Reminiscing Redux
A couple of days ago I wrote this post. It wasn’t planned at all, just a random stream of consciousness type of thing that turned a bit heavy. It wasn’t really meant to be whiny, but in hindsight, I think it was. Somebody on Twitter kindly pointed out that there are nice, supportive people all around the world too, and the truth is, she’s right. Sometimes I need to reminded.
Over the last several months, ever since my bunny post, I’ve had myself in a self-enforced internet exile. From the outside, it may not have seemed as harsh as it was, but the truth is, I have some rather stringent filters in place to limit what I see, no matter where I am online. As neurotic as it sounds (and it is, I don’t deny it), having those filters has helped my psyche tremendously, but the truth is, there’s a down side, too. In filtering out 75% of the world, I ended up blocking the good as well as the bad. I know that sounds like a no-brainer, and maybe it is, but it’s really become clear to me over the last few days that in severing my contact with a great deal of negativity, I also severed my contact with the positive.
I don’t know for sure what the solution is at this point. I’m sort of cracking the doors open an inch at a time, waiting to see what happens. No matter what, I do want to say that I really do appreciate all of the readers who buy/borrow the books, who read the books, who stop by to comment on the books or who email me about the books. You guys are my #1 inspiration. You’re the light that puts the rest in the shadows. Both of those posts may sound like I’m angry at readers, or maybe at reviewers, but I swear, neither of those things are true. At all. Having an opinion about my books (even a negative one) doesn’t make you a wolf in my mind. It’s attacking people personally — not just me, but others out there as well — that makes somebody a wolf. And those are the people I can do without. But no matter how much we authors bitch and complain, we do love the readers. Always. Because in the end, the readers are why we’re here — we’re creating something out of these crazy voices in our minds, and we’re just hoping that it touches somebody, somewhere, the way it’s touched us. That’s all. So to all the readers, thank you. I’ll even go so far as to speak for every other author I know without bothering to ask them first: thank you. We do love you, and most of us would have quit this game ages ago, if not for you.
Now, a rather graceless change of topic: Italy!
As I mentioned earlier, I leave on September 6th. I thought I’d post my itinerary, in case anybody is interested.
Sept 7-11: Rome
Sept 11-12: Siena
Sept 12-17: Florence
Sept 17-19: Lucca
Sept 19-23: Venice
I’ll be taking along a lovely, nearly-naked paper mascot and posting pictures over at Coffee and Porn in the Morning. (Think Flat Stanley, except way sexier.) I’m sure I’ll be tweeting pictures too. With any luck, I’ll come home inspired!
