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There’s been a lot going on here at County Fence and one of those things is my new book: That Naked Dream —or— Men Writing Women. Not only is publishing a book a big deal for me but it signals a new era here at County Fence. Perhaps I should explain.
First things first, though: let’s talk about the book! I began this project with a character sketch of a sex-positive, successful, and self assured woman living mostly nude in a cabin in the woods and I hated it. She felt entirely unrealistic and male-gazey which was not the kind of writing I wanted to be known for. But why not? I spent the rest of the book exploring why.
It turns out sexuality is a really great vehicle for exploring the nature of conflict. On the one hand when it’s good it’s freeing and transcendent for the pure sake of transcendence. On the other hand when it’s bad it does some of the greatest damage humans can do. And objectively it’s all just kind of ridiculous and gross and wonderful, kind of like being human. I could have written about war, finance, scarcity, competition, you know the usual suspects. But sexuality opened a door for the antagonist to be a good guy and the drama to just come from ignorance and insecurity, which in my experience is the root of most conflict. There aren’t that many truly selfish people in the world, most of us are doing harm without realizing it simply by trying to cope with a complex world.
Then there’s the vibe. There are necessarily uncomfortable moments but I wanted the story to feel like sinking into a beautiful mountain hot spring with a perfect cup of coffee. Too much storytelling is powered by guilt. It’s too easy to make people think your story has depth by depriving them of hope these days. I guess you could say I’m more of a carrot man than stick and while I’m not sure I believe in resolution for complex conflict I wanted to end with hope. Don’t tell me how to be bad, sell me on being good and do it without pandering or sugarcoating! It’s possible, I’m just not sure enough of us are trying.
That brings me to County Fence and just what it is we’re trying to do here. I’ve asked Jules many times why he started this weird little magazine back in the 70’s since he doesn’t exactly seem like an admirer of traditional rural fencing. Each time he gives me a different answer. They range from wanting to introduce himself to women as a magazine editor to changing the narrative on a place declining at the same rapid rate as the colonial dream it was built on. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a copy of County Fence in the wild but, in fairness, I haven’t exactly been looking either. Before I turned up Jules was preparing to pack it in. He’s into his eighties and not too many people are looking to take over eclectic regional magazines from aging independently wealthy eccentrics. So I guess that means it’s more about what I want to do with it.
I used to be a person who wanted to save the world. When I was trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my life the things that were most important to me personally were sailing, writing stories, and drinking beer with my friends at the cottage. Those are things a few competitive people could make a buck at but they didn’t seem important and I don’t love competition. So I figured if I needed to make a buck I might as well do so making the world a better place. Now I realize that wanting to save something makes me part of the problem. I’m best to just accept and appreciate the world as the weird and wonderful thing it is while I’m still here.
These days I’ve been thinking about the world as individual gardens at the end of it all. An anxious parent desperately trying to prepare their child for the road ahead does far more damage than one who accepts and celebrates them for their eccentricities. I’m not sure the world really is ending, or maybe another way to put it is that the world has been ending in one way or another since it began. If it is ending I’d like to live out my days with my friends in a beautiful little garden. If it isn’t ending, why not spend your unlimited days with your friends in a beautiful little garden?
I’m unconvinced that there’s any non-manufactured competition in this world. Obviously there’s things like oil and microchips that we don’t have enough of but most scarcity comes from people standing in the way of sharing adequate resources for one reason or another. We have the tools and resources for everyone to live their best lives, it’s the distribution that’s the problem. It’s the fact that we all think we’re supposed to depend on a person wealthy enough to pay us for our livelihoods. But if there’s one thing I’ve learned from immigrants it’s that if there’s no jobs then it’s an invitation to make some yourself.
So that’s what I’d like to do with County Fence. I’d like to become a professional writer but I’m not sure how interested I am in scaling the walled garden that is the publishing or entertainment industries. I’d rather make my own little garden. A little place where you guys can drop by and hang out, enjoy yourselves. Maybe a place to inspire you to make your own garden where I can pop by when I need a change of scenery. Maybe we’ll have some musicians that like our vibe or someone who knows how to make wine from the grapes that grow wild along the fence line. We’ll tell stories to entertain and challenge each other. Maybe we’ll even act them out. I just want to make a happy little place where you can pop by and visit if that’s your jam and we’ll see what grows out of it. Then it doesn’t matter if the world’s ending.
That Naked Dream is the first plant in this garden. If it bears enough fruit (read: enough of you buy it that we write more stories) to plant some more things we’ll do that and this little garden will be even better. All we need is enough income to exist and we will. Then you can pop by whenever you like.
-Greg