Hey Writer, Take Care of You

Sometimes when I’m not quite awake, or not quite asleep, I hear the tentative knock on the locked guest room door and the small voice seeping through: “Mom? Can I ask you something?” I try to rewrite the memory, to answer her and be a decent human, but then I recall how it actually went down and suddenly feel like I can never sleep again.

Sometimes when I’m feeling fat because I haven’t exercised in a little while, I look at my food tracking notes from that year and realize that at one point I knew by memory how many calories were in an ounce of vodka. I count the hours, the days, I existed on nothing but coffee and tinned nuts. I lost some weight, yeah, but at what cost?

Writers aren’t always good to ourselves. Left to our own devices, we have a bad tendency to put deadlines and the desires of strangers above our own health, mental health, and the needs of people who love us. Like, for real love us.

So hey, writers, we need to stop that. Seriously, right now. Think about those self-imposed rules--“no, kids, you can’t talk to me unless the house is burning down” or “I can’t eat birthday cake until I turn in this manuscript” or “I’ll take a day off after I hit this deadline” or “the flu is kicking my ass, but I’ma get those 3k words in today” or my personal fave, “I’ll do Thanksgiving with the family next year, when I won’t have a deadline.” Do those sacrifices...make things better? Really? Are the sales an adequate return on the investment? Are the reviews? If they are, is that balance sheet okay with you? Are you okay with who you’ve become?

Here’s the thing: the world is not going to take care of you. It’s not going to feed you. It’s not even going to feed your soul. Readers, contracts, awards, sales, and bestseller lists don’t care about you. They’ll keep taking as long as you keep giving, so please. Stop.

Take care of you. You can write the thing and live a life without your life becoming the thing.

I like to play a game called What’s the Worst That Could Happen? Here’s a scenario:

I write zero words for, let's say, a month. What’s the worst that could happen?

I could miss deadlines.
I could disappoint that reader who was kind enough to send a note saying they liked my story but who I’ve never met.
That reader could forget about me and my stories and move on to the next book.
All readers could.
My sales could go away.
I could lose contracts.
My editor could cut me loose.
I could lose my agent.
I could have to start over in another genre.
Change my name.
Re-learn everything.
Eat a lot of ramen.
Consider a part-time job.
Pick my own kids up at school.
Make dinner for my own family instead of eating out or ordering in.
Celebrate the important days.
Go to my kid’s concert.
Write only when I want to, when I can, when it doesn’t hurt.
Actually enjoy the writing.
Fall in love with words again.
Forget about the readers who have forgotten about me.
And when that voice asks, “Mom, can I ask you something?”

Now? I unlock the door and answer her. And if that’s the worst that can happen, I am so okay with my choices. Better than okay, honestly.

This is how I take care of me.

Writers Are Like Pets

Caring for an author in your life? We're not dissimilar to the family pet. Make sure we eat, drink, exercise, and leave us alone for the bulk of the day.

Please, whatever you do, relinquish all expectations for our participating in anything whilst in the throes of writing. That includes the maintenance of home, family, and self. When we're between books, we'll be joyfully present while we refill our creative well.

We're not horrible people, we're just deeply involved with fictional people. 

The Care and Feeding of the Writer in Your LIfe

I was away at MileHi Con this weekend and missed posting yesterday, but since James is on leave, I thought I'd cross-post my podcast, First Cup of Coffee, here. I address this week's topic at the SFF Seven: the care and feeding of the writer in your life. 

About MileHi Con and more on success as the progressive realization of a goal. Also on the care and feeding of the writer in your life - and Exciting News on the Frolic Podcast Network! Article here. https://deadline.com/2019/10/frolic-podcast-network-romance-genre-launch-1202764475/

First Cup of Coffee is part of the Frolic Podcast Network. You can find more outstanding podcasts to subscribe to at Frolic.media/podcasts! 

The One Career Goal I Crave To Achieve

Our topic at the SFF Seven this week is the big career goal to which we currently aspire.

The first thing for me to remember is the fact this is my second fulltime career, the first having been at NASA/JPL on the business side of the house where I made my way up the ranks of management in our Division, stepped sideways into working on fascinating projects, made another career move to become a process improvement person and principal individual contributor reporting to the Division Manager, received a NASA Exceptional Service Medal…in short, I did all the classic career things of promotions, raises, challenging work, recognition over a lot of years…and had wonderful experiences along the way because how could you work at the place that built Mars rovers and other such robotic missions and not have a blast?

I’ve been writing since I was seven years old but at the time I went to college, there was never any realistic prospect of making a living as a writer, so I majored in business and followed that path. Marriage, motherhood, widowhood, single working-outside-the-home motherhood… I always wrote my stories though.

And then when I finally had an empty nest and more time to myself, I decided to go for it and see if I could become a published author.

So I did that (thank you, Carina Press!). Then I got into self-publishing in a big way and eventually was able to leave the day job and write full time after three years.

So my point here is, in my writing career I never had the kinds of goals many of my peers had or have. I didn’t want an agent, I didn’t want contracts, I didn’t want to write for a traditional publisher. I don’t have specific goals for annual royalties – as long as I can continue to support myself as a fulltime author, pay the bills and buy Jake the Cat his preferred food,  I’m happy.

I wanted to have FUN and be a fulltime author.

I got to do book signings, book readings, be on panels at  romance conferences, see my books on the shelf in several independent book stores…received some very satisfying awards…made wonderful friends…I was lucky enough to interview my favorite authors like Nalini Singh as well as some of the TV actors on science fiction shows I loved (“Killjoys” and “Dark Matter”)…I got to be a genuine Star Trek character, reading a (tiny) part in the official audiobook of Harlan Ellison’s “The City on the Edge of Forever”…yes, I am a starship Enterprise Red Shirt Crew Member but I survived the episode, people…and put my ‘Veronica Scott’ signature on the copy of the script next to the real Hollywood actors’ names, which was a THRILL.

I’ve been on the USA Today Best Seller list, which I never in a million years would have expected to happen…

I have around 35 books out…

So my author journey has been about telling my stories, having readers, having experiences that my former day job self never would have gotten to enjoy. Freedom from ever going to any more staff meetings, process improvement training or management retreats.

There is one thing though…okay, I admit it – I want, I crave – to have a movie or TV show made from one of my books. I long to watch actors bringing my characters to life for the screen (any screen, any size – Apple TV, call me!)

I did have several wonderful audiobooks made, with actor/narrator Michael Riffle bringing my characters to life and thoroughly enjoyed the experience – it was a pleasure to work with him and his wife – but I still long for that cinematic treatment.

I know there’s always the chance the film adaptation will be awful or completely take my story and turn it unrecognizable (like Andre Norton’s Beast Master although Marc Singer was hot in his day), but I’ll take that chance!

(Said with tongue in cheek): How can it be no one wants to turn my “Titanic in space” novel Wreck of the Nebula Dream into a movie? A TV movie? A half hour special?  A long commercial? An Instagram story?  Or take the Star Cruise series and tell a love boat in space type tale?

So that’s my one unrequited professional goal…

I did actually have a breath of Hollywood interest in one of my novels quite early in my career. Ironically it wasn’t my science fiction romance but one of my ancient Egyptian paranormal romances they were considering. Unfortunately for me, fortunately for them no doubt, the primary person involved suddenly got a great role on a very large hit TV show and that was the end of the discussions.

I’m not exactly waiting by the phone but it would be cool….

Until then I’ll keep on writing and having fun.

Not So Big Career Goals

Enemy Games released Wednesday. *Insert Kermit flail.* You can find it in your preferred format from The Wild Rose Press site.

This book coming out is germane to our topic this week, because it turns out that having books come out is fun. And if you want some insight into the big career goals, here they are. In order of importance.

1. Have fun. Recall that my strong suit is problem solving. There's no plot hole so wide or so deep (of my making) that I can't build some kind of rickety ladder to get across it. And the place I get fun from is in the engineering and building of that ladder. File this away: It is possible I broken beyond repair because I'm like this.
2. Finish this series. Seriously. A decade of waiting is long enough.
3. Move on to the next world. The next characters. The next intriguing premise. And this time, remember that "No." is a complete sentence when someone asks if I can make that a series. Unless it IS a series. 
4. Make enough money to occasionally pay my mortgage. I realize this isn't asking for much. But even just that much would give me the springboard up to the next level.
5. Rule the world. What? Too next level?  

You've had yet another frightening tour of the inside of my head, now it's your turn. I want to know what goal setting methods you're using. Do you write them down? Make them SMART goals? Post vision boards? Keep a Bullet Journal? Practice arcane rituals with a Ouija board in the coat closet in the dead of night?

But writing good stuff IS the goal

You know that dream where you go to class only to discover that there's a test that you haven't prepared for, and when you read it you realize you don't even know enough to fake it? I used to have that dream all the time when I was in school, and for years after.

So when we talk about dreams and goals, take that as context. I started off in this writing career like many people: with tangible, measurable goals. Other people's goals, granted, but goals that were binary: I would either succeed or fail. Well, I failed. A lot. And you know what I learned? All that wishing, hoping, striving, and pushing myself too hard for the win are things that consistently break me, even in those rare instances when I don't fail. And at this point in my life, I refuse to allow writing, my secret haven and first love and the thing that makes me me, to break me.

So no, I don't have measurable career goals, big ones or little ones. I just write the thing. If you just write the thing and have no expectations, no hopes, you can't be disappointed. You can't fail. You can't flunk the test.

Instead, you are stuck in an endless loop of ...doing this thing you love, and nobody is there to tell you you're doing it wrong. Nobody cares if you're doing it wrong. Let me tell you, there are worse ways to live.

So, gossip about my lack of ambition or whatever. I don't care. I'm not going to take the class, buy the ad, watch the vid, fill in the planner, do the hustle, or knock myself out to reach some arbitrary word count goal, some bestseller list I have zero control over, or any other unrelated-to-the-writing measure of success.

My goal is not measurable. I want to write excellent fiction.

Nothing in that says I ever have to share it or sell it. I can succeed without chasing any of those failure opportunities, thanks.

This is my happy place.

Wishing upon the Big Career Star

Big career goal to which I currently aspire?

To consistently earn six figures in annual sales, net and after taxes.  

Mercenary? No. Purely practical. How I get there? That's a long list. Some items I can control, some I can't. Attainable? Possibly. The "consistently" bit is trickier than a one-off, but not impossible...or so rumor has it. I have a long way to go before finding out.

Medium career goal I want to put out to the universe?

Sell a fantasy trilogy to NYC ...

     ...and have all three books actually make it to store shelves 

Career Goals for the Established Author - a Work in Progress

Here's a little tease of the cover of THE FIERY CROWN, sequel to THE ORCHID THRONE, and book two in the Forgotten Empires trilogy. The full cover will be revealed on Wednesday, October 16, at Tor.com. There will also be a sneak peek of the first chapter!

Our topic at the SFF Seven this week is the big career goal to which we currently aspire.

It's an excellent question, particularly as phrased, because our career goals as authors do change over time. Recently a fairly new author concerned about their career trajectory implied that I shouldn't have concerns about my own career because I've "made it."

People, I wish I could count the number of times people have told me that I've "made it" in the last twenty-five years.

It's a common misperception that authors with an extensive backlist (which I do have), a loyal audience (thank you all!), and regular releases (which takes dedicated work) are somehow not reaching, even struggling. The vagaries of the publishing industry are kind to no one, and every author has their ups and downs. (As do agents and editors.) Not many of us have retired to Mediterranean villas to be waited upon by cabana boys while we pithily doodle out our next brilliant work.

So, it's an interesting question to pose to any author. What BIG goal do you aspire to RIGHT NOW? The answers may be surprising.

And note that we're specifying a big goal. It's tempting to say "finish this book I'm currently working on" - because that particular goal is all-consuming. In fact, we so often have our heads down, buried in finishing the current work, that we don't always pop our heads up to consider the big picture.

For me? I have a new book and series out on submission and I have a dollar figure advance in mind for it. If I get it, that will be a big, much-needed leap for me. A saltation in evolution, for those of you who know about those things. My other big goal is to hit a bestseller list, either USA Today or, ideally, New York Times. I never have and I'd really like to tag that particular brass ring. I'm hopeful that buzz for THE ORCHID THRONE - which has been really lovely and wonderful so far - will continue to build and that THE FIERY CROWN will have a shot at making those lists. It's looking more possible now that the NYT list added back mass market paperback

There, I've put those wishes out in the universe, which I rarely do publicly. Cross your fingers for me!