The thing about me is that a little bit of money excites me. And what I mean by that is: the other day, I got an unexected royalty cheque due to the German translation of my Black Lace book. Not a large amount, to most - 1500 pounds - but to me...well.
That's an enormous amount of money to just get, unexpectedly. I don't know what to do with it. Pay off a loan, most probably...or maybe buy a new bed. Because although I do get excited, I tend to get excited in a rather practical sort of way. I don't think of mansions, when it comes to money. I don't think of blowing 1500 pounds on a massive telly.
I think of a time when I might be free of any loans or bills, and am then able to buy a bed without worrying. Occasionally, I dream about having a cabin in the woods, and filling it with films and books. Or maybe one day I'll have enough money to only ever eat Marks and Spencers ready meals, instead of pizzas from ASDA.
To be honest, I can't even imagine what I'd do with millions. Give it all away, I think. I'm not sure I'd be happy knowing I could buy thousands of beds, when loads of other people out there have no beds at all. I'd remember too keenly what it's like to have nothing, and how easy it would be to stop someone else feeling that way.
So I'd perhaps keep enough for myself to have the cabin, with the floor to ceiling films and books and the Marks and Spencers ready meals. And Husband could have his jet ski, for the lake nearby. And then everything else would go to people like me, who dreamt once of the simple comfort money could bring them.
Yeah. That's what I would do, if I were rich.
1500 pounds is not a lot of money? You must be a lot better off than I am!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations, in any case!
There's nothing like getting a bit of unexpected cash - not only for the money itself, but if it's for your writing, there's that validation. I'm sure you have hundreds of Germans creaming over your stories right now!
Lisabet - I was saying it's not a lot of money to some people. It's a lot of money to me! It's an astronomical amount of money to just get out of the blue, to me. And yeah, it was a huge deal to me to get that German translation! It seems like something only really big authors get, so I was doubly excited. Little me, with a German deal!
ReplyDeleteCharlotte, I am in awe. 1500 pounds is not a lot of money compared to my teaching salary, but I got a royalty statement re the German translation of one of those Black Lace books (an anthology, Wicked Words #3, in which I have 2 stories), and it was stamped "too small to pay." So now I know that those translations actually do make money for the original writers. Go you.
ReplyDelete