Naked and Happy to Be Writing!

Here I am living in beautiful South Beach just two blocks from the beach but find myself depressed. I'm busy on writing assignments for money but would rather spend time working on my second novel LAUREL AVENUE but I have to pay the rent not to mention the rest of the bills (please don't mention the rest of my bills). I just had another agent request to read the manuscript of SOUTH BEACH STAR and he's the first agent (besides the one I have in L.A. who I haven't heard from since I sent him the revised manuscript). My friends have told me that I need to keep looking for an agent even though the L.A. agent has told me he loves my book and he feels he can get my book placed but still hasn't signed me to a contract. I know it's a long and difficult process to get a book published, especially in these financially unstable times, when even established writers can't get their books published. I was just told about a writer friend, who has had at least a half-dozen books published and one was just made into a television movie, who has three manuscripts of her books sitting on a shelf unsold in her agent's office. And the recent article about 500 bookstores in the U.S. closing in the next year wasn't too promising either. Although we're living in difficult times, I feel blessed to be working and getting paid for what I enjoy doing. I won't give up my quest to get my book published. Usually I'm much more positive than this but some days (surely everyone has those days) are more difficult than others and you question your decisions. When things get me down, I just jump on my bike and ride along the beach. That's the bike with no brakes (I'm now a pro now at stopping or avoiding collisions without brakes) but yesterday my left pedal fell off, which makes it difficult but not impossible to pedal. But I laugh at the situation except when I'm nearly hit by a car. My apologies for using this space to vent but sometimes I have to let it all out. Today is a beautiful day and I'm happy to be writing and I look forward to the day that my book is published. I've been going through lots of old photographs and sorting out the South Beach nightlife shots but stumbled on this photo of me taken during a time when I had not a care in the world (and not a stitch of clothing on either). It's the only nude photo you'll ever see of me, I promise.