No, not me! I'm never happier than when I'm cleaning, cooking, and choking on my words...but...in response to Talli Roland's post today about writers writing for love (or was that cupbakes?) not money, (as there's precious little on offer,) I came across this...
I've just been reading about Grace Metalious, the author of the slutty Peyton Place, and found some inspiration in her motivation. Grace was a 32 year old stay-at-home mother of three. She was truly a desperate housewife and sat down to pen Peyton Place hoping it would lift her out of the 'cage of poverty and mediocrity' where she felt trapped. She was driven and passionate, neglected her 'wifely duties' to write ten hours a day. The dishes piled up in the sink and dust accumulated throughout her ramshackle home, hmm, there might be a link here! Independent and single-minded, she was certainly not typical of women of her day.
In her book, Grace lifted the lid off the box of repressive 1950's society and there was no putting it back on. A controversial figure, she became an instant celebrity, both applauded and reviled. Fan letters from some, brickbats from others.
Sadly, the pressure of fame bacame too much and she turned to alcohol, lost her fortune, then her life, all before her fortieth birthday.
Whatever we think of Peyton Place and Grace's life, it is an undeniable fact that it took tremendous courage for a wife and mother in the 1950s to write and publish (after about five rejections) a bombshell of a book like Peyton Place. It became an Academy Award nominated film, a sequel, and a wildly-popular television series which paved the way for Dallas, Twin Peaks and yes, Desperate Housewives where Wisteria Lane is truly an extension of Elm Street and Maple, the thoroughfare that criss-crossed the town of Peyton Place.
When asked in an interview if she thought her creation would be remembered, Grace replied, 'I doubt it very much.' Last I heard, Sandra Bullock was planning a major motion picture based on Metalious' biography. So, Talli, Grace got more than cupcakes!
See what can happen if you write for ten hours a day, every day! Are we up for it?
I've just been reading about Grace Metalious, the author of the slutty Peyton Place, and found some inspiration in her motivation. Grace was a 32 year old stay-at-home mother of three. She was truly a desperate housewife and sat down to pen Peyton Place hoping it would lift her out of the 'cage of poverty and mediocrity' where she felt trapped. She was driven and passionate, neglected her 'wifely duties' to write ten hours a day. The dishes piled up in the sink and dust accumulated throughout her ramshackle home, hmm, there might be a link here! Independent and single-minded, she was certainly not typical of women of her day.
Sadly, the pressure of fame bacame too much and she turned to alcohol, lost her fortune, then her life, all before her fortieth birthday.
Whatever we think of Peyton Place and Grace's life, it is an undeniable fact that it took tremendous courage for a wife and mother in the 1950s to write and publish (after about five rejections) a bombshell of a book like Peyton Place. It became an Academy Award nominated film, a sequel, and a wildly-popular television series which paved the way for Dallas, Twin Peaks and yes, Desperate Housewives where Wisteria Lane is truly an extension of Elm Street and Maple, the thoroughfare that criss-crossed the town of Peyton Place.
When asked in an interview if she thought her creation would be remembered, Grace replied, 'I doubt it very much.' Last I heard, Sandra Bullock was planning a major motion picture based on Metalious' biography. So, Talli, Grace got more than cupcakes!
See what can happen if you write for ten hours a day, every day! Are we up for it?
