The Square Peg – Shut Up and Leave Me Alone!
©
S. Bradley Stoner
“What are you doing?!”
“I’m thinking,”
I replied to one of my inner voices.
“No, you’re not… you’re
playing Mahjong.”
“It helps me think.”
“Baloney,” said another
inner voice, “you’re procrastinating.”
“No, I’m THINKING. This helps me think.”
“There’s no need to
shout, for Pete’s sake. It’s not like we can’t hear you,” rejoined a third. “Look,
you need to get back to work on the space infrastructure book… you haven’t done
anything on that in a week.”
“No,” interjected the
first, “you need to wrap up the novel. You’ve been working on that for years.
It’s about time you finished it.”
“Better finish editing
that romance,” said the second. “At least that will earn you a little money.”
“If he finished the
novel, that could earn him a pile of money,” protested the first.
“Oh posh!” cried the
third. “Your co-author just told you The Case for Pandora is starting to sell…
finish the next one! You know they will make money!”
“Peanuts,” the second
said sourly. “Besides, no guarantees on either of the other two. The romance
editing job is a lock.”
“Geez, guys, give it a rest, will you? I’ve been pounding
the keyboard for years. I need a little time to myself.”
“Spoken like a true
procrastinator,” said the second.
“Yeah,” added the third,
“why do you want to take time off… it’s not like you’re getting any younger.”
“Exactly,” the first
intoned solemnly, “you could shuffle off this mortal coil tomorrow… leaving
everything unfinished.”
“Shakespeare?? You’re going to quote Shakespeare to me? Seriously?”
“Hey, you can’t argue
with the Bard, pard… the man will live forever… and you could too, if you’d
just get busy.”
“Bard, schmard,”
snorted the third. “That’s the past… the future is in space travel. I mean, you
just have to look at where Musk, Branson, and Bigelow are going. Finish the
infrastructure book and help them get there.”
“Somehow, I don’t think they need my help. They seem to have
a pretty good handle on things.”
“Now you’re just being
self-deprecating… knock that crap off! You and your partner have some bold ideas…
it’s time to boldly go…”
“Don’t you dare quote Star Trek to me!”
“Just sayin’, bro.”
“Crimeny!” shouted the
first, “you know as well as I do, that science crap doesn’t sell worth a damn!
Adventure, excitement… that’s what the public wants. Finish the damn novel!”
“Oh, come on!” blurted
the second. “Just look at the statistics… romance outsells both of those lame
genres...”
This was going to drive me around the bend. I mouse-clicked
on the little speaker symbol on Mahjong and let the monotonous music flow,
trying to drown out the voices in my head.
“What the hell are you
doing?!” all three chorused.
“I’M THINKING DAMMIT! SHUT UP AND LEAVE ME ALONE!”