Skip to main content

Hyper, Sure

This is a pic of most of the books I've written since I went freelance (I took it to show an old writer friend what I've been doing since I left traditional publishing.) There are also about a dozen novellas that I wrote as a freelancer that were published in e-book only format, so I have no print editions of them. I wrote all this in about five years.

I don't pay attention to any work once I've finished it, other than to stick one print copy in a book case in the event I need to reference something. I don't think about what I've written in the past much, either. As writers go I'm the Queen of Moving On. It was only when I decided to physically move all my freelance stuff to another place in the house that I felt a little startled. I wrote all that since Publishing booted me to the curb, really? Soon I'll have more freelance novels in print than what I published with NY under my own byline. I already have more published in audio format incognito.

Feels pretty good, actually. As I told my pal, success is the best revenge.:)

Given the state of my shelves, plus my blogging, and the hand-written journals I've been keeping since 1974, I might have some form of hypergraphia. The only time I'm truly happy is when I'm writing, which is one of the major signs. I'd rather write than do most other things, also a flag. Consistent, voluminous writing output is likewise a box I definitely check. The so-called disorder has been linked to temporal lobe epilepsy, bipolar disorder and some other fun conditions, none of which apply to me (that I'm aware of, anyway.)

I find it amusing that prolific writing is considered a disorder, but not surprised. When you're so different from the majority of your peers you won't find much in the way of acceptance or even tolerance. Most writers I've known seem to struggle with and/or constantly avoid writing. The way they describe it sounds like self-torture.

It's never been that for me. When I started writing it was like a secret little fountain inside me that only I knew about -- a lovely place to escape to and build stories with the sparkling flow of words that came from who knows. Over time it grew into this amazing cascade of countless waterfalls that never run dry. The only change was that being published allowed me to invite people to come and see what I created. I do the same thing now; they just aren't aware that I'm the source of the waterfalls. :)

Of all the problems I have -- herniated neck discs, diabetes, arthritic joint deterioration and just plain old age pains -- I will not complain about the one that has made me a prolific writer. I think we should rename it, though -- maybe call it Storyflowing?

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Downsizing

This was my fabric stash once I sorted everything -- 22 full bins. I spent a day taking out and boxing up what I could part with, with the goal of trying to reduce it by half, so I'd have 11 bins. I was very strict with myself, and removed everything that for one reason or another I was sure I wouldn't be able to use. This is what I ended up with -- 12 bins of fabric that I'm keeping. It's not quite half, but close enough. Half of what I took out went to a local quilter friend, a school and Goodwill. These four tightly-packed bins will be going to the local quilting guild once I make arrangements with them for a drop-off place. I am relieved and a little sad and now determined to control my impulses to thrift more fabric. I don't want to do this again, so until I use up six bins, I can't for any reason bring any new fabric into the house.
Post a Comment
Read more

In Progress

I promised myself I would show you the good, bad and ugly of my cleaning this year. This is what it looks like when you dump thirty years' worth of stashed fabric on the floor -- and oy, what a pain in the butt to pick up again! This is what it looks like after it's been sorted, folded and placed in containers, which took me about a week. Now the hard part is to downsize my stash by at least half, I think (that's my goal, anyway.) I've already e-mailed the president of the local quilting guild, a local friend who is a quilter, and a public school art teacher I know to see if I can donate some of the excess to them. The rest will go to Goodwill. Already I've reduced my vintage textiles from two bins to one, and my scraps from three bins to one. It's probably the hardest clean-out I've done, which is why I saved it until last. I know I have too much fabric, more than I can use in my lifetime -- but at the same time, I love it. So I have to
Post a Comment
Read more

Other Stashes

Along with clearing out the spare bedroom and tidying my office and our guest bedroom, I decided to reorganize some of my stashes. This is all the yarn I have on hand, sorted by color. It looks like a lot, but lately I've been using up a minimum of half a bin every month, so this is approximately a year's supply. All of my solid color cotton perle thread. I go through a lot of this every year, too. I need a container in which I can fit all of it together, but I haven't found the right one yet. I won't show you all of my fabric -- I'm still reorganizing this stash -- but I went through everything and donated two bins of fabric I won't need to the local quilter's guild.
Post a Comment
Read more