Living Our Lives and Making Do
Worldwide and USA events are taking up space in my heart and mind. Hurricanes Harvey and Irma have touched me, my family, good friends and many of my writer colleagues. The 8.1 earthquake in Juchitan, Mexico, an area rich in history, did not get a huge amount of coverage, And even if it did, few of us had television, radio, cell phones or internet services to learn of it. I know of the area only through Frida Kahlo’s dresses, paintings and float designers. I once wrote a book with a float designer as a main character and during interviews was astonished to learn float designers bid on jobs world wide–wherever there is a festival and exotic float parades.
Well, most of us do. We indie authors are up against it. One lament I hear every single time I visit a forum or a Facebook group is: “I can’t afford _______.” Just fill in the blank. Some of us lie to ourselves because we don’t want to afford those services. And gosh, it sounds just fine to plead poverty. Gives the image of the struggling author living in a cold-water garret suffering for his craft. Some consider publishing a book an adventure. “Hey, if I make a little money on the side, great. If not, I’m in the groove. I’m a published author.” Chatting that up on a first date, or with the carpool mommies, or at cocktail parties has more cachet than saying, “I work at Walmart.” 
