Quote:
Originally Posted by darryl
But of course at the end of the day we need to remember that authors are people with their own lives subject to all the dramas thereof. Sometimes writers may seem like machines, churning out books year after year. But of course that can't go on forever. This point was brought to my attention yet again recently. One of my more recent favourite authors, Christopher Nuttall, is currently in hospital fighting aggressive lymphoma. Chris writes multiple series in Science Fiction and fantasy and his output is prolific. He writes and publishes approximately one book a month. In addition he does blog posts and maintains a presence on various social media platforms. His readers have of course become somewhat used to this, and his current illness has been somewhat of a shock. We all of course hope for his quick recovery, and also of course hope for his quick return to his work. But like all of us, health should take priority. We value his work but we all have other things to read.
I often wonder to what extent stress plays a role in these illnesses, more so the older we get. I worked in a stressful profession, and it was not uncommon to hear of professional colleagues contracting serious illnesses or dying. As the years went on my partner in the business and myself would often wonder what role intense and constant stress had played. We would often remind each other when stressed out over a client's affairs that the client would find a replacement within days if anything was to happen to us.
We best enjoy what our favourite authors do write whilst we can. I find it very easy to imagine what started as a pleasurable vocation turning into a nightmare under the burden of deadlines and expectations.
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Dang, that's too bad about Nuttall. I have a few of his books. He's a lot like the old time pulp writers churning out story after story.