Nudging Angels – My Writing Life

I posted this the other day on the Facebook. I know, I know, it’s Facebook. Fine. You’re right, ma’am. You’re right.

This is what it’s like for me being a writer.

Writing books is brutal work. It’s not brutal like coalmining. It’s brutal in a different way. Maybe something to do with re-organizing angels standing on the head of a pin. You can’t nudge them. You have to nudge them. Angels don’t exist. Yes, yes, Angel’s do exist. You have to walk three miles to get to the coffee shop where the pin is. You’re excited to nudge the angels. Until you sit down. Then you’re exhausted. And you have to walk the three miles home!

People tell you that you’re organizing the angels the wrong way. You tell them there’s no such thing as angels. They suggest a teacher, a book, a writing class, more yoga, less yoga, or stronger coffee. No one will suggest no coffee.

Then, you get the angels organized, and you take your spectral camera and take a picture. Most people ignore your picture. Some people love your picture. A few people give you a one-star review. “Less angels. More demons.” Or…”I liked it, except for the pin part. Maybe a sardine can next time.”

I then think, taking this into the first person, that I shouldn’t be trying organize angels on the head of a pin. I should do something else. I ignore the praise, the money, and the five-star reviews. This is too hard. I shouldn’t be doing this.

Then? I look at a picture of the angels I took a few months before. I don’t know how I was feeling at the time. I don’t remember how my back hurt, or how far the coffee shop was, or any of that. I simply look at my picture, of those angels, and I cry. Because I love it. You don’t have to love it. But I love it. And I was born to do this. I was born for the work, and the isolation, and the bullshit. Because book writing is mostly bullshit.

And that is what what it’s like to write books.

Quincy J. Allen and THE BLOOD WAR Chronicles

So, the old blog has been quiet for a while, but I have huge news. My buddy Quincy J. Allen just released BLOOD OATH (The Blood War Chronicles Book 3). And he’s running a sale on the first two books. So, yes, this is your queue to run out there and check them out! It’s steampunk fun turned epic fantasy amazing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And yes, this is the same Quincy J. Allen that wrote an amazing story for THE JUNIPER WARS called “Guardian Angel.

So, yeah, big news for my fellow writing buddy and road dog. Check it out!

 

 

 

 

The Dream Becomes a Full-Time Reality

This is me, in 1999, working for a software company. I’d finished writing my first book called THE DREAM OF THE ARCHER. And I was deep into my second project, THE GOSPEL OF THE SEVERED EARTH.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thirteen years later I got my first contract on THE NEVER PRAYER. And six years after that? I’m quitting my job to write full time. It’s all because I met James A. Hunter at Shadow Alley Press. We worked together on some books and had so much fun doing it.

And this is my resignation letter:

Hi all,
My counterpart, Don Bauman, and I used to talk about the eventual resignation letter we’d be sending out. You see, back in San Jose, California, in 1997, we had people leave weekly during the dot.com boom. People left to get other jobs, so we saw a lot of resignation letters.

I never thought I’d be sending out one of my own, leaving the world of software to write books full time. So, far, I’ve published eighteen books under various pen names, and my royalties are enough for me to say goodbye. This has been a lifelong dream, ever since I was in third grade. And now, I get to pursue it. I feel very blessed. Working for home, instead of showering, dressing, and commuting to and from work, I used every free second to write. I also got used to getting up early, since my children never, ever slept. Now they’re teenagers and sleep all the time. Ha.

While writing novels has been my passion, I am EXTREMELY PROUD of the work I did with the various companies on both ORSOS and MAC (AAC nowadays). We took pretty good software and made it world-class software. There was some drama (Those Wednesday 11 am meetings with Development aged me) until we got a good process down. Finding defects, getting them fixed, telling the client, that was so rewarding and at times, really fun. And I loved traveling onsite with many of you, doing FDA audits, though I spent more time in Toledo, Ohio, Vero Beach, Florida, and Hutchinson, Kansas than was good for me. Also, who could forget the Interact days? I attached a zip file of my favorite pictures from Per-Se’s old Interact from 2006.

I am leaving with a ton of memories. Thank you for all the joys and sorrows of the medical software world.

Attached are some pictures, including one from this morning, when some friends at the Starbucks bought me a scone as a going-away party. And Audra and Adrian and Donbo will be escorting me out during my last webex call tonight.
 
I have some pictures from back in 1999, some pictures from a bit ago, and some pictures from today.

Since Don left you with song lyrics, see below, I figured I’d leave you with a quote from a TV show both Adrian and I love. I changed the lines a bit.

 

“I supported software at this company for twenty-one years. My job was to speak to clients on the phone about issues and problems with their medical software. Even if I didn’t love every minute of it, everything I have I owe to this job… this stupid, wonderful, boring, amazing job.”

“There’s a lot of beauty in ordinary things. Isn’t that kinda the point?”

 

If you want to sign-up for my author newsletter, you can at my website aaronmritchey.com or email me at aaronmritchey@gmail.com. That’s my official author email.
  
Goodbye, my friends, my co-workers, and strangers I’ve never met but talked to over the phone. Farewell.
 
Aaron Ritchey
Platinum Support Consultant

And this is me, in 2018, at my last day. The dream has become a reality.