June 1, 2014
It's been a lovely vacation. Eleven days to putz around the house, write, sit on the patio, write, spend a lazy afternoon or two with the spouse, write, blog and write. I haven't written so much in so short a time since Netting Neptune, Taming Triton and Poseidon's Pleasure. Those stores came together fast.
This is the first vacation spent in my newly refurbished home office. Having finally gotten a good desk and credenza has made the room very comfortable. My reading corner must be comfortable, too, but I can't get the cat out of the chair long enough to sit there and find out for myself. I'll have to abide by the cat's opinion. The room is "me" in a way the rest of my house is not as one has to make concessions to one's spouse. It reflects the steps I've taken as a writer and as a person and I enjoyed every moment I spent in it these last eleven days.
With the writing going so well it was inevitable I'd ponder the possibility of becoming a full-time writer. I'd have time to construct a different shapeshifter. Not that I don't love Sundown because I do, but because there are other avenues to explore. Same for science fiction. I think a little world building would be good for me. And then there's the big "who-dun-it" story I want to attempt that will require a lot of time to complete. Time is a truly unrecoverable resource.
I know I'm very fortunate to have the day job with all the benefits as so many positions like mine are disappearing. In truth, I think when I retire the company I work for will not hire another full-time person to do what I do. Over the course of the next few years, I may even suggest they scale my position back to "three-quarter time." It might be a bit self-serving but then again it might just be the reality of the situation.
It would give me time to write. To see if what I accomplished this week (as an author I measure productivity by word count) can be sustained. There's no way to know until it happens and it can't happen if I'm working elsewhere. But writing more has the potential to replace lost income. It is a very circular discussion. To have what I want, I must give up what I need.
Tomorrow will find me miles from home and the craft I love, but it will come with some different goals in mind. For my own health, mental and physical, I plan to take steps to carry the peaceful attitudes of this vacation with me. Tomorrow is the first day of the rest of my life and tomorrow will find me even more determined than today.
This vacation has given me a new dedication to old goals. It's the season to achieve them, one day at a time.
KC
Poseidon's Pleasure is available at Amazon and other online booksellers.
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