June 2007 Blogs
The June Photo of the Month is of my son Sam and his cousins Grace, Sophie, and Joey. Special thanks to Susan (my wife) on choosing this month's Photo of the Month.
Monday July 2, 2007
If you feel underappreciated, if you're tired of selfish people cutting you off in traffic or acting like you're unimportant, if you're sick and tired of feeling like you're working your butt off and aren't getting where you'd like to be, then I have got a video for you.
Enjoy the unadulterated joy of this film and if you like it, pass it on to someone who needs to have their spirits raised...
Saturday June 30, 2007
Well, I'm home safe and sound after being gone since last Friday. The bulk of this time I spent on family vacation with Susan and Sam and friends at Atlantic Beach, North Carolina, but that was not before starting with a bookstore event on Thursday June 21 at Borders, an event in Richmond, Virginia on June 22 at Fountain Bookstore, and then a library event on Saturday June 23 near Washington DC. All of the events were a success, and the vacation was exactly what Susan, Sam, and I needed.
Today, I did an event at Pomegranate Bookstore in Wilmington, North Carolina, and I have a panel discussion coming up this next Saturday in Durham at The Regulator Bookstore. The week after that, I'm flying to New York for a writers convention, and then I've got three events coming up in the following two weeks.
Needless to say, I'm very busy. Meanwhile, I'm working my damndest to try and get this novel that I've been writing since last August done by the end of this month. I'd like to have the first draft done by the time I go to New York.
I'm going to try to upload some pictures from the vacation, as well as a new Photo of the Month in the coming days.
Stacey
Thursday June 21, 2007
I woke up this morning "feeling the nerves." Tonight is the night of my first Borders Bookstore event. So far, I've had close to 70 people RSVP that they're coming from the Raleigh Write 2 Publish Group; this does not include any people that Borders might be able to draw, or that various flyers around town might be able to draw.
It's all very exciting, and I'm really looking forward to it. I have three digital cameras that I'm going to try to record the event with, and I plan to set up audio on a studio condenser mic to create some high-quality audio to sync with the video. My goal is to end up with a DVD from this seminar titled "How to Get Published: Traditional Publishing, Self-Publishing, and Literary Agents."
At any rate, it's one of those days where I know I'm going to be feeling "good" nervous energy all day leading up to the event.
This will be my first chain bookstore event.
Stacey
Saturday June 16, 2007
I'm writing a rare "morning" blog this Saturday morning. Susan's in Las Vegas for the weekend at a friend's wedding, and so Sam and I get to spend the weekend together. And it is Father's Day Weekend, so it's good that I get some quality time with my boy.
I've had a great couple of weeks, and I've got some of the busiest book touring of my career coming up in the next few weeks. This Thursday (June 21) I'm doing my first chain store event ever at the Borders Books of Cary. Friday, I'll be in Richmond at the Fountain Bookstore, where I'm leading a discussion on book marketing and sales. And then Saturday, I'll be in Washington DC at the Martha Washington Library for a discussion on literary agents.
The following Saturday, I'll be in Wilmington, North Carolina at Pomegranate books, and then the weekend after that I'll be in Durham at The Regulator Bookshop to moderate a panel discussion on publishing.
Five days later, I fly to New York for the Thrillerfest writers convention, and then the following week I'll be at a Borders in Raleigh!
How cool is all that! It's very exciting, and I can't wait to see how I feel by the end of July.
It's amazing how you add stuff on to a writing career; it really is like building. When I was in Arizona, I couldn't get in a chain store to do an event, and the only two bookstore events I did for my last book's release (Amber Page) were two independent bookstores.
Fast-forward from May 2006 to January 2007, when I did my first bookstore event in North Carolina. We had over a hundred people who came to McIntyre's on January 20; the place was packed. In Arizona, I was lucky to draw a dozen people.
Then, I followed up McIntyre's with a successful event at Quail Ridge Books that drew about 80 people, an event at Pomegranate Books in Wilmington that drew close to 50, an event at the Charlotte Public Library with close to 30, a social/book event in Raleigh on Lake Johnson that drew 70 people, and bookstore or speaking events in Chatham, Virginia; Richmond, Virginia; Greenville and Greensboro, NC; and Waynesville, NC. Suddenly, it looks like I have a writing career.
Add to that, the TV show that I'm developing for the Raleigh Television Network, four upcoming Borders store events, and all the stuff mentioned above for June and July.... It's really remarkable how far I've come since Arizona in terms of being able to set up events and draw crowds.
The reason I say all this is not to brag; it's actually that I get down on myself and think I'm not doing enough. And it's good for me to remember where I've come from; it's good to remind myself.
Nonetheless, I still fear that it'll somehow dissipate, that these events that I have are it. That the funding will dry up. Right now, I'm trying to push forward on a national writers group agenda. I would like to set up groups in the 30 largest cities in the United States.
The money to do this would be significant but not astronomical. My goal is to develop self-sustaining writers groups, and right now, the crew I've assembled is trying to secure private funding. But we may look into creating a non-profit organization and go the route of finding grant money.
At any rate, that's a litte bit of where my thoughts are this Saturday morning. Scattered and bleary-eyed but hopeful....
Ever been there?
Stacey
