Ten Years Ago Today

~ Bitchy After 60

Ten years ago today, according to my Facebook memories, I had a party, a book launch party to celebrate my one and only published book. I have to mention published because although I had written a lot of stuff, including a novel, a memoir, and some kid’s books, only one book was ever published. I will tell you that it was a lot easier to write the books than to get them published in Canada when I started seriously writing, which was in my forties after graduating from the writing program at Humber in Toronto. It probably still is, unless you want to go the self publishing route. It took years to get published, starting with individual short stories in literary magazines. My short story collection entitled Prerequisites for Sleep, had been rejected more times than I can remember. But it was finally being published by a small western Canadian publishing company.

The party was great. I felt like the queen or perhaps a bride for the evening. My trumpet-playing son put together a jazz trio to entertain the guests at a local watering hole that served great food. My friends and family were wonderful and very supportive, and purchased over 60 books. I figured my writing career, the writing career of the girl who liked to write stories in elementary and high school, had finally begun. 

Well that didn’t happen. To start with, short story collections are rarely best sellers, and those that do sell well, are ones published by the big publishers who market their authors. At the time, I was working full time as a graphic designer, which pretty much ate up all my creative energy. I was tired but certain I would pick up the threads when I retired. I still tried sending out my other stuff and I still collected some rejection letters, but mostly didn’t receive responses at all, which is the norm these days. 

For the first year after retiring, I held on to the writing dream and pounded out words daily on my keyboard. I continued to send my stuff out but was finding that I really preferred to do other things. I no longer wanted to spend days on my computer. I wanted a healthier life. I wanted to be outside. And I wanted to be moving. So I gave up my dream, which I had come to realize, was no longer my dream. I realized that no one would be disappointed if I never published another book except me. And then I realized that even I wouldn’t be disappointed. After all I had the memories of one great party. 

Thank you for reading

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28 thoughts on “Ten Years Ago Today”

  2. I had that dream once. I self published two books. I didn’t like the work that came after the writing. So I spend my time on my blog and that satisfies my need to write and to share. It fulfils me. I am happy.

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  6. Wow. This is an interesting perspective. Thank you so much for sharing it. Sometimes I too wonder if I have outgrown my need to publish a book someday or seriously dedicate a lot of time to it. The writing? No problem but publishing oh my God!

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  7. Great post! I keep thinking I should just write one book and have it self-published (like my friend and fellow outdoor blogger, Bob). I have the subject in mind but never seem to get round to starting it as I keep preferring to be up the hills rather than putting a book on them together.

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  8. I’ve never had that dream but after reading many authors describe how hard it is, I’m happy to stay away from that heartache. I’ve had a few short stories included in anthologies, but someone else does most of the work and financial success isn’t a benchmark. Sometimes I think the dream of being a successful author is like the dream of opening a bed and breakfast… the fantasy is WAY better than the reality.

    It looks like you had a terrific party where you were surrounded by supportive friends and family. I think that is a huge win!

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  9. I have sent a couple of manuscripts in, but mostly I’ve gotten form letter rejections. If it never happens, I’ll be fine with that. As you said, there are a lot of other things in life. I’ll eventually self-publish, but my life isn’t going to change one way or the other.

    Publishing any book is a labor of love. Congratulations for making it to the finish line. I’m sure you can still look at your book with pride. I’ll bet it meant a lot to you to have your son at your event.

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    1. It was a special event for sure. My son flew home and my husband kept me calm. All my friends and coworkers showed up. It was more fun than my wedding. And yes, I am still proud of my book and the quality of the writing I maintained throughout the stories.

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  10. That is one more book than I have had published, so congratulations, you have done much more than most of us.. The party looked good. Anyway, you have deer and a lake and a husband with fine knees, how much more do you really need?

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  11. Congratulations on your book 10 years late. Here’s how I see it, when you write a personal blog for any amount of time you eventually realize you’ve written and published what amounts to a book, in the sense of the number of words you’ve written. So your book dreams aren’t gone, just shifted to a different medium.

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  12. Yes, like others have pointed out, you’re still writing and perhaps in smaller amounts though it is very much readable. Congratulations on the book. Not an easy accomplishment by the sounds of it.

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