Dreams by J.R.Biery

Blog Post 10

Dreams are important. When I was dealing with my mother’s illness, death, and later carrying out her last requests, I did not dream. Three years when I would go to work, come home to care for her, and then work the next day. No dreams and no writing. It was horrible. I worried if I would ever dream or write again. But she was my priority and I’m glad I made the right choice. Sometimes in life our minds are so full of reality, there just isn’t room for nonsense and dreams.

I think this week I have turned philosophical. I have to admit it is time to give up on a few of my dreams. Now that I’m 67 and retired, the dream of earning my PhD is over. I have an EdS and it is more than I need to putter around and do as I please. My son has a doctorate degree, so one Doctor Biery in the family is enough.

I no longer dream of getting a big publishing contract. When my friend Pat told us to publish on Kindle it was a green light for me. No more submissions, chasing editors, or twisting my stories to fit some formula. I love to write, and though I came close a couple of times to being published by a mid-level publisher, the most I can boast of is a single title by a now defunct small press. Abandoning that dream hasn’t kept me from writing or publishing, and I do like KDP’s 70% formula. Two dollars seems like a fortune to earn compared to the fifty-five cents per book I received from my publisher. I did have one title, The Milch Bride, on one of the KDP genre best-seller lists for nearly three months. So now my dream is to be the number one best-seller on one of the Kindle lists. At least it seems less impossible than my old dream.

I no longer dream of being the 109 pounds I was on my wedding day. I exercise four or five days a week, mainly swimming laps. This morning I swam 80 laps in two hours at the hotel pool (not an Olympic size pool for sure). I was exhausted but pleased. No thinner, no lighter, but pleased that I had tried my best. I know it can’t hurt. Of course the older and rounder I become, the younger, thinner, and prettier my heroine’s become. I notice most of them are getting taller and smarter too. Go alter-egos.

I wrote on the new book after swimming and posted 1386 words in Camp Nanowrimo. Wrote some more when we came back home, but will just add it to tomorrow’s count. I am going to try to line edit Chapter one in the finished novel and then to bed.

Oh, and I blogged for the tenth day in a row.

I haven’t given up dreaming, I’ve just toned them down a little. Still dream of a one story house beside a lake in East Tennessee. Need to buy another lottery ticket tomorrow for that one. But I have a wonderful husband, two great children, three super grand children, and a lot of books for sale on amazon. My dream is to write and publish many more.

Check them out on Amazon at J.R.Biery

What are some of your dreams?