I have been eclipsed. Surpassed. Shoved to the back of the pack before I even left the starting gate.
My sons have both made more money with their writing than I have. Yes. It's true. Today the truth was especially flauntable, because the local newspaper showed up to photograph winners in last fall's VFW Voice of Democracy Speech Contest.
The Pony came prancing up the hall just before 7th hour. Usually not one to show emotion, he had a horsey grin on his face that was evident way down past the cafeteria. In his hot little hoof he held a certificate with a bank envelope paperclipped to the top. First Place. The monetary award was $100. Uh huh. Not too shabby. Those veterans are a class act.
Genius the senior, way too cooler for school than freshman Pony, barely mentioned his Second Place finish. It only came up after school because he needed a deposit slip to put his $75 in the bank. This makes the second Second Place for Genius, with First Places the other two years. That is $350 over his high school career.
Let's see how that compares to my literary earnings. Not counting all the money I have spent on various and sundry contests, my adjusted earnings from my writing stand at...let's see now...just about...um...NOTHING! Zero! Zilch! A big goose egg. Not even a real goose egg. I am proud of my boys, but just a little disappointed with myself.
I am the proverbial cow. Giving it away for free.
It's hard to four-stomach their success.
If only you could put out a tip jar on you blog.
ReplyDeleteSeriously, just keep writing. Grab any opportunity to be published that comes your way, even if you're doing it for free at first, and build and build. So what if you're a cow? Everyone who loves their art form is a cow.
ReplyDeleteAah, but will anyone froth at the mouth over their autograph? Will a crowd form at a speech signing for them? Will any friends drive miles and miles to a bookstore or a gas station or a post office that smells of mice, just to buy their speech?
ReplyDeleteMe thinketh not...
Val--By the way, we don't do it for the money, do we? We do it for the international fame, we do it for the swarms of fans that make it difficult for us to live our life in a normal way. We do it for the wide smudge mark we leave, long after we're gone...
ReplyDeleteSo don't say, "Moo." Instead, say to your sons, "Moooove over," because you're going to surpass them, fame-wise. I just know it.
joeh,
ReplyDeleteIf only! But I can put one on the counter in the office of my proposed handbasket factory. I need to get right on the construction of that business. I foresee people clamoring for my product in the near future.
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Therese,
Thank you so much for confirming my suspicions that people do, in fact, perceive me to be a cow. If only I cud take the bull by the horns and...oh! Excuse me. I forgot that I wasn't alone.
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Sioux,
You are correct, Madam. My boys are more likely to have people demanding a cut of their payday that to have worshipful stalkers grabbing strands of hair with voodoo dolls in mind.
That's the conundrum. My international fame is limited by my desire to fly under the radar.
I would rather say "Moops" to my sons. Especially if they ask me who invaded Spain in the 8th century.