When you only have 20 minutes...

What do you do with your time?

I WOULD answer—write! Except that twenty minutes often seems like a tease and I rarely get anything accomplished in such a short amount of time. Twenty minutes is barely enough time to recap what I wrote the time before and get my mind IN the story! Twenty minutes doesn’t get me anywhere. Sad but true.

I WANT to write but too many other things get in the way! So with 20 minutes I choose to blog :p

I’m just aggravated with the “daily grind” mentality. Sometimes the everyday needs (like jobs etc) get in the way of the fun stuff like writing. I want writing to be my day job! (So do all other writers!) But writing is tough business and not everything you write gets to be a hot seller! (Oh how I know this well.) But this is not always the case. There are times when writers can do well and get their “break” and enjoy a small amount of success. (Or, with the example of Stephan King, lots of success.)

A writer I “know” online has recently been very happy about (and status’ing about) hitting 10,000 sales! My first thought was “Holy guacamole!” 10k? Shit! That is a lot of book sales. And she was self-published through Create Space for some of it (Not sure if all of it because I wasn’t internet stalking her and looking into her fame.) But she did it! Granted, she doesn’t write m/m romance. Some of it is horror and thriller types so as “mainstream” goes she has a bigger audience than I do. But just a few years ago she was unpublished and on a writers website for “unknown/unpublished” authors. Same as me! Then life happens and people take notice of her books and she is selling like crazy! I think that’s awesome! A writer’s dream right?

*And I don’t even NEED to mention Jay Bell and his MOVIE!!!! Talk about a DREAM! He’s getting somewhere! Is it somewhere fast? Is it a castle in Ireland with Champaign flowing from every faucet? Um, no. I think that writers struggle. Even the successful ones. Because they’re artists. Normally, and I can be wrong, artists always have the next idea blooming in their mind. They can never just write one smash hit and sit back on their laurels riding the wave of fame and fortune for the rest of their lives. (Unless they wrote Harry Potter) Creativity pushes the artist to explore the limits of their imagination. Not all of that is popular.

For me, I am driven to write what means the most to me. I am spurred on create tales that tear the emotion from my chest. I weep when I write. (Often, not all the time.) I hope one day to sell 10k copies of something! Not sure it will be When Love is Not Enough, but something!

Twenty minutes… Sometimes I daydream for that long. I THINK about my characters and conjure up scenes in twenty minutes. But I haven’t had time to write them. Often it’s when I’m in the car driving. I also come up with other book ideas that I have no time to bash out. I have the next book in mind. The title I came up with is Does Sex Matter? …lol I will leave you hanging with that because I didn’t write the blurb yet. There will more than likely be football in that one and cheerleading.

So, with the idea of Create Space and self-publishing… I have some thoughts swishing around in the old noggin. My graphic designer is a wealth of information actually. She knows a lot! And she is helping me. (helping me think too much!) I want some feedback because some ideas affect my readership and I kinda like my readers/fans. One idea involves “Kindle Select” if you have heard of it. I know I need to read more about it but this thing apparently helps loads, but also narrows the availability to kindle only. (Or the kindle store or Amazon only? I didn’t read the fine print yet.) My question is, how many of you does this affect? Those out there who have been waiting patiently for over a year for the sequel (which I hope doesn’t suck, or disappoint,) will you be doubly pissed of you have to wait another 90 days because it is only available through Amazon? After 90 days I then can offer it through Smashwords, and probably All Romance Books etc… I admit, I have to read up on the ins and outs of it. But this thought of making some of you wait longer is bothering me!

Comment. Let me know what you think.

And graphic designer person… Do I keep your identity a secret until the final unveiling of the cover? I don’t know what we want to do about that. We haven’t discussed whether you want attention drawn to your greatness now or later? (I’m being silly, but people WILL like your work!)

Same goes with the editor… His name will appear in the book. Do I keep quiet until then. And is it normal not to “name” your beta readers? I had a couple. Two for The Cost of Loving. One for My Roommate’s a Jock. Do people even mention their “people”? I don’t know. I’m asking. I write down all the things that come to mind and I just don’t know the answer to.

More than likely it will be forever to get to 10k in sales. I don’t write popular. I write from my gut. I don’t think my gut is popular. And as far as that writer I “know” how is doing well… KUDOS TO HER! I’m glad some of us artists can be recognized for the sweat we put into our art!

Wade