this is turning into a habit

Had another day where I got practically nothing done. Not completely nothing but only about a page of new material. The climax is halfway done and then the slide to the end of the book (Natalie get your mind out of the gutter :) )

Aaron brought up an interesting question in yesterday's post, he also has an interesting contest today, for which I am completely not qualified but you may be, so go read it. The question he brought up yesterday, at least in my mind is 'At what point would you consider yourself to be sucessful?'

I have thought of this a lot lately. I was, at first, rejoicing that anyone would accept a piece I had written, then they paid me for my work, now I am ready to redefine success as something different. My wife would love it if I could make a living as a writer. She would be ecstatic at this point if I could pay the phone bill every month with my writerly earnings. To be honest, so would I. I guess I have always envisioned a living where I could do nothing but write. Okay, write and maybe make some furniture on the side. If someone could pay me to shoot guns, ride motorcycles, fish and play pool that would be alright as well, but that really isn't going to happen.

I guess I am not planning on becoming rich and famous with my writing. It was not my plan. I would rather make a comfortable living, pay a few bills and do what I like. Eventually, I would like my wife to not have to work as hard as she does (Let's face it, she has a doctorate and I have a bachelors degree, in creative writing no less. She can almost aways make a better living than me, especially considering that construction work isn't as easy to come by as it used to be.) I don't consider my goals to be unrealistic or out of reach. I figure, like everything else, if I work hard and consistently, I will get to where I want to be. I hope to write a couple of books and have them published eventually (although I might have a garage full of unpublished manuscripts before I get there).

Besides, I don't need to get a big publishing contract, I am going to win the lottery well before that happens. :)

Update: I forgot to mention that a story of mine has been shortlisted for Midnight Echoes issue 3. Unfortunately, I won't know any more until late summer about it, unless they drop it before that.