An Anniversary

Looking back I am amazed that Mary and I have made it this far, both of us laboring as freelance writers, and nothing but. There is the constant danger of work running out, and from time to time it has. Once due to the harassment of the aforementioned child support authorities. However, we’ve always found more. In time. Sometimes barely, like the winter when the check arrived a week before the propane ran out. We’ve suffered from other small business dangers too. A (former) associate robbed us of a large amount of money and absconded into bankruptcy.

Still, it has been ten years now and I think I can safely say, no matter what happens, good or bad, I will never punch a clock again. This in itself makes all the hassle worthwhile. Corporations, in my experience, are sick and dysfunctional places where a few useless power seekers are allowed to make life miserable for employees, who by any human or moral measure are their superiors.

More than that, working for ourselves has allowed Mary and I to arrange our time so that we can write fiction. We work hellish hours, but we set the hours. I believe that we would not be working on our sixth novel now, or even our first, if we were forced to cater to the incessant demands of a regular employer.

—Eric Mayer —An Anniversary (Eric Mayer)

Congratulations on making it in a very challenging field, Eric!