Hi,
It's a bit different for me, but the gest would be the same. You basically continue, and don't stop regardless of what anyone says, and no one reading anything I have written, be it here or somewhere else could possibly make a difference? Sometimes, they do ... !
My own dad, did not get to the high levels of literature by luck alone, or kissing. He got there, despite a fascist government that even pulled guns on the elder children's heads to shut him up for writing "freedom poetry", and discussing film and theater that was "subversive". The 1950's are long gone, and so is Salazar. But the new Salazar/Franco is the media, which is turning out to be even worse ... specially considering how no one knows, now, what is good or bad, and everyone thinks that what they like is better than the rest, and the top ten slants all tastes to one thing/sound and everyone copies it!
Nowadays, none of the political/social side of things means crap, even in a place like this, where folks are so into their pop music, and I'm not sure they see the difference, between one or the other, although, I tend to side with them a lot more ... since there really is very little difference ... with one exception. For most here, it is just a hobby and side thing. For many of us ... it's a LIFE ... and you might not make a living off it, but you won't quit! That does not insinuate that one is better than the other, but in general, one has greater depth and meaning, because you have no choice in the matter! You are within it.
My dad got as far as published in 32 languages in his 59 years. Since 1979 (his death) my mom has published twice the amount he did in his years, and while she is no longer able to do this at 95, the legacy is there ... despite a few things being totally fudged up, like recently some stuff was published that had dirty laundry, like it was a part of the literary legacy, and it affected the kids in the family a lot. But then, my dad came along with Camus, Sartre and Genet and even translated them, so I guess it comes with the territory? I joked with my older sister that this was the bad translation of "Our Lady of Flowers" ... but I wonder if that joke is going to go awry real quick here?
I have never quit on my writing. Originally it was mostly because I could not afford a camera and do film/video, my very first love, and thus I wrote all the "visual" stuff I had, either as a poem, or short story, and since then over 400 reviews of foreign film, and over 100 reviews of music concerts ... and to this day, I have not received invitations ... but then ... I write for me, not for anyone else, and what I see, and this is what "art" is all about ...
I would love to see, one day, my being able to get a few nickels off all this ... but at 64, I see the window closing more than I see it opening, and when folks (even here) sometimes, tend to dismiss the notes/information (and jokes), it makes one feel that today ... there simply is not enough care to help you go where you need to go ... but I know inside, that it won't matter, as long as I am alive and find another movie to love and write about, and another concert to appreciate and discuss ... even if no one else will ever see it, or bother to look at it.
But I know, that few people discuss "progressive" and "experimental" music and work, with as much love and fervor as I do! No one seems to make sense of any of it, like I can. (... and don't ask me why, either! ...).
Thanks for posting ... brings back a lot of memories and things I have written, right to the forefront of my mind!