Does a writer ever feel like they’ve “arrived”

I mean, sure, if you make the New York Times Bestseller List then I’m pretty sure you may have a better perspective on this. That’s when I’ll truly feel as if I have gotten where I want to be. It’s important to dream big, reach high, and all that other inspirational shit. But we also need to have those little baby benchmarks that keep us going. The smaller victories that all published authors will understand.

But there are different levels of “arriving”

I’m learning this. I have a nice following on twitter. When I first joined I often felt as if crickets should sound. But it was fun to find new people and tweet out my randomness. Now I have over 3,500 followers and there are days when I can tweet about a sneeze and people love it. haha

One of the so called “twitter elite” told me that I am no small potatoes personality. I’ll probably never be whatever the hell the “twitter elite” is. I doubt anyone who does actually claims it. heehee But I do have a great love for the people who seem to enjoy my specific brand of insanity.

And then it happened

I hopped on periscope to do one of my silly random live feeds and I got a bonafide, no mistaking it, reaction seeking troll. This wondrous piece of hatred said a couple of not so nice things about my appearance.

I had a few options

1. I could have gotten all self conscious and self destructed. (Never let other people make you feel bad about yourself)

2.I had the option to let my Irish temper flare and cuss the son-of-a-bitch out. (That just makes you look like an ass though)

3. There’s always the higher ground where you’re the bigger person and ignore the ridiculousness of a stranger making comments that’s essentially don’t matter. (Unfortunately I am not always great at being the bigger person, it’s less fun)

But there is a 4th and lesser known option here:

I’m the weirdo that uses humor. When I got picked on as a kid (we all have at least one bully, no matter who we are) I would do something silly to distract whoever was being a butt-head. Most of the time we ended up being friends after that. Some people say I use humor as a defense mechanism, I don’t think that’s it. I use humor to remind people that we’re all human and it’s always best to laugh and have a good time. Life can be rough on everyone, why not enjoy it while we can, right?

I couldn’t help but laugh at the person who said a couple of not so nice things. I did call them out while giggling, “That’s not very nice.” I also may have stuck my big toe in the shot just because I could. All part of the live feed experience. haha

In reflecting on this

I told my sis and her husband. They cracked up and told me “You have arrived.” Apparently when you get a straight up troll, like totally dogging you, you are someone. haha

I know I’ve always been someone, and I still don’t have a fancy writing desk, or a bestseller yet, but I do have a real troll. haha

So thanks to the asshole who tried to tear me down. I hope I gave you a good laugh with my inability to let stupid comments hurt me and please feel free to hop on next time I go on. This just makes me want to write a comedy even more now. I’ve been kicking around the idea, but comedy is the hardest shit to write. We’ll see if I can pull it off. Just as soon as I finish the 500 other novels I need to get done. heehee