Month: May 2017

Wiscon 41

You know I’ll be there. I always am.

Thanks to Catrina Horsfield for the awesome flier.

In addition to this reading, I will be on a Gothic Fiction panel Saturday at 1 pm. Looking forward to seeing folks and meeting people.

That Crazy Legacy

My next year of living writerly post is going to be called the future, because the future came knocking this week, and you might like to hear about how one might manage the future, but I thought this week I would talk about a personal topic, and try to be thoughtful.

Yeah. Like that.

As you may or may not be aware, my last parent passed away, quite unexpectedly, in January. You might also be aware of how my background wasn’t the best. I’ve been coming to grips with a lot of energy that is now floating ambient throughout the universe. All that energy that used to be against is now just energy. I have begun to take a good solid look at who I am and what my background has made me, and where I’ve gone and some of the choices I’ve made.

One of the things I’ve discovered is fear, although I don’t think I knew it was fear. So much of my life has been designed to screen and shelter. I have a deflective sense of humor, I have built image and entitlement around myself through my profession, and I reveal my true self to very few people. I go through life playing a variety of roles. Well, there are some positives here, and I am really quite funny and adaptable, but when you think about going through life vulnerable, well, I made a decision to give up my address in Vulnerable a long time ago.

If the screens didn’t work, if the deflections didn’t work, there is always the crazy. I’ve always painted myself as someone who stands up for the honor of others, or tries to protect people from harm, but I’m pretty sure what I’ve been doing is protecting myself from things that make me uncomfortable by pretending to protect other people. Because when all else fails, judgmental craziness has been known to work, right? Mistakes have been made. Lies have been told to myself about myself.

Lest this sounds too severe, I know we all do something like this. I know we all have foibles, flaws, and regrets. I’m actually quite lucky inasmuch as I am a pretty self-aware crazy person. My biggest issue with myself isn’t that I’ve been fearful. It’s that I’ve lashed out when I’ve been afraid and pretended it’s been for a good cause. The good news is I understand better what I’m doing now, and will be doing my best to not do this. Habits are hard to break, but I will become a better person for breaking this one.

Don’t read this as regret about leaving my family. There’s chasing people away, and there’s understanding when to walk away, or, as Kenny Rogers says, knowing when to run. However, if your first reaction is to justify chasing someone away by pretending virtue or protection, when you could just not do anything, smile and move on, or you could avoid the situation, well, there you go. You need to do some work. You aren’t going to like everyone or everything, but you don’t have to make a lie of it because you’re afraid.

That said, I’ve broken a few vases and I can’t see how those can be fixed, and therein lies regret. I think the best you can do in those situations is apologize if it comes up, and move on with new behavior. That’s not only the best you can do, but it is all you can do. Sorry to get heavy.

One more thing for me to note to myself. I am an introvert. It is okay to be quiet. It is okay to be awkward. It is allowed. And you know, maybe people do make you uncomfortable. So be more cautious, not judgmental.

Okay. Nice talk. 😀

The Year of Living Authorly: Post 11 Juggling Many Balls

I have to say at this point I’m feeling it.

It started when I was working on The Pawn of Isis and The Vessel of Ra came back for edits. My editor was very fast, and I turned the edits around very fast, both times. What I was not used to was the idea of writing two projects at one time. Toss!

I was recently, happily, asked to participate in an anthology for which I must produce a themed short story. Yes! Toss!

I am diligently speeding through and enjoying writing The Pawn of Isis for the 4th time. My 3rd revision didn’t do what I wanted, and I know how to write it better now. I wish I’d known that before, but hey, growth as a writer! Toss!

Oh, hey! My book comes out September 12th. I’m going to conventions, and I’m needing to get some book tours and events set up. I need to change my email server because the friend who’s been supporting me is filling up. Toss!

Here’s an organized list of things I still think I need to do to get ready for book support:

1. Find out about ARCs.
2. Send ARCs out to advanced readers for blurbs and reviews.
3. Arrange merchandising.
4. Arrange freebies.
5. Arrange book launches.
6. Arrange appearances.
7. Keep going to conventions
8. Keep track of all of this for accounting purposes.

Toss! Toss! Toss! Toss! Toss! Toss! Toss! and Toss!

And finally, online support. This blog, those podcasts, and that other blog. And maybe a blog tour? I dunno, maybe. And a newsletter. And….

I want all these complications, make no mistake. But it might be a good idea to make a note for you as you look over these to realize, yes, these are things that you might encounter as a debut author. Just thinking about that.

Next up: I start work on my list of advanced readers.