The Case for Laying Low

The thing is I've been very lucky and very successful in two of the three main pursuits that come along with being an author. Over the last few years, my audience (that being you) has grown tremendously. This has happened in spite of the various reasons it shouldn't have, such as my inability to keep a professional website online or deliver consistent new fiction for your pleasure. My credibility has also taken leaps and bounds. I'm not sure if the cred fuels the audience, or the audience fuels the cred, or if they're independent of each other. I am sure, however, that I haven't ever been taken this seriously before. It's pretty cool, to be honest, and I hope to make it worth your while.

So I've grown my cred and I've grown my audience. What I haven't done to nearly the same extent is hone my craft. Becoming a full-time professional writer has left me with surprisingly little time to write. Without regular practice, I haven't improved nearly as much as I'd like. When I look at something I wrote five years ago and published three years ago, I don't see a significant difference between the writing then and the writing now. My voice and style haven't evolved an awful lot, and I think they should.

So I'm going forward into 2012 resolved to spend less time doing things that aren't about writing books. I want to write another novel and, when I do, I want it to be better than the last. I don't see that happening if I'm spending all of my time writing shows, obsessing over making them worth the audience's money, or going out on the scene every night. I do see it happening if I spend more time at home, typing.

So, I probably won't do a new show in 2012. If the Rockstars do a Fringe Festival show, I hope they have me on to play a part in it but I don't want to take the reins of my own rampaging one man show again just yet. I may even surrender Sci-Fi Tuesdays to a new host, although that would be a last resort as I've become very attached to it. Mostly, I just don't anticipate doing a lot of shows outside of regular Rockstars stuff, Convention readings and a book launch (if I can find the time) in March.

I hope you'll understand, and that you'll appreciate my scarcity when its end result turns out to be a cool, new book that you really like.