Where do I see myself in ten years?
Let’s talk first about where I see myself in a week, namely at a local gallery show, with my most recent painting up for sale, and in the running for a Best in Show prize (but as I keep reminding both myself and my mom, it’s enough of an honor just to make it into the show).
Additionally, within a week’s time, I should have met and surpassed the word count goal I set for my poetry chapbook project for Camp National Novel Writing Month. Given, a chapbook is a LOT shorter than a novel, but I also plan to do a lot of picking and choosing and editing. I’m knowingly writing things I know I won’t be submitting in the manuscript because it’s good to keep sharp, and it’s just fun to make things. I can always whittle down once I’m satisfied with the bulk.
IF the press I have in mind decides to pick up the collection, they provide some free copies of the chapbook to the author and offer discounts on additional copies. So IN THEORY, I could potentially end up with copies of an itty bitty book I could promote/sell locally at indie stores in my area. And I have one of those in mind, as well.
If they turn me down, I will edit some more and try somewhere else (and somewhere else and somewhere else…you get the idea), and draft fresh material for their next reading period, in the summer of 2025.
So, in ten years…
Hopefully, I at least have a poetry chapbook to my name, that I published traditionally, versus self-publishing like my Amazon collections. No shade to self-publishing, but I crave that validation of knowing someone else saw the promise in my work. Not to mention, it would be glorious to have my wee poetry book distributed out and about by someone beyond myself.
Maybe that’s falling for gatekeeping logic. I’m not really sure. But I have had just the tiniest smidge of luck with self-publishing as a way to get my books out there. I think I’m still mostly known just to people who know me IRL or from long-distance online friendships. Again, very cool, love the support. I would just like to reach a broader readership.
I’d like to keep making art, as well, and hopefully selling some successfully.
Will I still have a “day job?” Maybe. We’ll see.
Mainly, I would like to turn my creativity into a glimmering string of light in the darkness, and likewise reach out to the light that’s gifted to me.
Which reminds me of a bit of dialogue from the film, Bram Stoker’s Dracula. A bit of online sleuthing proves it was taken directly from the novel. Enjoy!
“There are darknesses in life and there are lights, and you are one of the lights.” – Professor Abraham Van Helsing to Mina (Murray) Harker
Dracula by Bram Stoker, Chapter 14
All the Bright and Sparkly Things 
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