That Other Thing I Do

I don't just rave about politics. I write about what gets me there.

Photo by Johnny Briggs on Unsplash

When it comes to writing, I have a double life. Most of you are here to see what Constant Commoner has to say, but lately I’ve been concentrating more on my other job—writing as one writer to another.

Writer Everlasting, my second Substack publication, keeps me busy at the keyboard almost as much as CC does, though you may not know it. When it comes to numbers, it’s the lesser of the two, drawing in only half of the subscribers I have here—but if I had to confess, I’d say it’s my true labor of love.

I am first and foremost a writer. Now that I have the time, I’m writing every day, sometimes for hours. And I’m happy. It’s what I do, it’s what I’ve almost always done, and here I am, lucky enough to be doing exactly the thing I’ve dreamed of doing far into a life that shouldn’t still be this active or productive.

I’ve been thinking about this now because I’ve just embarked on something new. Something that will take even more of my time and may threaten to take me away now and then from my obsession with politics—though I still foolishly think I can have a hand in saving us all from sure disaster by figuring out how to take power away from the lunatics.

I love what I do here at Constant Commoner. I would have to, wouldn’t I, considering the time I devote to something that doesn’t come near to paying the bills—and isn’t intended that way. But I’m grateful for other distractions, those moments where I’m not breathing hard or tearing my new-growth hair out over the latest attack on the country I love.

As much as it means to us, we all need a break from it, and I find the most satisfaction in being that writer who tries to help other writers navigate the process. When I was a newbie starting out, I lived near Detroit and was lucky enough to find my mentors in that vibrant writing community. I didn’t deserve them at first. I was writing a column in a local weekly and, looking back, it was often pretty awful. But I hooked up with a writer’s group where I could stretch and learn, and I grew the confidence I needed to move on.

I eventually wrote a book column for a bigger chain, and through it I met and interviewed some of the best writers Detroit had to offer, including and maybe especially Elmore Leonard. I learned to write feature pieces and published enough of them in local newspapers and regional magazines to be able to pitch some of them to the Detroit Free Press, where I wrote more than 50 features as a freelancer.

I was accepted into, and later became president of Detroit Women Writers, a venerable institution already 100 years old, formed because women writers were relegated to the style sections and weren’t allowed into the all-male Detroit Press Club, so they formed their own. (It’s known as Detroit Working Writers now, since they voted to include men. I thought they should have stuck with what they had.)

When Ed and I moved to our island in the Up North boonies, I began to work on three novels, none of which have ever been published, but one of them had already gotten me a grant from the state to work on it. Before we moved, I was accepted into Ragdale, a writers colony where several semi-famous writers slept in the same house I did. For four years running, I spent two weeks there in the spring, timed so that I could be there with friends I had made. One of them was a Vanderbilt. Another was a lesbian partner to a very famous poet. Another was a Nigerian poet who knew Chinua Achebe. We became pen pals and wrote back and forth for many years. While I was there one year, I wrote a short story that I was told by my editor had been nominated for a Pushcart Prize.

And then I gave it all up to go live in the woods. For 15 years I didn’t publish. Then I began blogging. I wrote about what it was like to live on a remote island, a ferry ride and an hour’s drive to the nearest big box store or a McDonald’s, drying my clothes on a clothesline, looking out at blue bay water as I clipped clothespins in a kind of artistic symmetry that was incredibly pleasing. I liked it! I liked that kind of writing. And I’ve been blogging in one form or another ever since.

So that’s my history. It’s what gives me the confidence to help other writers get where they want to go, and as of a few weeks ago I started a new venture. It’s called Help Everlasting. It’s a combination editing and guidance service, where my goal is to help fearful writers find their own voices. And I’m loving it!

Introducing HELP EVERLASTING

You probably don’t know how much I hate promoting and marketing. I talk about it at Writer Everlasting, because promoting our work is a necessary evil if we ever want to be seen. It’s my least favorite part of what I do, but here I am, about to ask you to share that link above with any writers you might know who have those fears and need to be talked down.

Editing is my natural instinct, with my own work and with others, so there is some editing, but mainly I want to help fix those things that need fixing and to build confidence in writers who need it. So if you know anyone who might benefit, send them my way. Please. And thank you.

Otherwise, this is my way of letting you know that if you notice a slight absence I’m still hard at work, doing those things I love. And grateful that I still can.

I hope you all find yourselves in a similar happy place, doing the things you love best and looking forward to more of the same. It can’t all be bad news. There has to be more to life in order to have the will to want the best for everyone. Our fight will go on. We will continue. We will win. Living life the way we want to—and should be able to—is the goal.

Constant Commoner revolves around my thoughts as a woman who has aged and grown and learned by a process that feels miraculous considering I have no formal education or unique abilities. We the people are all commoners. We believe based on our own past and our own feelings. We choose a path we can live with and if we’re lucky we get to share our lives with people who care, who understand.

That’s what I aim to do here. I want to build a community where anyone can come and sit on our porch and grow along with the rest of us.

***You can join the paying ranks (Thank you, paying ranks!) through Substack below, or you can support my work by tipping any amount at any time at Ko-Fi or at Paypal. Much appreciated.