I was thinking about writers today and meditating on their peculiarities. They are just normal folks in a way, but are so different in certain areas that some of them would seem weird. For instance, I am by nature a writer, a teacher and probably a few other things. However, living in the South, from a poor background, having any training in the arts seemed unreasonable for a long time. So, I had to find my way and force my square peg in a round hole for a whole career. (That didn't sound good. What am I, a Lego?) Gee, I would have liked to have been raised in an affluent family and been sent to the Juliard school in New York City. I would have liked to hang out with play writes and actors, musicians and the like. I would probably have been in Robin Williams class. But noooooooooo... I worked around pumps, pipes and valves, turbines, steam generators and condensers. Did I love them? Did I have pinups of these devices in my room as a child? I say thee nay. Sorry, I was playing my Thor game earlier.
Speaking of that Thor game. I got tired of hitting my head against the 'paywall of failure' and bought an in-app to grease my way around the 9 worlds. Alas, Gameloft failed to give me the stuff I paid for. So, therefore I could not buy an ally. Gee, that sounds bad when you have to buy an ally, doesn't it? Though I guess that a lot of nations have done that very thing over the centuries. I was going to use my in-app to obtain the Lady Sif for a helper. Now that sounds really bad, buying a woman. Come to think about it, a lot of nations throughout history have arranged royal marriages for the purpose of obtaining allies. It really doesn't matter, because I didn't get what I paid for anyway. I did ask I-Tunes for a refund and got it.
I really wanted Loki for a comrade. I know, you can't trust the evil half-brother. The reason I wouldn't have got him, despite his powers, was because he cost 10 times as much as Sif. Now, from where I sit, it would take a really odd sort of person to give that much more for Loki. Have you seen Sif? If you look 'fine' up in the dictionary, Sif's picture is there. Really. Check it out.
I did unlock my new version of Thor. He has a helmet and a full beard. He really has his 'Norse Thing' happening now. But, I'm fighting these ice giants and they seem to be putting the big chill on me. Bummer. So, I am stuck around level 21, I think, over in that cold place called Jotunheim. It is a cold, icy place and is probably as cold as Kansas, Colorado, and Illinois all wrapped together.
I know that I have a lot of writers that read the blog, and of course a lot of readers as well. And, a lot of gamers. But I mentioned writers and I want to talk about writers. One day I was chatting with a big Steven King fan. He wasn't physically big, but he liked Mr. King a lot. I think Steven King is a brilliant writer and he has so much originality that he boggles my mind. I normally don't like horror books or movies so I don't really read King's stuff much.
Anyway, this guy says that he loves Steven King but he wouldn't want to spend the night at King's house because he would fear for his life. I got a big kick out of that and the guy was mostly joking, I guess. I then told him about two of my favorite authors. I have loved them all my life. Both of them wrote strictly vanilla stuff, 'G' rated stuff with pure heroes who always did the right thing and stuck to the highest standards of honor. After I was grown I found out that both of these guys had mistresses that they spent more time with than their wives. Obviously, that's their business and I could care less what a writer or a ballplayer or a mayor does with his spare time.
The point I was trying to make with my friend was merely this. This stuff is just fiction. A lady I know writes a romance novel about every month. They deal with a wide range of relationships, from mild to kinky, but she is a person who differs entirely from her heroines. She is a wallflower and a staunch conservative, a housewife and mother. She is so shy that I can scarcely hear her talk.
I sometimes think that a good many writers use their writing just like a typical reader uses the fiction he reads. For escape from their own grim realities. All the things they would really like to be is what they create. They then have their own little world where they can be the knight in shining armor, the Lady Sif, Iron Man, the debonair Bond or the dastardly, brilliant criminal.
Then there are other writers who actually have done a lot of the bizarre stuff they create in their books. Either way is fun, I guess. I have actually done a lot of crazy stuff in my early years. Thankfully, I have dialed it back in order to survive and see my grandchildren. Experience helps inject realism in any story, but it is not totally necessary.
What makes a successful writer? Now, there's a question. I am amused by all the advice books that are out there. "Do this and sell a million ebooks". That kind of thing. The fact is, I think there can be any number of factors involved. Number 1 is LUCK. When a clerk dug Harry Potter out of the slush pile, that was luck. True, it is a phenomenal series and a talented lady writing it, but that was luck that got the ball rolling. A second factor could be the fact that you know somebody that knows somebody. A third factor may be persistence. James Lee Burke, one of my favorites, was rejected several hundred times, I think. As good as he is? Are you kidding me?
Marketing is certainly an enviable talent for a writer. It would be an asset, for sure. Yet still, there are writers with all these abilities that never sell even 1000 books. If God happens to reach down His hand and bless you with a book deal, I wouldn't get too torn up about it. Fortune is a fickle mistress.
I don't consider myself a successful writer. I am just another guy. If I ever make it big, I'll chalk it up to luck. I'd live in the same house, drive the same car, live with the same woman. I would not buy the Lady Sif. Ha, ha.
I'd probably travel a little more because I could have charter flights, guides and all that stuff that makes traveling more of a pleasure. My tastes are simple and I'm too old to change my ways. From the author's green retreat, I'm CE Wills.
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