Thing that made me go "Hmm."

Something happened this afternoon that actually made me go Hmmm. I had gone to the grocery store to pick up prescriptions and some minor foodish items. While I was waiting for the meds, one of the pharmacists who knows my wife and I fairly well asked me if I had "written any good books lately." I jokingly accused of her having talked with my wife and put it out of my mind. When I got home I told my wife about it and that is when I got my "hmm" moment. I had taken the Pharmacist's comment as a joke, but my wife pointed out that she knew lots of people that found my chosen vocation as an Author amazing and were fascinated by it. I was a little stunned by the idea that people found that amazing. Now I have been (literally in the beginning) been putting pen to paper since I was fifteen years old and sold my first article to the old GRIT newsletter. Entitled "If you don't vote, don't complain" it was the first time I realized that someone besides me might be interested in what I had to say. Since then I have penned several (failed) novels and dozens of short stories (some sold some dumped) and literally thousands of articles for various publications and never even really thought about it all. I have worked with/for or have associated with some of the greatest names in Science Fiction/Fantasy. Up until recently, words have flowed almost effortlessly from my brain to the page painting alien worlds, strange cultures and even stranger creatures and I never really pondered what I was doing. (If this comes across as self aggrandizement, sorry. An old friend, Bob Asprin once told me "Being humble never sold books" and he is right. It takes a special kind of ego to believe that the entire world wants to hear what is locked up in your head.) Still, even with that advice, I have never really pondered how the rest of the world views authors. To those who don't have this gift/curse of words, it must really seem like the old saying about "Insert magic happens here" when someone crafts an entire world/universe and peoples it with races and personalities. They think amazing what I oftentimes take for granted. People that know me either through my blogs or my writings know that I have been going through a creation dry spell the past few months. In my frustration, I have pondered giving up writing for good. Only over the past few day have I came out of that slump and actually started creating again. I think this new view of what I have taken for granted will help prevent another such slump for some time to come. God gave me a gift and I am going to keep using it for as long as I can. It is time I felt a little bit of the awe that others feel.