Today’s post is brought to you by our sponsor — angst. Or rather, the diminishing returns of said emotion.

On with the show…

Every once in a great while there are specific peeves that bug the living bejeezus out of me. And sadly — those tend to fester for months because I do try to be professional as I possibly can. I am rooted in the idea that you just never know what’s going to happen and you shouldn’t treat people like crap. WHICH IS WHY…

The number one thing that pisses me off? Publicly making fun of other authors.

Yeah, I know it’s hard to make a name for yourself out there. But building a “platform” based on your ability to bully other writers — whether they be named or unnamed — is not only cheap, it’s incredibly bad form. Besides being foul to your fellow scribe, let’s see… Oh, could it be that other authors are also readers who could buy your books? Not anymore! Maybe, just maybe, this wouldn’t be such a tough business if we could be a little sweeter and a little nicer to folks who may be going through some tough times. Instead, we have to be negative about what other folks are doing? Sheesh. We’re all in this together. Sink or swim. Do or die. So tell me again why we have to publicly author bash? Could it be, you’re setting a crappy example and you’re opening the door for readers to do it right back to you, too?

For the record: the reality is that NO ONE has the authority to demand where you write, when you write, what you write, or what you claim to write or how — because we ALL know that your career is on YOUR shoulders. No one can MAKE your career happen EXCEPT for YOU. There are folks I never, not even in a million years, would have thought: “Hey, this author can’t possibly make it…” Yet, they did and the reverse is also true!

Yes, there are some things that are a fact — like how talking about writing isn’t getting the words written. Guess what, though… only YOU can determine whether or not that’s true. If you need to boost yourself up by sitting in the middle of a coffee shop or talk yourself up a million times, then good on you! There are a million different paths in publishing and more on the way!

Am I saying that you shouldn’t speak your mind? Have opinions? No, absolutely not. What I’m saying, is that if you want your work to be treated with the respect it deserves, then maybe you should do the same to others, too. We were ALL new writers at some point or another. Forget that, and you turn a blind eye to your own past.

Or, in other words, don’t TEAR DOWN if you want to be BUILT UP.

Mood: Arrrrggghh, it’d be Monday. A blasted day if I ever saw one.
Caffeinated Beverages Consumed: Something black, as dark and deep as you ever saw, moreso than my twisted soul.
Work-Out Minutes Logged Yesterday: Scrubbing the decks, matey.
In My Ears: Nothing remarkable, to be sure. When the sun sets, I’ll be belting out a good sea shanty with me fine man and a bottle o’ rum. This day can die a terrible death.
Game Last Played: Star Wars Battlefront
Movie Last Viewed: Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol
Latest Artistic Project: Cross-stitch
Latest Release: “Don’t Ignore Your Dead” included in Don’t Read This Book for the Don’t Rest Your Head RPG