Hi, Danielle,
Thanks for offer. I am a writer, mainly of unreadable books (metaphysics), which only a handful of people have read, but lately, I have written a novel, and I highly recommend you avoid reading unless you are a masochist. I am not here to talk about what I have written, but what this writing means to me.
There is an old joke about someone buying a lottery ticket and waving it and saying that this is his or her retirement plan. I view writing is a more targeted form of lottery. Let's say that I have a one in a million chance of making it.
That is sooo much better than the lottery, but it is still a long shot.
I am retired, and although I am comfortable (at least for the moment - in this political environment no retiree should feel safe), I still play my form of lottery, but there is more meaning about it for me. For the first time, for my novel, I am using a version of my real name. I see me and my name in print. I am still not out to my family (planned for 1/31/2019), but this was an easy sell. (If you read one of my unreadable books, you would know what I mean.) More and more every day I am showing my femininity and this has become a form of expression for me beyond the book itself.
Secondarily, I have hope; this is my chance to be able to fund my transition if I hit the lottery, so to speak.
Like other mentions in this chat, I self-publish. For my unreadable books, I have no choice, but for this book I am too impatient to send my book around. The odds are long that you will ever hear of my book (no sex, very little violence and action; totally unsuitable to be a best seller), but maybe someone else needs to express themselves in this way. When playing any lottery, there are no guarantees, but you always buy a little hope. Sometimes, looking at a dim and potentially dark future, hope is the best medicine.
EvaB
