Keeping Things In Perspective

E. A. Black writes erotica, erotic romance, thrillers, dark fantasy, and horror. She lives on the Massachusetts coast with her husband, son, and four cats. Her Mocha Memoirs Press short horror romance "Alicia" is available at Amazon. If you like tales of star-crossed lovers, you will enjoy this story.

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I've been having a bit of a rough time of it lately. Too many rejections at one time have left me feeling a bit weary. I even had three rejections in one day. Talk about laying it on thick! Three people bought my books and returned them only a day or two later presumably after reading them. These returns occurred within one week. I feel like I've been robbed. I understand this return business is a bigger problem with erotica and erotic romances than with other genres. Menopause is wearing me down. It's sweltering outside and I don't do well in excessive heat. I'm adopted and I just found my natural mother - but she died a couple of years ago. I barely missed her, and I'm kicking myself I didn't start this search sooner. Another lost opportunity. When one disappointment after another leave me wanting to unload on a shrink, I figured it's time to take a life assessment.

Things aren't really all that bad. It depends on how I look at them. The best thing for me to do to get outside my spinning head is to focus outward.

* I walk on the beach regularly, especially in the mornings before the oppressive heat (for Massachusetts, LOL) gets underway. I often set my fiction on the ocean, so seeing the churning waves and hearing the surf crash reminds me of what I need to write. Plus those long ocean walks are great for plot planning and brainstorming.

* I help things grow, namely plants. Tending to a garden and watching it thrive gives me a sense of accomplishment. This year, I've successfully grown plants from seeds for the first time after years of failure. That's quite a feather in my cap, and I will bask in my success.

* I have a loving husband and a fantastic son. Lots of people don't have familial support, and I do. I'm very grateful for that.

* I am owned by four cats who won't put up with my bullshit moods. They want feeding and petting, and nothing will stop them. LOL

* I have supportive friends online and colleagues who enjoy watching me succeed. There is no schadenfreude coming from anyone in my life, and I like it that way.

* My natural mother may be deceased, but her niece (my cousin) wants to talk to me. So I may finally meet someone I'm actually related to by blood. I wonder if we look alike? I'll find out in a few weeks.

* Today, I'm meeting a Facebook writer friend at Readercon in Massachusetts. I've known him online for a few years, and this is the first time we'll meet in meatspace. I'm very excited about it! He's from the southwest, and my husband and I are taking him out for a typical New England meal of lobstah and clam chowdah (if he wants it). Our treat. Such fun!

Sometimes I need a swift kick in the shorts to get out of a blue funk. As the old Oscar Wilde saying goes, we are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.