Cheese with that whine?

My Grandfather Bill used to quote this line from a poem - "Christmas in the Poorhouse"…actually probably misquoted it and I'm not even sure the poem existed but it went something like…"And you can take your plum pudding and shove it up your jumper." My point? Well, it's about the current, never ending hoo-ha over RWA and what they have or haven’t done now. Where does Grandfather Bill's quote fit in? Well, in the sense that if you don't like how someone operates then either tell 'em to shove it up their jumper and walk away or shut up and accept it. Just don't whine about it. Whining gets you nowhere and it makes people’s ears bleed.

What is RWA? Well, it seems to depend on which group you fit into. Either it's an association that helps romance writers with their craft. Or it's a fascist organization that is run by cranky old women with tight knicker elastic who enforce rules from the Ark. Me? I fit into neither group. I couldn't give a rat’s arse about RWA. I do what I do because it suits me. I am my own group. I write e-books because I want to and if some organization thinks less of me for that then my care factor is negative 12.

The thing that I am sick to death of hearing is card carrying RWA writers bleating that RWA is a terrible, archaic organization that should change its rules regarding e-books, genre and the colour of member’s underwear...or whatever. I'm not up on the rules….the underwear thing could be wrong so don’t quote that as fact. While I agree people should try and change things they do not agree with, banding together and continuously saying how 'unfair' RWA is and yet doing nothing about it is going to do stuff all in the scheme of things. Nothing is fair in life. We all know that. Work for change – don’t work yourself into a tizz expecting fairness…it ain’t gonna happen.

Like any group RWA is a clique. I get cliques. You fit in or you don't. What I don't get is why it’s so important to care what these people think or say. Aren’t writers writing because they want to write for love or for money? And if they aren’t happy with RWA shouldn't they just leave? Or is it a case of people like to belong to something? Are they maybe scared that if they are not a member of an association like this then they'll miss out on secret romance book writing business?

I’m fascinated why people are so upset by RWA yet will not leave it. That in itself gives RWA more power. How? Because people stay within the ranks, paying their money, because I believe they’re scared that somehow they won’t get published at ‘Whiz-bang’ press in New York or wherever. They don’t want to rock the boat of a powerful being they feel could determine their future. And yeah maybe you might miss out on something – or maybe you won’t. Maybe it will have stuff all to do with what membership cards you have or secret handshakes you know. Maybe you’ll get published because writing is a business and a good book will always beat a membership card. Maybe breaking from the herd is a good thing when you’re not happy with the direction taken.

So, surely if you’re unhappy then you have the right to leave. It seems pretty damn simple to me. And, if you do choose to stay and remain unhappy, stop whining. It's annoying. Book writing and publishing is a business. It’s not a fluffy, pretty place where everyone holds hands and agrees. Stuff happens. Go with it or effect change or move on.

www.amarindajones.com
www.amarindajones.blogspot.com
Be daring...read an Amarinda book

Lucky....

Of late I have had many people I know telling me how lucky I am. They then also tell me in the next breath how terribly hard done by they are and I suspect they want me to feel sorry for them. The reasons they consider themselves unlucky? Well, they have to work for a living. Hmm, gee, don’t a huge, frigging percentage of the population including myself do that? They are also ‘unlucky’ because they are married and have kids and therefore they don’t have the freedom that single people do. Well, gee again, my personal belief is that everyone in our society has choices to marry, have kids or not. We are not in an archaic society that believes in arranged or forced marriages. You make a choice and you get on with your life. Do not moan because your kids need this or your husband doesn’t want to do that. That was your choice. Be an adult and deal with it. I have made some suspect/dumb choices in my life but I do not look at someone else and think ‘gee she’s lucky.’ Get a grip.

“You have so many books under contract. I wish I had the time to write.” Oh please – wake up and smell the coffee. No one on the planet has time. That is not an acceptable excuse. We make time to do stuff if we really have the burning need to do it. Don’t use the time whine on me because it’s not going to wash. Go and look for another one if you need to justify inadequacy or the need to whine.

“My book is not selling as well as yours. You’re so lucky you have so many under contracts.” Yes, the harder I work, the luckier I get. Don’t you find that?

So why am I rambling on about this? Because I think unless you are in some impoverished nation, have some life threatening disease or watching a loved one die before you eyes then you can be lucky if you put the effort in. As people we have to stop looking at what others have and think what can I do to make my life better? How can I achieve what to want? I suggest it’s not by looking at others and measuring yourself by them. No one is any luckier than anyone else. Sure, I’d like to be filthy rich but I don’t look at the Murdochs, the Packers or the Trumps and think ‘Gee they’re lucky.’ What is the point of that? It’s unrealistic and whining to justify not getting off your arse and doing nothing is not going to get you anything.

“My, isn’t Amarinda cranky today.” Yeah I am when people crap on about their ‘unluckiness.’ We have access to great stuff and if you are too whiny to put in an effort do not expect it to come to you…..end of sermon.

Best friend Ethel pointed out to me that I had not said penis on the blog for a while. So just for her – penis. Someone asked me what she was up to at the moment. Well, she has a new job where someone has put her in charge of stuff. This makes her insanely happy as she has the company credit card and she can order anything she wants. Ethel loves stationery and the acquisition of it. Her home is like the Aladdin’s Cave of stationery. She will often tell me what she ‘scored’. Neither she nor I consider it theft. Office stationery is fair game – every worker knows that. I still have boxes of the stuff from my Promptel days when I was given a key to the stationery room because I had to access sensitive complaint files that were stored there. I spent a great deal of time in there…er…filing complaints. To this day I do not buy pens or post-it
notes.

My other good friend Katie called me yesterday. She was very excited. No, she did not win the lotto. She was excited because she got to lie for me. Someone rang her for a reference check and she lied her heart out about how fabulous I am. I have Katie listed as a manager on my resume. She isn’t and never has been. But she could have been if she wanted to but she had more sense. She saw the advantages of being one the bad girls at Promptel. Oh how we drove that company to the brink of madness with our militant ways. We used to sit about in the call centre thinking up ways to drive management crazy. I wrote about it in Because I Can. I once had management all hot and flustered about the whereabouts of a lightning rod that was supposed to have been put on the roof due to staff being connected to live power through their headsets. They swore blind they had it on the roof. "Where?" I asked innocently knowing all the time that Bob the sparky (electrician) told me that they had not bothered to put one up. Of course in the end to shut me up they put one of the roof. They were pissed they had to spend the money. Katie then looked at me and said “What do we drive them insane over now?” Anyway, I digress…I appreciate her lies. How lucky am I that I have people who will help without asking? See? Luck is what you make it.

Speaking of luck and making your own – I have to wonder about some of the current book of the year awards for 2007 that are supposed to be voted by your peers and readers when in reality you can nominate yourself. 'Got to wonder about that. I was contemplating nominating a fake author name like Scarlett Flambé-Blanchett. and her equally fake book “A Rhino’s Perilous Passion” or that other unforgettable one of hers “The Burning Quicksand of Hot Love” to see just who could win. But I didn’t as while nominating you have to verify your integrity with your website etc. Prestige and integrity – seems funny when you can nominate and vote yourself to win. It’s either incredibly cunning or tacky. I’ll let you decide where you stand on that.

Anny is talking about books, music and synonyms on www.annycook.blogspot.com and Kelly has good news on her book releases on www.kkirch.blogspot.com. She did not, by the way, buy cheese. Tomorrow, by way of a challenge, the blog will be about Romancing the Potato to celebrate the UN declaring 2008 the Year of the potato.

www.freewebs.com/amarindajones/
Go ahead: Live with abandon. Be outrageous at any age. What are you saving your best self for?