Redefining the Dream

In yesterday’s USA Today, I read the feature on Adriana Trigiani, described as “one of the reigning queens of women’s fiction.” The interview takes place, the reporter tell us, in Trigiani’s “brick town house in Greenwich Village” — a sprawling showplace for rose print fabrics and curvaceous furniture.

Adriana’s had six best sellers in six years. Her seventh novel, just out, represents just one small portion of the Adriana Trigiani media empire — she’s also negotiated herself a position as the screenwriter and director for the movie version of her novel, Big Stone Gap.

The story makes my heart ache a little.

Adriana, you see, has beaten all the odds; in an industry that can’t toss writers aside fast enough, she’s a Best Selling Author.

The vast majority of books published each year are entirely disposable. They appear on shelves, are overlooked by critics and buyers, and disappear within six months or less. By contrast, Adriana’s pumping out a best seller a year; her eager fans can’t snap ’em up quickly enough.

To achieve this sort of cult following, you need more than a book. These days, savvy publishers see writers as products — personalities they can peddle along with the text. In addition to her prolific writing talent, Adriana’s got that trademark pile of curly hair, a sassy smile, a warm personality, and a strong sense of personal style. In other words, she’s the sort of author publishers dream of signing.

She’s got the best sellers. She’s got the recognition. She’s got the fans. She’s got the book tours and the features in USA Today. She’s got the Greenwich Village townhouse. She’s got the power to force Hollywood to let her write and direct her own screenplays. Adriana’s living the dream.

For me, for years, The Dream was simple: I wanted to walk into a bookstore and see a book by Mark McElroy on the shelf.

Putting the Tarot to Work realized that dream. The book came out in 2004; I had the pleasure of seeing it on bookshelves around the world. In fact, I went on a kind of safari — whatever city we visited, I made a point of wandering through the chain and independent stores, just to see if they stocked me. Despite the fact that Tarot is a niche market, I saw the book in a lot of places.

In fact, as niche markets go, Tarot is a niche of a niche — a tiny little chunk of the larger self-help, metaphysical, or “Mind Body Spirit” genre. For a niche author, I’m doing pretty well. I did three Tarot books, the Bright Idea Deck, I Ching for Beginners, and Lucid Dreaming for Beginners (due out in February of 2007) for Llewellyn. My best-selling book so far is The Absolute Beginner’s Guide to Tarot. I wrote the book for Lo Scarabeo’s Da Vinci Tarot. Since then, I’ve scripted five more decks, written 101 Reasons to Switch to a Mac, and sold a short novel.

That’s not a bad list of achievements for having been in the game for two years.

While I’m proud of my productivity, on a deeply personal level, I’m a bit disappointed over the income these projects have generated so far. Without going into too much personal detail, let’s just say I won’t be buying a Greenwich Village townhouse anytime soon.

To be frank, I’d like my work to be more rewarding. Not so I can “get more stuff,” but so I can make a larger contribution toward making sure Clyde and I, in the future, can live where we want to live and travel where we want to travel for the rest of our lives.

So: I’m taking a long — and overdue — look at where my work is taking me. The first realization? For years, the dream was seeing one of my books on the shelf. Having achieved that, instead of defining new dreams, I’ve been living the same dream over and over again. It’s time to define next steps … and then pursue them with all the time and energy needed to make them into realities.

The universe is out there. Helpers are on hand. God is listening. When the door opens, when the opportunity arises for me to do whatever I want to do … I need to have that next step defined.

Adriana: you go, girl. You inspire me. I’m happy for you.

And me? I’m forty-two. I’m off to a good start. I’ve got good friends and good contacts. I’ve got the best tools money can buy.

It’s time to redefine the dream, set new goals, and reach them.