Today I have to work at The Observatory, which is fine because I like that job a lot. But as for my personal life I will be glad when these holidays are over and I can get back on a regular schedule around home. I have let some things lapse because other people have needed my time. Which is fine, too, because it can’t be helped.
But I want to get back to the regular grind and catch up on a lot of little writing and publishing details that have slipped through my fingers of late.
One thing I have been thinking of, though. A friend asked me how I like being a publisher now. Truth? I don’t. What I mean is, given the choice I would rather not have to be a publisher. But I can’t change how the profession has morphed and if I want to be successful I have to keep up with those changes. So the bottom line is I simply do not have a choice in the matter, and whether I like or dislike the new role I have to assume means absolutely nothing at all in the long run. It has to be done. Period. Therefore, if I am going to do it (and I am doing it now) then I will do the very best I can.
But do I like it? No. I do not. I do not like green eggs and ham, Sam I Am.
However…once again that choice is no longer up to me if I want to continue writing. Oh, sure, I could pull an Emily Dickinson and throw all my stuff in trunk in the attic. Don’t think I haven’t thought about it. But, and here I have to be honest again, I do also want to be successful at writing. Since that is the case I will keep on learning what I have to learn, sacrifice what I have to sacrifice, and push where I need to push. There’s really no other way around it; not anymore.
Which brings me full circle to the beginning thoughts of this post. I really need for the holidays to be over so I can continue my regular schedule of writing/editing/researching/publishing/blogging/submitting/posting…yikes! Just thinking about all the work that is ahead of me gives me the crawlies. But I am behind on a lot of things. I need to publish the website for Argo Navis, the Twitter account for Argo Navis, update my personal website, blah blah blah. And that’s just the normal mundane stuff…that’s not counting the seven other stories I have lined up to be published, or the stories patiently waiting their turn behind those, or the other stories clamoring to be written. Haha, what a carousel, huh? Still, what else can you do. It’s either ride the carousel or hop off. I’m going to ride.
Oh, and I’ve got a ton of reviews waiting to be written, too. Like I said…I’m way behind! 😛
Hoover's Corner 
Have a good New Year, my friend. I know you, and you’re tenatious enough to get through this. Remember the reason you went into publishing, and I bet you’ll find the reason to like it again. 🙂
I know I can get through it, too. I’m not worried about that. But I view it as a necessary evil, not as something I am going to love. Bottom line, I am a writer first. Publishing will always be secondary to that, but like I said, necessary in this day and age. 🙂
We are whirly-gigging right there beside you, K.M., Don’t you see us blurring past you? Loved the honesty in this post. I am sighing for the days when I never had to give a though to tweeks and buttons and links and formatting. A recent post of my, entered with a lot of caps, was accused of being a “rant” by one of my followers. She felt I was “screaming”, as the kids say about texts all in caps! Maybe I intended to shout, okay? Such is the life of self-publishing!
Remember those days? We didn’t know how good we had it. Now we have to be writers, publishers, marketers…we have to do everything. Blech.