[Writer Post] Writing is Such a Bipolar Profession
My apologies to those suffering from this disorder, I mean no offense, but the comparison is apt. Writing as a profession and publishing as an industry is incredibly bipolar. You’re either really UP or really DOWN. And the frightening thing is that it can be happening AT THE SAME TIME.
I have an independent project near enough to completion that we went ahead and did a “limited edition†run without the final cover for Fan Days this weekend. There will only be 25-30 so (hopefully) they’ll go fast. SO… HAPPY! Even if it was a flurry of activity to get it finished being laid out so it could go to the printer (only to find out my favorite printer girl only works weekends now…SAD!)
While this was going on, another project I’ve been working on (off and on) all this year has had its own rollercoaster. And not in a fun, musical kind of way… I wrote a Christmas play for our church. It’s been approved. We started rehearsals a few weeks back. There’s been staffing drama along the way – casting and leadership. Then this week it’s been a flurry of knee-jerk reactions. PLAY IS OFF!!!! PLAY IS ON!!! Play is a big friggin’ mess that some of us are meeting about tonight to see which direction we want to go in to see if anything is salvageable without me rewriting the entire thing to make it less of an effort and less of a story…or if we just need to say, “It’s dead, Jim,†and move on.
Yes… only a writer (and/or a redhead…or the combination of both) can be both giddily excited and Hulk-Smash Angry AT THE SAME TIME. That was my TUESDAY.
The play will be what it will be. My immediate goal is to get through Fan Days this weekend. So let me tell you about my new offering… Angela Lowry and I put together a little chapbook sized coloring book. I had a children’s story that had a very limited print run years ago. I tweaked it. She did some amazing drawings. Now it’s sort of ready to go…final color cover is still in process.
The Temporary Cover… available only at Fan Days
For Fan Days, there will be the very small limited run of a black & white “color your own†cover. I’m going to sell it for $2 and the first 24 purchasers will get a “party favor†pack of 4 crayons. And I’m marketing it as “Something to do while you’re in line for Stan Lee.†How’s that for marketing?
The point of this is 1) I can finally make money off this story. And 2) I wanted something inexpensive and suitable for kids of all ages. Angela will be able to use it for signings at conventions. It’s a win-win. And it’s a good story about differences in people being good things.
Now… I need to head back to work – at the day job, which is finally a place full of people pretty similar to me. They get it. And I make money writing about stuff. Another win-win.