This has been one of those weeks! And I do believe I have ‘more' of those weeks coming. Finally got my contracts, signed them, and slipped them in the mail to my agent. Seeing those dates in black ink is a great motivator, especially when surrounded by legal language. I have to finish a book and write a proposal before conference. Eeek! Better get busy, right?
It's funny, but before I sold a book, I really wanted to be just like my favorite authors — writing books in my jammies, hobnobbing with agents and editors, chatting with my best writer friends about our books and which lists we were on, etc. And though it's seriously cool to have a book coming out, and to have books that someone is waiting to publish, it's also a JOB. More of a job than it was when I wasn't published. Because if I got stuck then, I could just nip out to the mall and engage in some retail therapy. Or drop everything and go to lunch with a friend. Or garden, rearrange my furniture, read blogs all day, etc.
I've realized that though I LOVE my job, it's not just fun and games. There will be good days and bad, there will be pressure, and sometimes you have to sit at that keyboard no matter how sunny it is outside and how much you want to frolic through the grass. Life does not magically change the instant someone wants to buy your book. No, it's cool, and you will be very happy — but it's still work. My favorite authors are sitting at their desks, doing the same things I'm doing. They aren't indulging in margarita lunches everyday, or flitting through Neiman-Marcus looking at designer clothes.
Darn. Something else to add to the misconceptions list, right? If you aren't a writer, what's your dream job? And if you are a writer, what's your dream writing life like?
(If I wasn't a writer, I'd want to be an interior designer. You would laugh if you saw my home's interior, but hey, it's a DREAM.)
Monday's winner: M.V. Freeman! M.V. wins a copy of Jessica Anderson's Nightkeepers for her very own. Yay!
Oh, please. Your house is gorgeous.
Now Jean, you are just too sweet! 🙂 But thank you. If I had world enough and time (or money enough and time, ahem), I’d make some changes to the decor. New colors, new furniture (or antiques), etc. Can’t wait to see your new old furniture one of these days!
Actually, I think you’d be a great interior designer… remember I saw your Germany house. 😀
Dream job? Already done that… typesetter, traveler, electronics technician, scholar… Now I just want to be a writer.
PSS.. one job that I wanted to do, but never had the opportunity was to become an astronaut… not going to happen now. 😉
Yikes, astronaut! I didn’t realize you wanted to do that before.
Yea.. I thought that we would be in space by now (in space buses). Maybe a space traveler would be fun.
Thanks, Cyn! Well, again, I wasn’t satisfied! I guess that’s true of any creative activity though — I’m also never satisfied with my books. Maybe that means we are better at something than we think we are when we aren’t happy and keep searching for perfection? I don’t know!
Yea… I decided recently that I had to be less into the perfectionism. I am happier that way. LOL
But, you are still a great writer… I have always known it. In fact, you were my competition way back when… It was a lot of fun. I really miss it.
Cyn
Perfectionism is never good. It stifles creativity, and I fight with it all the time. Thanks for the compliment. We did have a lot of fun, didn’t we? That was my “taking a break from romance” phase. I’m very glad I came back to it. 🙂
Yea.. and we did some experimenting. Otto still asks about your Mystery story… military, and German prostitutes. I still think you have a future in mystery writing too.
Cyn
A dream job for me is working at a bakery. I love baking I do it for fun, but being able to do it for a job would definitely be a dream for me.
Oh yummy, Nicole! I bake sometimes, but I’m not really great at it. I don’t have the patience it takes to make bread, for instance. All that rising, etc. 🙂
First off, thank you Lynn! and YAY!! 😆 I really appreciate the book!
Ok, I am calming down now…
I had a dream job I secretly kept to myself, ever since I was a teen, but I put it away.
I wanted to be a Comic-Book Artist for Marvel.
Yes. Really.
But now, as I work at my day job, I am working toward the one thing, I truly love…writing. Your post was so very appropriate Lynn. I have slowly learned that becoming a writer doesn’t just come by sitting here staring at my computer (although I hear there is this rabbit’s foot that gives all sorts of mysterious power) 😉
All good things come by one thing-work! (oh and chocolate.)
Hey, that’s a cool job! So does this mean you draw? I wanted to draw before I ever wanted to write. Not very good at it, unfortunately….
I scribble now…Used to draw fairly well. Now it’s just doodling. I encourage drawing and painting in my kids. My mother on the other hand is very good, although she never understood my thing for super hero comic books and romance…. 😀