▁who ▁bought ▁the ▁book ▁for ▁Hein emann , ▁later ▁became ▁Smith ' s ▁ment or ▁and ▁agent . ▁Smith ▁says ▁Pick ▁gave ▁him ▁advice ▁he ▁never ▁forgot : ▁" Write ▁for ▁yourself , ▁and ▁write ▁about ▁what ▁you ▁know ▁best ." ▁Pick ▁also ▁ad vised : ▁" Don ' t ▁talk ▁about ▁your ▁books ▁with ▁anybody , ▁even ▁me , ▁until ▁they ▁are ▁written ." ▁Smith ▁has ▁said ▁that , ▁" U ntil ▁it ▁is ▁written ▁a ▁book ▁is ▁merely ▁smoke ▁on ▁the ▁wind . ▁It ▁can ▁be ▁blow n ▁away ▁by ▁a ▁care less ▁word ." ▁ ▁In ▁ 2 0 1 2 , ▁Smith ▁said ▁When ▁the ▁Lion ▁Fe eds ▁remained ▁his ▁favour ite ▁because ▁it ▁was ▁his ▁first ▁to ▁be ▁published . ▁Film ▁rights ▁were ▁bought ▁by ▁Stanley ▁Baker ▁but ▁no ▁movie ▁resulted . ▁However , ▁the ▁money ▁enabled ▁Smith ▁to ▁quit ▁his ▁job ▁in ▁the ▁South ▁African ▁tax ation ▁office , ▁calculating ▁he ▁had ▁enough ▁to ▁not ▁have ▁to ▁work ▁for ▁two ▁years . ▁ ▁" I ▁h ired ▁a ▁car avan , ▁park ed ▁it ▁in ▁the ▁mountains , ▁and ▁wrote ▁the ▁second ▁book ", ▁he ▁said . ▁" I ▁knew ▁it ▁was ▁sort ▁of ▁a ▁waters hed . ▁I ▁was ▁ 3 0 ▁years ▁of ▁age , ▁single ▁again , ▁and ▁I ▁could ▁take ▁the ▁chance ." ▁ ▁Smith ' s ▁second ▁published ▁novel ▁was ▁The ▁Dark ▁of ▁the ▁Sun ▁( 1 9 6 5 ), ▁a ▁tale ▁about ▁mer cen aries ▁during ▁the ▁Congo ▁Cris is