I have posted on more than one occasion about the frustration of no commercial breakthrough despite having now published 15 novels, 3 non-fiction, and co-authored 4 non-fiction books. Fortunately, the satisfaction in creating those books and the enjoyment of the small, yet loyal fan base I have is greater than the frustration. I received a pleasant surprise a few days ago when Hubby came in from work and said a young lady he’d been guiding asked if he was the one who wrote books or if it was his wife. She then asked if I would select one of my books for her to buy and sign it. Since I’m hoping she becomes one of those loyal fans, I started her with Shades of Truth. I wrote a note explaining I chose that as it is the original scuba-themed mystery series and I later spun  the character of Chris Green to create that series. To add to my surprise, one of the individuals who works at the dive shop was in on part of the conversation and told Hubby to tell me his mother was asking when the next book would come out. At some point she started reading me and buys all my books on Kindle. These are those “high moments” and are familiar to any creative person.

It would be wonderful if we did live in a world where people could afford to buy as many books, pieces of art, as much music as they wanted or attend as many performances in whatever form as they wished. Better yet, if there were enough philanthropists or government resources to fund even more free performances, book, music, and art distribution. It doesn’t work that way of course and thus a great many people who would like to spend their lives in a creative way must instead have it more as a “hobby” or choose to have a lower standard of living while pursuing whichever Muse drives them. It is an old story that really hasn’t changed ever since humans took that first step to express themselves in some form of art.