Update: Life and Penned Con
Good morning everyone,
How are you doing?
It has been almost a year since my last blog post and I am sorry about that. This yeah has been one of the weirdest and craziest years I have had in a long time. You know, one of those life changing years that force you to grow and make decisions you have been sitting on for far too long. Between getting in a car accident last August, that resulted in two surgeries at the end of the year, then my grandmother dementia getting progressively worse, I thought what could happen next. Well, I learned be careful with you ask for. As I finally made the deicision to leave a very toxic day job because I finally realized it was taking a toll on my writing and I started a new job, my house caught fire. Yup, talk about having a suck ass year... but what can I do?
I remember I got the call from work and rushed home. As I watched the fireman struggle to put out the fire, I stared a the house, watching it burn and was numb. I had already spoken to my mother and she told me that everyone was okay except for the dogs. My aunt lost her dog and I almost lost my oldest dog, Bear. But he is okay now and back to his old self, just a little more clingy. After that things moved so fast that only now (about 6 months later) am I finally sitting down and processing everything that happened. It still feels surreal but every time I pass by my house (they are repairing it) I am reminded that it did happen.
I wont go into a lot of detail of what happened in these last few months for me, but I will say that I have come to realize just how much writing and the writing world means to me. I didn't cry when the house burned, I didn't cry when we lost one of the dogs, I didn't cry as I watched the fireman work to save Bear, because there was one single thought that jumped to the forefront of my mind... my books. Not just the books I have written but my entire library of books, my flash drives... the things that offered me comfort and gave me the motivation to keep going... the thought of losing that is what shook me the most. Thankfully, while I couldn't save my computers, I did save all of my flash drives with all my information on it (I dug under all that soot and ash until I found the case I kept them in). The fire destroyed most of the house yet somehow managed to miss my books and movie collection that I kept in the case. I didn't care about my clothes, my shoes... but my books, they are my world. Once I managed to save all of them (that's right all of them in the case) I was okay and went to work taking care of business and getting ready for Penned Con, because now I have to start from scratch.It was hard, but it forced me to do what I needed... and with that being said, let's get to the good stuff... Penned Con and my latest releases.
Needless to say, while I do enjoy going to RT and seeing all my friends, Penned Con has become one of my favorite things about the year. As you may or may not know, last year's Penned Con was my first signing ever and I had such an amazing time and met such wonderful people that I had to come back a second time. However, this time around I knew I couldn't show up with the same two titles I had last year. While I am normally a slow writer because of all that was going on in my life, I managed to get two of the three books I wanted to do done (I will tell you what they are in a few moments. Trust me you will say finally and be really happy lol).
Just like my first Penned Con, it was very well organized and welcoming. Once again I met new and amazing people, authors and readers like. I even managed to sell out of two titles, which I didn't expect to do so that made the entire trip for me. Although, I wasn't as prepared as I wanted to be and while there were tons of reasons to keep me from going, I couldn't not go. I knew that if I quit now, I would miss out on something amazing. So I packed my suitcase with my few books and went to work. At first I felt a little defeated as I looked at everyone else's tables and banners. The fire had set me back and my main focus had been on getting out the books that I didn't have the time or the money to get any stands or banners done. I didn't have the fancy book stands or anything like that. It was me and Deadpool, so I did the best I could. Although it was an awesome signing, I could help my self doubt as it bubbled up inside of me. But as I sat and listened to the keynote speakers and my friends as they encouraged me, I felt better. I realized that, while I may not be where I want to be, I am moving forward. Even if those steps are small, I am still putting one food in front of the other... I can't stop... I wont stop because there is nothing else I want to do with my life other than write and share what lives inside of me. (and to top it all off I caught a cold the day before I left for Penned Con -__-)
My goal for next year is to add at least one more signing to my list other than Penned Con, I really want to do Once Upon a Book. So let's hope I make it there. :)
Here are some pics from Penned Con, I didn't take a lot but I did take some.
How are you doing?
It has been almost a year since my last blog post and I am sorry about that. This yeah has been one of the weirdest and craziest years I have had in a long time. You know, one of those life changing years that force you to grow and make decisions you have been sitting on for far too long. Between getting in a car accident last August, that resulted in two surgeries at the end of the year, then my grandmother dementia getting progressively worse, I thought what could happen next. Well, I learned be careful with you ask for. As I finally made the deicision to leave a very toxic day job because I finally realized it was taking a toll on my writing and I started a new job, my house caught fire. Yup, talk about having a suck ass year... but what can I do?
I remember I got the call from work and rushed home. As I watched the fireman struggle to put out the fire, I stared a the house, watching it burn and was numb. I had already spoken to my mother and she told me that everyone was okay except for the dogs. My aunt lost her dog and I almost lost my oldest dog, Bear. But he is okay now and back to his old self, just a little more clingy. After that things moved so fast that only now (about 6 months later) am I finally sitting down and processing everything that happened. It still feels surreal but every time I pass by my house (they are repairing it) I am reminded that it did happen.
I wont go into a lot of detail of what happened in these last few months for me, but I will say that I have come to realize just how much writing and the writing world means to me. I didn't cry when the house burned, I didn't cry when we lost one of the dogs, I didn't cry as I watched the fireman work to save Bear, because there was one single thought that jumped to the forefront of my mind... my books. Not just the books I have written but my entire library of books, my flash drives... the things that offered me comfort and gave me the motivation to keep going... the thought of losing that is what shook me the most. Thankfully, while I couldn't save my computers, I did save all of my flash drives with all my information on it (I dug under all that soot and ash until I found the case I kept them in). The fire destroyed most of the house yet somehow managed to miss my books and movie collection that I kept in the case. I didn't care about my clothes, my shoes... but my books, they are my world. Once I managed to save all of them (that's right all of them in the case) I was okay and went to work taking care of business and getting ready for Penned Con, because now I have to start from scratch.It was hard, but it forced me to do what I needed... and with that being said, let's get to the good stuff... Penned Con and my latest releases.
Needless to say, while I do enjoy going to RT and seeing all my friends, Penned Con has become one of my favorite things about the year. As you may or may not know, last year's Penned Con was my first signing ever and I had such an amazing time and met such wonderful people that I had to come back a second time. However, this time around I knew I couldn't show up with the same two titles I had last year. While I am normally a slow writer because of all that was going on in my life, I managed to get two of the three books I wanted to do done (I will tell you what they are in a few moments. Trust me you will say finally and be really happy lol).
Just like my first Penned Con, it was very well organized and welcoming. Once again I met new and amazing people, authors and readers like. I even managed to sell out of two titles, which I didn't expect to do so that made the entire trip for me. Although, I wasn't as prepared as I wanted to be and while there were tons of reasons to keep me from going, I couldn't not go. I knew that if I quit now, I would miss out on something amazing. So I packed my suitcase with my few books and went to work. At first I felt a little defeated as I looked at everyone else's tables and banners. The fire had set me back and my main focus had been on getting out the books that I didn't have the time or the money to get any stands or banners done. I didn't have the fancy book stands or anything like that. It was me and Deadpool, so I did the best I could. Although it was an awesome signing, I could help my self doubt as it bubbled up inside of me. But as I sat and listened to the keynote speakers and my friends as they encouraged me, I felt better. I realized that, while I may not be where I want to be, I am moving forward. Even if those steps are small, I am still putting one food in front of the other... I can't stop... I wont stop because there is nothing else I want to do with my life other than write and share what lives inside of me. (and to top it all off I caught a cold the day before I left for Penned Con -__-)
My goal for next year is to add at least one more signing to my list other than Penned Con, I really want to do Once Upon a Book. So let's hope I make it there. :)
Here are some pics from Penned Con, I didn't take a lot but I did take some.
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| My Table |
Like I said I love Penned Con, and Rick and Amy do an amazing job every year and I hope I am able to come back for 2018.
Now, because I feel this post has become kind of long... I will continue my updates in the next post... so come on and follow me over :)
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