Guest post by S.M. Boyce, author of Lichgates, and giveaway.

I read a quote once that was something along the lines of, “writers have several careers because they can’t admit to themselves that they are, in fact, writers.” I can’t for the life of me find it now (so if you do, please pipe in down in the comments), but man, is it true.
In my employment history, I’ve done everything short of joining the CIA…and I’m pretty sure that’s for everyone’s benefit because you don’t want me to have a gun. I’ve been a software tester, barista, jewelry sales associate, bartender, marketing intern, wedding planner, BeautiControl saleswoman, assistant to a nosy stained glass artist, manager, waitress, Yankee Candle sales associate (those candles smell like heaven)…I’m probably missing about seventeen jobs, but you get the idea.
The weird thing? I wasn’t fired from any of them. Not one. I moved on because it just wasn’t what I wanted to do anymore, and I’m not a fickle person or anything. I worked hard, even if I hated the job, because my parents taught me to always do my best, no matter what. No, I quit because the jobs just didn’t make me happy. I wasn’t passionate about any of them. The only problem was I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life. Who does, right?
Throughout it all, I scribbled plot outlines and character sketches in the corners of napkins. I escaped from the stresses of life by creating my own worlds, with complex people that had problems of their own but always found some crazy way to overcome their obstacles. It made me jealous, I tell you. Yes, jealous of fictional characters. I know. Hush.
Publishing a book had always been a dream. I loved to write and tell stories, but it didn’t seem like a feasible way to make a living. For starters, didn’t authors eat paper and warm themselves by burning their returned books? That’s what it seemed like, at least. Plus, I’d always thought that it would be too stressful to turn my passion into my primary means of making money. Wouldn’t deadlines and expectations take all of the fun out of it? I’d heard so many freelancers tell me so that I was hesitant to make the leap.
I’m not sure what snapped. Not sure what changed my mind, but I eventually told myself that enough was enough. I’d been developing and planning a rather intricate book series since 2005, and I was going to write the damn thing. I sat down, and in six months, I’d written my first rough draft of my first book. I did Nanowrimo one year, but I don’t count that. My Nanowrimo book was only 50,000 words of impromptu plot. But this…this was 130,000 words of oh-my-god-I-did-it.
Of course, editing was a beast. I cut the word count down to what was appropriate for young adult fantasy. I changed names. I rewrote the ending three times. I erased two characters completely because they just didn’t need to exist. I cut, cut, cut. I polished. I slaved over it while my husband patted my back and let me do my thing. Goodness, is he a trooper.
My book was released in October of 2011, and I can now write full time. I’m a full time author. Haha! And I love it. I realized that all those hourly and salaried positions were just J-O-Bs: the means to an end. But now, I finally started my career. And I’ve never been happier working overtime.
I guess the snuggly-hug-fest moral of the story is to keep going. I wrote Lichgates at nights and on weekends, and largely sacrificed much of my personal life for it. But now that the book is out there—now that it’s real—it was worth every ounce of caffeine I consumed to keep me going.
Thanks for having me here today! And to everyone interested in a fun comments discussion: what was your craziest/oddest/most-fun job ever?
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Wonderful to read your success story. Thank you for the giveaway.
To be honest I'm 16 and I never had a crazy job except babysitting and construction with my father. One day ill have to start off with bad jobs I hate until I finally reach my dream of being a famous author. But I also want to be a forensic scientist. I just hope I reach this goal one day.
Just want to confirm the giveaway is international. Sorry I'm not running round promoting the blog tour but my laptop adapter started smoking so am relying on my iPhone until a new one arrives 🙁
Incidentally, I work in software testing and have no desire to give it up to write a book 😉
This was refreshing to read. I was always hesitant (and I still am to a certain extent) about having writing be a "career" or "job." While it still isn't as of yet for me, it is what I went to college for, like you yourself have done. It took me awhile to accept the fact that I couldn't think of anything else I'd like to do with myself. In some ways the fun was taken out of the writing process, but other things soon took their place as I learned more of the craft. It helped me learn much more about myself and open up parts of me I didn't know existed. I don't think another line of study/work could have done this.
I guess the moral of what I have to say is: working hard for what you have a passion for is always rewarding in the end. Getting there is hard (and I'm still struggling on the path,) and don't give up. Myself or other people who read this could wind up in your position some day; we can enjoy a writing career 🙂
Thanks for the giveaway! It's always good to hear about things that turn out as a happy ending : )
I loved reading this entry.
I enjoyed your post.
I really loved this post!
Thank you, everyone! Glad you enjoyed the post. Thanks so much for stopping by and for giving Lichgates a chance.
Another side of SM Boyce. Love the guest post!
Great post, was nice hearing your success story. It took me a year to decide what I was going to study. I have 2 years left to graduate and even though I like what I'm studying, I know that's still not what I actually want to do. And I still don't know.
Great post! Congratulations on your book and it sounds really good 🙂 I always dream of writing a fantasy book and sometimes I jot down ideas and a few maps but never seems to go any further…maybe now I should pick it back up again 🙂
thanks for the giveaway… 🙂