S.C. Green's Blog, page 9

ONLY FREAKS TURN THINGS INTO BONES live on Kickstarter

And now for something completely different.

Usually, I’m writing fantastical stories for adults. Today, my friend Bree Roldan and I launched our first ever Kickstarter campaign to raise funds for the creation and printing of Only Freaks Turn Things Into Bones – a children’s picture book about a little grim reaper who deals with bullying.

Both Bree and I were victims of bullying ourselves, so this book is very close to our hearts. Only Freaks Turn Things Into Bones uses darkly gothic humour to address the very real issue of being different. How do you find a way to get through when people bully you for being who you are?

Only Freaks Turn Things Into Bones will help kids remember to celebrate the fact that they are different and unique, and that bullies don’t get to define who you are or who you want to be.

Please back the Kickstarter!

We’ve got 30 days to raise $8,000 to make Only Freaks Turn Things Into Bones happen. The Kickstarter has only been live for a few hours and we’re already at 15% of our goal. Help us create this weird little book by backing the Kickstarter – we’ve got heaps of cool rewards for backers, including copies of the book, art prints, dedications, and t-shirts.

We’re shipping books out in time for Christmas, so if you know any kids or parents who’d like this book, then grab one of them. Christmas shopping = sorted.

If you’re one of the people who has already supported the Kickstarter, I cannot thank you enough. You are seriously amazing. This book has been a long-time dream of mine, and to see it actually maybe happening is just… wow. I really want it to make a difference. This is the power of art and rebellion.

Here’s that Kickstarter link again – check it out!

 

Support a timeless watch and a cucumber bollard on Flopstarter

This is hilarious. A guy named Oli Frost (he once played the recorder on American Idol) started a site called Flopstarter – a place to back really terrible ideas. You can legitimately back projects like ‘Mole-skins’ – moleskiene-style notebooks made from the skins of real moles, and ‘cucumber bollards’ – using the terrifying nature of cucumbers to scare cats away from the road.

Or how about backing the Vintage Food market that serves you other people’s leftovers in organic paper boxes? Or a disposable tissue pillow so you can cry yourself to sleep at night?

I love this idea that even terrible ideas deserve a chance. It kind of goes along with the entire ethos of crowdfunding. If you want it, back it, and it will happen.

Oli’s other projects include Lifefaker – a startup that helps people fake their perfect online life, and Sarcastic Samantha, an app that reads your ideas back to you in a sarcastic voice. He’s currently working on a site called NFN (Nice Fake News) that delivers fake content that’s uplifting.

He sounds like an awesome dude to have a drink with.

My (real, totally not a flop) Kickstarter project will be launching June 1. Keep an eye out!

Post-scriptum: Seveneves, hair-metal, and sooooo many rats.

This picture was taken on an awesome night out with some of my close friends. We all met more than a decade ago at metal gigs around Auckland. We used to have awesome times dancing and singing along to an old 80s hair metal covers band called Maskara.

Well, Maskara did a 10-year reunion show at the Ding Dong Lounge. Of course we had to go. Ten years older, taking full advantage of the club’s drink specials, we showed that we could definitely still party. And then we complained all the way home about our sore knees and all the adult crap we had to do in the morning.

Growing up, eh? Don’t need it.

Listening: I am currently digging the new Ghost single, ‘Rats’. It’s a real shame about the court case ruining a lot of the mystique of this band. I’m not sure who’s in the right there (I definitely have OPINIONS. Ask me in private), but if the band keeps putting out great music I think they’ll continue to move forward.

Reading: So many things! I’m working my way through Neal Stephenson’s Seveneves, about the moon blowing up. It’s amazing. I am also reading lots of reverse harem, including KT Strange’s Phoenixburn and Kate Morgan’s 5 Fathers.

Writing: I am 61k into the third Briarwood Reverse Harem book, The Castle of Water and Woe. In this book Maeve and her boys spend some time outside the castle, so I’m going back over some of my old travel photos and notebooks for some of the details. It’s been really fun :) I can’t wait to share this book with you at the end of June!

Watching: The Handmaid’s Tale, season 2. It’s probably the best TV show I’ve ever seen. We also just finished The Good Place – most hilarious, most bizarre, most wonderful thing I’ve seen in a long time. And we’ve started the 2nd season of 13 Reasons Why, which I don’t like as much as the first. The ghost aspect ruins it, I think.

On The Farm: Not much getting done, because the weather is gross and my lawnmower broke. We have a huge list of little jobs inside the house (finish meadery tiles, paint bathroom wall, paint doors, hang paintings, hang banisters, etc) to finish over winter. Now that we have a working kitchen and ensuite, we’re happy to just take things slower and not kill ourselves working on the place all the time.

Loving: the rad community of reverse harem readers and writers. You guys are so much fun \m/ Planning our 2019 European adventure to celebrate 10 years of marriage. We are hitting England, Germany (WACKEN) and Romania. I am already making a list of castles to visit. \m/ Our Opeth DVD on our new bigscreen TV. \m/ my new office set-up complete with a gaming keyboard that goes clackity-clackity-clack. \m/ My husband who brings me dark salted caramel chocolate and reads all my sex scenes out loud because he knows it makes me squirm \m/ Meeting NEAL STEPHENSON at the Writers and Readers Festival. He handwrites all his novels. He handwrote Seveneves. That blows my MIND. \m/ Mexican lunch and girl talk with my best girl Andy, and Korean chicken and some kind of alcohol that tasted like melded Nerds candy with co-conspirators Gronk and Olya Sloth \m/ Accidentally inviting too many people to the dinner party we’re hosting this weekend (now we have to ask people to bring their own chairs). \m/ getting asked to be Godmother to a beautiful baby girl. Congrats Lexi and Toni. \m/ The Guilty Feminist podcast. I have learned so much and laughed so hard. \m/ Why is it that every ballad Nick Cave writes ends up with everyone murdered in a bloody shoot-out? \m/

That’s my life right now. What about yours?

Post-scriptum:

This picture was taken on an awesome night out with some of my close friends. We all met more than a decade ago at metal gigs around Auckland. We used to have awesome times dancing and singing along to an old 80s hair metal covers band called Maskara.

Well, Maskara did a 10-year reunion show at the Ding Dong Lounge. Of course we had to go. Ten years older, taking full advantage of the club’s drink specials, we showed that we could definitely still party. And then we complained all the way home about our sore knees and all the adult crap we had to do in the morning.

Growing up, eh? Don’t need it.

Listening: I am currently digging the new Ghost single, ‘Rats’. It’s a real shame about the court case ruining a lot of the mystique of this band. I’m not sure who’s in the right there (I definitely have OPINIONS. Ask me in private), but if the band keeps putting out great music I think they’ll continue to move forward.

Reading: So many things! I’m working my way through Neal Stephenson’s Seveneves, about the moon blowing up. It’s amazing. I am also reading lots of reverse harem, including KT Strange’s Phoenixburn and Kate Morgan’s 5 Fathers.

Writing: I am 61k into the third Briarwood Reverse Harem book, The Castle of Water and Woe. In this book Maeve and her boys spend some time outside the castle, so I’m going back over some of my old travel photos and notebooks for some of the details. It’s been really fun :) I can’t wait to share this book with you at the end of June!

Watching: The Handmaid’s Tale, season 2. It’s probably the best TV show I’ve ever seen. We also just finished The Good Place – most hilarious, most bizarre, most wonderful thing I’ve seen in a long time. And we’ve started the 2nd season of 13 Reasons Why, which I don’t like as much as the first. The ghost aspect ruins it, I think.

On The Farm: Not much getting done, because the weather is gross and my lawnmower broke. We have a huge list of little jobs inside the house (finish meadery tiles, paint bathroom wall, paint doors, hang paintings, hang banisters, etc) to finish over winter. Now that we have a working kitchen and ensuite, we’re happy to just take things slower and not kill ourselves working on the place all the time.

Loving: the rad community of reverse harem readers and writers. You guys are so much fun \m/ Planning our 2019 European adventure to celebrate 10 years of marriage. We are hitting England, Germany (WACKEN) and Romania. I am already making a list of castles to visit. \m/ Our Opeth DVD on our new bigscreen TV. \m/ my new office set-up complete with a gaming keyboard that goes clackity-clackity-clack. \m/ My husband who brings me dark salted caramel chocolate and reads all my sex scenes out loud because he knows it makes me squirm \m/ Meeting NEAL STEPHENSON at the Writers and Readers Festival. He handwrites all his novels. He handwrote Seveneves. That blows my MIND. \m/ Mexican lunch and girl talk with my best girl Andy, and Korean chicken and some kind of alcohol that tasted like melded Nerds candy with co-conspirators Gronk and Olya Sloth \m/ Accidentally inviting too many people to the dinner party we’re hosting this weekend (now we have to ask people to bring their own chairs). \m/ getting asked to be Godmother to a beautiful baby girl. Congrats Lexi and Toni. \m/ The Guilty Feminist podcast. I have learned so much and laughed so hard. \m/ Why is it that every ballad Nick Cave writes ends up with everyone murdered in a bloody shoot-out? \m/

That’s my life right now. What about yours?

My new book, The Castle of Fire and Fable, is out now

I wrote another book, and it’s out now. The Castle of Fire and Fable is available as an ebook on Amazon ($3.99 and Kindle Unlimited). A paperback version will be available later this month.

And if you haven’t read the first book, The Castle of Earth and Embers, well … hop to it!

Five beautiful witches … one painful choice.

Now that the secrets of Maeve’s past have been revealed, she begins to embrace her newfound powers. Being a witch and a science geek makes her head hurt at times, but luckily she’s got Corbin, Arthur, Flynn, Rowan, and Blake to awaken her powers and tend her broken heart.

The only way the coven will be strong enough to battle the fae is if Maeve chooses a consort. But how can she choose when each of the guys needs and wants her? How can she accept only one when they all fill the empty void inside her?

Maeve is still reeling from the death of her parents when another tragedy strikes. This time, she must face her grief head-on, and find strength in her bond with her five broken witches to battle an impossible foe.

The Castle of Fire and Fable is the second in a brand new steamy reverse harem romance series by USA Today bestselling author Steffanie Holmes. This full-length book glitters with love, heartache, hope, grief, dark magic, fairy trickery, steamy scenes, British slang, meat pies, second chances, and the healing powers of a good cup of tea. Read on only if you believe one just isn’t enough.

Note: This book contains characters who struggle with issues that may be sensitive to some readers, including self-harm and suicide.

Excerpt from The Castle of Fire And Fable, out May 3rd

It’s almost here! The Castle of Fire and Fable – book 2 in the Briarwood Reverse Harem series is hitting virtual bookshelves on May 3rd. (And of course, if you haven’t read book 1 – The Castle of Earth and Embers – you can remedy that right meow).

Here’s a wee excerpt to get you excited.

***

The sidhe. Of course. I’d been so busy with Jane and Connor and the police and Flynn’s damn piling system that I had forgotten we still hadn’t found a way to stop the fae entering our realm. The message that the coven were still alive and that Blake had joined us must have reached Daigh by now. Several fae were likely already in our realm, getting ready to attack us, or worse – hurt more innocent people.

“Can we—” Exhaustion tugged at my eyelids. I swayed on my feet. I thought of my soft bed up in my tower bedroom, the sheets pulled up tight around my body, cocooning me inside its heavenly warmth.

But no sleep for the wicked witches. Or indeed, the good witches. We clearly had some spellcasting to do. I remembered what Daigh had said to me; We have a weapon the likes of which you cannot even imagine. The Slaugh. Would they try to raise them tonight? Could they? If we could stop this from happening, we had to try.

“How did you figure out the spell so quickly?” Corbin demanded, casting a suspicious look at Blake.

“It’s not the same spell. Briarwood is surrounded by some powerful wards – unpicking that magic is going to take a lot more effort,” Blake explained. “For now, we just need to hold back the tide – I’ve already seen two Far Darrigs and three green guards come through tonight. I’ve managed to cobble together a simpler version of the wards that protect Briarwood. It won’t hold them forever, but it’s a start.”

“But how did you find—” Corbin started, but Blake was already pushing past him.

“No time to explain. Hop to it, witches!”

“If fae are out there, we need weapons.” Arthur ducked inside, returning a moment later with his beloved sword and scabbard, a second sword – which he passed to me (with a look of trepidation on his face) – and several daggers he tossed to the others. I noticed that Rowan didn’t take one. I patted the pocket in my skirt, where the four objects the guys had given me were – a medallion from Flynn, a small dagger from Arthur, a twig of rowan from Rowan, and a charm written out on parchment from Corbin. I hoped like hell they’d be enough to keep us safe.

I followed Blake and Flynn across the formal garden, down the hill – leaping and skidding over rough dirt and irregular stone steps – through the tiny wood, where the temperature cooled under the gloom of the trees, standing the hairs on my arms on end. We emerged near the stone wall Flynn and I hid behind when we’d first encountered Blake.

“Look, Princess,” Blake pointed, his grin wicked. “It’s where we first met. Isn’t this romantic? We should have brought a picnic.”

“I was just starting to like you and you had to go and mention that particular incident,” Flynn said, swinging his legs over the low wall, candles and spell books flying from his arms. “My face has only just returned to its usual handsome state. What did you do to me, anyway?”

“I was trying to give you a message for Maeve, to warn her about the king. At that stage, I didn’t know she was so close I could’ve just told her myself.”

“Well, stay out of my head from now on.” Flynn stepped over the wall. I noticed that in addition to the candles and other objects in his arms, he struggled with the enormous Briarwood grimoire. “Next time you want to know something, just ask me.”

“If it makes you feel better, I am sorry. But any amount of pain was worth it to get us to the point where we could fight Daigh.”

“It’s easy to say that when you’re not the one in pain,” Flynn grumbled.

“If we—” Blake started over the wall, but he didn’t get to finish his sentence.

An arrow flew past his face, embedding itself into the hill behind us. Another arrow made a thwack sound as it plunged into the earth. My stomach lurched to my knees.

“We’re under attack!”

Want to find out what happens? It’s easy – you just have to pick up a copy of The Castle of Fire and Fable.

Guest post on writing convincing settings over on my friend Jamie’s blog

Hello again! I’ve been busy in the writing cave with The Castle of Fire and Fable, which comes out in only two more days! But I did have some time to write this post about writing convincing settings over on my friend Jamie Sands’ blog. If you’re a writer or just want a peek into my process, check it out!

(This picture is a setting I might use in an upcoming novel – the volcanic moonscape of Mount Ngarauhoe, which I hiked with some friends a few weeks ago.)

#suffrage125, or the day I went to Government House in dinosaur socks

A few weeks ago I got an email from the office of the Governor General. At first, I thought it was a spam email. “Oh, sure, the Governor General of Nigeria wants to tell me I inherited $100,000,000.”

I read the email three times but couldn’t see any signs of a scam. It was an invitation to attend a reception at Old Government House to celebrate 125 years of Women’s Suffrage in NZ.

I checked the name at the top. Yep, definitely addressed to me. What the hell? Why on earth was I invited to such an illustrious event? You’ve heard talk about how all artists feel a deep sense of imposter syndrome – let me tell you that there’s nothing like being a smutty writer attending a prestigious event by the Governor-General to make one feel like they’ve been stuck on the list by accident.

The mystery remains, but when the Governor-General invites you to such an amazing event, you do not decline.

I flew down to Wellington and stayed with a lovely writer friend and her family. My nerves were allayed by a lovely dinner and an evening of board games.

The next day, Wellington put on some beautiful weather – a torrential downpour and gale force winds. With 20 minutes before I needed to leave for the reception, I showered, threw on my pretty purple dress, and went to pull on the lovely Black Milk warm leggings I’d packed … only to discover they weren’t in my bag.

Ah, of course, they were on the floor in our bedroom, where I’d left them so I’d remember to throw them into my bag before I left.

Right. Goodo.

I had two options – go bare-legged in the appalling weather, or wear my black dinosaur socks, the only other legwear I’d packed.

Five minutes later, clad in a pretty dress, a warm and smart-looking military-style coat, and my dinosaur socks, I hopped on the bus.

I sat up the front so the driver could tell me when we reached the venue. After a couple of stops, another woman got on, asking for the same stop. “Are you going to Old Government House for the reception?” I asked.

“Yes!” she replied, throwing her bag down in the seat behind me. “Oh, I’m so relieved to find you. I don’t know my way around at all.”

This remarkable lady turned out to be a historian of woman’s history. Fortuitously, she also had an umbrella. We exited the bus at the correct stop and shuffled up the hill to the reception, chatting about the writing life. I was starting to feel as though maybe this day was going to turn out fine.

I entered the ballroom and gasped. This amazing space with an elaborately-carved ceiling was absolutely PACKED with women. Wait staff circled around, carrying trays of delicious-looking canapes. Conversation and laughter wafted above the group, and as I walked around to scope out the place, I caught snatches of talk about activism and social media and #metoo and diversity.

What the hell am I doing here? I don’t belong here. Everyone already knows everyone else. Are they judging my dinosaur socks?

I went to the bar, which turned out not to have any alcohol but a selection of strange and wonderful juices. I had a fruity … something … and made a beeline for the first woman who appeared to be standing on her own.

That woman turned out to be Rebecca Kittredge, who among other things was the Secretary of the Cabinet 2008-13, and is now the director of our Special Intelligence Service. She was bright and bubbly and highly intelligent and had led the most interesting life. She asked me a million questions about my books and a few of my nerves started to dissipate. She also gave me the insider tip that Government House makes the best egg sandwiches (can confirm. I had about ten of them).

The Governor-General, Dame Patsy Reddy, opened the celebrations, which will be continuing for the rest of the year. She highlighted the progress we’ve made toward equality in the past 125 years but reminded us all how far we still have to go. Her speech is available to read online.

Other speakers included Julie Anne Genter, Minister for Women, 2017 Young New Zealander of the Year Rez Gardi. Lizzie Marvelly sang the National Anthem in English and Te Reo.

Listening to the speeches and doing some of my own reading about suffrage made me both so proud to be a New Zealander and determined that I will contribute my own #suffrage125 project or event. I’m still thinking about what that could be, but I’m starting to put together a few ideas. Stay tuned!

After the speeches, it was time for the most dreaded part of any event for an introvert – mingling. I walked around the room, trying to find women who looked to be on their own, and breaking the ice by telling the story of how I ended up wearing dinosaur socks. I spoke to so many amazing women who’ve accomplished such incredible things, I couldn’t even list them all.

I started thinking about heading home and felt a little disappointed that I hadn’t been able to meet Helen Clark or Dame Patsy. Helen Clark especially is an inspiration of mine. I used to always watch her on TV when I was little, and I loved the way she argued with eloquence and elegance and put other (male) politicians in their place. I always wanted her to be Prime Minister.

Someone tapped me on the shoulder. It was Rebecca. “Are you enjoying the reception?” she asked with a smile. I told her yes, very much. She asked if I wanted to meet Dame Patsy. Oh hell, yes.

And then this happened :)

Here I am with Dame Patsy Reddy (Thanks Rebecca for the photos and the intro!)

Here I am just chilling with Helen Clark, former Prime Minister of NZ and Administrator of the UN Development Programme.

I went home in a total buzz. What an incredible thing to be invited to and involved in. I have no idea how I ended up on the guest list but thank you thank you thank you! Being surrounded by leaders of the past and present have cemented to me how much I want to be one of the leaders of the future.

No one judged my dinosaur socks.

I’m so proud to be a New Zealand woman. History has shown us that this country of stubborn, troublesome ladies get things done, improve the lives of those around them, and make sure their voices are heard. Standing in this room, surrounded by these remarkable ladies, I feel a tremendous sense of comfort. The future is bright. We’re going to be sweet as. We’ve got this.

Images via the Suffrage125 Facebook page.

Here’s a video from the event from TVNZ.

When I’m not swanning around at amazing events, I write science fiction and paranormal romance novels. My latest book, The Castle of Earth and Embers, is available now in ebook and paperback.

Metal Mixtape: Castle of Earth and Embers playlist

I’ve mentioned before that when I’m writing I often create playlists of songs that evoke a mood or theme I’m trying to explore in a book. The Castle of Earth and Embers was no different, and here are some of the songs that helped inspire me while I was writing.

Blackmore’s Night – Fires at Midnight

Briarwood castle is a magical place steeped in history, and nothing brings out that mood I tried to create more than Blackmore’s Night. Part of that is the sheer brilliance of the music – Ritchie Blackmore’s amazing guitar skills combined with Candice Knight’s rich, lyrical voice. But another part of it is that listening to this band brings back one of my favourite memories ever – standing with my husband in the courtyard of a 12th-century castle, drinking beer brewed on-site, in a crowd of Germans dressed in medieval garb while bonfires blazed around us and Blackmore’s Night entertained us from the stage. Pure magic.

Something Evil (featuring Marc Scibilia) – The Hot Damns

This song was on the Longmire soundtrack, so it automatically makes me think of the Southwest, where Maeve grew up. I love the way the song manages to sound soulful and sinister at the same time. Something evil is coming to Briarwood.

Helvegen – Wardruna

These guys are awesome to listen to while writing, because I don’t feel the urge to sing along as much, but also, wow are they amazing. When I think of fae music I imagine it sounds a little like this.

Seasonspeak – Elvenking

Another beautiful folk metal song that to me really evokes the sense of magic and the stillness and fragility of nature that I was trying to capture. Love all the vocal harmonies.

Girl in Amber – Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds

I still cannot listen to this without crying. To me, the entire Skeleton Tree album is a siren call of mourning, and whenever I want to tap into that I listen to it.

She doesn’t know it, but this is Maeve’s song.

Skyclad – Earth Mother, The Sun, and The Furious Host

There are a lot of themes in the Briarwood books, and one of them is about religions like Christianity forcing an idea of superiority against nature, of humans ruling the earth, and how maybe that’s an idea that needs to be challenged. This song about challenging beliefs and embracing old ways even if they make you feel humble seem to suit.

Alestorm – Fucked with an Anchor

Because it made me realise how satisfying it is to use the word ‘wanker’ in prose, and because I feel as though Flynn would like this song.

Blackmore’s Night – Ghost of a Rose

See above. I pretty much thrashed all of Paris Moon while I wrote the first book.

Hold the Heathen Hammer High – Tyr

Fun song about being proud of the old magic and the old ways, that I feel the Briarwood coven could really get into.

Season of the Witch – Donovon

I heard this on Riverdale and fell in love. Released in 1966, and apparently a classic that’s been covered several times since. I’m a fan now.

Start a War – Klergy

I also heard this on Riverdale and loved it. War is coming to Briarwood.

Astral Sabbat – Jess and the Ancient Ones

A bit of a silly name, but these Finnish rockers are bringing back the 70s witch rock in style. If you’ve read The Castle of Earth and Embers the reason why I chose this particular song is probably obvious.

She – The Devil’s Blood

I freaking ADORE this band. There’s nothing like writing about badass witches than some badass witch rock.

There you go – lots of witchy tunes and folk-inspired metal to keep your hearts happy while I finish the next book. Grab your copy of The Castle of Earth and Embers today in Kindle or paperback. 

On cobbling together a life as an artist

This weekend, I celebrated my one-month anniversary of being a full-time writer/artist/professional creative person/thinker and maker of things. I celebrated by hiking around some volcanoes with some awesome friends (more about that in another post).

I am so incredibly beyond happy right now you wouldn’t even believe it. Very few people in the world get to make a living as an artist and I am now one of them. I speak from a place of incredible humility, because I only get to do this because of all the amazing readers who support me and buy and read my books and spread the word.

One month in this game is not nearly enough time to give any useful advice to other artists, writers, or creative people. However, I am getting a lot of questions about how I got to where I am right now. So I thought I’d share a few random thoughts.

There’s a bit of a movement happening now encouraging essayists to identify their advantages and privileges, especially when writing anything that might be construed as life advice. So here is my list: I am white. I am educated. I applied for and received scholarships and other assistance for my education, and as such, I entered the workforce without debt. I grew up in a working/middle-class family and have never worried about not eating or whether I’d make rent. I was taught good financial skills from a young age and didn’t accrue debt until I got a mortgage. I married a man who was also educated and who carried minimal debt (a student loan, now paid off) when we got together. I have never been without a job for the last decade. I do not have children or carer responsibilities, which has given me dedicated time in evenings and weekends to work on my art.

Some of those things are inherent privileges I was born into. Some of them were born of deliberate decisions and actions that I was educated enough to understand and action. All have been played a role in getting me to where I am.

I also, as you know, live with a disability. Like many people who live with a disability, I’ve grown up with a sense that I have to work twice as hard as everyone else just to get to the same place. I have seen many times that hard work is not always rewarded, but it is something that I’ve always done because I find doing my best to be emotionally satisfying. I need to be able to look myself in the eye and know I did everything I could in a particular situation, and the rest was out of my control.

I got here by working hard. I’ve dedicated I’d say at least twenty hours a week every single week to pursuing writing as a career since I started my first job, over ten years ago. I’d write on my lunch break, in the evenings after work, on weekends, on holidays. I had a very specific goal in mind and I knew my best chance of reaching it was to work hard.

I made mistakes. I got distracted. I went off on various paths that ultimately proved to be a waste of time. I tried to quit my job once before and had to get a new one because I was miserable. I learned from everything. I kept going. I didn’t give up.

I got lucky. I started self-publishing at the right time. Some books did terribly. Some did great. Mostly, I’ve done okay for the last three years. But when you combine okay with other streams of writing income and a partner with a regular 9-5 and no debt beyond your mortgage, you end up with a (hopefully) sustainable career.

I wrote and published twenty books before I had one that I could say was an actual success. And it’s still early days.

But imagine if I’d stopped after three books, or eight books, or nineteen books?

Don’t give up.

I’m a firm believer that whatever privileges you do or don’t have, eventually hard work trumps them all. Eventually, hard work pays off. It might be immediate. It might take two years or ten or thirty, but it does eventually happen.

I say that standing on the career I’ve built from a lifetime of living with a disability and twelve years of hard work and four years of learning and experimental and failing at self-publishing. It took me that long to really find my voice and figure out what I’m trying to say and what kind of books I want to write.

Think of all that hard work as practice. It all means something. It all contributes, even when it feels like a waste.

Diversify

I think any creative would be well advised to create multiple streams of income. For years I thought this meant having lots of different mini-businesses, so I did that. Wedding celebrant, online store, this and that. It was hard and ultimately unfruitful. Don’t spread yourself too thin in the interests of diversification. Know what you want your career to look like, and focus on that.

My income now comes from several sources, but they all feed into my ultimate picture of how I want my career to proceed. My novels and freelance work pay the bills (much more so from the novels now). I have side-projects that build my profile or allow me to experiment with new ideas or different mediums, but they all ultimately feed into my grand artistic plan. Some of the work lights up my soul, some I do because I need to eat and keep my cats in the manner to which they’ve become accustomed, some I do for the chance at making a difference in an area I’m passionate about, but all of it is important.

Doing What You Love isn’t the point

I don’t want to sit here and say, “Go for it! Do what you love! I did it and look at me! I’m super successful and you can be too!” I don’t think that’s fair, or accurate.

First of all, I’m not super successful. Well, probably by many standards I am. But I don’t feel as though I’m there yet. And I have to sustain that success over months and years because we’ve got to eat and pay our mortgage. There’s pressure – mostly pressure I put on myself. It’s scary. Situations can change in a heartbeat, so don’t let anyone convince you it’s as simple as flipping a switch inside your head and suddenly you can make a living as an artist or a tarot reader or whatever.

I’m not doing what I love. I am doing what the world needs. If the world didn’t need my books, people wouldn’t buy them. I’ve no qualms about what I do – I’m an entertainer. I give people an escape, a breather. I let them sort through their problems by seeing themselves reflected in characters. I’m a therapy session or movie ticket for $3.99 on Kindle.

Work is about doiing shit the world needs to get done, whether that’s writing books or building houses or cleanng toilets or filing papers. It needs to be done and someone needs to do it so you’re stepping up to the task.

Being an artist is soooooo not about you. It’s amazing because it is what I love, but that’s not the point. The point is what you give to the world, and whether that has any value. And the world values different things in different ways (not all of them fair).

A friend shared this article some weeks ago about the Do What You Love mantra and how it devalues actual work. I agree with a lot that’s said here.

I took a course a couple of years ago about helping get started in business (to help me set things up for this year) that had this DWYL messaging. It was aimed at women, and the attendees in the course were mainly starting spiritual-based businesses – tarot reading, life coaching, astrology, business advice from people who’ve never run a business before. If I’d known this I probably wouldn’t have taken the course. It was very light on actual business advice and VERY heavy on spending time brainstorming things you enjoy doing and then finding a way to get people to pay you to do them.

Having spent a lot of time working in startups bringing products to market, this course seemed to miss essential steps on market research and what the role of a business in a market actually is. All the time it devalued a lot of the actual work these women were doing in their lives – a lot of them were lawyers, charity workers, social workers, arts coordinators – actually really interesting and important and valuable jobs.

Being in business is hard, and it’s not a solution for dissatisfaction with your current job. That shouldn’t be why you do it, especially if you need two weeks of brainstorming exercises to figure out what you supposedly “love”. I enjoy home brew, but it doesn’t mean I should start a craft cider company, you know?

The startup world is full of this DWYL mantra, too, but in a different way. It’s used to push people to work long hours and “live at the office.” When I worked at a tech giant, a lot of people’s entire social life came through the office because they spent 60+ hours a week there. If you’re not doing the (unpaid) overtime, then in certain places you’re seen as not being passionate enough, and you’ll be cut. This ends up pushing out people who have families or other commitments like caregiving (disproportionately women).

The academia example in the article is prevalent in the writing industry, from publishers who earn millions off books and pay authors a pittance, to publications that pay in “exposure” because writers write for the love, while they collect subscriptions and royalties. It’s one of the reasons I love being indie so much – I have a lot more control and meet a lot less of this nonsense.

My dad is a builder, my mum is a part-time nurse. These are still middle-class careers, but they’re not in the “creative, intellectual, socially prestigious” camp. My dad doesn’t love what he does, but he can be proud of the quality of his work and the fact that working hard means he can support his family. He enjoys making things with his hands. My mum is kind and likes helping people. That kind of rhetoric would be so lost on them.

I think of friends who worked at the freezing works (one of the main places to get employment in my small town), cutting meat and hauling carcasses around. Not “loveable”, but there was always a lot of camaraderie among the workers, and they have some hilarious work stories. As I pick up my steak from the supermarket, I hate the idea of saying their work isn’t meaningful because they don’t love it. If I was on a desert island, I’d rather be stuck with a meat worker than a tarot reader (as a writer I’m probably pretty useless desert island company myself).

The work isn’t always lovable. It isn’t always meaningful to me personally. But as an artist who needs an audience to survive, I have to respect the fact that it’s not about me.

Women email me and say my books are what they read during their limited leisure time between working two menial jobs and running around after kids and partners, and how much they appreciate that. That makes you fucking humble.

Thank you, because without you reading my books or sharing my blog or supporting me on Patreon or doing the other stuff you do to support me, I couldn’t do this. I am so lucky (and it really is luck) and it’s all because of you. Because of that, I want to spend the rest of my days writing the books that give you joy.

What are your thoughts on cobbling together a career in the arts?