Byzantine Blog
Probably the only vaguely interesting thing about me is that with my wife, Mary Reed, I co-author the John the Eunuch mystery series set in sixth century Constantinople. But that doesn't stop me from dwelling here on the boring minutiae of the rest of my life, present and past, along with the occasional word about writing.
Read/Post Comments (2)
--Michel de Montaigne
Luck or Design?
Rickey was an innovative baseball executive who, among other things, created the framework to the modern minor league system. In 1947, as general manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers, he helped break baseball's color barrier by bringing Jackie Robinson to the major leagues.
When I think of Branch Rickey I always think of his quotes:
"Luck is the residue of design."
I can't say whether Rickey ever explained what he meant, but I've always taken it he was referring to how those who plan and work diligently tend to get "lucky" more often than those who don't.
There are few endeavors where luck plays a greater role than it does in the writing profession and there are too many writers who never quite succeed depite their best efforts. Nevertheless, it's remarkable how the author who pens a single novel and then sits around waiting for lightning to strike ends up bitter and unpublished, grumbling about the people who get all the breaks, who were all working on seventh or eigth or tenth book when the breaks finally arrived.
Which is maybe my way of reminding myself I'm supposed to be revising the mystery novel today.
Read/Post Comments (2)
Previous Entry :: Next Entry
Back to Top
