I want to take a moment to say that I am sorry for my recent fixation on “selling books”.
A couple of old friends from the old days (if the 90’s actually qualify as ‘old days) have recently pulled their “Patriot/Survival Fiction” stories and posted them to amazon for sale.
So, being the consummate schemer I am, I plugged some numbers into my trust calculator and got the wild idea that MAYBE my writing could help lessen the sting of my impending retirement options. (or lack thereof)
I have decided to give up.
NO, not on writing, but on trying to ‘monetize’
something that I have always done for ‘fun’.
I honestly just let a few good reviews go to my head, and I had a pipe dream of maybe being a real author instead of just some guy who writes stories.
I get my ‘definition’ from a little twerp that was himself an aspiring author, but had never gotten a ‘big envelope’ back from a single publisher.
I remember being told, at USM in the 80’s by this already jaded grad student who taught our creative writing class, that ‘the difference between a writer and an author is the paycheck’. His success was measured by money alone.
I realize now that he was incorrect.
It all depends on what ‘pay’ you consider to be valuable.
I think I just lost focus the real ‘value’ of everything I do in my life, and why I have done it for so long.
Kinda the same reason I am a volunteer fireman, putting in hundreds of hours a year to training and placing myself in dangerous life threatening situations….. for zero pay.
It is for one reason only…. because I truly believe that I AM my brothers keeper.
As far as my writing goes… it is an outlet. An escape. For myself and others.
And a reminder that romance, love, hope, justice, and even flawed heroes still exist in this world.
Sometimes even if only in black & white on a little screen.
We live in an environment now where ‘self harm’ and ‘self-inflicted permanent sleep’ are a real possibility for the people who can’t seem to deal with their lives or the world around them.
I appreciate all who read and like my stories.
If I can give someone a break from the daily stresses of life, then I am successful.
If my distractions can help even one person, or provide that little bit of wiggle room that prevents them from pitching over into the abyss, then I have fulfilled an even greater purpose.
And that will be worth more than gold and silver to me.