Well, neither – it’s a book. But delivering a work of literature to the world has often been compared to giving birth, and not just books: music, film, a new play, an exhibition, whatever.
On the most fundamental level there really is no comparison – the purpose of life, as far as life is concerned, is to create more life; life doesn’t care about art or entertainment or meaning or anything else, just the continuation of life. (It’s very focused that way.)
Still, you can see the similarities too – launching your narrative “baby” onto the world really can feel like you’re holding up a child, something you’ve made, presenting it, showing it off, saying, “Look, everyone! See what I’ve done!”
Actually, for me, it’s a little different. Publishing a book is like putting a part of yourself up on a stage to be inspected by everyone, and then waiting for the feedback. You’re hoping for praise, dreading criticism, probably willing to settle for mainly the former and a little of the latter. But you’d prefer if it was all good.
So it was pretty goddamn nice for me when the first review of Even Flow went online yesterday – and it was really positive. (It was also intelligent, thoughtful, perceptive and in-depth. But the positive aspect is probably more important to me, deep down!)
On thebookbag.co.uk, Ani Johnson describes Even Flow as “…a highly entertaining thriller with one dimension more than some thrillers can boast… hurtling readers along at a fair crack…action-packed and atmospherically tense…(not) the sort of book you only read once.” She also really gets under the thematic skin of the book, examining the arguments it makes and questions it raises.
Excellent review, in both senses of the word – and I’m bleedin’ delighted! For the full article, click here.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I think I hear the baby crying…
Darragh McManus, author and journalist 
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