PROFESSIONALISM

Professionalism or the act of behaving in a professional manner is a subject that is often over looked. All of the self help books will talk about how to format, remind you to spell check, grammar check and punctuate but they rarely discuss what lies at the heart of professionalism.

These days we find ourselves living in an increasingly hostile, rude society. It is a society full of rage drivers, rude comments, threats, criticism and oneupsmanship. It is so easy to shoot back some obscenity at some rude person. We often fall to that temptation. But calling a rude, overly agressive overly testosterone laden (or estrogen laden) person a maggoty brained piece of crap will not improve the situation you are upset about.

With examples of bad and stupid behavior i.e. Kim Kardashian getting knocked up by Kanye West while her divorce is miles from over is just plain tacky. Cheap. Tasteless. Rude. With the LeAnn Rimes and Eddie Cibrian's out there we are shown on a daily basis how not to behave. Yet these people and many like them earn a bazillion dollars being very not nice people. Bear in mind that this is MY opinion and I'm entitled to have it whether they agree or disagree. My view in no way alters the fact that skeezy behavior is still skeezy.

We live in a culture that condemns honesty and decent behavior, while it applauds teen moms getting reality tv shows. Bad, rude, impolite and uncivil behavior abounds.

We have politicians and mouthy windbags espousing their "smaller government" while trying to regulate our personal, intimate lives, by telling us who we can love and who we can't love, wanting to demean a large section of our population. Some of this is based on who is getting bought off by lobbyists and some based on pseudo religious rules that even those who spout them do not follow.

We are bombarded by such irrational, hateful, hate filled behavior that it is often easy to forget that we must act like professionals if we ever want to be seen as a worthy professional capable of doing the job.

As a professional who has been published in traditional book and magazine, I stepped out of the life for awhile to deal with personal health issues. When I decided to come back I knew the publishing game had changed considerably, that it was more elitist and cut throat. It had lost its professionalism by stooping to wallow in the gutter and fight for scraps like starving dogs. Again, not all fell to that level but too many did.

The entertainment field has always been a world of nepotism and favors, of the old casting couch where desperate starlets sell their souls for half a chance. Be it music, theater, writing or modelling all of these still have areas of unprofessional behavior.

As a writer, and I use that term as author should be reserved for one who has been legitimately published and paid for it, we have to set guidelines for ourselves and follow them.

When we openly bad mouth another writer, or give them the old backhanded compliment, when we are dismissive or publicly tear apart their work, we are not being creative or using constructive criticism, we are being assholes. Being an asshole is not being professional. It is being petty.

Being a professional is being able to be civil to people you do not like or do not trust, yet are forced to share space with, even if it is cyber space. Curb your tongue and your temper, put a leash on your arrogance and self importance.

When I returned to writing after my health enforced hiatus, I wanted to share some of my work on a public site to see how it might fit in with current writing out there. I received rave reviews that were flattering but left me a little uncertain; I received hurtful comments, sneers and open attacks.

I was actually told by a grand dame of the psuedo literary field that I should *sniff sniff* dust off that little piece and sub,it it to XYZ e-zine. They might publish it. The e-zine she spoke of was public domain that offered no protection for your work nor any payment. I told her that my piece was already accepted for inclusion in an anthology, but thanks for the tip.

What I wanted to say was Bite me you fucking arrogant bitch! But I bit my tongue.

There are always people who think they know more than you do. There are always writers who want to keep you from writing, so they can  show off their work and not have to compete against you. The simple fact of the matter is that we are not in competition. There is a massive online audience as well as physical audience looking for a good read. Millions of readers, millions of stories, millions of writers.

The best way to make an impression is to write well, tell a good story. While I carry the title of author with pride, I busted ass to get it. But at the heart of it all, I am an old fashioned story teller. In the olden days I would be the lady sitting around a campfire huddled beneath my blanket as I told children and adults tales to pass the time or enlighten them. Of course that would be after I made my potions and herbal remedies for sore throat and cholic.

Today, we live in a society that desires fame, attention, popularity at all costs. We have forgotten that to carve out our place we must first base ourselves on something solid and consistent.

That solidity and consistency comes from training ourselves to be gracious, humble and civil if not polite.

When someone rips your work to pieces it is out of jealousy, envy, insecurity and or hatefulness.It is not a true reflection on your work because this person is too blinded by their own demons to see any truth in anything.

For example, at one site there is a guy who goes around reaming everyone and everything that does not meet his lofty standards. He has attacked female writers with rude and crude commentary damning their gender one and all for being whores and frauds. His girlfriend or whatever left him and he now hates all women. It is easy for a blind man to see that this fellow has some emotional issues, but the few that try to help him or pray for him are abused as well. It is my belief that the girlfriend/wife or whatever she was to him bailed when his hateful misogynistic behavior grew to be too much. He sees himself as a literary genius, as an artistic icon, yet he does this with stolen art and poor reproductions of others' efforts.

You will encounter these kinds of people and it will be very difficult to deal with them. Bear in mind that you are a professional and professionalism dictates that you handle the situation with class and a touch of finesse. I blocked his ass because I do not care to waste time dealing with his psychosis. If he wants to claim he can see patterns in the universe that no one else can see, I say good riddance to bad rubbish. None of us needs the babblings of a misogynistic rager in our lives, it tinges our mellow and creative energy.

Professionalism also means holding your tongue, yet not being afraid to speak out. We all have our opinions, our thoughts, our beliefs, but we must keep in mind that we are not all alike. I can be very angry at the fanatical evangelical movement that tries to oppress and force us all to their ways, as I am a polytheist who follows a private spiritual path, but I have to remember that I have friends of the Christian faith who are not like that.You cannot make blanket statements. Part of professionalism is stepping back enough to see that blanket statements do not fit everyone.It is pure ignorance to think that they do.

Educate yourself, look things up, don't fall into lazy, stupid patterns of behavior that make you a liability for others to be seen around, associating with or reading from.

Hold yourself to higher standards, but allow other to seek their own level or standards.

Refrain from online verbal sparring matches. We face the battering from trolls at every turn. Delete their comments from your blog, Facebook, or what ever site you use and block them. If they continue to harass report them.

Professionalism is all about learning to respect yourself, and others, enough to step above the pettiness and baser behaviors that so many participate in. It does not mean to pursue a snobbish, elitist or condescending manner, it means to step UP from that.

OBSTACLES WRITERS FACE

Being a writer today is much harder than it was 40 years ago. There are a thousand and one distractions and society telling you what you should do, could do, would be better doing and so forth. Most of us learn to steal a few hours to write, usually at the cost of skipping meals or losing sleep. I was one of those writers who made a deal with myself. After work get the household chores done, tend to pets, tend to family/kids/siblings, then after all of that I could stay up till 2 a.m. or later when everyone was asleep and the house had finally grown quiet. Then it was up by 5 a.m. Or 6 a.m. when I was too tired to wake up. I lived that way for far too many years. I'm not alone.

Today I am very fortunate to have a loving, caring, supportive partner in my life. He also writes and we try to be flexible with each other. Despite our being flexible and supportive that does not prevent life from throwing up on us!

Most writers are trying to juggle a job (outside of writing), kids, spouses, family, recreation, church or social obligations. Somewhere along the line you realize something must be cut and you go on from there. Many people feel forced to attend church, despite having no deep abiding spiritual or religious feelings. They fear being a social pariah. You know what? You are already seen as such, because you write. So save yourself some grief, decide what you can and cannot live without. If your PS3 or 360 or Wii is a top priority in your life, then scrap writing. If living hooked up to your iPad or iPhone, Facebook, My Space or Twitter is more important than your real life, then skip writing.

Writing is a solitary, demanding craft. It is one mean mistress at times, yet at others it is the reason for being truly alive!

If you are in it for the money, there's the door. The amount of truly outrageously successful writers is probably 1%-2%. The majority write really good stories and entertain us, but they can't quit their day jobs. It doesn't matter how good you are, how successful or how hard working. Success is as much or more luck as it is hard work, dedication, sweat, blood or tears.

If you think you will jump on the bandwagon of fan fic writers who steal someone else's idea, change names and get published by the big XYZ publisher, don't get your hopes up. That is a rarity and also, most likely, someone who already has an in and is not truly a legitimate author.

Sadly, sucking up, kissing ass and brown nosing are still tools used for hacks to get their foot in the door. Some will even have sex for a chance to be seen. I call that what it is: prostitution. These sleazy tactics cheat the rest of us more scrupulous writers out of getting our works seen or heard. I refuse to stoop so low because it diminishes the quality of work that I create and also diminishes me as a person.

My grandmother was a wise old woman who insisted that integrity, morals, ethics and standards were a part of you and if you lost those you lost everything. If you do not stand for something you will fall for anything.

I spent many years finding my voice, finding my niche, my genre. I've always loved fantasy, but there are so many branches of fantasy and so many variations on a theme. I first started writing fiction that was of course fantasy based.

Then as I grew, I wanted to add adventure and suspense. As I matured I loved a good romance, a good love story with people I could root for. But as I read, and wrote and watched movies I grew to be disappointed in all of the re-hashes.

There was nothing fresh or new or special. It was a regurgitation of the last bestseller that somebody wanted to make a killing on. Many publishers sent out cheat sheets and guidelines that were basically fill in the blanks, like name and location,age and write exactly what we have on our guidelines. Man meets younger woman, they dance around instant attraction, are in bed by chapter 3, sooner if you can push it, have ups and downs that common sense and the telling of the truth would avoid, then get back together after much scarring and tears to live happily if distrustfully ever after or until they divorce. It was, in a word, bullshit.

By the by, most publishers, not all, want you to censor yourself to the point a chaste fouth grader could read your books. Umm, I am a grown up and I write for grown ups. My work is mature, graphic, scary, erotic, sad and beautiful in turns. I will not apologize for writing heat into my stories. I still believe in romance, in love, in really great hot sexy sex! But I do not believe it works in the midst of an intergalactic battle for domination and control of worlds. You are not thinking sex in the middle of a firefight. You might think about it during a lull when that really hot lieutenant that saved your life steps into the shower alongside you. But come on! Have some sense and decency.

As a writer one of your many obstacles will be in choosing what genre to write in, one or maybe many, and how to convey your tale and in what words. Will you be mainstream? Will you be darker, sexier, funnier? Will you brave a different path and write fetish tales? That is an obstacle you will have to face. You will have to decide what fits you as a writer, what kind of story do you want to tell.

Currently, as we speak of obstacles, my very spoiled cat is sitting in the room with me bellowing ooohmwoooo like he is retarded. A bit earlier I went to get a drink, as writing can be thirsty work, and stumbled across puppy poop. Shit. Damn. Have to stop, clean up the mess and correct the puppy. I don't think she is ever going to get the hang of paper trained or outside doggy business. But we keep trying, cleaning up, and trying. It is all about repetition and consistency. Love our pets dearly, but as living beings and part of our family, they are obligation as well as obstacle. Writing must come in second to living, needy beings.Don't ever ignore your children or pets. They rely on you for their survival. Life must come before writing.

As you venture forth in your writing you will face birthdays, parties, anniversaries, weddings, holidays, doctor appointments, funeral, sick elderly, sick children and vet visits. You will continue to write through devesatating bouts of depression, climactic bouts of joy as your sister has a baby or your brother gets that promotion or your husband or wife wins the lottery. Whatever it is, it is still an obstacle. It is something you must deal with as you write, or don't write. Sometimes you will take a hiatus and come back as a write-just-for-fun person. That's okay, if it is what makes you happy. But if you want to be a professional, then you will have to learn how to juggle like a circus clown.

For example: Cain was delving into his Bunnypocalypse book number three, when his boss called. On his day off, in the middle of the day. Why? Because the other guy working on Cain's day off is incapable of answering a question or leaving a legible note. So, the boss calls to ask if Cain knows what is going on because the other guy is clueless. They talk a bit get the problem worked out then Cain sits back down at his computer with a cup of coffee. The phone rings again. It is one of the managers with a few questiuons. Grr. The manager did not bother to pay attention to the boss. when he told them what was going on.

This is normal, it is a fairly common obstacle that intrudes on your writing. Often we write at the same time, as our desks are in the same room. What disrupts one of us disrupts both.

I also get a lot of hang up calls and calls from people trying to find me, only to find out they want the other woman in town who shares my exact name. Except we are about 20 years apart in age!

Often when the phone rings, Cain and I look at it like it is a cobra ready to strike. We let the machine pick up. Still, the jarring sound of a ringing phone, or a noisy rude neighbor can ruin your creative flow.

These are obstacles of the good kind, the annoying kind, the persistent kind, all of which you face as a writer.

As a writer who is pursuing their craft professionally while trying to juggle everything else, you will fight writer's block and bouts of feeling lost or even confused in the middle of a story you are working on. Try to reread the last few pages of what you were writing. Try asking youself What if? What if this happened? What if that happened? Are you trying to rein in too much? Or not enough? As a writer you must learn to be flexible, yet not too flexible. You must learn to listen to your own voice and tell your story not someone else's.

Being flexible will help you overcome or learn to live with your obstacles. Trust me, being flexible in the midst of a chaotic shit storm will spare you the bleeding ulcers, the stress induced migraines and the long periods of insomnia that over stress can bring.

Being flexible won't make your boss stop calling, it won't make the rude neighbor turn down the music that rattles your windows from half a block away, or stop your dog from barking for no apparent reason. All it will do is make your life a little easier, a little less stressful as you learn to roll with the punches instead of fighting them. In the end, a less stressed writer is a better writer who will live longer and produce better because they have learned to see and accept obstacles as a part of their life and are finding ways to cope with them.


A final note after being without internet and phone for nearly 2 weeks. There are obstacles that you will face as a writer that are beyond your control. We have been without service ever since some idiot severed the line completely. AT&T has shown no interest in restoring our services, despite numerous calls and trouble tickets being filed, Their techs have closed tickets stating the problem was resolved when they did nothing to remedy the problem. This has ben an ongoing problem since SBC was swallowed by AT&T. Customer service in non-existent and the local techs are abusive, threatening and lazy, not to mention incompetent. The threat of a lawsuit has gotten some higher ups motivated. However, I share this with you so that you will understand that as an indie author there will be some hellishly annoying problems that will not be resolved swiftly and you will have to exercise patience and persevere.

DELAY ON AFTER DARK

Due to circumstances beyond my control the release date for After Dark has been pushed up a few days.

At this time we have been without phone and DSL for days. We contacted SBC/AT&T to find out what was going on. Someone cut through the line. All the way through the line. This happens several times a year and customers are without phone or DSL for days. The repair crews can only repair something if they know it is down. Quite often, SBC/AT&T lag on their end and yet again customers get to pay for this.

So, I am stuck waiting for my services to be restored so I can communicate with my publisher and get the proofs sent out before it's a go.

I'm hoping to see After Dark released before the month is out.