I already put in my writing time today, what I'm avoiding is getting bookkeeping caught up. Quick bit about me. I own a small regional magazine (which sounds much grander than it is). The focus is on water-related topics in coastal Georgia and South Carolina, I do quite a bit of the writing, other bits come from partner organizations in the community, and some bits from regular folks who like to write and want to be part of it. My title is Editor/Publisher; my job description is ad sales, ad design, magazine layout, feature writer, columnist, editor, bookkeeper, IT guru, event planner, toilet scrubber, dog groomer, cat toy, coffee maker, dishwasher, laundress ... oops, wrong job description, where was I? Oh yes, headline writer, fact checker, proofreader, and head biotch in charge (HBIC). Pretty much in that order. I started the magazine several years ago because the publisher can't reject your work when you're the publisher. That said, my boss is a harridan. I've been writing for publication for 17 years. Notice I didn't say professionally, which would imply that it makes up a significant percentage of my income. Then again, I've never been good at math and have no clue how to figure out percentages of negative numbers. lol. In those 17 years (holy crap I'm old), I've written almost entirely non-fiction. Actually, that isn't true. Only my non-fiction writing has been published. But it's recently been brought to my attention that in order to get fiction published, you actually have to give the story an ending and submit it somewhere. What mastermind made that rule?? Why am I here? I don't do writing groups but at times I need a support system. I'm working on actually finishing a non-fiction manuscript (ok fine, I'm still on the first chapter, but that's part of finishing, and this time I really mean it!!!!) and at times I get stuck with a question and need a quick answer or a point in the right direction. Like now, I'm trying to find a psychology guru to tell me if my theory for the bad guy's motivation is realistic or if I need to figure out a better reason for his psycho self to go after my MC. And at times, I want to brainstorm a particular plot point, and at other times, I want to be like the rest of the world and bitch about my job over a virtual beer like the rest of the world does IRL. Because lets face it, when writers talk about work with non-writers, eyes glaze over, drool forms at the corners of their mouths, and the only responses you get are single-syllable grunts. And other times, I'm just spoiling for a fight and I see you have both political and religious threads going. My genre is women's fiction - and not for the faint of heart. We (my characters and I) cuss, drink, smoke too many cigarettes, have a history of poor judgement when it comes to men, find ourselves in ridiculous situations, and struggle to be good people, even when we want to unleash our hormonal rages on unsuspecting (but deserving) motorists, bystanders, and that poor man who's at work right now while we try to see what advertisers haven't paid us yet this month so we can collect money to buy whiskey. Which reminds me, I really need to get that bookkeeping finished by 5:00. Outta' here! Looking forward to meeting like-minded writers!
