No New Year resolutions for me. Life seems way too far out
of my control to believe I could make a resolution that I could stick to. No, I’m
just going to dream…
… imagine not having to go to work, being free to write
stories, all day, every day…
… and not having to worry about money. Everyone is so keen
to read my books, they shower me with the stuff. What do you call it? Royalties, as if I were a blue-blooded
monarch…
… and there’s a Fairy-godeditor who turns my fumbling
attempts at novels into sparkling, magical books, which suddenly appear on the
shelves (real and virtual) of every bookshop in the land…
Hang on. Time for a reality check.
Being out of work and free to write stories all day, every
day? Been there, done that. And in all honesty, it drives you mental. Seriously
MENTAL. Having a proper job is like eating your greens. Yes, I do that too because,
believe it or not, I’m all grown up now.
Not having to worry about money? Hahaha. Okay, so maybe the
occasional author gets rich if they’re good enough and savvy enough and get
lucky. It won’t be me and if it was I’d hate it. Seriously, HATE IT. Not the
money, but what goes with it – the expectations, the pressures, the turning of my
wonderful hobby into another kind of drudgery. Ever wondered why the Cinderella
story stops when she achieves her dream and marries the prince?
The Fairy god-editor? Now that’s a hard dream to let go, but
I’m coming to see that there would be a price for being chosen by one of those
mythical beings. Like the loss of control over my own work, how it’s presented
and to whom, not mention most of any profits. Now if I could just learn to make
my own wand and chant my own spells…
Okay, time for another dream…
… imagine having a couple of free hours every day to myself,
in which to forget real life but just write
and dream and write about dreams…
… imagine having a job that provides enough security for me
and my family, but which I can leave behind at the end of each working day…
… and imagine that, just maybe, with some study and work and
help from my friends, I might learn how to get my novels out there without the
need for a ‘proper’ publisher.
Now that’s looking more like an achievable dream for 2016.