Running in place

Busy at work, busy at home, busy here at my computer.

I don't know how it happened, but I have deadlines everywhere ... well, except at home, of course. But what happened was, last weekend what was supposed to be a minor rearrangement of my office space turned into a two-day reorganization, complete with new furniture, new bookcases, etc.

I'm one of those people who can't pause until it's all put away the way I like. I LOVE it now, but I was offline for almost 2 days.

That means I had about 150 email messages waiting for me, excerpts to post on web sites, a newsletter to get out for my local chapter, and -- oh yeah -- I wrenched my back so I missed a day of work. And that meant I had to get there a bit early today (for me, that's REALLY early, as in 4:30 in the morning) to get caught up on what I missed. We're on deadlines there, too.

I also have to work on my pitches for a conference coming up (pitching my books [and me] to an agent and editor), think about what to pack, get promo materials ready to go, and ...

Oh, yeah. I'VE GOT A BOOK COMING OUT ON THURSDAY. I can't upload that image because I haven't had a chance to resize it yet. But that means I have to start the whole promo thing over again, update my web site (note to self), make lists ...

Juggle juggle juggle.

Is this the calm between the storms?

I've been trying to do a little bit of promo every day, just log on to various loops, chat with some folks, answer a couple of questions, and (if allowed) post an excerpt. I have about 5 excerpts for the book that I want to post, but I don't want to post it all in one swoop, so I'm trying to space them out on different loops.

Next week I'll add another book to the mix, which means I'm going to have to keep track of what I post where, who's reading what, etc.

I've also got contests running on a couple of web site, one for each book. In fact, in one contest, I'll have 2 books (I think. I'm still getting the second one set up). Then I have banner ads going on a couple of sites (I'd point you to them but the banners run randomly, so I'm never sure when I'll see it).

It's getting a bit confusing. I've resorted to yet more Master Lists of what is where and when.
Imagine what it would be like if I was a Big Time Author?

Hmm. Then I'd hire somebody to keep track of it for me. (wink)

So what's changed?

Well, I'm a published author. Has anything changed?

Not really. It's sort of like any other momentous moment in your life: wedding, graduation, death of a loved one. You look around and you think, 'the world should look changed'. But it doesn't. It's still the same world.

I know it feels odd to visit assorted web sites and see my book cover there -- MY book cover. Wow. Imagine how the artist must feel, so that every time she turns around she sees her artwork. Wow.

I hope this is the start of many 'oh, look at that' moments.

whew

The Brownie book is out there. Yet another milestone, yet another learning experience. I am so relieved to finally have a book out on the market -- now I get to see what works and what doesn't for marketing, how my writing will be accepted, and all that jazz.

Big sigh of relief.

Life is getting busy ...

It's weird. There are times when I have ample free time and times when I don't have time to take a deep breath. This is one of those "no time" times.

I think what happens is, as you get older, you expect things to follow a certain pattern. We get up at a certain time, go to work, do the same old things, etc.

In the last week or so, the pattern has been disrupted -- new kitties in my life so new habits are there, a new laptop at work so a whole new experience there, a new book coming out (you knew I'd work it back to writing, didn't you?)

I am doing what I can to cope with the influx of oddities and surprisingly, this blog has helped. It's a stable point in the week: twice a week, Tuesday and Saturday, I have to blog.

Little did you know that you might be contributing to my sanity.

Onward.

Persistence

We adopted two new cats (new to us, that is). M.I.A. is 1 year old, black, and very petite and sweet. Whodini is 5 years old, bulky, blond, and tough -- except in the morning. In the morning he's a pitiable pile of anxiety, crying around the house until he can find a good hiding place.

He found the ceiling tiles in the basement.

To make a long story short (and this will probably appear in a book someday), he's managed to outwit my husband several days in a row and get back up into the ceiling tiles no matter how we try to prevent it.

Persistence. That's the moral of this story. Persistence pays off. It paid off for me. I have a hundred or so rejection letters in my file drawer but I persisted. I considered quitting but I persisted. Whenever I get discouraged, I'm going to think of that silly cat, making a run at the ceiling to try to get inside.

Persistence.

Yea!

Release date for the Brownie Book ("Brownies, Bodies, and Breaking the Code") is (drumroll please) in 10 days!

Yepper, we have liftoff! The digital version will release on June 15 and EXCITEMENT the print version will be out on August 10 -- whoopee! I thought the print version would be held until Christmas time (which would be fine since it's a Christmas book) but I was grandfathered (grandmothered?) in under the old publishing rules, so it will release faster.

This gives me two great opportunity this years to do print promo ... oh, boy, am I having fun?
You bet.

Leaping into the unknown

One of my best friends quit her job and is not sure what is next in her life. That's a big leap into the unknown, but it's one she felt she had to take given the job, where she is in life, etc.

The next few months are a series of leaps into the unknown for me. I'll have two books out this month. Granted, they're in download so for a lot of folks, those don't count but for many, many people they do count (especially for my publisher). I am now entering Unknown Territory: chat promotions, online promotions, contests, and creating a 'web presence'. Then the books will go into print and there will be all new leaps -- as I try to convince bookstores to carry the books, as I seek an agent and perhaps new publishers or new markets.

The thing I keep in mind about all this is something my father told me: "Will a child die if you don't accomplish ? If the answer is no, it's really not that critical."

I can do what I'm comfortable with and just enjoy this, and I plan to do just that. Sometimes leaping into the unknown can be fun, sometimes weird, sometimes scary. But it's ALWAYS interesting.