What Makes a Plane Fly?
As a father’s day present my wife got me an introductory flight in a single engine plane for half an hour. I’m not sure what type of plane it was, but it was small and very, ahem, cozy. Cozy as in the instructor and I were rubbing shoulders the entire time. On a 90 degree day with no air conditioning, that turns cozy into a few other four letter words. We did all the preflight stuff, chatted a little, and then took off. While climbing the instructor handed the stick to me and said it’s all mine.
I leveled off at 2,000 feet and proceeded to try and figure out where things were on the checkerboard beneath me. We found my parents house after I overflew it and did a few circles around it. It was during one of those circles that I saw a hawk flying near us – and above us. We were 2,000 feet in the air and this hawk was higher still (not much, but still). Ironic that out of everything that day the hawk would stick out as perhaps the most impressive.
I’ve flown before and always wanted to get a pilot’s license. It’s still a box I’d like to check off, I’m just not sure when I’ll have a chance to get around to doing it. Or the money – it’s not cheap. Or as the instructor asked me, “Do you know what makes a plane fly?” It seemed obvious to me, air and a couple of laws of physics working together. He grinned and answered his own question, “Money!”
I’ve owned a few boats in my life and I’ve learned that boats can be a lot of fun. They are also holes in the water that you throw money into. Turns out planes aren’t all that different. So when will I get around to going for a license? Well, I don’t know. Not in the near future, I’m just too busy. Flying recreationally is back on my list of hobbies I’d love to have but don’t have the resources to do. It joins scuba diving and a host of other things that I hope to one day get around to.
In the meantime I’ll keep writing. No doubt most everybody in the writing or reading world has heard of J.K. Rowling’s latest news. She published a book under a pen name and though it received good reviews, it had lackluster performance. Or more accordingly, it did about as well as the average writer’s new books does. Heck, she was even shot down by the first couple of editors from what I heard. Once it was leaked that it was really her writing the book, sales shot up instantly.
The message to writers like me and, well, 99% of the rest of the writing world? Keep trying. That’s what it boils down to. A perfect flux of random circumstances comes together every now and then and propels a book or a writer into the spotlight. That’s when the magic happens. It’s part luck, and just about any writer out there who has achieved great success has admitted as much. Sure, there are common factors such as good writing / storytelling and a driving ambition that keeps them writing more, but there are thousands of us (if not more) that do that, yet only a fraction of us reach the upper levels. All we can do is keep trying and be ready when the stars align so we don’t miss the opportunity.
As it stands, I have almost 4o books out, although five of them are free. It was once anecdotally believed that a writer could support themselves once they reached the 30 published book mark. To me that sounds about right, but it would mean only supporting myself and living very modestly. I’ve got a family of four and a lot of student loans and other bills to pay off – I may not hit the self-supporting level until I’ve published around 120 books! Yikes.
The good news is I’m still going strong and my readers have a lot of future books to look forward to from me. Just the other day I had a new (to me) reader contact me and share that he’d finished off my Blades of Leander trilogy and three other books I’d written and he loved them. He compared me favorably with Raymond Feist and David Eddings. While he’s not the first person who’s said that, it’s incredibly heart warming to hear. Those guys, to me, are legends.
Yet in spite of the steady trickle of fan mail I’m waiting for my magic moment when things happen. I’ve reached the point where I’m convinced that writing more is my best promotional tactic. Oh sure, I still dabble and try to find other things to do to boost awareness of my brand (me!), but writing is first and foremost these days.
Money is nothing more than an economical manifestation of work (for most of us not born with a trust fund, at least). So just like keeping a boat on top of the water or a plane in the air, a writer’s career requires a lot of dedication and perseverance. To my fellow writers I advise that you stay strong and focused on your craft. I know that’s what I’ve been doing and continue to do, in spite of slowing summer sales. Ride the waves or the thermals, or just keep on trucking if wheels are your thing. Whatever the case, write on!
To learn more about Jason Halstead, visit his website to read about him, sign up for his newsletter, or check out some free samples of his books at http://www.booksbyjason.com .
