Yes I Am

It's been a while now since my last book came out. Late summer of 2013 for those keeping count.

The reasons behind this fact are varied, but the result is I often get asked one of two questions ...

1) When the is next book coming out?
or
2) Are you still writing?


The first question is a tough one to answer because that fact is not up to me. (Unless I choose to self-publish which I have given serious thought for one particular novel I STRONGLY believe in, yet have never quite placed. Despite several disappointingly close calls) 

That second question always surprises me on several levels. One I know how passionate I am about the art of writing so I'm almost offended when someone assumes I could quit. And secondly I want to scream "ARE YOU NOT PAYING ANY DAMN ATTENTION AT ALL?"

 I'm always writing something. And sharing links on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram. I can even understand people not clicking over to read whatever it is I have shared but to ask, "Are you still writing?"

This is where it gets dicey. It is easy to be that guy that only hocks his wares. The social media equivalent of an Amway salesman, but I try to limit the hey will you buy my books posts. I share the stuff that is free out there a bit more often because hey, its not selling if there is no money involved.

But even with that aside I often talk about writing realted things. I share book news and the success of my writing friends. I live and breath in a world jam packed with literature. I talk about these same things in my face-to-face interactions. not incessantly but often enough I wonder how anybody can ever ask with a  straight face, "Are you still writing?"  

The one place I have been lackadaisical in updating is this blog so while no one has left a comment here asking ... "Are you still writing?" I could understand it from my readers here given my lack of updates.

So here goes some of the proof

Half a dozen articles ranging from Country Cliches to Beer to Crime for a place called Wide Open Country (they will be posting more over time)

Top O' Texas Football, Baseball, and Softball Magazines

and I have also been doing a good bit of business writing (press releases, blog posts, newsletter material, and magazine submissions) as well as social media work for several businesses. My favorite of which is a company called Femco Drain Solutions. 

Femco makes drain plugs for oil oil pans and other fluids and really it is a clever little gadget that makes it possible to change your oil without getting your hands dirty. It speeds the process up and is especially vital for fleets of all types as it streamlines the oil change process while also making it safer, cleaner, and more efficient. They also make great gifts for those hard-to-buy-for men so with Father's Day coming up give them a look at their website.

 

I have also started a new novel which I am very excited about. It is a bit different than the women's fiction I usually write, but I am having more fun writing and researching it than I have in a number of years with any other project.

So yes, I am still writing. Every damn day. Until I die.

Galloping Along

Earlier this week this blog hit Birthday #8.

Eight is a long time in internet world though if I am being truthful the heyday of this blog and most others has come and gone. People move on. Fads change. Focus shifts. If video killed the radio star then social media killed the blogosphere.

I miss the old days of such a vibrant writing community, but obviously not enough to do my part to keep them alive. I don't create or visit other blogs the way I once did. Frankly, I wonder how I ever found the time back then.

So much has happened to my gang of online friends. Some have passed on, others have finally found the success they so richly deserve. Others have disappeared altogether. I get a touch sad if I think of those that quit chasing their dreams. Perhaps they found new dreams to go after. Perhaps they are happier than those of us still fighting away in the tough world of publishing.

Some I keep up with via Twitter, Facebook or Instagram but it is not the same level of intimacy that the old blog world had.

But life does march on. Time gets away from me often and then I remember something or see a picture of a child I remember being born posted and think How, How the hell is it possible that kid is so big. Or I see photos of kids I remember going to their first day of school who are now teenagers. Elementary kids passing their drivers test. Teenagers growing up and getting married and producing grandbaby pictures.

It all get overwhelming at time. To think on it and study on how much time has slipped by makes me melancholy at times. As of life itself is passing me by.

But that is a dangerous habit. Looking back is never healthy. The writing life is not for the faint of heart. I think it is a trap we place on ourselves. A trap for which there is no escape.

The wildly successful are under pressure to produce that next great thing.
The mildly successful fight to hand on.
The yet to be successful wonder when their turn will come.

Few writers I have ever met are content and satisfied with their position in the business. I think this is because we live in our heads too much. Twisting turning examining our fates with the same scrutiny we do our plots and characters.

I'm just rambling on. Getting out thoughts. I suppose this is a long winded way to say I miss many of my writing friends. I miss the excitement of the chase that came with being pre-published. Now the saddle of expectation weighs me down but every once in a while I need to remind myself this is a race I chose to run.