tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3615675676021392217.post7488645111838216358..comments2024-03-28T08:14:28.881-04:00Comments on Authoress: Friday FricasseeAuthoresshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09223228949688667517noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3615675676021392217.post-60812762144089796672014-07-28T12:42:26.287-04:002014-07-28T12:42:26.287-04:00Is it totally sick that reading the Friday Fricass...Is it totally sick that reading the Friday Fricassee made me want to cry? Been there? Done that? I didn't buy the tee shirt, at times I think I OWN the whole concession. <br /><br />And you know what? I've been writing since I was four years old and I cannot not write. I know. I've tried. I have more story concept notes stacked in file cabinets and on flash drives than I think most people can imagine stories to write in a lifetime. I'll never get a fraction of them written but the ideas refuse to stop. So I write. But there is always a sadness with each rejection or, worse, the hollow, no-response response. Then there is the psychosis of get a request for a partial. You're on a manic high. Then you don't hear anything. And you wait. And you wait. And... the depression kicks in. <br /><br />And the people inside my head refuse to shut up. They demand their stories be told. I fall in love with them, every one, or I cast them on the heap, cannibalizing them, stealing their energy and giving it to someone else. And I go on. And I write their stories. And, every now and then, someone is intrigued enough to want more. And someday... someday, someone will want more and then others will be able to meet, and fall in love with, these people I know so well.<br />Should I continue to write? Maybe for a little while longer... like until I take my last breath.<br /> <br />I've had a couple of things published but only locally - short stories in anthologies. I don't that really counts.Reesehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00330348718504682666noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3615675676021392217.post-8081757811512153272014-07-27T22:44:45.700-04:002014-07-27T22:44:45.700-04:00Today's NYT essay titled "Failure is Our ...Today's NYT essay titled "Failure is Our Muse" seems like a good companion read to your post. Worth it, I promise!<br /><br />http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/27/opinion/sunday/failure-is-our-muse.htmlL.Robinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14295508660573090781noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3615675676021392217.post-59725194000039638142014-07-27T11:49:03.481-04:002014-07-27T11:49:03.481-04:00This post gets to the heart of it. I've been a...This post gets to the heart of it. I've been at this a long time (much longer than 3 years). I'm ready to quit every other week. At the same time, writing is woven into my life in such a way, that it would be too great a loss to lose it. I don't have an agent or a traditionally published book to show for it, so the only thing that keeps me going is that with each new piece, I have more requests, more almosts. As long as I progress, there's still hope. I hope. Theresa Milsteinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03477761307315565259noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3615675676021392217.post-73951982558326261222014-07-26T19:21:10.924-04:002014-07-26T19:21:10.924-04:00Yes. I will always write, but a few years ago I re...Yes. I will always write, but a few years ago I realized that, though I never want to give up writing, I do not (at least at this point) have the drive necessary to push toward publication. And it took a while for me not to feel guilty about this. For a long time I felt like I was somehow a failure for not wanting to pursue this dream. But now I realize that my chosen career (academic librarian!) needed my focus and drive and also that THAT was where I WANTED to put my focus. And that it was okay to put writing on the back burner because that is what is right for me right now.Rebecca T.https://www.blogger.com/profile/11994380364321336824noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3615675676021392217.post-32311358727203085692014-07-26T00:26:05.478-04:002014-07-26T00:26:05.478-04:00Very interesting post, Authoress. Thank you for th...Very interesting post, Authoress. Thank you for the thought provoking questions. Quitters live a life of "what if...". <br />I think I'm going to retire from writing. I come up with lots of ideas but the motivation to write them is not in me. <br /><br />Have a great day. Phillipnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3615675676021392217.post-21634368974123591802014-07-25T20:47:26.913-04:002014-07-25T20:47:26.913-04:00Quitter live a life of regret. If you no longer wa...Quitter live a life of regret. If you no longer want to do something then stop. That's not quitting, it's redirecting. Never quit.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10984223669589173951noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3615675676021392217.post-46727022189734546912014-07-25T18:15:48.743-04:002014-07-25T18:15:48.743-04:00How long does it take to learn to play steel drums...How long does it take to learn to play steel drums? I love that sound. However--I'm far more likely to write a secondary character who plays steel drums than to actually take it up myself. There's nothing like writing and research! C. R. Baileyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04627499155109943973noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3615675676021392217.post-35626000885905010982014-07-25T18:07:50.171-04:002014-07-25T18:07:50.171-04:00Excellent advice, Ms. A. And Kathleen's comme...Excellent advice, Ms. A. And Kathleen's comment is also superb! <br /><br />I have written stories all my life and I'm now 73; but only in the last 10 years have I tried to get things published. No books as of yet, but numerous articles appear in various magazines and newspapers. Plus a recipe in 2 "Taste of Home" cookbooks.<br /><br />Like both of you, stories spring at me from all events around me--in the news, interactions between people on the street or in a store, the look on a teenager's face or a parent's face, etc. All of this is grist for the writer's mill. Thanks for the pep talk, I was thinking of going the self-publishing route. But...maybe not. Good luck to us all.Sarah Maury Swanhttp://www.sarahsbookreflections.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3615675676021392217.post-80441092247160970032014-07-25T16:11:22.779-04:002014-07-25T16:11:22.779-04:00Ah, yes. Been there. I've been querying variou...Ah, yes. Been there. I've been querying various novels for a while now and each time I have to trunk a novel, it hurts. But I keep on keeping on because writing is not what I do, it's what I am. Would it be nice to finally land an agent and go out on submission? Sure. But, even if I don't and I'm still querying when I'm 90 (great hook!) then so be it. I am a writer. Repeat after me: I am a writer. Kathleeahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06087009456072956020noreply@blogger.com