Poor, neglected blog. Time to check in.

/ Eve Messenger

I wish I were hoverboarding right now above the river, the wilderness, and the Rusty Ruins just like Tally, the protagonist in Uglies, which I am currently reading (my first Scott Westerfeld novel).

Sometimes life gets so crazy busy that even things that are important to me, like blogging, have to get shoved to the side for a while. There are so many things I want to do in life. Unfortunately, a day job is one of them. I like being a teacher, but I’m in a place right now where I truly, honestly feel that writing full-time is what I need to be doing. But tell that to my bank account. 

The good news is I continue to grow and learn as a writer. I’m still mastering the art of completing a polished novel, but with every novel I write I get better and closer to proving to myself (and hopefully to the world) that I have what it takes to make it as a professional writer. I’ve made friends in the writing community, people so far removed from my daily life it’s kind of funny, like I have an alternate life. Which I guess I kind of do. To the rest of the world I’m mom, wife, teacher, friend, errand runner, whatever. But then there’s this inner world apart from all that in which I’m the chick who’s busting her tail to become a successful published author. There are lots of dues to pay.

I try to squeeze in writing 500-100 words however I can each weekday and then several thousand more on Saturdays and Sundays. A full-time teaching schedule, then a part-time job after school (teaching at a private school and Southern California’s cost of living do not see eye to eye), then tending to family and home doesn’t leave time for hobbies, except for reading, which of course is like calling breathing a hobby.

TV? What’s TV?

One of the only TV shows I have time for is Broad City, which is an effing hilarious show. Genuinely funny women being bawdy and crude makes me happy.

My husband also recently turned me on to a show on Netflix called River, which is pretty great.

All the characters in the series look like real people–a television trend I adore, and it has an intriguing paranormal theme, too. Detective River talks to ghosts who help him solve crimes, kind of like a darker, much more British (it’s set in London, yay!) Medium (remember that show with Patricia Arquette?) The acting is excellent. The writing is, too. In fact, one scene brought tears to my eyes, when River, the downtrodden, ghost-seeing, expert detective says:

“I’m a good officer. But, in this world, that’s not enough. In this world you have to be able to nod and smile and drink a pint, and say, “How was your day?” In this world, no one can be different or strange.  Or damaged. Or they lock you up.” [River (2015), season 1, episode 2]

What was it about this line that got me so choked up? Of course, there was something about what he said that I related to, as in we have things about ourselves that we know are smart or clever or special, but people don’t always see them. The charming people who walk with the most confidence seem to get a lot. People like me who bust our tails don’t necessarily get recognition unless we also know how to play politics. That exhausts me.

Give me writing, reading, and talking to people who love those things, too. And a hoverboard.

–Eve Messenger

23 thoughts on “Poor, neglected blog. Time to check in.”

  2. Ah darn that life for getting in our way of our plans right?
    Broad City looks good. Gramps and I have been looking for one of those short shows for a laugh. He’s not a fan of the “canned” laughter though so it’s hard to find funny shows.
    I think my mom’s watched River. I’ll add it to the home To-Be-Watched list too. My mom’s way ahead of Gramps and I when it comes to the Netflix and Amazon shows.

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  3. Wow! You’re one busy lady busting a gut to write around the rest of your life. I’m in awe you get so much done – blogging does have to take a sidestep at times I think; particularly for writing! 😀 Oh, I love the sound of ‘River’ – must see if it is on Netflix here.

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  4. Omigosh you are literally the only other person I know who has watched broad city!! It’s so funny and I love the main friendship so much :’) And I sometimes feel like I’m leading an alternate life writing this blog because I’ve only told a few people IRL that I even have a blog lol

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  6. Hi Eve! 1. You’re reading Uglies. Yay! You’ll have to let me know what you think of it. 2. You have such a busy schedule! I, sadly, haven’t had much time to blog these past couple of weeks, and I’m always sad when I can’t do that. 3. Medium was a fantastic show. 4. I know you’ll be a full-time writer soon. Keep rocking it!

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  7. Nice post, Eve. I haven’t posted in a week myself for the same reason — life has a way of getting in the way. 🙂

    By the way, I used to watch Medium all the time! Loved that show!

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