Tuesday, May 11

Posted by Laurel Garver on Tuesday, May 11, 2010 21 comments
Crystal at Write Because You Must tagged me some time ago to complete the following blog meme.

Where were you five years ago?
-In year five of living in our three-story row here in Philly, preparing to potty train my daughter.
-Restless and bored as a SAHM and exploring self-employment options, such as a freelance editing and/or a publication design business.
-Riding high on spiritual pride and systematically burning myself out doing entirely too much church volunteer work.
-Being regularly tormented by a reproductive endocrinologist. Fun times.
-Being amazed daily by how incredibly fun, imaginative and easy my toddler daughter was.

Where would you like to be in five years?
-Secure and content with our choice of junior high for our daughter.
-Getting more regular exercise with a young, new shelter rescue dog. (Chances of current pooch living to 17 is slim at best.)
-Getting my kitchen redone so I have a dishwasher!
-Agented, with three books complete and marketable, at least one on shelves.
-Using my teaching skills in some way, possibly at writer's conferences.

What is on your to-do list today?
-send rejection letters
-mail review book to a prof. in Florida
-further revise chapters 14 and 15, in hopes ideas present themselves for fixing two scenes in 13
-put away clean laundry
-return Mom's call

What snacks do you enjoy?
-Granny Smith slices dipped in caramel
-popcorn
-sour cream and onion chips
-pretzels dipped in spreadable cheddar
-Keebler EL Fudge cookies and Lion bars from the UK

What five things would you do if you were a billionaire?
-Start a large charitable foundation to fund these types of projects: support services for the mentally ill, including free meds and counseling; urban renewal, especially parks, reforestation of land and urban agriculture; literacy and libraries.
-Build a retreat center in the Poconos where hubby could hold philosophy intensives and I could run writers' retreats. It would be near a lake and have a riding stable, of course!
-Build a Gothic-style church for our congregation, plus facilities from which to run mercy ministries.
-Provide for family members' college and retirement, on the stipulation they work with the foundation in some capacity. (Because being too comfortably well off tends to ruin people.)
-Travel .

I pass this along to the following five bloggers:

JEM at Can I Get a Side of Reality with That?
Jamie at Dancing Down Serendipity Street
Janet at It Is What It Is...
Jenna at Writing in the Dreamstate
Lynn at Place to Create

Do any of you feel simultaneously excited and terrified by the prospect of big success, especially financial? What excites you most? What do you fear about it?
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21 comments:

  1. Thanks for the tag, Laurel! The problem with this meme is that it always makes me hoooooooongry :). I have this dream that being a SAHM would be relaxing and would allow me to get done all the things I don't do now because of that pesky work thing. Although I have a feeling that it's more of a delusion than a dream...

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  2. JEM: once I took up writing again, I loved being home. The kick in the pants to do just that came in 2006.

    AA: Alas, I have to break hearts of some PhD students who submitted rubbish to the scholarly journal I edit in my day job.

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  3. Great answers to the questions! It must stink to send out rejection letters.

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  4. Yay! I was hoping someone would tag me because I've seen a lot of these posts and it has me thinking...

    Big success? Terrifying, but I'd love the chance to deal with it. Bring it on...

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  5. I would like success, on a limited scale. I'd like people to read and love my stories. I'd like to publish book after book, but I don't want millions, just enough to cover our needs with a cool yearly vacation thrown in. Great post, Laurel. I enjoyed learning more about you. :)

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  6. Great answers. Nice to get to know you better.

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  7. Big financial success sounds fabulous! But oh, the pressure to perform. And my biggest worry would be spoiling my kids. Such a temptation even on our current tight budget. :)

    And thanks for tagging me! How fun. :)

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  8. Terrified by the prospect of big success? Wha...? Is that even a possibility? Uh... I s'pose it is. I guess I fear being stampeded by a mob of screaming fans. This would also be kind of exciting....

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  9. I really enjoyed reading your answers. ANd please do let me know of your retreat center when it's done. My husband would participate in philosophy intensives, and I'll be there to write in your retreat! Perfect,

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  10. Great answers. I'm worried about your choice of snack-food, though!

    I'd love to be afraid of financial success! Right now I'm more afraid of bankruptcy!

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  11. Aubrie: Thanks. Our acceptance rate hangs around the 12% mark, which means I send quite a few rejections. It is what it is.

    Jenna: Have fun with it. I personally would never want to be a billionaire.

    Roxy: I'm totally with you on that one. I'm not a limelight seeker and I suspect wealth would destroy me. I just want to make stories that people love.

    Janet: My billionaire worry is the effect it would have on my extended family. I don't think it would be pretty. I do really want to create that retreat center, though. Just enough success to do that would be splendid.

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  12. Christine: Thanks. And I just found out you live in the nearby suburbs!

    Simon: It was the billionaire question that brought up the issue for me. Getting a big windfall or overnight fame--would it be ultimately good or bad? Screaming fans sounds like a nightmare. I'd settle for a few dozen nice notes. But that's me.

    Yat-Yee: Hubby and I have had that shared retreat center dream since back when we were dating. I'd love to have enough success to really do that, with or without the riding stables.

    Talli: my snack food choice worries you? Is it the Lion bars? They are freaking awesome. No American candy bar compares. A couple import stores carry them here, for which I am grateful.

    Surely being destitute is bad, but being an overnight sensation would be world-shaking and scary in its own way. And a billionaire? Call me crazy, but no thanks.

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  13. Great lists for your five things. And honestly? The only thing I fear more than failure is success. I'm pathetic. :)

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  14. Am I the only one that thinks that the world would be a much better place if you were a billionaire?

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  15. Open that retreat!!
    But first you need a dishwasher! Do you really not have a dishwasher? That's not an option for me. I'd give up the TV/dish/TiVo and the microwave before I'd do without a dishwasher.

    I would quietly do a lot of great things with big money. That doesn't scare me. But I do not want fame. I like my privacy. Public scrutiny terrifies me.

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  16. No dishwasher??? How do you cope? :)

    I'm most definitely coming to your retreat once it's built - sounds fabulous!

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  17. Sarahjayne: I understand completely. Pressure to perform is hard for me to deal with.

    Tina: Aw, thanks. Glad you think my charitable causes are good. I dated a rich guy when I was in my early 20s and want no part of that world--I'd rather give away as much as possible!

    Lola: AMEN! Ten years, no dishwasher, no kidding. I keep trying to figure out minimally invasive re-dos that would get my dishpan hands out of the sink! Of course I do get quality brainstorming done while cleaning up. What doesn't kill you only makes you stronger, right?

    Fame sounds worse of the two, but I've seen how money can change people, make them less generous instead of more so. That kind of personality change scares me a lot.

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  18. Fun! Thanks for sharing your thoughts:)

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  19. Hello! I found your blog via Stina Lindenblatt's "seeing creative" and I think you write some really great posts about writing! Keep up the good work:)

    -Alexandra Crocodile, your newest follower:)

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  20. Jemi: I see sink time as my brainstorming time. That's how I cope. :-)

    Karen: Thanks.

    Alexandra: Thanks for the follow. I'm due for a fresh post with some meat on it, but revisions are eating up nearly every waking hour this month. Enjoy the archives till I get my act together!

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