Last week I
hit a milestone in my writing career—I handed in my 50th novel.
Novel #51 is in edits.
While it’s
only a number, it did feel like an achievement. I came to writing late, when I
was 30, so I’ve only had two decades of writing so far in my career. While that
makes me feel like I’m always playing catch-up, it makes me work pretty hard
too. I started out in journalism and moved into nonfiction books and
professional blogging back when that was a thing. I dabbled in fiction writing
during that time but only seven years ago did I get serious about writing
novels and it became my bread and butter.
The
majority of my novels have been written as a ghostwriter for various publishers
and individual clients. While I have more than a dozen novels out under my own name, they do
not sell enough to be my sole income. Instead, they act as a CV for my ghostwriting
work, which fills out my income nicely.
So how do I
feel about having written so many novels? Satisfied, I suppose, but putting it
in perspective it isn’t all that big of a deal. One of my good friends is a contract
attorney. He’s worked on more than 50 cases. The research, writing of briefs,
consultation with clients, and court time must surely equal the amount of work
that goes into a novel.
I also have
a friend who is a dedicated long-distance runner. He’s run more than 50
marathons. I don’t know about you, but I’d rather write the novels!
These two
people have a work ethic. They work continuously at law or running and over the
years their achievements pile up. Having come to writing late, I’ve always
looked at it as a job, and put in proper work hours. After all this time, the
words have added up, and I didn’t even have to ruin my knees or go to law school to do it.
Besides satisfaction, I also feel
grateful to all of you for reading my stuff. Without readers, a writer isn’t
going to have much of a career. So thanks. I really do appreciate it.
See you
later. I’m busy writing novels #52 and 53!
