Posted on Instagram April 19, 2023
Scenes from a snowy cabin in Minnesota. A few days in which I was able to focus solely on writing, no other obligations knocking at the door.
Trying to build a career as a novelist is difficult, y’all. Like, really difficult; art doesn’t pay the bills until you reach a certain level. So until that day comes, if it comes, you’ve just got to muster enough conviction in your own work and worth that you’re willing to work on something you’re not being paid to do, and with no guarantee it will ever see the light of day, for months and months on end. Offer yourself up for rejection time and again, write to an ever-changing and increasingly difficult market, attempt to find a healthy work/life balance when writing is largely confined to early mornings and the in-between moments of our days... the list goes on.
Still. It’s not all bad, because the work is still the work — in other words, what I most love to do. There is catharsis in it, and escapism, and comfort. I’m really excited about the book that’s currently taking shape, and the two books I used to prop up my laptop in the cabin are books I’ve already written, proof that I have persevered on this long road before and seen it pay off in some wonderful ways. Plus, since the new book is rooted in Scottish folklore and history, I suppose I’ll just HAVE to head overseas at some point for a research trip back in my heart home. You know. For science.
So thank you, snowy cabin, for giving me a space to live my best hermit life and recharge. (And crucially, thank you also for the lack of bugs, so no one nearby had to listen to me scream.)
