Kylie Brant | Making a Living

I love being a writer. At least, most of the time. But occasionally there are days like today, when the words won't come and everything I do manage to get on the page sounds like it was produced by an illiterate nine-year-old. Today my love for writing seems very far away. I begin to dream of other occupations. More rewarding ones. I become convinced that there has to be an easier way to make a living.

So that train of thought takes over and distracts me from the cursor blinking so accusingly on the nearly blank page. Mentally I run through a list of possible job prospects. Maybe I can be a grocery store clerk. Nothing to think about except ringing up bananas and milk. Then I consider the fact that they're on their feet all day. I'm stretched out on my chaise lounge with my laptop on my lap and a Diet Coke within reach. Cross grocery store clerk off my list.

It might be interesting to run a dress shop, I muse, trying to avoid looking at that cursor. Is it possible for it to look smug? I could work with pretty clothes all day, and those employee discounts would certainly be nice. Forgetting for the moment that I hate to shop, i give real consideration to the idea. Maybe I could find one that's only open 9-5 and no weekends.

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Cindy Gerard | Writing as a Living

It is GREAT to be here at Fresh Fiction. Frankly it’s just great being! I’m riding a major high because why, you might ask? Well, because I recently found out that SHOW NO MERCY, book 1 of my new Black Ops., Inc. series hit #15 on the New York Times. Yowser! I’m still in shock. And it got me to thinking … how did it come to this? I wasn’t always a writer. I was a lot of other things, all things, that at the time, represented who I was and what I was about. So, it made me wonder… Is the sum total of who we are determined by what we’ve done?

While a lot of us are writers (and readers) most of us were, at one time, something else, right? Like I said – I’m a prime example. I was once a beautiful black wild stallion – but we’ll save that for another day. :o)

Before taking on writing as a living, I worked in the county treasurer’s office computing and collecting taxes, I kept books in a lumber yard, did retail sales and alterations in a men’s clothing/sporting goods store, and sewed custom draperies – all of this before I started a career with the State department of Human Services as a case worker. Oh, and somewhere in that mix, my dh and I have also been restaurateur’s.

Whew. I’ve been a busy girl. It’s no wonder the prospect of parking my behind in a nice cushy desk chair and writing my day dreams on paper appealed to me.

I look back on those days and I realize that each of those positions helped mold me in some way into the person I am today. I learned about handling money, about lumber (and a girl can never know too much about board feet) about measuring inseams (ahem) and about guns. I learned that sewing draperies is a damn hard job. And I learned about humanity and how difficult life can be for a client in today’s welfare system. I learned not to eat everything on the menu and still get into last year’s clothes. Well, that lesson, I didn’t learn so well.

So now, I’m subconsciously bundling all of those afore mentioned skills and applying them to my business of writing. Truly, I have drawn from each facet of my working life – professionalism, discipline, and empathy for one’s fellow human beings being at the top of the list.

So what about you? What did you do before the writing bug bit you? Or what are you doing now as your write your way to bestsellerdom so you can quit that day (or night) job? And what, of all the things you’ve done, has had the most impact on your life and your writing? And if you’re not a writer, what major career or personal changes have impacted you the most?

Cindy Gerard
www.cindygerard.com/