Thanksgiving Day is done and gone. Family and friends ate their fill, took whatever leftovers I could force upon them, and still managed to leave me with a refrigerator packed to the gills. And now, late at night while things are quiet, I find myself sitting here in a state of reflection.
Like many writers hoping to build a career around what they love, my life is divided between family, what folks refer to as a real job, and countless hours staring at a computer screen in a corner of my home. So every once in a while, I have to think about my choices.
Sure, if I weren’t writing, my house would be cleaner. Meals would be better planned, and the laundry would get done more often. I could spend more time hanging out with friends, and the checkbook might get balanced properly once in a while. And what about the other side of this? What about the personal ups and downs of writing?
Earlier this year I was offered the opportunity to submit The Enduring to a publisher attending Dragon Con. Needless to say, this filled me with oodles of glee, and I jumped into revisions the moment I arrived home. In addition, I re-wrote my synopsis to meet their requirements—a minimum of ten pages, and containing the complete emotional story arcs of every major character. Then off, via email, it went.
I wish I could say this story had a dramatic ending with someone offering me loads of money for a multi-book series, but alas, things didn’t work out that way. I did get a helpful, and very complimentary reply, and an offer to submit future works. And so it goes—a dose of excitement, one more disappointment, then a big twist of hope tacked on the end. Yet I wouldn’t have it any other way….
I guess that means the laundry and the dusting will wait.
Hope you had a great Thanksgiving. Keep writing!
Laura