. And here’s the real kicker. Only fifty copies printed. Fifty. He sold seven. That’s gotta suck. On its own, not so bad. I’ve found that it’s a difficult thing to even write a complete novel, and I remember every so often, between the nail biting of and self criticism that comes with knowing others are (or will be) reading it, to give myself a pat on the back for getting it done. But to write a flop is one thing. To have it come back and bite you in the ass like that (three years in jail!) is insult to injury. Funny thing is, he might very well sell a lot of books this way. I’m certainly interested in seeing what the fuss was all about… and whether it’s any good. (more…)