Tera Lynn Childs is the guest author for this Thursday’s Author Tales! Tera is the author of Oh. My. Gods, which was released this May! I loved this book! You can check out my review of Oh. My. Gods. here. Don’t forget to leave a comment to be entered in the Monthly Contest!
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42 years
504 months
2,184 weeks
15,340 days (including leap days)
Today is my parents’ anniversary. They have been married for forty-two years. Yes, forty-two! Can you imagine committing to something–anything–for that long? I couldn’t … until I realized I wanted to be a writer. Now I have my fingers and toes and eyes crossed, hoping my career will have the same longevity of their marriage.
My mom has three rules for building and maintaining a successful marriage, and I think an author can apply the same rules to their writing career.
1. 90/10 PRINCIPLE — This means that both sides have to be prepared to give or compromise 90 percent, and expect only 10 percent in return. As an author, you have to rely on your agent, editor, copyeditor, cover artist, copy chief, publisher, sales reps, distributors, booksellers, reviewers, and countless others to make your book a reality and a success. As much as you would like to control other steps of the process, the only aspect of your career you can truly control is your writing. You have to focus your energy on producing the very best book possible, believing that you are putting in 90 percent of the effort. If you have the right team in place, they’ll be doing the same.
2. ALWAYS BE READY TO SAY YES — I think this rule has more to do with risk-taking than anything else. My parents are not the sort to sit still and go with the flow. Since their wedding, they’ve lived in a dozen states and two countries and have moved at least two-dozen times. This is partly their nomadic nature, and partly a quest for the ideal. In order to have a successful writing career, you have to constantly be on that quest for the ideal. If I had stubbornly stuck with my first writing genre, I’d still be an unpublished historical romance author. But then I got this crazy idea for a YA book about descendants of the Greek gods. I took the risk and two years later OH. MY. GODS. is on the shelves. I don’t want to think about where my career would be if I hadn’t been ready to say “yes” to a new genre. You never know where trying something new will lead, but you’ll never find out if you’re afraid to try.
3. LOVE THE OTHER MORE THAN ANYTHING — This reminds me of a line in a George Strait song, “If you can do anything else, do it.” Writing, like any creative field, is a career that you have to love with an unconditional passion. It will kick you while you’re down, take every last ounce of your energy and emotions, and then expect you to give even more. Those are the times you start to question, when the doubts seep in and you wonder if all the blood, sweat, and tears are worth it. If you don’t love writing more than anything else you could possibly do, then at some point along the way you’ll give in to the temptation to quit.
There are no guarantees in the writing business, no one has all (or any of) the answers. But I’m in it for the long haul. And if applying these lessons to my career gets me as far as it’s gotten my parents, then I’ll have no complaints. When I get to year forty-two I’ll figure out where to go next.
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For more information about Tera, visit the following links!
website: http://www.teralynnchilds.com/
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/teralynnchilds
blog: http://www.booksboysbuzz.com/
Thanks to Tera for a very insightful blog post!!
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This is a very good guest blog.
hope.
Ive only been married one year so love advice is greedily eaten up by me. This was an awesome guest blog. Keep it up, StorySiren!
Great guest blog! And Happy Anniversary to your parents! Fab tips, I sure will keep them in mind
I completely agree with the 90/10 rule. I am always ready to compromise. It is so much easier to give a little than to have an arguement. Unless it’s something that’s really important to me, I’m almost always willing to give and take a little (or a lot).
~Betsy
wow… I hope I’m able to be married for 42 years…
:]
The book sounds really interesting. I would love to read it.
I watch my parents who have been married for 35 and know exactly what you are talking about.
other point. Can’t wait to get your book!
Great guest blog! I can’t wait to read Oh My Gods, I’m number one on the reserve list at the library! Woo-hoo!
-Mollie
Love the guest blog. Those are really good points and I love how you fit them to your writing career…it does work!
That’s a very long time to be married, and it’s great to see that. And good luck in having a career last even LONGER than that.
Your book looks great and I’ve heard wonderful things. I can’t wait to read it!!!
Lauren
42 years? wow. I hope that you’ll be a write that long, too! haha.
that’s a really long time, but you had some great advice.
Conrats to your parents! That is some great advice!
I cannot wait to read this book!
Wow, great post! And huge congrats to your parents!
That’s very good advice! I really want to read that book. I can’t wait until I can!
Hillary
Thank you for an interesting guest blog. I’d love to read your book.
Thanks, everyone! As soon as I realized I was guest blogging on my parents’ anniversary I knew exactly what to write. They’ve definitely set the bar way up there for what I expect from a relationship (and a writing career). =)
Hugs,
TLC
Excellent advice, both for career and marriage. Both are tough enough! Can’t wait to read OMGs!
Berta
Wow, that’s so awesome! Congrats to your parents.
Great advice too.
Great guest blog!
Wow, congratulations to your parents Tera. Thats incredible. Basically no one is staying together that long anymore. Thats really great for them.
I hope your writing career lasts that long as well!
-Breanna
Wow, 42 years is a looonnnnggg time…
Wow, that’s awesome advice. Congrats to your parents!
Wow, 42 years! I hope to be married that long too. Great guest blog today! Thanks Tera!
Rachel R.
mybkclub.com
mybkclub@aol.com
p.s. For authors and publishers: If you are looking for a review for a new release, go to the website above for an example and email me for info about sending. I would love to review your books!
haha, funny
Wow this was a very good guest blog. I can’t believe that her parents have been married for 42 years. That’s a great feat now.
Excellent rules. I’ll keep them in mind with both my personal and professional life.
Congrats to your parents! May they continue to bring each other joy.
Great blog. My parents have been married for 60 years as of this week. My theory of how that happened is simple: My mother is totally self-absorbed and my father doesn’t pay attention. Go figure.
Just read the comment above. 60 YEARS!! That’s really amazing, your parents must be in their 80s or what?
Impressed!
wow. thats a long time.
ohhh. great tips btw.
looks good so far! love the site, story siren!
Mindy
Sounds Great!!
Grace L
Such a heartwarming guest blog
haha. those are really cute and funny points. =)
i’m still pretty young myself. but sometimes i do worry that i wont be able to find the guy who i want to marry, and who would want to worry me. haha. but when i do commit, i’ll remember those points and lessons. hehe.
Carmen T
carmenalexistsang@gmail.com
definitely things to keep in mind! I hope I’m as successful in my future!!