Day: November 11, 2006

Subject 1:
My sister Nancy was talking in her blog about the relationship between writers and editors. She explains how she used to feel like they were gods and demigods, but has since grown to view them as peers and business partners. She’s also achieved some demi-god status as a slush reader for Baen and was wondering what she can do to help other writers come to the same realization of editors as human beings. My response to her:

Let me ask you this, when did you really feel like a grown up? I first felt grown up when I made a major decision based on my own internal guidance without reference to parental opinions. To quote Bujold “Adulthood isn’t an award they’ll give you for being a good child…You have to just take it. Give it to yourself.”

For the relationship between an editor and a writer to become business-like the writer has to decide to “grow-up” and stop kow-towing. The actions of the editor can facilitate the writer in doing this, but ultimately the writer has to reach out and take it.

The difference between and aspiring writer and a writer is only in the label that the writer applies to herself.

Subject 2:
Howard has been working on sketch editions all afternoon. Hopefully he’ll be able to finish his quota of 200. Whether he does or not, he is going to be tired and sore. I spent lots of time today hauling books to Kiki so that she could stamp them. Then I hauled them into Howard’s office to await sketching. Then I hauled 200 of them to Howard’s car so he could take them to the Keep and draw in them. Then I sat hunched at my computer printing out labels for a couple of hours. I have muscles which are seriously unhappy at my choices of activity. This next week is going to be exhausting. But I’m so glad it is here. I’m so glad that books are continuing to sell. I’m so glad to get the huge weight of unsent orders off of my brain. Life is good.

Subject 3:
On a typical Saturday I will give Link a list of chores to do. Usually he glances at the list, feels overwhelmed, and goes off to play. So I’ll go to him and tell him which chore to start on. If the chore is straightforward like emptying a trashcan, he’ll do it willingly. If the chore is something like picking up his bedroom floor or folding and putting away clothes, he won’t be able to rap his head around it. He just doesn’t even know where or how to start. So I’ll stand there and say “Now put away the shoes. Now put away the ball. Now put away the…” Occasionally he has days where he can prioritize by himself and do his work solo, but only if he is extremely motivated by a very shiny reward. Even then, it takes hours, because he spends half the time distracted.

Today Link looked at our family room strewn with toys and began to work. He’d pick up a toy that belonged in his room, deliver it there, and come straight back in less than 30 seconds. He kept an accurate count of all the toys he picked up all the way to 200. He even created a tally sheet to help with the counting. Let me emphasize this: He decided to create a tally sheet, created it, and then went back to work rather than beginning to draw cartoon characters for an hour. He worked hard, was tired, and decided to take a break. So he set a 5 minute timer for himself. During his break he played happily. Then the moment the timer beeped, he jumped to his feet, turned off the timer and went back to work. He gave himself timed breaks several times. Eventually he wore out and asked if he could be done. I told him that he could, but that he’d have to empty his laundry basket later. He then played happily and watched movies for a good part of the afternoon. When I got out the ice cream and announced that only kids who were finished with their chores could have ice cream, Link announced that he was going to empty his laundry basket. 15 minutes later he returned downstairs with the empty basket. I do not think that Link has EVER emptied his laundry basket without help.

I’m thinking that the medication has an effect on him. I’m cautious about this assessment because one day isn’t enough for an accurate baseline. At one point this morning I was a little worried that maybe the medicine was hyping him up too much. But he reassured me by relaxing most of the afternoon. I’ve watched him all day for any negative side effects. I haven’t seen any yet. He’s just Link. He’s Link, only he can get his work done. He felt great about today. He felt great about himself. Today we got to praise him for the fantastic job he was doing rather than having to scold him for things left undone.

It is 11:46 am and today is already a really good day. This morning I handed out chore scavenger hunt lists and Link went right to work. Usually he looks at the list, feels overwhelmed, and disappears into a game. Today he systematically finished the items on his list. AND half the items on Patches list. AND some items from Gleek’s list. He was cheerful and happy and felt wonderfully accomplished. Kiki also finished her list in record time. Then she went right to work stamping numbers into books that are slated to be numbered sketch editions. Yesterday she spent 4 hours on this task, she probably has another couple of hours before the job is done. Gleek and Patches haven’t been so enthusiastic about work, but since I didn’t have to endure any whining from the older two, I had plenty of energy to manage the younger two.

And we have books! They arrived yesterday and now I can finally begin to get some of these orders processed so that they aren’t weighing on my mind. We still have lots of preparatory work for the upcoming mailing parties. Howard has to sketch 200 books per day between now and then. He also has to sign about 150 books per day. We hope that he can be all done before the mailing days and the launch party so that he can enjoy himself rather than spending the events drawing until his hand curls into a crippled husk.

Perhaps best of all we’re getting a surge of orders yesterday and today. I’ve been able to play click. We’re narrowing the gap between book sales last May and now.