January 2nd of any year fills me with as much excitement as the kick off of the holiday season. As much as I love all the hoopla, I also love the the un-hoopla. In fact, by New Year’s Day, my hoopla meter has begun to spin into a red-hot, critical alert zone and it’s only with the careful removal of decorations, making writing a priority, the return to exercise and healthy eating that I can survive. Today, two out of three of my boys are back in school and it it will be that way until Tuesday, so I’m thinking of these last half-hoopla days as kind of a blitz to get ready to get down to the business of revision. Decorations will get stowed, healthy food shopped for and the laundry needs to get done! (Ha! you knew that was coming.) All in preparation for me digging in and finishing my revisions ASAP! It is time. The story I’m writing is pushing me to go out into the world.
So, here is my list of “resolutions” or what I’m thinking of as my IT’S TIME TO list for 2013.
It’s time to…
*Return to healthy eating and exercise-PRONTO! I feel toxic and I can’t stand it.
*Try very hard to get to bed at an earlier hour and get more sleep. I do everything better with more sleep.
*Finish revising THE OPPOSITE OF GRAVITY with a hard focus.
*Sell THE OPPOSITE OF GRAVITY!
*Continue to market the heck out of TOUCHING THE SURFACE and sell more copies.
*Sell the foreign rights of TOUCHING THE SURFACE. (Come on–how cool would that be?)
*Do more school visits because I love them.
*Be a speaker at more writing and book events. (Putting my blabber mouth to use.)
*Continue to read in and outside my box, because every book I ingest informs my future writing endeavors. Be a sponge.
*Continue to know who I am as a writer. This is my journey and only I can own it.
What about you? What’s on the agenda for 2013? How do you feel about the hoopla? Are you ready for a clean slate or are you curled up under a crunchy tree, eating the last of the cookies and singing carols? What’s the plan Stan?
Tomorrow TOUCHING THE SURFACE launches in the middle of Frankenstorm–Hurricane Sandy.
I can’t say I’m surprised. In fact, secretly I’ve been expecting just this kind of cataclysmic event. Why would anyone anticipate an epic perfect storm on the day of their book launch? Because little do you know dear reader–I am a Griswald.
I clearly remember it–my parents coming home from seeing the first National Lampoon Vacation movie, laughing uncontrollably, with my mother snorting as she announced, “they’ve made a movie about your father.”
That’s where it began. It wasn’t long before National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation became our family must see holiday movie of choice. And when we crossed our arms and said, “C-l-a-r-k….” My dad responded as quickly as if we’d called him by his real name. And every time we pulled out of the driveway on vacation, the song Holiday Road played loudly on everyone’s inner radio and we’d all take a collective breath, wondering what Griswaldish event would happen first. Because we knew that it was inescapable.
Just so you know, being a Griswald isn’t all fun and games. There have been many Clark inspired events that we learned to laugh about later, because let me assure you, they didn’t seem funny at the time. Like that time we all ate at the Turkey Box during vacation and on the way back to the hotel room (the one that only had one bathroom) we all exhibited some rather aggressive stomach grumbling. And I wish I could show you a video, because yes, my dad did race his own kids to the room while clutching the seat of his pants. See what I mean, not funny at the time, but a keeper that’s told during almost every family get together. But over the years, these Griswald moments, have taught me some very important stuff–like how humor can be an after-the-fact, acquired taste. Which has further led me to believe that sometimes it’s easier to just go with the flow and find the Griswaldian stuff funny straight out of the gate, saving myself a little stress and a lot gray hair.
So, Hurricane Sandy aka Frankenstorm will be Griswalding my very first book launch. Ya know–for the book that’s dedicated to my dad–Clark. *snort* I will not be going for a run and hi-fiving a random stranger like I planned. I will not be road tripping to local bookstores like I planned. I may not even be obsessively stalking the internet like I planned. LOL! But you know what–I will be doing the one thing I always dreamed about–taking the literary world by storm! LOL!
So, I’m depending on you, my friends. As I said, there is a very good possibility that I’ll have little to no internet access the day of my book launch, so I’m hoping you can help me get the word out. And if you’re on the east coast–stay safe so we can laugh about this later. Love you, guys and I hope you love TOUCHING THE SURFACE. <3
PS if you are battening down the hatches against Frankenstorm–charge that e-reader and at 12:01 tonight–download a copy of TOUCHING THE SURFACE to help you ride out the storm. Don’t forget to hum Holiday Road…
It’s now Saturday morning and I’ve just realized that I somehow missed Friday’s blog post. *head thunk* As much as I’ve enjoyed the summer, I think I really need fall to kick-into-gear so I can have a regular schedule. Sometimes us pansters need a little bit of structure to be effective free spirits LOL! So what was I doing instead of chatting with you? Well, I’ve been knee deep in swag, emails, construction on the house and…
These were some of my favorite pics from the day. I’m sure after seeing them, you will forgive me for being late. So, what are you going to miss now that the summer is coming to an end and what are you looking forward to in the fall?
I’m road tripping with my mom and the boys today. Wish I could take you all with me…but wait…if you watch this…it will almost feel like you got to come. Minus all the complaining in the car. Not a bad deal LOL!
And now I need to know you’re favorite rock, stone or mineral. I’m a Pisces and my birthstone is the aquamarine, so that’s always been a favorite of mine. But there are so many gorgeous ones.
I went skiing with the family this weekend and was talking to one of the instructors who was working with my oldest son. We were discussing how the eleven-year-old talked me into going down my first blue trail. *head thunk* I’ve only skied 3x’s so far so this was stretching my comfort zone quite a bit. I mentioned how I was a little bit nervous scared out of my gourd, going down that steep, slippery slope. The eleven-year-old talked about how freaking great it was, but also admitted to taking a tumble at the end. Although he did go down a bit after and with a touch more finesse than I, I was proud to announce that I HAD NOT FALLEN AT ALL!!! Much to my chagrin, the instructor looked at me and then congratulated the eleven-year-old for taking a tumble.
“If you’re not falling–then you’re not trying hard enough.” He said.
Damn–I hate it when my kids and their ski instructors are right.
Too often I operate in protection mode–afraid of getting hurt. I’m aware that this is not always a bad thing. There are occasions when jumping head-long, unprepared into an adventure is a recipe for disaster. But sometimes it’s just a quiet way of being scared. Let’s face it–there are some moments when it’s exhilarating to race forward. If you never try, you never have the wind in your hair. (This is metaphorical because yes, I had my helmet on–safety girl.) But this is not just a lesson for the slopes. It’s how I should view my writing life (picture moments with paralyzing fear-of-failure while working on book #2) and even who I choose to be on a daily basis.
I’m never going to ski the black diamond slopes the first time out of the gate or the equivalent of that. This is not a failure of internal fortitude, it’s common sense and it will keep me alive. And I like it that way. But… I have those moments where I’m coasting along, happy and comfortable. Yet there’s a niggling feeling in the back of my mind that says–you should be, could be doing more–a hint that there are bigger and better things waiting for me if I take a chance. My instinct has always been to say–but I might fall! I CONSTANTLY have to remind myself that nothing good can ever happen if I live my life watching from the sidelines or taking only small risks while sheathed in bubble wrap. Writing a novel was a risk. I fell A LOT but guess what–I got up. Falling didn’t make me a failure–it also didn’t make me an author. But moving forward did and the thing to keep in mind is that you can’t follow your dreams if you’re sitting on your ass watching the world go by.
Just remember that when you’re chasing your dreams…if you’re not falling–then you’re not trying hard enough.
What’s the biggest fear that holds you back from chasing your dreams. What helps you get back up when you take a spill? Any good mantras that I need in my repertoire?
It’s official, for the time being, Simon Pulse is stuck with me!!!! I’ve signed my contract. Wanna see?
Because a watched pot never boils, I actually got my contract while I was on vacation. In addition to a little bit of difficulty printing it out at the hotel, I just figured it would be mean to take a picture of me signing the contract here…
The only thing worse than that (for you) would be if I was sipping on a chocolate shake while signing. I’m just not that mean. So I waited until I was back in NY. In fact, I’ll even make you feel better by showing you this…
*sigh* Of course, it’s only the tip of my post-vacation iceberg. But I don’t care because I can check this off my bucket list.
And if that wasn’t enough awesome for one vacation–I got the proofs from my author photo shoot. My friend, the very talented Dawn Sela, has made me blush with her kind words and beautiful photography. Dawn Sela Photography This is just a smattering of the amazing photographs she took. I don’t know how I’m going to pick a favorite.
Vacation is over but I’m still in a very happy place. *grin* It’s the perfect week to send the boys to camp–off to finish my revisions!!!!
