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The Grace In Following Your Own Path
Unknown • Dec 18, 2019
The Grace In Following Your Own Path
Thursday, December 12, 2019
Christmas is only days away and between the festivities, Gail and I are trying to wrap up the year’s business and be ready to dive into 2020 and all it will offer.
It’s been another gratifying year, as we completed our largest and most complex novel to date, and our street support has been growing nicely.
For instance, we’re in the midst of negotiating with a fourth location to carry our books.
At the same time it’s been a challenging year given the state of the publishing business.
You’d think in the wake of Jeff Bezos and Amazon disclosing their $100B profit (and that B isn’t a typo) that Mr. B might give writers a fairer percentage of their book sales; however, no such luck yet.
And all the while he wants you to advertise.
In fact we’re inundated with marketing suggestions guaranteed to help us be more successful—mostly sent by people who are trying to figure out how they
can increase their income.
In the meantime, we’ve experienced several costly advertising situations where people didn’t fulfill their agreements or didn’t live up to their promises.
Businesses bellied up, and advertising money is gone.
The fact is, people are human, which means they are fallible.
Stuff happens.
We once had to regret on a speaking engagement due to family illness, and it’s still being held against us.
In other cases, people give you lip service to look good in front of others, only to not follow through with promises, and then treat you as though they don’t know you exist.
Thankfully, words aren’t carbon monoxide, and tomorrow is another day.
One reminder that comes at this time of year is what is important, what isn’t, and why we are so
blessed to be doing what we’re doing.
First of all, we are tremendously grateful to be writing what we believe in—psychological and dramatic stories about life and relationships between people who are not afraid to speak of their faith.
No government is censuring us.
No editor has stepped out of committee to tsk that there’s not enough of a market for that, or that the story should be longer, shorter, funnier, sadder, etc.
No one is telling us that while writing, we should have been on the road 35 weekends out of the year doing appearances, or 100 days, whichever works better sales-wise.
(All at your own expense, mind you, and if you fall ill from being run down, or have contracted some virus, you’re expected to carry on regardless, as there are no “sick days/leave” in this business.)
We have the luxury of time to research, interview, and examine plot and character as it’s needed in order to enrich the story.
We have walked the landscape in our stories, and have an intimate knowledge of our characters that is often not possible when facing the pressure of a deadline.
Granted, time is money, and delayed release delays trigger all kinds of repercussions; however, there is no taking for the luxury of thorough process.
For us, writing offers a state of grace.
We are living in our moments, our characters’ moments and, as we hopefully take the reader on an entertaining, moving, and educational journey, we are reviewing and challenging aspects in our own lives.
This wealth of experience and understanding enriches us in ways that surpass most things in the material world.
As we look forward to giving thanks at our Christmas Eve services, one thing we won’t forget is the gift of being able to follow our own path.
