This morning I opened the microwave to reheat a cup of coffee I'd made a couple of hours before, and inside I found a cup of tea I had reheated earlier. This is what I call a dilemma. So, I made a quick choice, took the tea out, and reheated the coffee.
In the meantime I saw the used coffee-grindings' cup was full and so I meandered outside to empty it on the camellias. The garden looked dry so I did a bit of watering, noticed the spinach and rhubarb needed picking, and on the way back into the house I spotted three paintbrushes I had left in the outdoor sink during my last bout of tangenting. I Cleaned Them.
Satisfied, I went back to the computer only to discover that RWA Australia thinks I am an Emerging Author rather than an Established Author. In the past fifteen months I have sold five books to two reputable publishers. Two have been published, one in print and digital and the other only in digital. The next three will be print and digitally published in stages until January 2016. Now, I think this is pretty good and I have lately been smiling to myself thinking I'm finally an established author.
Not so. My hard work over the past twenty years presumably threatens someone in the Romance Writers of Australia, and I need to learn my place. This is my new designation according to the association: An Emerging Author: "an author who has had a romantic/ romantic elements work commercially available or under contract for fewer than three years or an author who is consistently making the finals round in writing contests, is submitting and receiving requests from publishers or agents, or who has already secured an agent."
I have been doing all of the above for 20 years - writing, submitting, getting requests and offers from publishers, having an agent, and making the finals in competitions.
Now I'm not doing most of those because now I'm a Published Author. In whose head am I not an established author? I would be if I were a writer of anything but romance - after selling five manuscripts.
What I'm probably not going to be much longer is a member of RWAu but . . .
The time had come to prepare a meal for tonight. I had planned a dish that needed slow cooking. As soon as I entered the kitchen I noticed the tea still sitting cold on the kitchen bench (counter top) but first I had vegetables to wash and chop, and then a kitchen to clean, and the washing to take out to the line, all of which led me back to the computer.
I thought a cup of tea would be nice and I remembered the cold one - which isn't as disgusting as you might think because I don't use milk or sugar with my drinks - and opened the microwave. Hey presto, a cold cup of coffee sitting inside. This is what I call a dilemma.
I chose tea and this time I waited though I was sorely tempted to go outside and pick some peas. Nope. I didn't do it. I brought the tea back to the computer, I've finished it, and pretty soon I'll go and reheat the reheated coffee. Two drinks for the price of reheating three or four times. This is what I call a normal day.
Even so, an author is Published or Unpublished. No other category is needed no matter how many egos need bolstering. Emerging, phooeey. That's not what I call a dilemma. I'm an Established, Published Author.
In the meantime I saw the used coffee-grindings' cup was full and so I meandered outside to empty it on the camellias. The garden looked dry so I did a bit of watering, noticed the spinach and rhubarb needed picking, and on the way back into the house I spotted three paintbrushes I had left in the outdoor sink during my last bout of tangenting. I Cleaned Them.
Satisfied, I went back to the computer only to discover that RWA Australia thinks I am an Emerging Author rather than an Established Author. In the past fifteen months I have sold five books to two reputable publishers. Two have been published, one in print and digital and the other only in digital. The next three will be print and digitally published in stages until January 2016. Now, I think this is pretty good and I have lately been smiling to myself thinking I'm finally an established author.
Not so. My hard work over the past twenty years presumably threatens someone in the Romance Writers of Australia, and I need to learn my place. This is my new designation according to the association: An Emerging Author: "an author who has had a romantic/ romantic elements work commercially available or under contract for fewer than three years or an author who is consistently making the finals round in writing contests, is submitting and receiving requests from publishers or agents, or who has already secured an agent."
I have been doing all of the above for 20 years - writing, submitting, getting requests and offers from publishers, having an agent, and making the finals in competitions.
Now I'm not doing most of those because now I'm a Published Author. In whose head am I not an established author? I would be if I were a writer of anything but romance - after selling five manuscripts.
What I'm probably not going to be much longer is a member of RWAu but . . .
The time had come to prepare a meal for tonight. I had planned a dish that needed slow cooking. As soon as I entered the kitchen I noticed the tea still sitting cold on the kitchen bench (counter top) but first I had vegetables to wash and chop, and then a kitchen to clean, and the washing to take out to the line, all of which led me back to the computer.
I thought a cup of tea would be nice and I remembered the cold one - which isn't as disgusting as you might think because I don't use milk or sugar with my drinks - and opened the microwave. Hey presto, a cold cup of coffee sitting inside. This is what I call a dilemma.
I chose tea and this time I waited though I was sorely tempted to go outside and pick some peas. Nope. I didn't do it. I brought the tea back to the computer, I've finished it, and pretty soon I'll go and reheat the reheated coffee. Two drinks for the price of reheating three or four times. This is what I call a normal day.
Even so, an author is Published or Unpublished. No other category is needed no matter how many egos need bolstering. Emerging, phooeey. That's not what I call a dilemma. I'm an Established, Published Author.
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