Dreaming of the Writing Life

When I was a kid, the writing life had a magical luster. I felt as though were I to become a published author, I would have “made it.” But beyond the mountains lay more mountains. I’m a middle-aged man now and there are still mountains further off. I had that first published story, and then I wanted a professional published sale and got that, and then a book deal, and on and on. Now, though, the stars have faded from my eyes. Don’t get me wrong, I still love storytelling more than any other job. But I’m far less concerned with fame and glory than earning enough to make a difference for my family.

This all serves as preface to a pretty interesting article at Black Gate about what the modern writing life is like for those of us who haven’t made it big. Any of you interested in becoming professional writers yourselves should really take a look.

Also, here are two more summaries of GenCon, one from Lou Anders and one from Dave Gross, so you can see a slightly different perspective from mine. These two, and a significant number of my other writer friends, are probably in WorldCon in San Antonio right now. I wish I could be there myself. I probably won’t be at WorldCon next year either, as it is scheduled for London at the same time as GenCon.