The past two years, I've heard of people selecting a 'Word Of The Year'. I've never formally done this; my 'word', if you will, has been 'breathe', since I run on an ungodly amount of stress. Some of it is external, but quite a bit is internal. I think that's why, as I look back to this crazy year we've had, 2017 will be the year of extreme selfishness on my part. As you scroll down, you'll see why.
Jan: I was cheeky enough to offer an idea to a neighboring county's magazine, and was knocked back down to earth by having to rewrite it. Very humbling experience. You'd have thought I'd learned. My mom lost her BFF, and I went home for the funeral and to reconnect with friends. I also sent Kira off to an editor AND contacted my cover artist.
Feb: Had another humbling experience while singing a funeral. Spent this month doing edits, and received a nice shiny cover for Kira's Slice of Pizza (Chosen #4 of Kenzie's sci-fi series), which then released on the 23rd:) Watched a very strange Super Bowl; Patriots came back from a 21-3 score at halftime to being down 28-9 at the end of the 3rd quarter, to win the game in Overtime, 34-28!
March: Spent the month reformatting all my self-pubbed titles, so the interior copyright page matched on all. Spent a week with my mom, doing a video inventory of all her jewelry, plus drove up to Indy for granddaughter A's choir concert. Set up at the Eagles Craft Fair, and surprise surprise....someone had dropped the ball on the advertising. We were competing with another craft show in the area, and hardly anyone was at ours. I'd sung the praises of it to two other authors, who were not too happy with little to zero sales. Plus, had a 'WTH' moment when my CA story was deemed 'too dark and twisted' for the gentle readers, and would I be willing to revise it? I ended up writing TWO stories in two weeks. Yes, I was furious. K decided to move in with his friend C, in order to help out with her financials.
April: Spent another week with mom, who was flabbergasted at my thought process while I was writing story #2. Had a good Chrism Mass practice, even obtained copies of CA. I was so blown away by seeing it, I apparently forgot to pay D....got home to an email which put my nose out of joint, since it implied I'd done it on purpose. HELL NO I didn't do it on purpose! Again I was furious, and was by now, 2nd guessing my decision to be a part of this project. But, I'd promoted it; worked hard on all 3 stories, and by God, I was going to see it through. Found out about a free Vendor's Fair...it was a bust. Again, the organizer dropped the ball, so there were no signs or any advertizing. Then I took NE Riggs to Kentucky with me, and a huge storm knocked out the power in the surrounding counties. I only sold one book, and that was to an aspiring author I'd met the night before during the panels. In fact, N and I weren't sure we were going to make it home, but by the time we arrived closer to Evansville, the water level had gone down.
May: Our brown house was broken into, so Ed brought over another key. Plus, he told me to go ahead and clean both houses out; just give him a percentage. I was heartbroken to learn that all the LPs in the green house had been stolen, save for the 5 I'd already pilfered! I also set up at the Farmer's Market, Birds of a Feather, and at B&N with the other RCW members. Attended the Indy 500 and when Takuma Sato of Japan won, we joked about 'being in cahoots with Japan, not Russia'. K also moved back home, right in the middle of Rendezvous traffic, having realized C was only using him as an in-home baby-sitter for her son Z.
June: Spent the month emptying out all the computer crap in the Brown House, and hauling stuff to the scrap yard. Set up at the 1st Friday; collected A and J for the summer; and apparently ticked off a fellow author without knowing about it. I honestly thought we were joking around; I'd wanted to read her new book, but when I read the 1st page, it was so badly edited, I wasn't sure I wanted to read it. K wanted to read MY new book, so we did an even swap. Apparently my offer to 'take a red pen' to her baby didn't come off as joking as I'd thought. Granddaughter A began heavily campaigning to live with us, since her mom had lost her housing. Took Miss Alex to Brown County for her birthday, to go horseback riding.
July: Spent 3 weeks at my parents' house, house-sitting while they visited my sister. Volunteered at an event, and enjoyed myself. I was also blogging heavily about the new season of Big Brother. Step-daughter came down for 4th, and promptly got into a shouting match at a woman across the street. Granddaughter A pleaded with her mom to be allowed to live with us, and after much discussion, her mom agreed. I got in touch with the school to see what needed to be done in order for us to enroll her.
Aug: Had a GREAT time at the Watermelon Festival! Family drama ensued. After being in school for 2 days, A went home for her Sweet 16 party. D and I had to be in Indy on Monday, so let her take a personal day, so we didn't have to make 2 trips. She had tonsiitis, so was out sick on Tuesday. Wed morning, I took her to an ortho appointment, and she expressed a desire to be home schooled. I told her no; J overruled me and asked me to look into it. I sent off an app. Thursday, A decided she wanted to return home. We said no, and got my SIL on my side. Thursday night, though, A announced 'everyone' was on her side. I was furious, and on Fri, told the school she was going home. Sunday night, after she left, I posted a vague vent on FB and went to bed. Monday morning, I was called out as a selfish narcissist. I was floored....took down the post and apologized to A for the drama.
Sept: Attended three shows, and sales began to soar. Reconnected with friend BJC from high school. Emptied all but three appliances from the Green House:) Officially signed with Stardust/Erotes Press, aka Hydra Publications out of Louisville, owned by Frank, the organizer of the Author's Fair. Another 'WTH' moment; when I signed on, apparently other romance authors panicked, because my 5 orphaned books were *gasp* 'erotic romance', and OMG, they can't have their names associated with a 'smut' author. Give me a break....
Oct: Imaginarium was a blast! Teacher's Pet rereleased, and I'll admit, I was a little stunned as to how I would buy my author copies. But buy them I did....and went as Danaerys Targarian (Game of Thrones) on Halloween. D was involved in an accident, which totalled the truck. No one was seriously injured, thank God!
Nov: Had a BLAST at the Christmas Toy and Hobby show, then came home for the Women's Retreat. Discovered two friends were doing a signing at our local coffee house....then discovered my 'indiscretion' back in June. I was floored as to why K was so mad at me....and then we patched everything up when I told her I'd had no intention of marking up her book; was absolutely NOT in 'competition' with her....quite the opposite! I'd enjoyed the general story of her book, just wishing it had been better edited, IMHO.
Dec: Spent a very quiet month, baking cookies, and buying presents. Bought my spouse a new GMC truck, a 2017 'holdover'. It's in my name, due to having the better credit score, ha ha!
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See what I mean? There's a saying if one person points out an issue, fine. If two or more point out the same issue, then there's clearly a problem. Maybe the person in Aug wasn't far off the mark? Maybe it's not narcissism, but I've been extremely selfish and conceited this year?
I shall try to correct this obvious flaw. Am I really a self-centered, self-righteous brat? This 'look back' has had quite a humbling effect. And somewhat depressing.
Moving On To Happier News.....
Books Read: 58
E-Book: 34
Print: 22
DNF: 3
Karaoke Songs Added: 140
Thurs: 53
Sat: 87
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