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Old 09-22-2010, 01:24 AM   #1
MrPLD
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Living with an Author; The life of the other half.

"Hi, my name is Paul and I'm the partner of an Author."

So how do you all find living with an author?

For me it's quite a roller-coaster ride. When my wife (Elita) gets into a new book idea she's profoundly excited, burns away the midnight oil and comes jumping out every hour or so with glee... but don't you dare say anything to dampen, or respond with anything but full enthusiasm, lets you turn their positive energy and watch the happiness turn into a scouring menace of depression that's all your fault Sound familiar?

I would say that Elita comes up with a new book idea every couple of weeks, sometimes in bursts of three or four in 24 hours. It's great when things are going well, it's scary when things don't.

Authors can become impossibly stubborn if they're trying to make a word, scene or phrase fit into their work but it refuses to - oh the anger!

Would I give it all up... hell no - it keeps life very interesting and I love her all the more.


Obviously there's a lot more I can talk about - but this thread is going to explore how other people experience life with their author-partners.

Paul.
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Old 09-22-2010, 02:25 AM   #2
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Count yourself lucky, Paul. You've only got Elita to cope with -- and I'm sure there are compensations for her obsessions. I'm a fiction editor and, therefore, live with over a hundred passionate and often temperamental (or just plain mental) authors. Trouble is that I'm piggy in the middle: some are nine hours behind me, others ten hours ahead of me as the clock flies. Doesn't make for a tranquil life. Fun, though. Neil

PS: Here's karma to you as a fellow sufferer. N
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Old 09-22-2010, 02:28 AM   #3
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And I am the wife of author who also works full time in his own consultancy. So the writing of the book gets squeezed into whatever time that leaves left. Which is generally ok, unless an unrealistic deadline is somehow squeezed into the mix.

Scary to live with, as you say, and that can be for a range of things like the computer not working properly, it is too cold, too hot, too noisy, the dog barking, whatever can go wrong, will.

Eggshells, I am thinking. Fingers crossed.

The good stuff? Receiving promo information from the publisher, news of great sales, THE Royalty cheque.

The bad stuff - the book becomes the author's baby. Deadlines. Editors who want to take out all the good bits.

This author is a perfectionist - he will spend days on a particular section, then rewrite, then in the end, toss it out! That bit I dont get.

Does anyone else's partner use stick-it notes and puts them all over the walls until the 'plot' becomes clear? Heaven help if the cat thinks it is a fun game to pull them down.

Worth it? Um, yes, it keeps them happy, believe it or not. I just have to manage the labor pains better.

Ooh, I saw this is in the ebook section. Hope I can still post - his publishers arent moving all that quickly into the ebook sphere so DTB's it is!

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Old 09-22-2010, 02:34 AM   #4
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The Loved One lives not with an author, but with an enthusiastic, amateur photographer. I concede, as that photographer, to at times asking for opinions from him fully expecting the response (I paraphrase) of, "I enthusiastically validate everything thing you do and every choice you make! You are great! More people should know about this!". Then I can say, "You are only saying that because you have to. I want your criticism!" (most times, I probably don't really want it).

It's possibly frustrating for him.

Naturally, I will not permit him to come here to MobileRead and air my dirty laundry.

Cheers,
Marc
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Old 09-22-2010, 02:52 AM   #5
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Aaah Montsmags, the "trap questions" - yes, one has to be quite weary of those. Probably a good idea to have a fire-alarm or pager handy on those moments

Neil, Yes, being accosted from both sides by hornet swarms can't be too great - not at all in fact (I got out of major IT work because of that reason - couldn't get any sleep with people calling me from all over the world at all hours). I admire you for keeping with it. It must take quite a level of diplomatic skill to stop them from absolutely exploding at times?

Pushka, I didn't realise your other-half was also doing a "normal" job in addition - surprised there's any time at all for you. Elita and I don't have kids yet and it's hard to say when that'll happen (I'll be honest, I'm not a fan of being a parent) with the way our lives are running right now.

The stick-it notes is an interesting concept, though the inclusion of the cat makes it something I'd like to see happen on video (maybe the cat has its own ideas of what the plot should be).



Oh, Neil, btw... how's this whole Karma thing work? I was the kind recipient of two blocks of karma the other day... what's it good for... can I trade it for cold-hard-cash
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Old 09-22-2010, 03:54 AM   #6
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Marc, you live in God's country! Noosa!

We lead a busy life but the kids are all grown up so that helps.
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Old 09-22-2010, 04:00 AM   #7
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Karma, Paul? If you like someone's post or something s/he's done, you just look down in the left side of the post from the avatar. At the bottom, you'll find a little button that simply says 'karma'. Click on that to award a pat on the back.

The amount you can grant depends of the number of posts you've made yourself and steadily builds up (though you can downwardly adjust the karma points as you like from your maximum if you only like something a bit). You'll also see a small exclamation mark next to the karma button. If you think a post is spam or otherwise inappropriate, click on that. It alerts the moderators here and they'll take a close look and take action accordingly.

Even editors concentrate, you know, and I do quite a lot of 'creative' writing that demands complete lack of distraction. I work from a home base -- sometimes in my 'office' (which is what used to be our living room' and often, about nine months of the year, mostly on a laptop or netbook on a table on my wee terrace for a few hours' breath of fresh air. Constant interruptions from my wife, Skovia, visiting family, friends neighbours and local kids, because we keep an ever-open door.

I hit on the perfect solution two or three years ago when my next-door neighbours' two teenage girls got together and bought me a beautiful, snow-white Panama. I immediately dubbed it my 'F*ck Off Hat*. Everyone's still always welcome here, of course. But when I wear my FOH, they know not to speak to me or to expect me to join in any conversation.

Works like a bloody charm. Because everyone now understands that the hat is a gentle *Danger -- Man at Work* sign, they accept it and life's fine. No one feels in the slightest bit insulted or ignored for any personal reason.

Skovia doesn't like it too much, though, when I close down systems after a long day, load my arms with hard copy or ARCs, tuck a pen behind my ear ... and wear my FOH in bed.

Hoots. Neil

Last edited by neilmarr; 09-22-2010 at 04:05 AM. Reason: darned trypos -- really must get a new laptop
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Old 09-23-2010, 09:17 PM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MrPLD View Post
"Hi, my name is Paul and I'm the partner of an Author."

So how do you all find living with an author?

For me it's quite a roller-coaster ride. When my wife (Elita) gets into a new book idea she's profoundly excited, burns away the midnight oil and comes jumping out every hour or so with glee... but don't you dare say anything to dampen, or respond with anything but full enthusiasm, lets you turn their positive energy and watch the happiness turn into a scouring menace of depression that's all your fault Sound familiar?

I would say that Elita comes up with a new book idea every couple of weeks, sometimes in bursts of three or four in 24 hours. It's great when things are going well, it's scary when things don't.

Authors can become impossibly stubborn if they're trying to make a word, scene or phrase fit into their work but it refuses to - oh the anger!

Would I give it all up... hell no - it keeps life very interesting and I love her all the more.


Obviously there's a lot more I can talk about - but this thread is going to explore how other people experience life with their author-partners.

Paul.

This is an interesting thread Mr PLD.
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Old 09-23-2010, 09:36 PM   #9
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Oh, Neil, btw... how's this whole Karma thing work? I was the kind recipient of two blocks of karma the other day... what's it good for... can I trade it for cold-hard-cash
Well, I"m not "Neil" but if you'll click on my link below.....
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Old 09-23-2010, 09:41 PM   #10
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I was wondering where I lost this thread.

Fortunately I managed to find that link you have in your signature desertgrandma a few days ago and 'educated' myself.

In keeping with the gist of the thread, my wife has started yet another book - looks like we're up to 80 pages so far.

Paul.
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Old 09-23-2010, 09:44 PM   #11
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I was wondering where I lost this thread.

Fortunately I managed to find that link you have in your signature desertgrandma a few days ago and 'educated' myself.

In keeping with the gist of the thread, my wife has started yet another book - looks like we're up to 80 pages so far.

Paul.
When your wife writes erotic scenes in her novels do you get jealous she might be dreaming of other guys? That would piss me off if my wife did that LOL. I wouldn't stand for that. How can you stand it? LOL.
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Old 09-23-2010, 09:54 PM   #12
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James,

I'd prefer not to be discussing those sorts of topics as matter of professionalism.

Paul.
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Old 09-23-2010, 10:04 PM   #13
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On-topicality is generally in the control of the OP (Original Poster, in this case MrPLD). Should they specify that a specific offshoot of the thread is not what they consider topical, then in most circumstances returning to their desired topic is required of respondents. As such, I put this reminder here to remain on-topic as per the OP's wishes.

Cheers,
Marc
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Old 09-23-2010, 10:05 PM   #14
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On-topicality is generally in the control of the OP (Original Poster, in this case MrPLD). Should they specify that a specific offshoot of the thread is not what they consider topical, then in most circumstances returning to their desired topic is required of respondents. As such, I put this reminder here to remain on-topic as per the OP's wishes.

Cheers,
Marc
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I agree. This thread has gotten even more off topic. Could you fix this one too please? Thank you.
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...t=99734&page=2

People have taken the original topic and changed it a discussion on stockings...

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Old 09-23-2010, 10:11 PM   #15
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Discussion in this thread should be in the same manner as what one would anticipate to encounter in a civil, polite and appropriately humored environment of people that you have not really met before and have no personal ties with.

Being an author is a tremendously draining task and can subject the writer to have to experience things that are not all nice in order to gain a deeper insight into the subject they're writing about, a lot of these journeys must remain intensely personal and should be respected as such.

Paul.
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