Just a Singer in a Rock and Roll Band?
Haven't blogged in a while, and the reason is: it's just been really hard to do a lot lately. Still struggling with depression (though, admittedly, it's a LOT better than it was six months ago) but the world just kinda super sucks right now. Makes it hard to do stuff.
What I have been doing, a lot, is painting. I'd take pictures and post them here if there was anything amazing to post, but it's not. I'm painting fast and loose, churning through models quickly and not delicately. And you know what? I really like it. It's never going to win me any awards, but it's therapeutic and relaxing.
Also, and don't get too excited, but I'm working on revisions for Tartarus Deep--because my agent really likes it! This is big, because my agent isn't the type to just hype me up for no reason. The last two manuscripts that I sent her (five or six years ago) she said "Ehhh.... No." But she really likes this one, and she having me make some revisions. There's some worldbuilding I need to work on, but the biggest thing is that it is somewhere between 10-15k words too long. (It is currently sitting at 91k, and she ideally like to see it somewhere near 75k, but could go as high as 80k.)
I don't like cutting.
Did I ever tell you that when my first books were sold (this was almost 25 years ago, so the world was VERY different) the audio wasn't an ebook, and it wasn't even a book on CD--it was a book on tape. And you can't just cram extra things onto limited tapes. So I had to cut my second novel (Wake Me When It's Over) from 85k down to 50k for the audio edit. Yes! It was like half the book was gone! It made absolutely no sense to anyone! But that's okay because no one bought it anyway.
Even right now, at this moment, in the Minute of Our Lord 6:03am, I'm writing this blog because I'm putting off revising my book. I should totally be doing that right now, but I'm not feeling it today.
The world is a hard place. And if I know anything about artists, it's that they're supposed to make sense of the world and help to comfort people in times of trouble. But: I've got nothing.
There's a song I've been listening to a lot by The Moody Blues called "I'm Just a Singer in a Rock and Roll Band". The opening of it goes like this:
I'm just a wandering on the face of this earth
Meeting so many people
Who are trying to be free
And while I'm traveling I hear so many words
Language barriers broken
Now we've found the key
And if you want the wind of change
To blow about you
And you're the only other person to know, don't tell me
I'm just a singer in a rock and roll band.
If you go to Wikipedia, it says "The lyrics suggest that music can unite people but says that people should not look to musicians for answers to their problems." But I REALLY don't think that's what the song means. I think it's saying the opposite. Don't hide behind the fact that you're just a singer in a rock and roll band and not share your opinion. You should always speak up, even if you're just a singer in a rock and roll band. That's what I think, anyway. Read the next verse:
A thousand pictures can be drawn from one word
Only who is the artist
We got to agree
A thousand miles can lead so many ways
Just to know who is driving
What a help it would be
So if you want this world of yours
To turn about you
And you can see exactly what to do
Please tell me
I'm just a singer in a rock and roll band.
SEE? "If you can see exactly what to do" shouldn't lead into "stay in your lane, Rock Boy."
I think that this song is saying that even if you're just a singer in a rock and roll band you should make your voice known on important things.
And you know what? I'm a science fiction writer, which is a lot like a singer in a rock and roll band. And you know what I have to say about all of that?
Trans rights are human rights. That's it and everything. Trans people never did anything to hurt anyone, but they are being vilified and attacked from every corner, and they don't deserve any of it. They deserve our love and protection and respect.
Make your voice known.
