There's not too many people in my life who know I'm actively pursuing a writing career. DH and GK know, of course, along with my writing groups and a handful of close friends outside of the publishing industry.
Right before the boys left for the In-Laws, DH asked if he could tell his parents. I said no. What followed was a quasi-argument/discussion on why I don't want people to know yet versus DH's pride that I'm pursuing my dream.
Why don't I want others outside of my immediate circle to know about my writing before I'm ready?
First of all, support is key. Fiction writing isn't an easy field to break into--I'm under no illusions on that score. But I have the backing of the handful of non-writing folks who know. These are the folks that simply ask: "How's your progress on your latest wip? Have you heard back from that editor who requested your zombie romance? If you need another beta reader, I volunteer!"
On the other side of the spectrum are the folks who pooh-pooh you as not a "real" writer if you don't beat Stephen King on the NYT List. And it's not that I think MIL and FIL are in this group, but they will mention my writing pursuit to the rest of the family. And I KNOW the SILs are in this category, and frankly, I don't need their negativity in my life right now.
So once we hashed out my reasoning, DH acceeded to my wishes.
But the first night in Ohio, DH managed to sidestep the question of "What's new with Suzan?" at dinner, only to have GK blurt out, "Mom's working on a new book. It probably has zombies in it. She's really into zombies."
For the record--no, the current wip does not have any zombies.
Demon possession, yes. But no zombies.
So how do y'all handle the confession to the family?
I can honestly relate to this. My husband's Aunt (lives in Ohio) is a published author. I feel so inferior to her because the only published work I have is through a POD. Not to mention she was an English major in college and I am only an Administrative Assistant. It really made me nervous when my first book was published and she read it and she wanted me to autograph it. ME! Autograph her book. I have to say though she is now a great supporter and fan of my writing. And it was all worth my hubby "ratting" me out on our first Christmas Vacation to Ohio nearly eight years ago.
ReplyDeleteBut Ang, Aunt-In-Law GETS it! She's been in the trenches. She knows how the publishing industry works. That's a beautiful and very precious thing!
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