Being an author is hard work (and don't let anybody tell you differently!). Not only must you craft your story, get your characters to behave and follow along (hopefully) with what you want them to do, and put it all together in a coherent package, you must also do all the other things that they never tell you in "I Want To Be A Writer School". Marketing, publicity, setting up author events, promotion (or, what a good friend of mine calls "pimping your book").
All of that is hard enough if you have the luxury of being a full-time writer. But some of the best advice I ever heard for aspiring and new authors is, "don't quit your day job". So I have to do all the writing and all the marketing and promotion on top of working a full-time job. On top of that, I work a part-time job as a publisher, working to get other people's books published. (I'm senior partner and managing editor for Artemesia Publishing, so feel free to check us out.) (Yes, shameless self-promotion - it works for publishers as well as authors.)
So, Santa, if you are reading this, all I want for Christmas this year is some free time to be able to write. I'm not asking for much, maybe a couple of hours on the weekends. I'm midway through two sequels (Untouchable is the sequel to Unremarkable, and Joy of the Widows Tears is the sequel to Wrath of the Fury Blade) and if I don't get some free time it will take another 7 years to get these out there. Long lapses between releasing books may work for some writers (I'm not specifically calling George RR Martin out here, but....), but for a new author trying to build a fan base, I don't think I can do that.
So Santa, instead of new books that will just pull me away from the important job of writing, or movies that will just be a distraction, all I want for Christmas is a few hours in which to write.
And if you are interested, check out the giveaway for Wrath of the Fury Blade starting tomorrow.
