One Little Elephant

I am a Dr. Pepper addict. So today is a bad day for me. You see as I sat enjoying a Dr. Pepper while watching the evening news I saw something on the screen which means I won't be buying my beloved Pepper for a long while to come - if ever again.

The Dr. Pepper Company is making record profits. Yet they are soooo greedy that they are cutting the wages and benefits of the very folks who produce their products. This impacts not only the families of the workers who lose a portion of their income, it affects the entire economy of the community to which they belong.

If the Dr. Pepper worker can no longer afford to take his family to a Friday night ball game and buy his kid a hotdog, the guys vending the hotdogs, cleaning the stands, taking the tickets, and manicuring the field earn less. SOOOOO when those vendors/cleaners/ticket-takers/groundskeepers go to church on Sunday their tithes are less, their Sunday suppers are more frugal, and they may be driving home on threadbare tires. That means the town's mechanics, grocers, and pastors all have less as well. Hundreds, if not thousands, of people suffer the consequences of the Dr. Pepper execs' greed. And I suspect those heartless execs congratulate themselves on causing all this pain by giving themselves fat bonuses from their enormous profits.

It makes me SICK!

So here's to you, Dr. Pepper Company. Thanks for curing me of my Dr. Pepper addiction. Not one more dime will I knowingly spend on your product until your execs grow a conscience.

So what does this have to do with writing? I don't know. Anyone care to stretch for some sort of meaning?

Something that's helping me write today: The boiling of my blood caused by a monumental sense of betrayal that the company I have spent so many dollars, days, and calories on has turned out to be a villain of the highest order.

Cost of being a Writer: Officially the total I invested for 2009 in this writing business was $2569. But I'm guessing it was really considerably more than that. Our accountant will only use the amount I can prove with receipts (which was $2569). I messed up by failing to keep receipts for some things and so wasn't allowed to deduct them, so my writing business costs for 2009 were really more than $2569.

Note: My accountant wanted proof I'm not just a writing hobbyist. I was able to produce emails from a publisher showing strong interest in my work. Though the publisher eventually passed, a close miss satisfied the accountant.

Too Much of a Good Thing: I still adore him, but he's still underfoot and will be for at least another week because he was misdiagnosed initially. He's got the proper meds now and is on the mend. No permanent damage. I'm soooo grateful for that. All in all, it's been a growing experieince for me. I'm attempting to learn to write with constant distractions. I won't say I've been tremendously successful, but I'm not failing completely either. So all's good for now.

Just a Dream: Remission!!!! Yay!!! I'm so happy for her. And she tells me she's taken two (TWO!) firm steps toward achieving her dream. How cool is that?

Something that's helping me write today: A great big Dr. Pepper. Yes, I know. But I can't help it. I'm a Dr. Pepper addict.

Lent ends today. Time to take inventory (and fess up). Here's how it went:

Eschewing TV

This was difficult at first, but grew progressively easier. By week three I'd forgotten about TV as better things filled the void. I regret the evenings wasted on that silly box in the past, but since I don't feel even a wisp of anticipation that I'll soon be free to watch it again, I'm hopeful Lent has triumphed over this vice.

Surrendering the Dr. Pepper

This was hard, hard, hard from the beginning. Did it get easier? NO!!!! But I stood wobbly-kneed against temptation. Lent ends today and I wish I could say it conquered this vice, but the fact that my insides are wriggling with puppyish joy at the thought of a Dr. Pepper tells me it's not so. Still, there was value in this Lenten abstinence because it made me acknowledge my human weakness and my need for God's strength.

Relinquishing daytime web surfing and email checking

This was at once a great failure and a tremendous success. Failure because I broke this Lenten promise on repeated occasions.

Sometimes I broke it for valid reasons like finding the one pharmacy in town that could fill hubby's prescription when he was very ill or turning in an application for a large scholarship my son only learned he was eligible for on the last day he could apply(he got it!).

Sometimes I broke it when habit intersected with carelessness. If I didn't throw the internet cord over the curtain rod there was a good chance that when I took a break from writing I'd access the internet simply from habit. I'd be surfing before I realized it. This taught me that changing bad habits requires more than good intentions. It also requires altering my environment.

And finally, sometimes I failed to keep this Lenten promise out of simple sinfulness.

Yet despite those failures, I also had tremendous success. I realized the internet is not nearly as entertaining as reading a good book on my shady front porch. It's not nearly as satisfying as snuggling with my husband or laughing with my teens. It's not nearly as gratifying as getting a scene written or the laundry done. When day passed into evening and I could fetch that cord down off the curtain rod, I found myself tending to get on the web, get whatever I needed done, and get off again. Living life became more attractive than surfing through it. I call that success.

So that's the Lenten wrap up. But what does it have to do with writing? Disposing of the vices that keep me bound mentally, physically, socially, or spiritually sets me free to write better and to live better. I only addressed three of that original list of fifteen, but today life is better (in at least three ways) because I did.


Something that's helping me write today: This question which I taped on the wall beside my desk many years ago and still read several times a day. What have you done in the past hour to improve/enrich your life or the lives of others?

This morning another rejection arrived in my email. Form letter. I wanted a Dr. Pepper so badly I could have screamed.

But learning to handle rejection is part of this process of transformation from housewife to novelist. So I sat down and calmly helped my son fill out his class requests for next fall, then went into the bathroom and was sick. Yep. I'm good at appearing calm on the outside when I'm hurting on the inside. So good, that I can often fool even myself. But I can never fool my gut.

Time to step up to the roulette wheel and spin again. So tomorrow I'll put together a list of targeted agents and/or publishing houses. Shall we see which happens first: 100 rejections or an offer for publication?

Place your bets, ladies and gents.


Something that's helping me write today: belief in myself and a willingness to be gut-sick as many times as it takes.

Commenter Gina asks: What are the fifteen failings you identified for Lent?

Well, I'm not quite ready to lay bare my entire soul on the net, but the three of the fifteen I chose to work on this Lent are dependence on tv, unnecessary web surfing, and my soda pop addiction.

Relinquishing daytime websurfing and email checking

Very difficult. Disconnected the internet and hung the cord on a ladder-only-accessable curtain rod to reduce temptation. Day one was a hard day. But in the last three days I've editted 10 chapters, written two new scenes, identified and solved a timeline problem within my novel, done a ton of laundry, and had a hot meal waiting for the family in a clean kitchen every day when they got home. I feel so encouraged today I was thrilled to throw that cord over the curtain rod at 9:30 am.

Eschewing TV

We don't do tv before 3 pm (a gift of a Lent a dozen years past), so I didn't even notice it was missing during the day. But in the evening I NOTICED. For the last several years I'd taken to turning on the TV for the evening news and letting it run until bedtime. I rarely just sat and watched it. Instead I used it as background noise for couch potato activities like reading, playing free cell, net surfing, etc. Sounds harmless, right? It's not. In just the three days since we turned it off I've experienced the desire to attend meetings, Jazzercise, walk the dogs, and spend considerably more time interacting with the kids. Amazing how removing a vice allows good things to rush in to fill the void.

Surrendering the Dr. Pepper

I'm in withdrawal!!!! Though I admit I eased the symptoms considerably by giving up most things containing High Fructose Corn Syrup at New Year. I've been drinking real sugar Dr. Pepper for the most part since then, so I'd already gotten through the worst of the withdrawal headache in January - three days of blistering pain. I've also eased the digestive withdrawal symptoms enormously by drinking lots and lots of water. And since exposure to refined sugar or sugar water (like fruit juices) increases my cravings for soda pop, I'm substituting real fruit for juice and avoiding refined sugars - adding a virtue to combat the vice.

That's where it's at for now. Now it's time to write novels, so I'm off the net.


Something that's helping me write today: Lent