in the fisted glove,
And the eagle flies
with the dove,
and if you can't be
with the one you love,
Love the one you're with.
Love the one you're with.
(Du-doot, doot, doot,
doot, doot, du-doot!)
I like the song. I always thought the sentiment was a little vague, though. Personally, I tend to think that way; polyamory makes sense to me. The problem is that so many men use it to excuse cheating. I don't condone that; if your spouse grants you leave and license to do as you please, then well and good, all is right in the world, but most don't think that way. What she doesn't know won't hurt me is criminal thinking, and you deserve to lose the house and have to pay alimony. You asked for it.
Fortunately, books are more forgiving, at least for me. Some people don't work that way, I understand, but personally, I like a harem. My wife doesn't mind that, as long as it's books, so we have an accord.
That's also why "her" book is done, while all of mine are still in various stages of development. Her pen is more of a serial monogamist, with the exception of an occasional flirtation with a short story, where mine is a total slut. I currently have more than a half dozen titles in process (one of which is always whatever she's working on), all with scores of thousands of words and significant research and planning for plot, character, setting, etc. Sounds like I'm just a love 'em and leave 'em type? No agent would want to pick up someone so flightly, who never finishes what he starts.
It isn't so. I love them all, and hope to get every one on a shelf. The few that were just flirtations are still only notes in my phone, but I have hopes; they're like names in my little black book that I occasionally linger over and consider calling, but no, I have too many in the harem already, and can't give them all the love and attention and devotion they deserve. Yes, I will freely admit that they all suffer from slower growth because they don't get dedicated attention.
But very soon I'll get synopses and wordcounts in the sidebar for a few of them. They're all my ugly babies, and I love them, every one. I believe in them, have faith they can grow up to be proud books with Michael Whelan covers, even.
Ok, to be realistic, I do tend to focus on one at a time for a while. My day job interrupts, but then that's why we're hoping to sell a few books. This is a career change. My goal is to retire from life in cubeville and write full time, if we can just get the first few out the door. Accordingly, we prioritize, and focus primarily on whatever is most promising, but then NaNoWriMo comes around and I crank out the frame for another one. Then we go back to our best bet and polish some more.
But I still sneak away for a few thousand words of tryst with one of the others pretty often, and when we get stuck on one, when writer's block or stubborn characters or sudden realizations of gaping plot holes with no obvious fix bring one work to a grinding halt, we can always shift for a while. We maintain productivity and get our time off from the offending work to let the subconscious chew the contentious bone for a while, both at the same time. So far, it's kept us busy, and we should have a flood of books becoming available for release in the next few short years.
Because, you see, when we can't be with the one we love, we love the one we're with. =o)
