My line of work has a degree of stress. Most do. I have been directly managing inmates for over eighteen years. This has understandably caused some damage to my mental faculties. Kind of a psychic bruising over time. Some days it is a massive struggle to overcome the depression.
I returned to writing as a tool to manage that depression. I still have some time to go before I can retire from this line of work, and I need every tool I can get to keep my mind sound through that time.
The other side of writing is reading. So, being a bit troubled by depression this morning I turned to reading. My current book has been One for the Money, by Janet Evanovich. Her writing is well paced, light hearted and often amusing. Not your usual approach to what has to be dropped into the Mystery genre. This is the first in her series of Stephanie Plum novels. The number in each title represents the number of the book in the series.
Her fourteenth is in the book store right now.
I have no idea if I can attain such a level of success. At this point, I have a finished (but not quite polished) novel. It was written as a way to manage depression, but I really would like to publish it. I am still exploring how to do that. It is not an easy business. Still, it was fun to write. It was an interesting experience.
Whatever I do with my book, there still remain thirteen of Evanovich's to read. Not bad therapy, all things considered.
3 comments:
Thanks for visiting us!
Wow, your job is quite a bit more stressful than ours were. Are you in a prison? I hope you can take off in your RV soon!
My father spent the last 15yrs or so of his law career as a public defender. Being around those kinds of criminals day in and day out really took a toll on him, and for the most part, he only had to deal with one at a time. He really disliked having to go to the jail to meet with his clients. It really started showing towards the end.
But, now he's retired and all of that is behind him. I don't think that he has mentioned it since. Soon you will be too! Just keep remembering it. :)
jenn
Hitek Homeless
A couple of 30-somethings embark on the ultimate road trip!
I work in a county jail.
Public Defender is a tough job. It is necessary, if only to insure that the system is to some degree balanced. It must have been especially hard to defend the guilty. Some people do very bad things.
I am glad he is free from that. I, too, will be free someday.
Michael: Nice site. I'm glad that you relax and unwind by both writing and visiting travel sites like ours.
I'd be honored if you'd submit your blog to our list of readers here:
http://ourodyssey.blogspot.com/2008/05/talkback-tuesday-share-your-website-or.html
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