tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10059313.post113925547868734200..comments2023-10-22T04:53:10.706-07:00Comments on LIVING THE WRITER'S LIFE: OFF THE PAGE and Other Writer's EventsWynn Bextonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08606284153866696343noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10059313.post-1139717962353439232006-02-11T20:19:00.000-08:002006-02-11T20:19:00.000-08:00I think my father takes it somewhat seriously. He ...I think my father takes it somewhat seriously. He bought me a laptop in 2002 and he pays my internet flatrate and DSL (which is 32€ monthly, so that helps). He also pays for non fiction books I need/want sometimes. My late mother felt a bit more uneasy about it because it interferes with my PhD, but she never tried to talk me out of it.Gabriele Campbellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17205770868139083575noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10059313.post-1139425966503437502006-02-08T11:12:00.000-08:002006-02-08T11:12:00.000-08:00I find it interesting that others have expressed t...I find it interesting that others have expressed that their writing was considered a 'hobby' too. Even when I got married, and the only time I'd have to write was late at night after the children were in bed, my husband used to get rather annoyed at my 'hobby' interfering with things. I'll never forget the time though, that I got a lovely letter from my Mom before she died in which she expressed a lot of encouragement for me and said "You'll make it one day, dear!" I've always kept those words in the back of my mind.<BR/>My Dad always thought I should be pursuing more serious things like working and saving for my retirement (especially when I went to live in Greece in order to pursue my writing). He gave me the acknowledgment I always wanted though, when just the day before he died, he provided money for me to buy a computer. That was just<BR/>over ten years ago, so you see how long it took to be really taken seriously by even my parents?Wynn Bextonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08606284153866696343noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10059313.post-1139403439313587962006-02-08T04:57:00.000-08:002006-02-08T04:57:00.000-08:00I found lots of encouragement at school - but no r...I found lots of encouragement at school - but no real professional guidance - writing was a 'hobby', and that was all. I was steered towards science and math, with the assurance that writing was just for fun. <BR/>Your travels as a child sound fascinating. It must have been very fun and interesting.Samhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05943062466398436785noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10059313.post-1139352578451792582006-02-07T14:49:00.000-08:002006-02-07T14:49:00.000-08:00Elective Affinities - so, that's the translation o...Elective Affinities - so, that's the translation of Goethe's <I>Wahlverwandtschaften</I>. <BR/><BR/>I wish I had found more encouragement at school, too. I wasn't discouraged like you, probably because I kept coming up with A-s in Biology and Chemistry as well as German and History. :-) But my writing was always regarded as hobby, nothing to build a future on. I eventually gave it up when I attended the university, and only started again in 2001. <BR/><BR/>One of the reasons I gave up was that I kept comparing myself to the great writers and I felt I had no such books like <I>Magic Mountain</I> and <I>Daniel Deronda</I> in me. It took me a long time to realise that while I can't write those, I may be able to write some enjoyable historical fiction. The breakthough came all of sudden when I one night, instead of working on my PhD started writing about two men on opposite sides in a war, Roderic Sinclair and Kjartan Haraldsson, and their forbidden friendship. Ere I was aware, I had filled enough pages with their adventures and that of a third character, Alastair O'Duibhne, to make up a veritable book. That was when I realised that I could become a writer yet.Gabriele Campbellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17205770868139083575noreply@blogger.com