So I thought I would talk a little bit about some of the emotions that authors go through (as the mood and time strikes me here on the blog). After all, we write about our characters’ emotions in our books, surely we have some of our own to talk about, right?
The emotion of the day? Jealousy.
Yep, I’ll admit it — I get jealous of other authors from time to time. I think any author who says that she never gets jealous is probably lying. Nobody is that nice all the time. Or maybe I’m just that cynical. 
So what I’m a jealous of? Lots of things. I wonder why this author got more promotion than I did. Or why so-and-so hit the best-seller list when my books are just as good as hers. Why everyone on the Internet seems to love someone’s new book and not mine. Why I never feel like one of the in-crowd or cool kids whenever I go to conferences. Sometimes, when a book I read truly blows me away, I’m jealous that it’s a story that I didn’t write. Why didn’t I have that brilliant idea instead of her?
I imagine these are the same things that lots of other authors are jealous of too. In case you haven’t noticed by now, us writers are a pretty neurotic bunch.
But I think it’s what you do with your jealousy that’s important. Me? I try to channel it into something positive. I try to work harder and smarter, do more promotion, and, of course, continuously work to improve my own writing so that maybe I’ll be the one making the best-seller list and getting rave reviews the next time around.
I’ll admit that I’m not always successful. Wheezley, my significant other, has listened to me gripe and grumble about these sorts of things many times. He usually just rolls his eyes and distracts me with some chocolate. Sadly, it usually works.
But at least I’m trying to slay the green-eyed monster. In the end, I think that’s what matters most. Well, that and the chocolate.
What about you guys? Does jealousy ever rear its ugly head with you? How do you deal with it? Share in the comments.
Hi Jennifer,
I can never say that I haven’t been jealous of others, because that would be a lie. I don’t get jealous anymore of people since I learned that I will be successful if I cheer and support others. Guess where I learned this? Doing at-home sales as an independent sales rep for a beauty and wellness company. One would think that there would be a lot of competition between us ladies for better sales, but with the bunch of ladies I was with, we were taught from our mentors that we will be personally and financially sucessful if we help and support each other out. And, it worked.
Now, I will say that if my husband was being accosted by another woman, well I surely wouldn’t be cheering her on. I would be getting all green eyed for sure.
Natascha — That’s really cool that you all work together like that, especially in a field as competitve as sales.
Heh — anyone who goes after somebody else’s spouse deserves the green-eyed wrath — and then some.