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Sunday, August 15, 2010
10 Years From Now
One of the extras on the 6th Harry Potter movie is a documentary of the Year in the Life of J.K. Rowling. I haven’t watched it quite as much as the movie, but it’s close. Listening to my idol talk about writing, fame, and her life before is as close as I’m ever going to get in meeting her over a cup of coffee, so I hang on every word.
One of the segments of the piece is her re-visiting the apartment she lived in before she was published, a cheap little flat that is nothing compared to the lovely houses she lives in now. She had a surreal moment of walking around the flat (where someone else was now living) and these renters had her set of Harry Potter on their shelves. She got teary eyed—not about the books—but about how recent it felt for her to have been there, the thought she could still be living there if she hadn’t gotten published.
Obviously a “rags-to-riches” success like Rowling does not happen to every author. Jennifer Crusie had a blog the other day where she mentioned a statistic that about 90% of authors only publish one book. (How interesting God falls into that category, eh?) And Rowling managed to write 7 bestsellers. There are authors who’ve managed to publish 7 books but never rise above the midlist. Still…we all have dreams. Rowling’s dreams were to make a living at being a writer and to be published, which she managed. She no longer has to worry about making enough money for her and her daughter to meet their needs, no longer has to worry about welfare. In 10 years, J.K. Rowling had gone from living on welfare and doing a lot of her writing in a coffeehouse to possibly the most successful children’s author in the 20th century. (Peter Cottontail might give Harry a run for his money, I’m not sure.)
Articles make her out to be an overnight success, but she started thinking about Harry Potter—got the germ of the idea on a train ride from London—in 1990; and she finished the final book in the series in 2007. 17 years. And of those, the first 7 years she was unpublished. Granted a lot of her writing involved planning out the other 6 books while she was working on the first one. That’s probably a lot of why it took so long to get the first one written, but there was also the fact she was writing with the little bits of time she had available between working, raising a child, and staving off depression. (Who wouldn’t be depressed in those circumstances?) But she did it, no matter how long it took. And she wrote this story, even though stories about boy wizards were not being bought. She wrote the book she was meant to write and she wrote it to the best of her ability. That is why she is my hero, even though success stories like hers are so rare.
Yet 10 years later, she breaks into tears in her old flat because even now, the success doesn’t seem real. She said she keeps the apartment in mind because if everything went away—the money, the success, everything—she could return back to this apartment. It was, she called it, a baseline. Pretty sure that never in a thousand years she imagined the success she has achieved with the Harry Potter books.
I rather like my apartment—it’s my baseline, I think. And never in a million years—a billion even—could I imagine the sort of success Rowling has had. My books will never have a midnight release; my books won’t be turned into movies. My dreams of success are in the Rowling realm of: “being a writer” and “being published”; and I would like to beat the odds of only publishing one book.
In 10 years, what would you have liked to achieve with your writing? What sort of success is beyond your wildest imagination of happening to you?
One of the segments of the piece is her re-visiting the apartment she lived in before she was published, a cheap little flat that is nothing compared to the lovely houses she lives in now. She had a surreal moment of walking around the flat (where someone else was now living) and these renters had her set of Harry Potter on their shelves. She got teary eyed—not about the books—but about how recent it felt for her to have been there, the thought she could still be living there if she hadn’t gotten published.
Obviously a “rags-to-riches” success like Rowling does not happen to every author. Jennifer Crusie had a blog the other day where she mentioned a statistic that about 90% of authors only publish one book. (How interesting God falls into that category, eh?) And Rowling managed to write 7 bestsellers. There are authors who’ve managed to publish 7 books but never rise above the midlist. Still…we all have dreams. Rowling’s dreams were to make a living at being a writer and to be published, which she managed. She no longer has to worry about making enough money for her and her daughter to meet their needs, no longer has to worry about welfare. In 10 years, J.K. Rowling had gone from living on welfare and doing a lot of her writing in a coffeehouse to possibly the most successful children’s author in the 20th century. (Peter Cottontail might give Harry a run for his money, I’m not sure.)
Articles make her out to be an overnight success, but she started thinking about Harry Potter—got the germ of the idea on a train ride from London—in 1990; and she finished the final book in the series in 2007. 17 years. And of those, the first 7 years she was unpublished. Granted a lot of her writing involved planning out the other 6 books while she was working on the first one. That’s probably a lot of why it took so long to get the first one written, but there was also the fact she was writing with the little bits of time she had available between working, raising a child, and staving off depression. (Who wouldn’t be depressed in those circumstances?) But she did it, no matter how long it took. And she wrote this story, even though stories about boy wizards were not being bought. She wrote the book she was meant to write and she wrote it to the best of her ability. That is why she is my hero, even though success stories like hers are so rare.
Yet 10 years later, she breaks into tears in her old flat because even now, the success doesn’t seem real. She said she keeps the apartment in mind because if everything went away—the money, the success, everything—she could return back to this apartment. It was, she called it, a baseline. Pretty sure that never in a thousand years she imagined the success she has achieved with the Harry Potter books.
I rather like my apartment—it’s my baseline, I think. And never in a million years—a billion even—could I imagine the sort of success Rowling has had. My books will never have a midnight release; my books won’t be turned into movies. My dreams of success are in the Rowling realm of: “being a writer” and “being published”; and I would like to beat the odds of only publishing one book.
In 10 years, what would you have liked to achieve with your writing? What sort of success is beyond your wildest imagination of happening to you?
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76 comments:
In ten years...what would I like to achieve, as in what is my more realistic dream? Well, I want a fan base who bugs me about the stories not out yet. Not fanatic about it, but nice fans... I want to be invited to conferences and sit on panels. I want to make enough moolah to pay for these conferences and bring the DH along to one or two of them... And have the books pay for the yearly vacation...
In my wildest dreams...a bidding war within two years that makes me scream with glee. I want to see a display of my books in my local bookstores, have a blog that people follow... A movie option with stars I want to meet and get to meet. I want to inspire a music video and be on the cover of Pirate Magazine... ;-)
And I want to be involved in mentoring newbie authors. That goes without saying with both dreams!
Well, my goal is to get published by 40. I turn 33 next month, so I have seven years for that. Ideally, I'd like to have a trilogy out by then, I'd like to be having some success, good reviews, good sales, the promise of being able to write for the rest of my life and not have to go back to a "day job."
In my wildest dreams? I'd like to be able to retire my husband with my writing. Or at least be on the way to that. Making enough to send my boys to college (since I calculated how much we need to save to be able to pay for it 100% in 15-18 years and I about gave myself a heart attack).
2nd, it seems you're already achieving a lot of your long term goals: you're already a mentor to newbie writers (as is demonstrated when you help out with the RT conference as you have); you have a blog people follow; and you have a fanbase...though admittedly you want something in lines of 1000s of fans rather than the pirates. But you're on your way! That's the point I'm trying to make!
I think it would be totally surreal to see my book in stores. I do go to the library sometimes to look on shelves where MY book would be shelved. Weirdly, I look under my REAL name and not my pen name. I just now realized that... *LOL*
Marn, good goal! And I like all the ones that followed. *LOL* I can see it! :)
Tuition for kids? *shudders* I bet Nora even says, "I don't even make that much!" *LOL* And you're forgetting the money involved in senior year for pictures, et al, that seemed to cost far more than college did. *LOL* What is it about senior year?
Hells, this is a really good blog. I mean, really good.
I don't want to look into the future. I don't want to think about goals and where I'll be in 10 years. Ten years ago where I'm at now never even crossed my mind. Ten years ago if you'd asked me if I'd be working on my writing, I'd laughed in your face. In fact, had you known I wanted to write, eventually be a writer and support myself that way, I'd been surprised. I'll leave the future to the future. It can surprise me like it's been doing since I was born.
But I liked this blog. It made me think about how far I've come in 10 years. I feel pretty successful right now.
Sin, spoken like a true Pantser. *LOL* And I'm glad the blog made you realize how successful you really are. :)
Oh, and if you all haven't gone to the Bandits blog yet, go! Brenda Novak, whom I've never read, is blogging about what I *wish* I'd been blogging about. *LOL* It's how I feel anyway, but I couldn't have blogged about it because I didn't have an answer...and she does, bless her!
Love the Bandits. lol
How interesting God falls into that category, eh?
So does Margaret Mitchell, Emily Brontë, Anna Sewell, Harper Lee, Ralph Ellison, Sun Tzu …
Sometimes one is enough.
Humpff. Well. The blog did Not make me realize how successful I really am.
And you’re forgetting the money involved in senior year…”
It made me realize how successful I Better GET!
Great blog, Hellie. I think about these things a lot, actually, probably because the last ten years just flew by, and I had set writing aside during that time because things weren't happening the way I'd hoped/planned.
While I know I'm making progress, especially this past year, sometimes I worry that it'll take more than ten years to get where I want to go -- and I don't want to be a blue-haired, boa-wearing romance author that makes people reach for their antacids whenever they think about me writing love scenes. LOL
In ten years I would like to know that my books are able to secure my future, that I can continue telling stories I want and others are craving, and I can eat whatever I want and not gain weight. LOL
My wildest dreams? Having Johnny Depp call to say he's interested in starring in a movie of one of my books. LOL (That's ONE. I've got more.)
Jules, I was thinking of Margaret Mitchell too! *LOL* That book, for some reason, took me forever to read, but I did enjoy it mightily.
Wuthering Heights is plenty. There didn't need to be a follow up to that book.
Donna, I think I wrote that blog thinking that "Ten years isn't that long." *LOL* I'm just hoping I make some sort of marked progress. *LOL* And I think it'd be fine to be a boa-wearing lady--you can always get a dye job--it took Anna Campbell like 20 years to break in (I'm glad she didn't quit after the first 10) and I don't think of her as some little old lady. That woman is WILD! *LOL*
I always think that's the mark of a writer too. That no matter how often you might set it aside, you end up coming back to it. Like some first love you just can't let go of. *LOL*
Awesome blog, Hellie! In ten years, I'd like to be publishing enough to support myself without the day job. I think that's reasonable in 10 years. It's tight, and requiring of mucho dedication, but that's the goal.
Unlike Sin, I need plans for the future. I have five-year-goals, ten-year-goals. Hell, I even have a 20-year goal. That's right, within the next 20 years, I want to land on the NYT list. Another very ambitious goal, but 20 years seems like a doable timeline.
Then again, 10 years ago I was working as a social worker, planning on always being one. Writing had never even crossed my mind. So as much as I need the security of long term goals and plans, I also realize that chances are, my life will do it's own thing, and be better off for it :)
Ten years from now?
Do I have to give you a serious answer, Hellion?
Since my brain hasn’t quite kicked in yet on this beautiful Mondaze morn’.
I just got this email entitled: Last Chance To Take Up To 25% Off! What Are You Waiting For?
And I think
“Well I hope that she’s waiting for me to leave the room. Cuz I don’t wanna see her start to strip!”
ohh, that was an excellent post by Brenda Novak!
*LOL* Jules, I'm constantly reminded how successful I better get!
Jules, my darling, as par the course, you can do whatever you want on this blog. *LOL*
Hal, I think having 5, 10, and 20 year goals are good to have, so you're not like me and going, "WTF? Was I on crack the last 10 years? Where did the time go?" Goals, I think, keep you focused.
Works for dieting if you have the right goals; and I think if you have the right goals, it can work for writing as well...or well, anything actually.
WTF? Was I on crack the last 10 years?
LMAO!!! Even with goals, this regularly goes through my mind as well :)
Oh, dear! I have to get rid of my boa and dye my silver locks before I can even think about ten-year goals. Maybe a genre switch should be one of my goals. I don't think mystery or lit fic has any requirements concerning hair color. :(
Great blog. Lots of thought involved though. LOL Even if the blog question was looking forward, it's comforting to see I'm not the only one who looks back...Was I on crack the last 10 years? Yeah, that wondering what I did with my time.
Looking forward, I guess it helps to look backwards for some perspective of progress on the same goals. Ten, even twenty years ago, I did see my yet to be written books securing my future - - which I'm now in. Here it is, the future. Looks a little wobbly, but I could grab one of my unpublished/need-to-revise books from under the bed and prop it up. That's something. Better than no books.
Everyone has something to show for the time. Ten years from now I hope I'm telling 'overnight success' stories.
Janga, I think a boa and silvery locks worked quite well for Barbara Cartland. I don't think we should knock it until we try it. And I think laAnna's locks are silvery on occasion and I know that woman has GOT to have a boa.
To be quite frank, there are a number of authors where we're just a little "Huh, I probably don't want to think too hard that this woman probably has a better sex life than me." They look too much like our Sunday School teacher...or our mother...or like a geek from band camp. Writing romances is hazardous like being the telephone sex operator--you meet one who is a telephone sex operator and you're like, "YOU'RE a telephone SEX operator?" and then feel like a schmuck because, well, you are. All that judging books by their covers. *LOL*
Melissa, I'm a fan of the "Those who fail to learn their history are doomed to repeat it." It helps to look back so you can recalibrate your goals and still move forward. You can learn a lot from your past.
It always cracks me up that "overnight success" stories are usually 99% of the time like 20 years in the making. Or at least 5-10 years in the making. (You get the rare "Oh, I just started writing 8 months ago and sold my first book" story, but I ignore them.)
I could so rock silver hair and a feather boa.
And yeah, Hels, I have met a few of the goals I strive for. I hope in ten years I'll have the reputation to actually pull in on-the-shelf authors to help out with the newbie class at RT, and be able to speak with authority about the reality of the publishing path, etc. Be more than a cheerleader and sounding board...
Pirates are great fans...but I want more pirates. Pirates from all over the world! Bwah ha ha!
I'm not dissing blue hair and boas -- I just don't see it for ME, ya know? LOL And I'm conscious of how fast time goes because I am coming up on another birthday, and it feels like they're showing up every ten minutes. Sigh. Life feels a bit precarious at the moment too, so I'm ready to get moving forward. LOL I've got it all mapped out in my head! (Complete with a "You are here" X marked. LOL)
P.S. I feel like I don't have everybody's blogs on my "to read" list, and I want to have them. Chance and Marn, can you post a link? And everyone else who wants me to read theirs. :)
2nd, world domination--I get it. You and the Brain. *hums Pinky and the Brain*
Donna, I'm still advocating hair dye. You're going to do it and be fine. And as my dad always says, "Better the birthdays showing up all the time than the alternative."
I need a "You are here" map. Only I'm afraid it wouldn't be very far along on my destination. *LOL* And it would show I'd stalled and dallied too long as a Margarita stand. Next to the crackhouse.
I have no other blog. I do, but I haven't updated it in a year so I don't. I'm doing good to update this one. And I'm very grateful to the my pirate crew I only have to come up with something faintly witty once a week.
Everything ya'll said and more!
I do have goals in mind but being a consummate pantser (I have proof! Kat Baldwin's anaylsis exercise during her presentation at National showed me COMPLETE pantser! I'm proud of that... in a weird way)I do not have a timeline associated with it.
Since I've been "enhancing" my hair color since childhood :-) I don't have to worry about that, but I do want to make a splash and support myself at least partially with my writing.
More than that...I want to write good stories that people love!
BTW, the Bandits HEART ya'll too!
I have been getting "natural blonde" put into my hair for several years, and I can't see letting that go any time soon! LOL In fact, it's time to make another appointment. . .
I think my grumbles today stem from having goals that are attached to things OTHER people need to do, not ME. LOL Of course, I could be working on my WIP.
*slinks away to open up the Word doc*
I have finally caught up on the blog and the comments. Now, here's hoping no one else comments while I type this. (Unlikely, I know.) Awesome blog!
Since we're looking back a bit, and that is more painful, I'll do that first. Ten years ago I had a 1 yr old, was married and living in a doublewide on a farm in a county in AR with no traffic lights. The decline of my marriage had already started so it was sort of the beginning of a MAJOR change in my life. As if having the kiddo a year before wasn't a big enough change already. :)
Now, I'm divorced, living a few miles from the ocean several states from AR, have a pre-teen headed into middle school, a totally different job, a college degree, and a story about to be pubbed in a magazine. And there's the finished rough draft and the buying my own place thing.
Damn, now I'm exhausted. I don't think I have the energy to look ten years ahead. At least not without a break. I'll be back.
Okay, ten years ahead. This should be a nicer picture. Kiddo will be 21 and fully embedded in college. (Passes over that thought quickly so as not to think about the expense.) I'd definitely like to be published with at least five years worth of books behind me. Would two books a year be too ambitious? Maybe one book a year?
I'll still be at the day job, but I hope to have advanced well into management by then. I see the moderate advances being enough to pay some of the "one time" expenses. My first goal is to make enough to pay off my student loans, then things like braces and vacations (conference of course). A good chunk for her college fund would be really cool, and then there's retiring to Belize. That's in the plans somewhere...
What was the question again? Oh yah ... something about what would I liked to achieve with me writing?
Answer: a conversation
I suppose you want me to explain that, hmm?
Often I write out a comment or ananswer to a blog question , but I don't post it.
The following is one of those old non-posts:
Now I feel bad about teasing you people about my birthday.
All I'll say is ... Its Hellion's Fault.
Had she Not written a blog entitled “I Write Like…” , then I wouldn't have thought about my about my BDay, which made me tease you, which in turn made me feel bad.
What does my birthday have to do with what kind of a writer I am?
Nothing. And every thing.
My son called on my birthday. It was late but we talked for quite awhile. As the conversation wound down I said “Its been a long year… These last couple of years? I have learned a lot…” There was silence for a moment, and then my son asked “What have you learned, mom?” I started to answer. Stopped. Started again. And that’s when it hit me. I didn’t know where should I begin. And I couldn’t explain what I had learned with out explaining how I had learned it. Dear Lord. I would have start at the beginning. I had to go back to the places(blog sites) I had been … so very long ago …
Ha! I was right! You should be a writer!!! I want to read your GAN!
Hellion dear, you have already read most of it. Them, really.
And I wouldn’t call it a GAN. I would call it my posts. My emails. The things that I wrote but never posted because they were too personal. Or I lacked the ability to wring some sort of palatable conclusion out of the story. IE not only could I Not reach a HEA, I couldn’t find a Happy Anything. (This by the way is the reason I can never be a member of RWA. IMO )
I’ve been gathering Them slowly from here and there. Bits and pieces of my random thoughts. Organized into one of my personal files. A compilation of what I wrote, why I wrote it, and what I learned. So that the next time one of my children asks me “Mother, what have you learned?” I can hand them that file and say “Start by reading this. And then? Then we’ll talk.”
It’s a paradox. really. And I find it terribly Ironic. That I, a women who has always preferred to “speak to” someone verses writing to someone, is using her writing to facilitate a conversation.
So?
What kind of writer am I, Hellion?
An Ironic One, one who writes so that she can have a conversation.
Julie, all writing sparks conversation. Or contemplating, which is a conversation with the self. We all know you're a writer, you just haven't decided it yourself. And nothing wrong with that!
My last birthday bummed me out. I was shocked that it did. 50. And I didn't have a real tangible handle on what I wanted to be when I grow up. Because being a writer certainly won't certify me as grown up.
Ten years ago? Oh, lord. I don't know! I try to really remember where I was and what I was doing ten years ago... All I can give are generalities. I was probably depressed. I was probably in some conflict with a family member, maybe two. I was likely shedding some friends that needed to be shed. I was probably thinking about writing, but only writing in the classroom, per assignment...
This is what happens when you have no landmarks to gauge your past by.
Three years ago? That, I know! Because of the sudden cardiac death. That's a landmark I'll never forget! Before that? Living in my rabbit hole and poking my nose out now and then...
And yes, world domination. I need a pirate raygun...
Joanie! *swoons* I always feel so swoony when the Banditas visit. Sorta like if Angelina Jolie stopped by to say hello.
I love your goal: write good stories that people love. I want that too!
And I've been dying my hair since early college and I can't stop now. I don't remember my real hair color. It wasn't good though.
Donna, I wish I looked good blonde. *sighs* I just look washed out. *LOL* Write, write like the wind, DRD!
Bo'sun, thank you for once again with your 10 years ago compared with your present making me feel like a complete slug. *LOL* I think 2 books a year is manageable--at least for you, you wrote the last one in a hurry!--and right up your Business Major alley. Still loving the Belize plan though.
Hellie, was the Barbara Cartland reference supposed to comfort me? LOL! According to some sources, she's the second bestselling author of all time. (Agatha Christie is first.) But I'm not sure if that fact cheers me or depresses me.
I was teasing about the boa. I'm not the type, and it's my choice not to dye my hair. I rather like the silver. :)
The Anna is a constant source of inspiration and a prime example of perseverance. I also like to think about Pearl Wolf who published her first romance last year at 79. The, since I'm still quite a number of years younger than PW, having my ten-year goals include multiple publications seems more reasonable. Looking back, ten years ago my writing was limited to poems, academic essays, and comments on student essays, six of the grands were still playing with the angels, the word "blog" was barely in my vocabulary, and I didn't know any of you. A great deal can happen in ten years.
And because I can't resist trivia: I think Enid Blyton takes the prize as best-seliing children's author of the 20th century (at least among those writing in English). Dr. Seuss follows her. But Rowling holds the record for most series books sold in one year, and she's a mere infant compared to the others. Her sales will probably equal or surpass theirs in another decade or so.
My ten year ambition is to own a mountain retreat, equiped wilh helli pad ... so that Helli and others can visit... and all mod cons. *grin*
It would have a kitchen with an award winning chef, preferably Nigella when she's free.
Important to keep the body honed so I would have a gym, heated pool and access to ski slopes. A massage parlor to ease those aches and pains brought on by excessive writing and an inspiring masseuse.
Oh, nearly forgot. A specially equipped writing den with walls lined with impressive books, rather than wall paper, to keep me focused.
With all this back up I would expect to write something brilliant ..... eventually!
Oh, dear! I have to get rid of my boa and dye my silver locks before I can even think about ten-year goals.
Janga, the lone ranger fired silver bullets, not golden ones. Silver is a beautiful color. Perfect for someone who writes beautiful prose and poetry. Not so sure about the boa though!
Jules, I love your irony, though I imagine there are some authors who've published so they can have a conversation. I think the one who wrote "A Confederacy of Dunces" was going for that, but if you want to have a conversation with your readers, don't commit suicide before you're published!
No HEA's really? No rewards for your hero/ines? *tsks* What kind of taskmaster are you?
I was probably depressed. I was probably in some conflict with a family member, maybe two. I was likely shedding some friends that needed to be shed. I was probably thinking about writing, but only writing in the classroom, per assignment…
Story of my life right here in a nutshell.
And because I can’t resist trivia: I think Enid Blyton takes the prize as best-seliing children’s author of the 20th century (at least among those writing in English). Dr. Seuss follows her. But Rowling holds the record for most series books sold in one year, and she’s a mere infant compared to the others. Her sales will probably equal or surpass theirs in another decade or so.
See, I knew the children's author thing would be wrong--but at least I did try to branch out to find a different children's author who might surpass her. *LOL* Who's Enid Blyton? (I don't remember this name from childhood; and I don't have kids to read to. At least none that I see more than once every 6 months.)
I can't believe I didn't throw something into my past ten years about meeting the pirates (and Bon Bons!). Most all of my good changes have been in the last five years. In fact, the last decade could be split between BBB and ABB - Before Bulletin Board and After Bulletin Board. LOL!
And yes, I did mean the Barbara Cartland as a sort of comfort...more so I mean Anna Campbell as a comfort because she's hip and awesome, and Barbara--well, we always picture her with dogs and those fake lashes. But both are successful and I'd take it! Even if I had to be pictured with dogs and fake lashes!
I'm making a note to buy Janga a boa for Christmas.
There was a woman at Nationals that turned everyone's head every time she passed. A figure I could only dream of having, dressed impeccably in the most stylish dresses, and walking gracefully in platform heels. She also had gorgeous silver hair and a beautiful smile.
We decided that's what Barbie would look like if she ever got to be a grandmother.
Yes, I think the Bon Bons had a stupendous effect on ALL of us. Definitely can't underestimate the power of Mayne.
Q, I seriously need to dream like you do...or maybe I'll just move into your mountain retreat with my notebook and pens and take shameless advantage of your masseuse. I'm pretty good with cookies (biscuits) so you might tolerate me as a guest. If nothing else, I'm great at pouring scotch and nodding sympathetically.
If nothing else, I’m great at pouring scotch and nodding sympathetically
Helli, mail me in ten years time :LOL:
Every writer should have a boa. I used to have a pink one...no idea where it disappeared to. Hmmm. Damnit. I rather liked the pink one. Very Marilyn.
Bo'sun, I thought for sure your story was going to have "And she wore a boa..." WTH.
I'm going the route of letting the hair colorist go a bit lighter brunette each time I color, aiming for that day I say 'screw it' and let the silver shine through without apologies.
I'm a fan of the silver haired model in the Chicos flyers...
I say we all aim to party at Q's private retreat in 2020!
I say we all aim to party at Q’s private retreat in 2020!
I'm pencilling it in on my calendar right now. . .
I'll have the blonde hair but I'll be wearing Hotties, not boas. :)
I hear boas are perfectly nice snakes... ;-)
Ahoy Mates!
Swinging by from the Bandi Lair to another rich discussion.
Alas, I fear I DO resemble Barbara Cartland, at least as far as having silver hair and dogs, small, yappy ones at that! I had neither 10 years ago (okay, I had one small yappy dog, but a different one). I also had a stressful job I HATED and no time for writing, which made Aunty a VERY UNHAPPY camper, and was the source of much of the silver hair.
But I did have a plan, and I'm happy to say that more of it has happened than not, even though at the time, it felt like I was slogging through hip deep molasses.
Where will I be in ten years? I hope still turning out books that my readers enjoy. I hope I have a few more readers than I have right now, but Hellie, you are sooo right: seeing your book on the shelf is absolutely THE BEST feeling in the world!!!
Wildest dreams for the next decade? How bout getting the same advance JR Ward just got for a BDB Novella? In case you haven't heard, that would be a COOL HALF MILLION! Yes, for a NOVELLA!
Dreaming,
AC
and yes, we Banditas DO LURVE Pirates
Sorry, Hellie, I was trying to emphasize the silver hair. But she could have worn a boa at some point and I just missed it. It would have totally rocked on her.
Okay, I know we've been talking about ten years out, but actually seeing the number - 2020 - I can't help but think "OMG that's so far away!!!" I mean, that sounds like the date from some futuristic sci-fi movie of my youth. LOL!
Don't hit me, Hels...
For a NOVELLA?!? Jumping junipers that would be awesome. And you totally rock the silver hair, AC. Though I don't think you need the boa, what with the riding crop and all... ;)
Holy crap! She got $500,000 for a NOVELLA? OMG!
Hello, my darling Auntie Cindy! It's marvelous to see you as always. I think that's the big thing with my 10 years from now goal--I hope to be a LOT HAPPIER than I am now. *LOL* Or maybe happy with my new set of problems, like what am I going to do with $500,000? (I guess after the IRS and her agent get done with it, she's only got about half that, but still, for a novella??)
I think in 10 years I might want to get a cat, just so I have some prop to pose with on my author picture. I'd call it something outrageous like "Byron" or "Keats" or "Mayne"--and he would add to my odd author appeal. *LOL* I might even get him an eyepatch or a pirate hat. I know how cats love wearing hats. While killing rats and having chats with other cats. (What the hell is in this tea? Going back to the mountain dew.)
I want that picture! Hels, with a patch wearing cat! Ala Puss in Boots? That is so you.
I love the level of committment you're aiming for, Hels. I think in 10 years I might want to get a cat, just so I have some prop to pose with on my author picture.
Not that a cat isn't a big committment!
I would take the patch along to the shelter and see who will tolerate it first...
2nd, why do you try to push my buttons? Keep your nasty ass snakes to yourself or I'll send over spiders. I have one hiding out in my bathroom who'd like to cozy up to you...
I want to get the one who looks the most pissed off, the one that looks most like Barbossa... *LOL* Oooh, now that's a name for the cat! *LOL*
Yes, my Darlings,
Unless I totally hallucinated Publishers Lunch (and that is not entirely impossible), that's what I read. Personally, I can hardly imagine one tenth that amount and we all know Aunty has an EXCELLENT imagination!
Thank you for the kudos on my silver locks, Bo'Sun. I'm afraid that after a certain age, dyed black hair looks like... AHEM! Dyed black hair. :-(
GREAT idea about the cat, Hellie! I've always been partial to Keats myself (When I Have Fears That I May Cease To Be is a personal favorite), and the eye-patch is a definite!
AC
snapping her crop but being careful to avoid her boa
I'm a fan of Keats, as well (hence why the name made my list. *LOL*) My friend has a foster cat named Keats--he's adorable, a gorgeous tabby--but ironically the people who named him weren't really Keats fans. I think they were naming the litter after a bunch of poets and they went down a list. A LIST!
I can see a children's book in this relationship with the pissed off cat named Barbossa...
That cat is going to have nasty teeth.
Taking bets on the cat vs. the undead monkey.
Who will be the winner? LOL
Nasty teeth ... bab breath ... and a thing for spraying...
Aand a thing for spraying… the undead monkey!
*tsks* What kind of taskmaster are you?
Umm … Once upon a time this doctor introduced me to the national press core as … the Mother From Hell.
Then he cackled.
And they took notes. WTH?
Great ...
Did I kill the blog? Or is everyone busy taking notes?
Wow, I didn't realize that my recent adoption of my kitty added to my "odd author appeal". I just thought she was sweet.
Cricket isn't a very piratey sounding name but with her grey tabby coat, she'd look Mah-volous....
As to a contest between cat and undead monkey? Well, just watch Cricket play the game "Chew on Mama's radial artery" and make your decision then!
Bumblebee and Cricket can team up against the Undead Monkey. That chimp won't stand a chance!
LOL, Bo'sun
I've seen your pictures of Cricket "Marie"--she's so darned cute!!
Why thank you, Hellie! She is cute. Not a minute ago though when she flipped out of her bed that sits on the desk beside me.
You would have thought the undead monkey was after her!
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