Investing in Words

My office chair is a mismatched hard maple leftover from my kitchen table. It's an eye sore and isn't terribly comfortable.

So, I went on-line shopping. I found a beautiful wood swivel bankers chair at Pottery Barn. Perfect! Except the four hundred dollar price. Ouch.

I went to e-bay and found a simlar chair for less than half the price. Plus, it has a nice cushioned seat. I can almost feel the softness beneath my fanny.

So, I bought it. And then, I had buyer's remorse. I'm going to the ACFW conference next month and that will add up to nearly a thousand dollars with rooming, gas, the conference, and all the books I'll be compelled to buy from the faculty.

Working part-time (only one day a week at this point) is great for my writing output, but bad for the pocketbook.

The last time I made a dime on my writing was years ago when I was still trying my hand at non-fiction.

My full-time job is writing and I work for free. Actually, that's not quite right, I pay to do it.

I had to have a new computer, a new printer with a scanner, a desk and a bookshelf to hold my hundreds of dollars worth of writing books. Then the endless novels I buy to research how others pull it off. Sometimes I do go to the library but I also want to support other authors and many CBA novels aren't available at the library.

I've been to two conferences and am going again. All of this adds way up. Then there's the ink cartridges and I'm stunned how expensive plain old paper is when you use as much as I do.

My husband shakes his head and I can see his wheels turning as he does the calculations.
Gina's writing = $0.00 - (all she spends on this hobby) thousands = ??

Something's not adding up.

He's as understanding as a person can be in his situation but sometimes we do have heated disagreements about the negative cashflow I bring in.

One thing that sticks with me from college are words from my sociology proffessor: The difference between the classes comes down to instant gratification.The succesful know how to wait.

Someday, maybe tomorrow, maybe ten years from now, my investment in my writing will pay off. God willing.

But, for now, I'll have to get my instant gratification from the novels I read and of course, my new chair.