The pros and cons of being an author

Though I've been writing for most of my life, I've only been publishing my work now for a couple of years. Honestly it's been the best, yet most difficult, couple years of my life. I'm not huge, and my books don't sell by the mill, but the readers that I do have are the best. And I get to do something I absolutely love, every day.

So what are some of the cons?

Well for starters like any job, it's hard. You have to put the hours in, and finding those at home isn't always easy. There are always distractions - kids, chores, animals, general day to day life. But if you love what you do, like I do, you find the time. You put the hours in. You find a few minutes here and there in between tidying the house and making dinner and lunches and getting the school things ready for the next day. You forgo the long, leisurely bath in the evening when the kids are in bed and you use that time instead to write. You just find the time.

And then there's the instability of it. You never know whether a story is going to be popular or not, so relying on the income to pay the bills isn't always an option. Sometimes a book is a hit, but the next one isn't so popular. And sometimes the books that are popular don't stay that way for long.

Of course there's writer's block. That comes and goes. Everyone's experience with writer's block is different, but the one thing we can all agree on is that it's no frigging fun.

But I have to tell you, the positives outweigh the negative a million times over.

First off, I'm doing this amazing thing that I love and I get to share it with the world. I get to hear feedback, positive and negative. And through the negatives I learn so much, which I'm always thankful for.

There is nothing more amazing than having these ideas in your head and being able to get them all out in a way that makes sense. For all the times I was ever disappointed how a book ended, now I have complete control (or as much control as the characters allow me, at least).

If I want to work in my jammies, I can do that. Hell, as long as I've got my laptop I don't even need to get out of bed. I want to write completely starkers? Yep, can do that to. I get to do what I love with all the comforts of home

And there's so much more. I'm incredibly thankful that I've managed to find something in the world that I truly love doing