It's a boat

Last Saturday night as the winds of Hurricane Irene howled overhead, and I sat boarded up inside my boat as she bucked and shuddered in the wind and waves, I felt very alone.  I checked my email on my iPad and at that hour just past midnight,  it seemed as though the only people in the world who knew of my existence were trying to sell me Cialis or offering to enlarge my penis.  Try as I might, I cannot convince them that I am not their target market.

At one point, I decided to send an email to another boating friend who was moored in a bay off Long Island Sound, and shortly after I pushed send, my cell phone rang.

"So, how are you doing?" he asked.

I was thrilled to have someone to talk to, so I unloaded on him.  "Well," I said, "while I was in Solomons, I blew the main oil gasket on the engine and had to have it replaced, and then sailing up the bay, I executed a controlled gybe and a block on my mainsheet traveler disintegrated, then when I tried to lower my headsail in anticipation of the hurricane, I discovered my jib halyard has jammed at the top of the mast, and I had to go up in the bosun's chair to undo the shackle to lower the sail, and it appears that I have alternator problems again because my batteries aren't charging when I run my engine so I've had to turn off my refrigeration."  I paused to take a breath.

"Oh," he said.  "It's a boat."

Yup.  That about sums it up.

Many non-boating writer friends, after reading this blog of my adventures this summer, have asked me why I choose to do this.  They think it sounds like I'm having a terrible time.  They cannot imagine why one would inflict this sort of pain on oneself.  Why would one chose to do something that requires hundreds of hours of labor and is so financially risky?

I do it for the same reasons I write — because I love it.

Some people climb mountains or row boats across oceans or go skiing across country.  All these undertakings will have moments when it seems like everything has completely gone to hell, but some sort of passion keeps bringing us back.

And so it goes with writing.  For those newbies who are thinking of writing a book, you will likely spend hundreds of hours over the course of several years experiencing extreme frustration and self-doubt all for the chance to earn maybe two cents an hour for your labors.  Why would anyone choose to do it?

If you are doing it because you think it's a "get rich quick" scheme,  I know of a few fixer-upper boats you might want to buy once you earn all that writing dough.  Yeah, right.

There is only one reason we choose to write or to live on the water.  Passion.

And right now, I have a book that has just as many broken parts as my boat.

I've been reading all the email lists and blogs from Indie authors who are self publishing ebooks, and many of them are wondering why their books aren't selling well.  They think that they just need to find the marketing secret that will bring instant success.  In just the same way that my boat won't get underway without a working engine or jib or mainsail, I know that my book won't sell unless the plot and characters and pacing are all humming along with mechanical precision.

So, just as I hired a mechanic in Solomons, I have now hired a professional editor for my new book which this blog helped me title CIRCLE OF BONES.  I'd done all the DIY editing I could do, and it was time to call in a pro.  I will be spending lots of money on an editor and a cover and a final copy editor, but after all –

It's a book.

 

Fair winds!

Christine

 

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