I’m Lin Harper — that’s Dr. Harper to some, thank you! I am a Ph.D. with my own writing credentials, a wife, a daughter, “mom” to lovely labrador retrievers and a tiny parrot (whom you’ll hear lots about, I’m sure!), co-owner of a 107-year-old Victorian cottage here in Hattiesburg, MS, a teacher, a counselor, and a grant writer. I serve on a couple of non-profit boards and am interested in the building and development of a saner, safer community for all residents. And, of course, I’m The Writer’s Wife.
Ronnie Blackwell, author of Serve It Cold, a Lulu book and a Podiobooks Podcast Novel, is my husband. We’ve been married for over two decades, mostly good years — and getting better! Ronnie has been struggling for many years with his writing work, and has finally lost the battle! His last day of working on someone else’s schedule was yesterday; his new job is full-time writing. If you go out to his website (RonnieBlackwell.com), you’ll see all the things he is busily doing to be a full-time writer.
He’s telling his story there. I’ll be telling the same story from a different perspective here, and I think there’ll be plenty of stories to tell! I hope you’ll keep joining us to find out what’s going on with the writing, the writer, and The Writer’s Wife.
Hi, I logged onto your site for any helpful information about living with a working writer. My husband retired and is now working on his first novel. It is amazing how much everyone loves it so far, but I now find that it totally consumes him. Everyday he is upstairs on the computer, when we talk, we talk about “the book”. Your comments have been helpful, and point me in the direction I knew I needed to go anyway. I just need to get on with my own agenda. I like the idea of a shared calendar. I want to encourage him and help with research, but need more, I think you know what I mean. One is not fulfilled by someone else.
Hi, Karen. Your comments touch me. It is hard to live with an artist, regardless of the art form. Their passion for the “piece” sort of seems to drown out other things, and sometimes it feels like I’m drowning in it, too.
Like you, I have found I have to “get on with my own agenda,” stay the course with my own work, my own art, my own passions, and we come back to some sort of mid-range operations.
I once read somewhere (probably a Hallmark card) that true love is not two people gazing into one another’s eyes, but two people looking in the same direction — Okay, hokey, but somehow, also true for me. We share a vision for his work, at least to the extent I am able, but we also share a vision for my work, our life together, our family. As long as we are looking “in the same direction” on those important pieces, the rest will sort itself out with time and love.
Please feel free to come back and continue to share your own struggles with us all. I appreciate your comments and send my best to you.