This is a recurring theme for many writers and the model for most initially. Stephen King worked as a substitute teacher moonlighting in an Industrial Laundry. I’ve heard Joe Lansdale recount his work in blue-collar and trying to earn a living on low wages while writing in the early days. These are the folks that made it. And when I say “made it,” I mean they were able to shed their day job and write for a living. You don’t have to take my word for it, but I would say that many writers don’t break out and keep a day job to the day they retire from the labor force. Then they may have the time to write full time, but there are still so many challenges.

In the old days, getting published was a tough gig in itself. Most publishers wouldn’t look at you without an agent, and finding an agent to represent a “nobody” was like looking for a Unicorn to bet on in the Kentucky Derby. Could happen, I suppose? If you were taking the right psychedelic enhancements. Or, if you caught a bit of good luck.

In this brave new world, writers are tasked with being a salesman and branding themselves somehow or another. These are time-consuming tasks, as you are suddenly engaged in several separate social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter and trying to balance being a good person and friend online while inundating your followers and friends with advertisements about you and your books. Social media can be a huge time-waster, and it is time you’d rather be writing. But it is necessary because you’re not Stephen King. You can’t rest on your writings because they need more exposure before readers start coming back and growing. But holy good grief, when will we find time to write?

All of these things are important. My publicist, Mickey, is influential because he gets me exposure with interviews on radio, television, and on the web, and magazine interviews. All necessary to try and elevate those books to a larger audience. But these things also take time.

There’s a new book coming. I just spilled some more blood yesterday. I also have three more novels coming slowly to life, but that takes time. Money is required to live, and at least for me, writing doesn’t pay enough to live, so the day job stays. Beyond the day job, beyond the duties of husband and father and grandfather, I still need to get these books written, and that is why I’ve taken a hiatus from social media and media in general. It’s horse-trading exposure for output and balancing life and writing. I’m sure many writers can identify, as well as other artists.

For me, I will always find time to write.

Thanks for listening.
MJ

I’m not a huge fan of Old Style Pilsner, but I feel inclined to have the prairie beer from time to time as a reminder that I live on the prairies. As if the winters weren’t enough reminder?

So, here we are in 2022, the wreck of two previous years sinking behind us like two pieces of the Titanic. I’m not going to recap all the weird effed up stuff we all saw happen both north and south of the border. The pandemic, of course, sucked. But what sucked more was the division among people based on polarization. Even more disheartening was watching politicians of all stripe exploiting the pandemic.

So, lot’s of crappy stuff happpened this year and if I wanted to get down and dirty I could pull out my list and start checking off all the bullet points. But I’m not going to do that, I’m going to tell you about the good stuff. I’ll start by saying I am married to the most wonderful woman in the world. My pet name for her is, Stormy. She has been the love of my life for 39 years as I approach my 57th year on this earth. We met young, fell in love, and I joined the army to find us some kind of a future. The military didn’t pay well, but it offered stability. Every year we ran our credit cards up to buy our kids Christmas presents. We would use our tax refund to pay the credit card bills and so the cycle went year after year. Stormy and I were working poor, with three boys, and few options, she took care of those boys while I was off training with the regiment. We did what we could and 39 years later, here we are.

After being medically released she supported me in the toughest year of my life. Transition from soldier to civilian can be a difficult process, I don’t know what I would have done if she gave up on me? I just know she didn’t and she was my rock. Trucking offered more money, our kids grew moved out. We sacrificed, time for the dollar.

• 

Where the hell did the time go?

This year, more than ever, I am so thankful to have her by my side. Stormy has always been there for me, through the toughest times, we lived and we loved, and I love her with all my heart. So that would be number 1 on the great things about 2021. I still have the love of my life at my side.

Also in 2022, I fell head over heals for a blonde named Rachel Paige. She is the apple of my eye. Her brother, Declan also stole my heart as does my oldest grandson, Hunter. In 2021, I was happy to see the appearance of two more grandkids. My grandson, Fisher and second granddaughter, Katey Ann. At the risk of sounding philosophical, no matter the state of events, pandemics, wars, hate, or even fear, love and life always finds a way because all that other stuff is bullshit.

That is my closing statement on a tough year, and in the face of an uncertain 2022. Take stock of the things most important. Not everything goes our way, but if you keep your eye on the positive it makes navigating the negative a bit easier.

I am also thankful for my family and friends who never cease to amaze me.

Happy 2022!

Thanks for listening, and love the one your with.

MJ

PS

Jake and Milo also wish you a Happy New Year.

RANDOM THOUGHTS AND RAMBLINGS ON WRITING!

Bring on the suffering! That’s a running joke with writers, but I’m sure it is interpreted in many different ways. Like: It is through long periods of suffering from which we draw inspiration. Or: We suffer in our quest to earn our stripes. Maybe: We need to prove our worth in the writing world and therefore haven’t suffered enough? I don’t know. What I do know is that being a writer is an ongoing struggle to build a readership and sell a couple of books along the way. Sometimes when I mention the monetary, I am reminded that if you’re doing it for the money, you’re a monkey. I think Stephen King coined that. But money is a factor, because if you can earn a living writing, you’ve made it, and now can revamp your writing schedule with an extra eight or ten hours you never had before. That’s why monetary matters, at least if you want to write full time.

Art as a whole gets a bad rap. I’ve heard a pundit or five refer to it as unnecessary, a drain on the taxpayers. Perhaps they think of artists as people living in bubbles with unicorns and free cotton candy? Getting that fat royalty check or commision on a piece every month. Speaking for writers, most have struggled. Most artists struggle to make ends meet and sacrifice their personal time for their art. Stephen King worked in an industrial laundry and as a substitute teacher, while writing his breakout novel, Carrie. I’ve been to an industrial laundry, and that’s some serious suffering right there. The reality is that most writers, artists, actors, and even filmmakers have a day job. James Cameron drove a truck prior to the success of The Terminator. The other reality is that most artists will continue working the day job until they are able to retire. Some will break out. It happens, but don’t quit your day job. They are the exception, not the rule. That’s why you should pause before casting judgement, because truthfully, artists have more in common with you than not. A world without books, paintings, music, photgraphs, and movies would be pretty damned boring, so we need it art.

Most writers do this because they are compelled to tell stories either in fiction or non-fiction. Both fields are rewarding. I wrote movie reviews for a hometown paper before I joined the army in 87. Then I did military reportage for my unit while manning an M109 A3 self-propelled howitzer. Simultaneously, I was working on a little horror novel called, The Equinox. I started out in an army barracks, and then I got married and we moved into a cracker box post war house and had kids. There, I ventured down to folding chair in front of a six-foot table. Above that table were some movie posters to try and make the basement more inspiring. But in all honesty, if I was in that basement, it was because I had awoke or couldn’t sleep. Because I had an idea, a scenario or a character spinning around in my gray matter,. If I didn’t go pound away on that IBM that bowed the table, it would get away.

I saw plenty of rejection back in those days. Desperate to get published, I even wrote a horror/erotic vampire story and submitted it to a well known men’s magazine. When the rejection came back, my Troop Sergeant Major came into possession of the self-addressed stamped envelope returning my submission. He saw it was from Playboy, and took it into his office to read.

After he was done, he gave it back, a smile on his face. I was then tackled by my fellow gunners who took it upon themselves to do a live reading to the Troop. Somehow my well crafted erotic/vampire tale had become a comedy. More suffering. When I finally got that mangled story back, the Troop Sergeant Major whispered in my ear, “That was a pretty good story, Gunner Preston, except for all that vampire shit.” The boys gave me a hard time, but those knew me, and heard me banging away on that big IBM into all houtrs of the night understood that this was my passion. I think there was a quiet respect for that. One thing came out of that exchange. I was done with erotica, but probably not the vampires.

Rejection can kick the hell out of your confidence. I tweeted recently about self doubt, how it affects all writers, and it can be debilitating if you let it. Do they think I’m a crappy writer? A fraud? A hack? I used to worry about that stuff. But then I thought about it, and this is the conclusion I came to. Who gives a shit about popularity contests or being a part of a clicky group? Is that going to make you a better writer? It won’t, and it’s a waste of energy better spent creating. Don’t get me wrong. There’s some incredibly cool people in the writing world that I count as friends. We often support each other, throughout the insufferable suffering of being a writer and beating your heart against some mad buggers wall. Between pandemics, kooky leaders, countries blowing each other up, we don’t get to talk about writing near enough, but we sometimes share funny stories like the one I just told you.

Final random thought on suffering and the biz of being a starving artist. How do we measure our success in this business? I look back on what I’ve written and feel pretty good about it. Book sales can always be better, but beyond that this is where I am. I have met folks in this business and some are friends, whose paperbacks were in the back pocket of my Levis in the late 70s. It’s not a celebrity thing either, because most of these folks, still understand the struggle, the suffering, and that keeps them grounded and pretty awesome to hang with and chat about writing, or even Monty Python. So, I measure my success by the people I have met in this crazy black hole of uncertainty. I measure it by the readers that tell me that my stories have brought some happiness or escape.

And isn’t the point?

Thanks for listening.

MJ