A Year in Reflection

It’s been a little over a year since I published my first book, Spilled, and my short story Everybody Loves Me and it seems like it’s time for a little reflection. I’m not rich yet, in case anyone was wondering, and I’m definitely not thinking about quitting my day job anytime soon, which is fine because I actually love my day job. I had thought about writing a book for years before I actually did it. I think I wrote and rewrote the first chapter of my book at least a hundred times before I finally came to my senses and realized that I just needed to plow through, write the whole damn book, and then go back and edit it. To this day, there are still a lot of things I wonder whether or not I should have changed, but it’s done now and out there for all the world to see. I had a rather small goal when I published Spilled, to sell at least one copy, and thanks to all my friends, family and even complete strangers I far exceeded that goal. So, to all of you who bought a copy of the book I say a very sincere and humble, “Thank you.”

If the book hadn’t sold any copies that might have stopped my aspiring writing career right there, but fortunately for me it didn’t. My modest success gave me the confidence to continue working on various writing projects. I currently have a short story collection out for editing by a few brave volunteers (Thanks to all of you) and hope to have it published by January. I also just finished writing the first chapter of what I hope will be my third book and have many more ideas waiting in the wings. I’m also going to take credit for inspiring someone else I know to give his writing another chance, which resulted in his work being accepted by a publisher. He seems to have found the niche market for his work and I wish him much success. I’m also very proud of the fact that my son was inspired to write his own book, which is also out for editing at this time. When I was his age, I remember balking at writing 5 pages let alone the 100 pages his book is up to as of this writing. I think his concept is a good one and that young adult readers will enjoy the story. It’s the type of book I enjoyed reading when I was young. T.K. Barrett, if you’re reading this, you make me very proud of you every day and constantly do things that amaze me.

I’ve learned a few things over the last year. I think my writing has gotten better and the words seem to flow more freely. I’ve also accepted that the best thing I can do is write what I want to write in my own style and not worry about anything else. I’ve learned that not everyone is going to like my work and some may not even understand it. One person complained on Amazon that one of the reasons they didn’t like Spilled was because one of the characters was unlikeable. Well, I wrote that particular character that way for a reason; it was integral to the story. So, it’s like the old saying, “You can’t please all the people all the time.” Hell, J. K. Rowling was rejected by publishers something like 28 times before someone agreed to publish the first Harry Potter book. I bet there are quite a few people kicking themselves over that one right about now.

 

So, at this point I’m going to keep writing no matter what. I still hope to write something truly great someday that will be remembered long after I’m gone. Whether that ever happens or not though, at least I’ll know that I did things my way.