While Storm Chandra smacked us full in the face here in Northern Ireland on Tuesday, my hubby, son and I hunkered down quite contentedly at home with no work or school to contend with. It’s not the first time that we’ve been hit with an amber warning for ‘danger to life’ amidst wind that causes somersaulting wheely bins, rain that pelts like hail, and flashes of thunder and lightning, but this time we all got a day off from the daily grind.
What does one do when gifted unexpected, and precious, free time? In my case, reading and writing, arts and crafts.
Before I get into that, I’ll mention an article I read a few days ago about whether artists should get paid a basic income, like in Ireland. I doubt writers are considered towards that fund, since it seems that writing is generally considered more of a privilege than a profession; think about how often readers expect to receive an author’s books for free, and you might get the idea. Shouldn’t writers be well paid for their hard work? Society doesn’t seem to think so. To elaborate on my point, let me mention my hardcover books. The majority sell quite well for £18.99 a copy. Of the retail price, I receive about 10% in royalties. Not much of a living, is it? Imagine if writers could apply for a business grant to support their work; this would enliven bookstores with a wealth of fresh voices from diverse backgrounds, rather than the same safe cohort of authors from the same safe socioeconomic backgrounds.
I’m being a bit cynical there, I know, but despite my hard edge, I still continue to dream, and to write. On Tuesday, I prioritised working on my new literary horror novel, WIP#11, as I’m full of ideas and inspiration for this project. I haven’t abandoned ghost novel WIP#7; I’m nearly done with the final draft, in fact, but I’m much more excited by my new WIP, and therefore striking while the iron is hot.
Aside from writing, I decided to make a new door wreath. Yule has passed but it’s not quite time for the Easter wreath to make an appearance yet. Instead, I attached fly agaric craft embellishments to a willow ring to make an ‘in-between-seasons’ craft wreath. Simple, but effective.
Spending such a productive day doing the things I’m passionate about made me realise how much authors would be able to accomplish if grants or sponsorship existed to fund a writing lifestyle. Arts council funding has not existed for individual authors since lockdown, half a decade ago. Whilst it is nice to receive a supplementary payment from my writing royalties at the end of each month, it’s not much money, and the amount differs each time depending on sales, therefore it’s not reliable as a source of income for me to make a living from.
But hey, I’m doing what I love, and I’ve reached upwards of a thousand readers at this point, after five years of marketing my own books, so that’s something to celebrate, isn’t it? I’m thankful for the audience that I’ve built, and that’s why I write.
Leilanie Stewart 
Glad you were able to make good use of your windfall (!) day off. Good points made: I’m grateful to get readers, and the small amount of money I make, but like you I write for the enjoyment of it. 😊