Apprentice Author.

It may seem kind of funny for a 60 year old guy to call himself an "apprentice."  But I don't see myself as a 60 year old writer, I see myself as a 30 year old author who got interrupted toward the first part of his career and is only now coming back to it.

I spent at least one year and one book just trying to get back into the swing of things.

I see my first book, STAR AXE,  as beginner's luck.  I happened to write what they were looking for at the time.  It was the "one" book that everyone probably has in them -- my baby, which I nurtured for about 5 years before finally finishing

In some ways, my second and third books were more impressive.  They were pure invention.

So about then, maybe I was edging into"journeyman" writer.

On a scale of 1 to 10, I'm going to call a "journeyman" anyone who can write a book at 7 or above.

My feeling is that STAR AXE and SNOWCASTLES were both in the high 6's.  ICETOWERS  was a 7, and DEVILTREE was maybe a 7.

For some reason, I ran out of juice when it came to the fourth and fifth books, were maybe a 4 and 5, respectively.

I'm edging toward journeyman again, I think, because I've gotten many amateur mistakes out of the way.  I'm hoping I'm edging back up to the 7 level or so.

Anyway, in the past, this would have been confirmed by acceptance by a publisher. (In theory).  In this current climate, I suppose there is a danger that I'll put something out there that shouldn't be put out.  I certainly would have put my fourth and fifth books out, and that would have been a mistake.

But for something like NEARLY HUMAN, which is probably a good solid 5 -- with the potential if I can just find the right approach, of being a 6:  Do I go ahead and put it out or don't I?  There is always the danger I'm prejudging it.   

I was watching a documentary on the Eagles last night (wow, man, brings back hippie memories) and one of the members was talking about when he started he asked a more accomplished songwriter "What if my songs suck?"  And the answer was, "They will suck.  You just keep writing until they stop sucking."

The new technology allows people to put out there "not ready for primetime" material. 

I'm not putting myself down here.  I think doing what I've done and am doing isn't easy.  I've worked at it, I think I have some natural talent.  I can always entertain the possibility that I could write something really good.  So...But I think I'm fairly realistic, too.  Maybe on the optimistic side, but if I was on the pessimist side, I'd just quit.

I can feel myself getting better, the more I write.  So...apprentice writer it is.