What am I now?

What do you say when someone asks you what you do for a living?  After college, I pursued a career as a photographer and was partners in a small camera store. I was a photographer.  Eventually, when I saw the advantages of a paycheck I joined the Chicago Police Department.  Over the course of the next thirty years, I rose in rank from officer to sergeant to lieutenant.  So, for most of my life, I was a cop.  My answer was I’m a police officer.

After thirty years, I retired.  The pension and benefits were there and it was time to pull the pin and move on to my next career.  For the next three years, I answered the question with “I’m retired.”  Now I have a new career.  I write.

In the last year, I’ve published a cookbook, three novels, and a short story.  Currently, I am putting the final polish on my fourth novel and have been exploring creating an audiobook version of my short story.

Now my question is what do I call myself now when someone asks me my occupation?  I really don’t feel comfortable calling myself an author or writer just yet.  Perhaps that’s silly.  I certainly put in the time.  Between writing and marketing my books I spend at least eight hours a day working at the job.  That’s usually seven days a week.  I just feel calling myself an author to be a little arrogant yet.

Looking at my bookkeeping I see that I certainly am selling books and turned a profit for last year.  I’m not going to buy that dream home yet but it is the kind of positive reinforcement that you need to continue.

I know that if I live to be one hundred I will always consider myself a retired copper first.  I bleed blue.  I wonder if I will ever overcome feeling silly calling myself an author too.

beatcar

P.O. Robert Weisskopf assigned to CPD Beat 1511 in the late 1980’s

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Bob Weisskopf

Author, Father, Struggling Cook,

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