😎The Glamorous Life of a "Famous" Author
by Valerie Hansen
Ah, yes, the secret life of a published author. Who wouldn't want to step into those famous shoes? Why, she must live in a mansion with servants and a cook and a limo driver that looks like those models on the book covers. Hahahahahaha!
If those things were what God thought I needed to do my job and write about my Christian faith, I have no doubt He would have given them to me. But I don't. And my life in the rural Ozarks is so blessed, so wonderful, it sometimes takes my breath away. So does spring pollen but that's another story! 😜 As long as I don't run out of allergy medicine or bug repellent I'll be fine right here.
This is my desk and the place where I work. I used to write in longhand then type my manuscripts on a borrowed typewriter! Even after I finally switched to a computer I had it sitting on a sewing table and spread out the pages on my ironing board. (Why not? I never ironed!) My hubby finally insisted I needed a real desk and bought me this one. I love it! And it holds a lot more stuff than an ironing board.😄
Do I have a cook? Nope. And since I had not been practicing my culinary skills in years, when I suddenly had to start feeding myself it was quite an adventure. Note the paper plate? I don't have a dishwasher, either. I know, I know, there goes your image of my ultra glamorous life. I confess to blowing up the potato in my microwave. I had pierced it for the oven but when it wasn't done on time, I stuck it in to nuke it. How was I to know it had "healed over" in the oven?!
Life for me is one grand adventure after another, from a well failure in the middle of a winter storm, to being stranded by high water, to finding a neighbor's cows in my flowerbeds, to deciding I needed a third dog and choosing a puppy, (what was I thinking?) to running over a piece of sharp metal and killing 2 tires at the same time, to deciding to pressure wash my house myself and powering the painted layer off the disintegrating siding, to learning to mow the lawn on a zero-turn machine and running into a fence post that tweaked the deck out of alignment, to... Well, you get the idea.
I love my life. I love the place where God has planted me. I love the books I am still being asked to write on a regular basis. And I love and trust the Lord. What more could anyone ask? I have reissued books coming soon, then a new K-9 Christmas story for Dec. These are the covers. Bless you all and may you find the divine joy that underlies even the most difficult days.
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You are truly blessed, Valerie. And life is what we make of it. We can find happiness in little things. I love your books and I'm thrilled that you have more wonderful stories coming in the future.
ReplyDeleteIsn’t the “glam” life the best? :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your "glam" life, Valerie. I don't know why I had the impression you lived WAY out west, but I love the photos of your Ozark life. I never planned to be a city girl, but somehow I ended up here and I've been living in Brooklyn for 31 years. Still need the allergy meds, and the city is doing mosquito spraying tomorrow night. The view out my back window is the Manhattan skyline. Sometimes that excites me, but most of the time I wonder how I ended up being here so long.
ReplyDeleteStill, it's MY life and I'll take it and thank the Lord for his blessings.
Oh, the things we do. I can't tell you the misteps :) But, I laughed over yours. Thanks for sharing your "glam" life.
ReplyDeleteI'm still waiting for the "glamours" life. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the glimpse into the "glamorous" life of an author, Valerie! When my first published novel released 9 years ago, I remember one day thinking, "What if my readers could see me now?" Because at the time, I was sweaty and eating Oklahoma dust while steering the riding lawn more around the "north 40" behind the house where we lived.
ReplyDeleteGreat post, Val. I love it. The glamourous life of an author. I love your desk. It looks like a great place to write your wonderful stories.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the glimpse into the glamorous life of a writer. I'm still waiting on my mansion and servants to arrive, LOL.
ReplyDeleteOh Val, I love this post. It is so true. Like you and most of my Love Inspired sisters I love the out of the way place the lord planted me. Rural Kansas. In Denver at the RWA convention I was told by several people that I was a celebrity. When I got home I told my brother I knew it wasn't true because there weren't any paparazzi climbing to the roof of the porch to get a picture of me writing in my pj's in my bedroom. Thank goodness.
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