Great Opportunities
This column was first published online in July 2012. So many opportunities, so little time.
This year has been amazing. As the Chinese might put it, I seem to be living in most interesting times.
Last year at this time, I was on course to make enough money from my writing to provide a modest living from my net income. However, things have changed. My income has dropped substantially, due to my choices. Yet, I have no regrets. In fact, I feel that my decisions will benefit me financially and professionally, in the long run, based upon things I’ve come to realize over the last few months. Sometimes I think I’m just dreaming, because I’d never have guessed in a million years I’d have realized things I have only recently. And it’s all happened so fast.
What I’ve come to realize is that, even though my body may feel terrible, my spirit isn’t dead. And that I can be stronger and more capable than I ever thought possible, simply by choosing to be happy. Through my choices, my income has dropped substantially, yet I’m still making a small profit. One that I hope will grow over time into a sustainable living from my work.
I’ve always known that I have so much for which to be grateful. So, when I see others take their abilities for granted, it’s hard not to lecture them on how good they have it. But that would simply waste my time and energy. I have no control over other people’s decisions, anyway.
The bottom line is that nothing in this world comes unearned. I realize now that the only way for me to keep going and stay sane is to choose to be happy. If others choose to do so as well, that’s up to them.
Choosing to be happy isn’t always easy, but it is the only choice I have in order to live a healthy and happy life. And I want to live and be as healthy and happy, as possible.
First, I’m very excited that Kobo is launching its self-publishing platform, thus making it easier for indie authors to publish and distribute their work around the world on a nonexclusive basis. However, I think it’s more important than ever for authors to step up to the plate and take charge of their own careers.
It’s through ventures like crowdsourcing that self-published authors can truly succeed as indie authors, without sharing profits with any middlemen. For when you’re the project producer, you control the money and content. That’s what I learned at the indie film seminar last February, after which I realized I knew how to be a producer, because I’d already organized a fundraiser, and what’s the difference?
Furthermore, I’m contributing a chapter to the updated version of a book called Stroke Recovery and Rehabilitation. The idea is for me to provide a personal perspective as a patient in continual recovery from a stroke-related disorder. Boy, have I got a story to tell them, huh?
Meanwhile, I’ve contributed to a compilation of essays by different authors on how each of us approaches plotting novels. This book should be published sometime in the near future. I feel lucky to be offered all these opportunities to write and make a difference, whether I receive monetary compensation or not. [The book was published and it’s called Making Story: Twenty-One Writers on How They Plot. That’s the Amazon link. You can also buy it from Barnes & Noble.
And then there’s my current writing project, the young adult novel. Every day, barring the unforeseen, I work a little bit more on this novel. I may not write fast, but I write one word at a time, one sentence at a time, one paragraph at a time.
And I just keep going. And I’m not going to quit until I’ve finished the story.
Plus I’m going to keep blogging. All five freaking blogs.
And, at the end of June, I finally received my second proof copy of . I’m so pleased to say it was as awesome as I could possibly hope to make it. I won’t say it was perfect, because I’m just a human being and no one’s perfect, right?
The book should be available for purchase online early this month.
Finally, my husband and I will be taking an awesome vacation. We’re going to Ireland and the UK. They say writers never really take vacations. Well, I’m taking one, because I think I deserve it.
PS: Yeah, it’s just a wee bit more complicated than that. 🙂
And, somewhat ironically, I’m hoping to release this book in print sometime soon. Before I keel over dead, I hope :)
PPS: I no longer have five blogs. I did manage to end up with four (somewhat) new ones. 🙂
PPPS: More about our trip to the UK and Ireland later!
PPPPS: My big accomplishment lately has been learning to ride my new e-trike! 🙂
Originally published at http://randomandsundrythings.wordpress.com on May 6, 2022.
