One member of a group I'm a part of is really starting to irritate me.
Don't get me wrong; I completely understand things come up; illness happens.
But EVERY TIME???????
Esp when this person is the ORGANIZER???
*shakes head*
When I became a published author, I decided the only way I was ever going to be successful was to do what I can to get my books in people's hands. Even getting pregnant didn't slow me down (much, ha ha!)
Case in Point: Baby #3 was born the following March; I think I skipped most of the festivals I'd done the previous year, but for one, I set up his pack-n-play under my canopy and took him with me, and had my spouse help out. Fortunately, he wasn't working that weekend and my two older kids helped out also.
Even though I had to cut back on some of the self-promotion after that, I still made an effort to do at least 2-3 shows a year. Joined my 1st writers group in 2005 or 6. When we moved, yeah, the writing took a back seat, but as soon as I could the following summer, I found places to promote my work, esp since Book #2 was getting ready to release. And by then, I had better internet, and learned the art of networking with other authors, which in turn led me to writing a new genre and attracting a publisher's eye.
Networking led me to other opportunities: Author Fairs, Conventions,and in one case, being a vendor at my beloved Indpls Christmas Gift and Hobby Show. For YEARS while we were in Indpls, I'd wanted to attend it, but money was always tight, and my spouse had no desire to go (Home Show, yes, but Christmas? Forget it..).
I guess what I'm trying to say is, I don't understand some people's priorities. When I left our local hospital vendor fair on Thurs, the organizer of that event, who is related to the person I'm talking about, informed me of 3 birthday parties today. Okay, enjoy. It never crossed my mind that my colleague would go to the parties instead of the event we have today, because THIS PERSON ORGANIZED THE EVENT!!!
When you are planning an event, don't you look at the date and say, 'oh, so-and-so's birthday is that day...let's pick another day.' Or maybe the birthdays fall during the week and the parents decided today would be good. I get it; my son and I are celebrating together on the 14th this month (his is the 8th, mine's the 19th). I also seriously considered not performing in our Christmas Cantata when I discovered it would fall on K's birthday, but he's 33 and hey, he could come see his mama perform, and we'll celebrate afterward! I signed up.
And we dealt with it by making other plans.
I missed a dear friend's funeral because I'd committed to a book signing. I had managed to see him before he passed, and since he was pretty much my #1 supporter back then, I had no regrets.
I did have to cancel one event after my dad passed away, but that was because I was now my mother's caregiver, and there was no way I was hauling her 3 hours south. Even as I was planning 2020, I consulted with Mom (before she made the decision to move into assisted living), and arranged for handicapped accessible hotel rooms, and made sure I would possibly have extra help with her.
Covid ended up resulting in me cancelling a lot of those plans, plus Mom chose to move to an assisted-living facility, meaning I could return home and resume my Evening Job.)
But I digress. When I was organizing my book tour, I only had to actively back out on one, and that was due to transportation issues. I've never made it back to that venue, and the person who ended up royally pissed off at me eventually got over it.
But again, this happens consistently EVERY MONTH.
I guess our priorities are different.
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