Unsolicited Transmission #2

The life of a working writer, or: why are there only 24 minutes in a day?

That's not a typo. If you've ever been in a position where you've worked two full-time jobs, or life seemed to be stacking commitments on top of commitments over you, then you know what I mean.

For clarity, I am not complaining. As long as there's coffee, at least. That is, perhaps, my biggest living cliche as a writer; I do like my coffee.

Coffee isn't magic bean juice, though.

It's gas for the engine, but in my experience. the business of writing is as much a creative one as it is a working one. It can be a bit of a balancing act to arrange for Muse and Motivation to arrive at the same intersection. The trick for me has been to treat the writing as much like a job as possible. Despite my best efforts, sometimes scheduling and planning for certain word counts just doesn't happen.

In those situations, the only way out is through.

The great American poet Robert Frost said it, and it's proved true in my own writing experience. I know it does for writing. Every book I've ever written has had a point of no return when I questioned how I could possibly finish it. The only way I've broken through those roadblocks is by writing my way through them. Another crazy thing I've noticed is that it doesn't seem to get easier the more books I write; I just get more comfortable with the process.

Society has increasingly become intoxicated with workaholism, but I find myself incompatible with it.

Working full-time in the Air Force Reserves and pursuing my career as an author means I have a pretty full schedule. It also means I can't do everything I want to do. Nothing worth obtaining is gotten without sacrifice. The part I've come to learn over the past two years of dual-hatting careers is that the sacrifice I personally bear in pursuit of success is the easier one.

The law of unintended consequences comes barreling in to wreck the scene, here. My family are the ones who bear the brunt of the sacrifice. Long hours at the day job with an hour of commute time, an additional 4-6 hours of writing, sprinkle in about 4 hours of sleep, and that gives you... not a lot of family time.

I've taken a lot of risks in my journey to becoming a published author.

And those risks have paid off: by the end of 2023 I should have 11 books published between my name and my pen name, and just a few years ago I was struggling to get anyone to read anything I wrote. I've come a long way, and I didn't make the journey alone. Faith, Family, Friends, and so many other writers I've met over the years have offered me assistance, help, advice, and I'm grateful for all of it.

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One of those authors who's helped me immensely in my writing journey is Rick Partlow. Rick and JN Chaney are cowriting a brand new series Taken to the Stars. Book 1 has just released and is already crushing the Amazon sci-fi charts.

The short story that launches this new series was pretty intense. If you're into Military Science Fiction, you can't go wrong with Rick Partlow and JN Chaney!

Taken to the Stars