Everyone’s doing it tough. And everyone is uncertain, concerned, afraid. To protect entire economies from a virus that kills 1% of those infected, governments have shut down 95% of those entire economies. And so much of the world remains in limbo.
But now more than ever it is vital to support artists. Most artists live hand-to-mouth and months of no commissions, no royalties—no work—is unthinkable, as entirely unliveable, to them.
For many, I suspect, coronavirus will mean the end of their ability to be able to afford to create. Yes, you read that correctly. Most artists do not make money. MOST ARTISTS LOSE MONEY IN ORDER TO CREATE. They certainly do not make excess money. And so they do not save money. Art, and artists, are—as they should be—stubborn bulwarks against the economic totalitarianism ruling the globe. Artists are one of the few forces able to hold out against universal materialism, for they strive to transcend time and filthy lucre.
And now, it is their music that you’re listening to in quarantine, their shows you’re watching through lockdown, their books you’re reading in times of pandemic and isolation.
Personally, I’ve had to cancel or postpone 2 launches because of coronavirus—launches that are the mainstay of my ability to continue working as an artist. The audiobook of Exquisite Hours was to be launched through April. My new novel was to be released in June. The former had to be called off; the latter now looks very unlikely.
Having to return home then surviving through an economic depression, would I imagine be the end of many an artist’s career. Fortunately I don’t have to imagine of my own: I’d be on my brother’s couch with no access even to governmental relief. It would actually end mine. Coronavirus is the closest that Josh Write Book has ever been to ending. No more Joshua Humphreys author. It is, genuinely, right now, almost over.
Now more than ever is the time to support artists—of which I am, in my own humble way, one.
Since embarking upon my literary career the price of one of my books has been set so that one copy equals a meal for its creator. 4 copies covers my rent for the day. This is still the case today. If everyone who reads my captions; if everyone who watches my IG story—if everyone who reads my blog—bought one book, ONE BOOK TODAY, I could literally live and eat for 6 months.
What though are my books like, and are they worth the reading?
I was recently alerted to a blog from a young woman in Scotland who appears to be fond of my books and my writing in general. You can read what she has to say [ here ].
And if you do need books to read during your quarantine, if you have comedy novels to add to your collection, if you believe in supporting the arts and the artists who make them delightful—I here set out, at the age of 34, my corpus, MY BODY OF WORK:
Waxed Exceeding Mighty
My first novel, it tells the story of Adam Athelstan, an innocent young man who grows and sells—and sings to—very rare flowers. Until poor young Adam has his life ruined by everybody around him using their partners to cheat on their partners. Ruined, to the point of being accidentally enslaved as a foreign sex worker then kidnapped and taken to Vietnam. You can own & read Waxed Exceeding Mighty [ here ].
I tout the book as a Woody-Allen-Biblical-Epic-Vietnam-War-novel. And all who read it think it surprisingly enjoyable and even more energetic than…
Exquisite Hours
The book that launched my career. “Anaïs Spencer travels the world lying to men…” In need of little introduction, you may order a copy [here] or, if audiobooks are your thing, I’ve just finished recording Exquisite Hours in my own voice—all 22 chapters—and even included half an hour of outtakes and bloopers. Check the audiobook out on Podbean now!
Grieve
“Hector Grieve is a hellraising soldier of fortune…” Gallivanting on horseback around Cambodia, Hector, is informed that he’s broke and that his beloved father is dying. So he has to return to outer-suburban Melbourne, where he finds himself entirely unemployable, completely out of touch, and infuriatingly bored. In order to win back his high school sweetheart and save his father’s life, Hector soon becomes a modern-day Robin Hood, and plans a bank heist (on horseback) that will see him steal from Australia’s super-rich.
GRIEVE, my grumpiest and my favourite of my novels, can be ordered and enjoyed [ here ].
And in 2018 I released a play! A Shakespearean romcom, called To Save a Forest Virgin. At 4.6/5 on Goodreads, it is there referred to as “a truly marvellous work”. It tells the story of 4 Melburnians who have their love-lives upended by a malevolent and conspiring older brother, who wishes to have them fall in love solely so that he can then break their hearts.
And you can read more of its writing, its story, its lascivious themes [ here ],
or purchase a copy direct from its author [ here ]
But yes.
If everyone who reads my captions; if everyone who watches my IG story—if everyone who reads this blog—bought one book, just one book right now, I could literally live & eat for 6 months.
Support the arts. Support artists. Help to not end a writer’s career. Read a comedy novel.