It has not been the holiday I imagined. Our family income comes from Federal Government employment. Aside from a few part-time positions I’ve worked, it’s been that way for 25 years. I quit my nature center manager job to stay home with the kids, then homeschool one, got bitten by my imagination and began writing fantasy novels.
My novels are not earning us income, in case you doubted that. They aren’t even paying for themselves–for quality, I must sub out editing and covers. This is more information than I thought I’d give out, or normally give out. Frankly, I feel privileged we can swing the budget to do this.
But now I can’t.
I wrote three books in The Windborne series during the last year. Book 2 is polished, has a cover and is due to the copy editor. I couldn’t be a flake and back out at the last minute on a copy editor I’ve worked with for three years. However, I won’t be releasing it this winter as scheduled. I had planned to do a ‘rapid release’ of these three novels, a strategy used by many self-published authors to gain traction and stay at the top of their genre listings. I still want to follow this plan, so I’m holding back Guardian of the Pines, and cancelling the outside work on the other two.
In the meantime, I’ve used writing time to apply to be a substitute teacher. We weathered 1995’s 21 day shutdown with a toddler and and baby on the way. The feel of that one wasn’t as hostile. Or maybe our finances were different. Anyway, this time we have enacted austerity, because that’s what we have control of. Heaven forbid, Mr. Meow gets into a cat fight.
I’m so sorry. Writing is hard enough without adding in the government behaving like a toddler missing its nap.
Great analogy! I’m pushing to keep my head in my nice sane fantasy world at least a bit every day.