Have I reached the end? Or is this a new beginning?
After thousands of miles, hundreds of books signed, and weeks on a book tour for American Leftovers, I arrived back in Nashville on May 1st. Like a traveling musician, I feel exhilarated and exhausted.
What now?
I've completed all my contracted books, with two of them coming out in 2024.
Once again, it seems, I am unemployed and wondering if I've reached the end of my writing career.
I've faced this question many times--at the end of 2005, 2010, 2012, 2014, and 2018. I'm not alone. Most creatives can relate. We put heart and soul into our art, pray it will connect with others, and when it doesn't sell as well as hoped we must wrestle with our demons once again.
Doubt. Fear. Electric Bills. Hungry tummies.
Is this the end?
No, I believe it is a new beginning.
I'm sitting in a Nashville DMV right now, waiting in a long line to obtain a For Hire endorsement so I can get a part-time transportation job. I'm doing a Zoom call later today about a potential ghostwriting project. And I'm waiting to hear from my agent about another possibility.
As I wait between endings and beginnings, I will keep praying, hoping, and digging. I'm not digging a grave here. No, this is a seed bed. I am planting seeds.
I can't wait to see what grows next.
--Eric Wilson
