Dancing Partners

When I was young, and told people I wanted to
be a writer, the most common words of advice
were "Write about something you know something
about". Since I didn't know anything about
anything, my first novel was never completed.
Later, when I was sure I knew everything worth
knowing, I wrote my second novel. But by the
time I finished it, I knew I still had a lot to
learn.
So I didn't write my third novel until a few years
later, when what I didn't know was piling up a
lot faster than what I did know. I knew I had
to try again before the unknown got so huge
in comparison to the known that I would be
too intimidated to even attempt a short story
about what I did that summer.
A house fire in 2004 destroyed my only copies
of novels two and three. Small loss. They were
worthless.
Although I had reached that stage in life when I
knew I would never know anything, it was too
late to admit it. After all, I was a novelist. In fact,
I was so confident my fourth novel was worth
publishing that I published it myself. Sold 17
copies, gave away a couple hundred, and lost a
lot of money. One person who read it said it was
"almost as good as a real novel".
This fifth novel is my best book so far. But just
in case it flops too, I've already started writing
my sixth novel. It's going to be sensational.