One of the hardest parts about being a writer is that I cannot support myself on writing alone. Very few authors can, and many turn to other means when it comes to paying the bills. Some are lucky enough to work in another part of the English field.

I’m not very lucky.

I make my living as a sailor. Oddly enough, I’m a grounded sailor. I’ve worked at a boat station, and I’ve been several miles out into the tropical sea, but I’ve managed to stay ashore for the past two years. This is a good thing because I get seasick and I’m from the Midwest, where our oceans are made of corn and soybeans. I can navigate a corn maze just fine, but I still struggle when trying to read a chart (Why would you make the deep water white?).

Most recently, I’ve been sent to Northern California where I’m training to be a computer technician. It’s not what I envisioned myself doing two yeas ago, but it pays the rent. In five years, I hope that I’ll be teaching and writing to being home the bacon.

Writing the second book of Windmill Keepers is complicated, given my full schedule. Despite the lack of time, I recently outlined a goal I can work with. By December, I plan to have the book sent off for editing. Hopefully, it will be out by early spring. Book three should finish the series by late autumn.

I’ve already got my next book picked out from the cluster of stories in my head, as well as a short story project set for next October. I’m excited, but also a little sad to know that I’ll be closing Kite’s tale for good. Either way, I’m glad that I was able to share it with the world.

Next year is already looking chaotic. We’re due to move again in December and set to publish another book just a few months later. If finances allow, I. Kemp and I will be heading out to a convention in June. I want to start going to two or three a year. Somehow, I might do more traveling as a writer than as a sailor.

For now, my main focus is the next book and struggling my way through these last few months of training. It’s rough picking up an unfamiliar skill, but I hope to get more hands on lessons when I reach my next unit. Until then, we’ll take things one day at a time. Hopefully, we’ll have some fun along the way.

A.Kemp