Letters at 3AM

COCKROACHES SCURRY. A tiger lies still in tall grass for hours awaiting prey. I write. The cockroach, the tiger, and me – we do how we are made.

Michael Ventura

Michael Ventura wrote the “Letters at 3AM” column from 1993 to 2014 for the Austin Chronicle (the Austin, TX alternative weekly). For me, it was a must read. Several years ago he realized time was getting short to write the novels he wanted to finish and he quit writing the column. Not long after that, I quit picking up the newspaper. Last fall he appeared again, writing “Until the End of the World”. The subtitle is “Writing is not what I live for, it’s how I live.” This speaks to me. The money I make writing isn’t enough to take us out for dinner.

If, on my deathbed, I can speak, I shall ask that a notebook and pen be placed within my reach – even if I can never again reach. It’s how I’m made.

Michael Ventura

The essay was his contribution to What Falls Away is Always: Writers Over Sixty on Writing & Death. The Letters at 3AM archive is available on-line here. Peruse and enjoy.

I’ve felt the trees grieve.

Michael Ventura