And now for something completely different…
I'm aware that I'm blogging infrequently at the moment, and that when I am, I'm talking about launch dates and things related to From Dark Places. I'm worried I'm becoming one of "those" authors; the ones who are reduced to an endless stream of tweets saying "Check out my book!"
Urgh.
But I can see why it happens; a book launch, like all babies coming into the world, can take over your life. I've been working 12-14 hour days at least 6 days a week (aside from days when I have been on child care duty) for the last month or so, and I am, quite frankly, exhausted.
Not all of those hours are going into book launch organising or online promotion, as I do have to write things for commercial clients that pay the bills, but a significant proportion of my time is going into promoting From Dark Places. And guess what I really haven't been spending enough time on? Yup, you guessed it, writing fiction!
I'm not going to complain, because every time I catch myself dreading picking up the phone to call a venue, or fretting about whether people are going to come to the next launch event and not sleeping as a result, I remind myself that I have worked for many years to get to this point.
Rewind two years ago and I was so desperate to be published, it gnawed at me like an insatiable hunger. I read other author blogs in which they bemoaned the fact that all their time was taken up with promoting their book to the extent they had no time to write the next one and I thought "You lucky git. At least you have a book out there to promote!" And now I am one of those authors, there's no way I am going to moan.
And it hasn't even really got going yet. I've been working hard to give From Dark Places the best start possible before 20 Years Later is released, and my goodness that's coming up fast. In fact, the e-book version of 20 Years Later is available for pre-order on Amazon already, and that is such a weird thought!
So I'm not going to complain about these long hours and sleepless nights. I'm not going to complain about not having time to think, let alone write a new story (or finish the last part of the trilogy, 20 Years Later – Revelation). No siree bob, this is all a huge privilege and I am so delighted to be in this position. I am instead going to talk about something completely different. I do have an interview with a cool author lined up to post, but wanted to wait until Easter was out of the way first, so people are less likely to miss her. So, I need to write about something else…
(Em sips tea and thinks…)
(A tumbleweed rolls past…)
Oh my. Have I forgotten how to blog about other things? Is this the equivalent of the engaged couple who have forgotten how to talk about anything other than the impending wedding?
It doesn't help that I'm shattered I guess. Okay, over to you my lovelies, what would you like me to write about next?
