If the Stones Were Wrong It’s My Own Dang Fault

So Mick used to sing it, “Ti-i-i-i-ime, is on your side…” Well it isn’t, at least it doesn’t feel that way as I look at 50 with a running clock.

So, here’s the deal, I’ve got projects, lots and lots of projects and I’d say each one is like a child, but I have a kid so that’s not true. Having a kid is so strangely wonderful and terrifying because your control slips more and more away from you as they age.

But my writing, while it takes on a life of it’s own, is still within my control and now it’s my ultimate vocation. Yup, so at a time when most people are winding down careers, I’m just starting on the one I’ve always wanted and have in my own, weird and confusing way been heading toward. It’s really what my working life has led up to. The jobs have been varied: I’ve served subpoenas, filed court documents, delivered rebuilt torque converters, worked concrete in unforgiving heat; been a substitute teacher, was the world’s worst waiter, made pizzas, baked bread in the dead of night, coached some great kids. Installed equipment as a tech for the TV ratings, loaded trucks for Sears, stocked shelves at a grocery and a home building supply supply store and I was a reporter for a good chunk of this time.

These jobs, have all added to my knowledge of the people I write about, the worlds I write about. These jobs inform how I get information and relate to my worlds and my characters. But getting this experience took time, lots of time. (If you’re a writer and want to pursue that as a career, I do not recommend doing as I have done. Be brave and go after what you want now.) For me, what all those years have added up to is a mountain of ideas and truckloads of projects to write and work on.

But what I’m still learning is how to manage the finished projects, or at least the projects I think are finished. While I would love to just jump into the next work and plow ahead with that, I need to update and market the existing works. I guess Picasso was right not just about painting, when he said, “A painting is never done, the artist just gives up on it.”

I feel a little like that with some of this work. But I’m learning how to manage the works and the business on the fly. So things will only get better with a little time.

Hmm, maybe the Stones were right after all?

Stay safe out there. Read something.