Elsa's Quest. WHAT NEXT? I know what's next.

I know what’s next. To try to get at least some of my words past being ephemeral.

I have no idea how many next steps I will be taking, but I know what my next step is.

I am making a commitment to something I’ve written, A STORY. The commitment: I will put it into book form and also audio form. Another part of the commitment: to take you along.

Right now A STORY exists online. All 142 chapters are on this Substack. I published them as I wrote them. But they might as well not exist. Almost no one finds them.

As for A STORY, that was in itself a commitment to my writing - to my poems. Many are online, and some people have come across one or another, or even several. For years, there were about 60,000 page views a month to the site I created in good measure for them.

One response I have: page views are ephemeral. Someone may stop, read a poem or two. And then they’re gone. Nothing lasting.

On top of that, few people are reading poetry these days.

In A STORY, someone walks into a used bookstore and picks up a book . . . of poetry. And the reader is taken along.

Why both book and audio form?

Book form - it’s obvious. Books last. I’ve read so much about our history being erased, changed from day to day. It’s much harder to do that with a book.

Of course people will also be able to get a digital version - a PDF, most likely. But there is something special about something tangible.

A friend just sent me this meme. Yes, protect the real data centers. Libraries.

And why also have an audio version? Because many people are listeners. I have often liked listening.
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I have given myself a month to get going with this project. And I’ll let you know how it’s going.

I will keep on with my usual writing, but for now, my core commitment is to creating something that has a much better chance of lasting.

Creating something lasting - that’s something I like to do in general. A friend has sent me several beautiful small things she created - a couple of bookmarks, a beautifully decorated envelop. I had a corkboard that I intended to use for To Do lists. I found a better use. My friend’s small gifts are thumbtacked to it, and the corkboard is on a kitchen wall. Her gifts, instead of being ephemeral, are seen and valued.
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And here are the chapters that I will be gathering into a book.

In one of those incredible flukes, the page listing the chapters was deleted, and I have had to recreate it - all 142 chapter titles and links!

The next step is to create audios of . . . hmmm . . . at least 2 chapters a week, to be sent out . . . hmmm . . . every Monday and Wednesday.

In the meantime, here are the opening words of the first chapter:

Everything has a beginning. Open any book. It has a beginning.

Even the universe, so I’ve been told, has a beginning. The big bang.

Or maybe, according to some people, that isn’t what happened.

Anyway, not everything begins with a big bang.

Sometimes it begins with noticing an old door with a small sign hanging from the handle, OPEN.

You can tell it’s a book store for used books. A few are displayed beautifully in the dusty windows on each side of the door. Others are stacked. And when you look inside, you can see shelves reaching way high. Books and more books.

You turn the handle.

The lighting is a bit dim.

The floorboards are old and well worn.

The store, you can see, has a long history.

Was it always a bookstore for used books?

It’s a quiet afternoon. You hadn’t planned on going into a bookstore. But you walk in.

A beginning has happened.

TO BE CONTINUED …
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The beginning has also happened of this next phase of my quest.

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ELSA’S QUEST - THE STORY & PAST POSTS:
elsaiselsa.substack.com/elsas-quest

ELSA’S QUEST - WEBSITE:
https://elsasquest.com
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Posted August 6, 2026