Keeping the Balls in the Air.

I’m actually a little embarrassed to see how long it’s been since I wrote a post here. Life has been a little chaotic to say the least. I seem to be juggling a lot of balls at the moment, with varying degrees of success, and the blog one got dropped. It’s an important ball, but one I know I can add back into the rotation when I have a few minutes, so I don’t feel too badly about it.

When September hit, I felt the reset button that is probably implanted in most of us after years of education and back to schools begin itching to be hit. Because I work in educational publishing, for me, September signals a return to education too, albeit a very different one than for most people. I travel a lot this time of year, which I enjoy, but also takes a lot of preparation, time and effort, in order to ensure that my time is well spent, and so that I can still do what needs to be done in my limited amount of time in the office.

With fall, I also made a decision to put the summer behind me, and form some new habits. I started running again, stretching my route out to 5k, which doesn’t seem like much to some of the hardcore runners I know, but for me, is pretty good. My aim is to do it consistently, 4-5 times a week, and so far, I’ve been doing a good job of that. For those of you that have been following for a while know, my husband and I are trying to get pregnant, and while it can be a really daunting process, running feels like a productive way to get my body in better shape. In addition, I also started seeing a fertility acupuncturist, who, after two sessions, has already begun making a big difference in the way my body is functioning, so I feel good about that (if you want more information on fertility acupuncture, drop me a line). I’ve also made a concerted effort to reduce my gluten intake, which has made a HUGE difference in the way I feel and the amount of energy I have. If you’re looking to make a fairly easy lifestyle change that you’ll feel almost instantly, I challenge you to try a couple of weeks of no or low gluten.

In August, I decided to take a trip to Los Angeles in October, and spent most of September counting the days until I got on the plane. I’m fortunate to have a fantastic group of friends there, cobbled together through various writing and social media adventures, and while we don’t see each other often enough due to geography and life, it was fantastic catching up with them, and taking a bit of time to decompress. I’m the baby of my group of friends out there, and it’s incredibly inspirational to watch them juggle their families and lives with such ease. It’s also really great to have a group of people outside your day-to-day folks that sometimes know more about your weird things than the people you spend most of your time. I will say with wholehearted enthusiasm that the best part about stumbling into the writing community I began in is the people I’ve taken out of it. I’ve been lucky to meet a lot of amazing people, both in person and online who have become a great support net for me in so many ways beyond writing.

Something else that’s been filling my time is preparing Campbell for publication. I knew self-publishing would be a massive job, because I see first-hand on a daily basis how many people are involved with the process. Being my own publisher, formatter, and critic has been a big job, but one I’ve really enjoyed. I’ve had a few setbacks, but I really believe that it is important not to define yourself by setbacks, but rather how you move past them, and I think I’ve done so in a way I’m proud of. I just booked my editor for book two as well, which means no end in sight to juggling this ball!

I’m planning to publish in late October. My next post, which I’m hoping to get out this (long) weekend will be my cover reveal, which I’m very excited to share with you all!

Until then, I’d like your help. I’m looking for a few bits of information:

 - Do you read book blogs? If so, which ones?

 - If you don’t read book blogs, how do you discover new books?

 - Can you think of a time when a book/product has been well-marketed enough to make you take notice?

Thanks so much, and happy Thanksgiving!