AKA Author Spotlight on Katie Lee

The Green Eyed Monster
By Katie Lee

We’ve all felt it.

Remember when you were a kid and another child got a toy you wanted, or a dessert, or a better grade or just something that you wanted but didn’t have? Remember that feeling?

That’s jealousy.

And it doesn’t go away with age or maturity. It lurks. And it can wreak havoc unless you’re aware of it.

But you might be asking yourself. . .why am I talking about jealousy?

Well, I have a confession. I have felt a bit envious of Louise, the very gracious owner of this blog.

Louise, in case you didn’t know, has a book out called “Wishless” which sounds very intriguing. It’s next on my Kindle queue. Louise is also a fellow writer at AKA Literary, LLC, the awesome literary agency that reps us both. We both share an agent, the amazing Terrie Wolf, and it’s how we’ve gotten to know each other. I’ve never met Louise in person but from our communications in cyberspace, she has always been supportive, kind, gracious and has given me no cause to feel envious of her at all. She’s not boastful and she’s not the type of person to rub your nose into her success. In short, she’s a very cool person who you’d have to work very hard to find a reason to dislike.

So why the jealousy?

This is where I had to be brutally honest with myself, and let’s face it. . .that’s not one of my strengths. Louise, you see, has a book published, and all that goes with it. It’s what I’ve dreamed of since I started making up stories as a little girl. She’s gotten to hold her book in her hands, been to a book signing, done awesome promotional work for it.

She has something I want.

And then I realized, jealousy is a very irrational emotion. I use it to evoke irrational behaviors and actions in my characters so you’d think it would have hit me sooner.

I felt jealous because I thought, illogically, that Louise’s success would somehow diminish my own. That her being published somehow would impact my ability to do so. And every sale she made took away from my own, yet-to-be-realized sales. That there was someone, somewhere, keeping count and that for every author published, the imaginary quota would fill up and there would be no more for me.

That’s all rubbish.

There is plenty of room in the publishing industry for both of us. Walk into any library or bookstore and you’ll know this is true. There is a dizzying array of books out there. There’s plenty of room out there for all of us. There’s no quota, it’s not a competition or race.

The fact of the matter is. . .jealousy is a knee-jerk reaction. You have what I want so therefore, I dislike you.

It makes no sense and is actually counterproductive. Life’s about relationships. . .about the connections you make. And you do that through supporting and lifting each other up. Jealousy has no place in that. Every book Louise sells is a reflection of her talent, which doesn’t diminish or take away from any talent I might have.

The fact of the matter is. . .writing is a solitary profession. It’s a little lonely too, even as you’re immersed in a world full of rich, dynamic characters, it’s still just you, in a room with your computer (or pad/pen if you’re truly old school). And the publication journey? Can be agonizing. So having some friends, those who have been down that road, who have that unique understanding about the pitfalls and challenges and can support you? That’s invaluable.

That’s what matters. Not that someone got something that you want. Not that they got it first. Not that your turn hasn’t come yet. . .because the key word there is “yet.” Maybe you didn’t get that toy then, but you did get a toy you wanted eventually, just like you’ll get that grade, or book deal.

So that’s my confession. Thank you Louise for letting me share it. It was good for the soul.

And I wish you every success and amazing sale numbers and I want everyone reading this blog, if they haven’t done so already to go and get a copy of “Wishless”. . .now! I know my turn will come and I’ll be patiently (or sometimes not so much – I’m not a saint after all!) waiting until then, making sure that green-eyed monster stays locked tightly away in the closet.