I haven’t had the pleasure of getting “The Call”—meaning from an agent or big time publisher. But I know people who have and to me, the only
changes I’ve noticed is that they’re busier than ever, and, as with anytime someone gets a new job or position, their attention and time is necessarily taken up with new people. And they travel more, going to more conventions and such because it’s also part of the job that is writing. However, the authors I know who have been published with big-name companies are still friendly and inordinately helpful. Authors in general are a wonderful group of people!
I have been published for quite a while, and I hope those I know can say the same about me—that I’m friendly and helpful when I can be.
I will say, those working with larger companies than I have mostly earned decent money, allowing them freedom from worry and the chance to do things they weren’t able to do before finding their success. Writing has 
given one the opportunity to live where she wants and to help her child attend the college of her choice. I know another who is able to spend more time with her family than when she worked a 9-5 job.
But for all of us, I think success in writing—whether in a large publisher or small, with or without an agent—has known a sense of accomplishment and well-being that can’t be found doing any other thing. I’m so grateful that I found writing and whatever success I have. It’s a blessing!
Read the next blog in the blog hop by going here.
Dee
Only a Good Man Will Do: Seriously ambitious man seeks woman to encourage his goals, support his (hopeful) position as Headmaster of Westover Academy, and be purer than Caesar’s wife. Good luck with that!
Naval Maneuvers: When a woman requires an earth-shattering crush of pleasure to carry her away, she can’t do better than to call on the US Navy. Sorry, Marines!
wide as the church aisle, all satin and with beads and sparkly doodads. And I’d have ten bridesmaids and a groom in a tux, and the church would be full of friends and family. Wow! Cinderella would have been envious.
around to his way of thinking and each year we dated my wedding dreams became more conservative.
at Jack’s parents’ house. We went camping for our honeymoon. The whole wedding, pictures and all, cost less than $500. And it couldn’t have been more perfect. For us.
Black Velvet Seductions author Carol Schoenig has just won the 
Creative Commons) For this act, the equivalent today of taking 10£, she was sentenced to fourteen years imprisonment in Van Diemen’s Land (now Tasmania Australia, the sort of triangular-shaped island off the southern coast of Australia). The 13,000 miles journey on the convict ship Hope took approximately three months.
Tasmania, now seen as a beautiful island and a vacation destination, was not viewed with much hope when it was one of the harshest penal colonies in a land of penal colonies. There are stories of convicts choosing almost certain death by escaping into the bush because death was better than life
in the colony. If they weren’t recaptured, they died due to lack of skills and the deadly snakes or other wild animals in the bush. Still, taking a chance against the huge tiger snakes was seen as better than the horrible floggings they suffered otherwise. Eleanor fared better than some.
know when Bridget left Van Diemen’s Land for the mainland or why she moved on to western New South Wales but there, aged 25, she married Richard, a bullock driver.
slivers of hand-made soap on top. After the clothes boiled for a few minutes they were pulled out with a copper stick and heaved into the rinse trough. Many a naughty child’s backside felt the whack of the copper stick.
I truly admire people who garden. They make the world a brighter place, a happier place. I could sit for hours surrounded by green plants and brilliant blooms…and talk to the person digging in the ground. But ask me to dig and pull weeds and plop a tiny seedling into rich loam? I’d destroy the whole setting in a matter of hours. I can’t tell a weed from a begonia. I don’t know which roots go shallow and which go deep. I can’t differentiate between a creeper and a tall plant that needs support. In short, I’m hopeless in a garden. Please don’t ask me to help in any way.
made the comment to my mom and aunt that I wondered how one particular yard had such beautiful, big blooms, and a woman I hadn’t seen standing there said, “It takes a lot of work.” I imagine so!
I absolutely, positively, without question believe in TRUE LOVE. I believe because I’ve seen what it looks like and what it doesn’t look like. I’ve known some fine, wonderful women who have not won in love. Here are four ways I know true love exists.
we always talked about it and decided which solution best fit us as a team. He moved to Idaho because I had a job opportunity. I gave up my work in order to follow him while he succeeded at consulting. When I had such horrid back problems I could barely stand to get out of bed, Jack got up with me at butt-ugly o’clock and walked around the parking area until I could function, then he faced a full day’s work. He never complained. We’ve always accommodated each other for the good of the team and for love. NOT true love thinks of themselves and not the other person.
surprise ice cream sandwich from Sonic or a hot cup of coffee. 😉 Feeling cherished means giving the other person what they need when they need it. For me that includes hearing “I love you,” too, but it goes far beyond that. NOT true love might say the words, might give the big gifts, but doesn’t show the meaning beyond them.
Gibby is no stranger to the perils of romance. Single until the age of 37, she dated many an interesting (dare we say crazy) guy until meeting the love of her life, Jim. They are married and live in the Cleveland, Ohio area with their very spoiled dog, Scoob. Gibby believes there is no true norm when it comes to relationships, and they all take hard work and dedication. When she’s not writing, you can usually find her hiking, at the theatre, or napping.
ever. He is of the opinion that when a man buys a woman flowers he’s feeling guilty about something. And he doesn’t buy perfume or pretty trinkets, though at times he has gifted me with some of my favorite earrings. No, my hubby is a practical gift giver.
my KitchenAid mixer and kitchen tools. He also learned what I do like in pocketbooks, in spite of the briefcase mix-ups, and he’s discovered that jewelry doesn’t have to be expensive for me to love it. One year when finances were particularly tight he wrapped a bag of miniature Baby Ruth candy bars, and it thrilled me. When the right sentiment is behind it, any gift can be wonderful.
given me gifts that can’t be measured in terms of money or usability: his name, his heart, and time to share his life.