Timing

Hello, friends.

The Kirkus review has come in. This is another one that we have to pay for but it's very well respected and felt like something worth having. You have the option to not publish it and no one will be the wiser, so there's a safety net if you get a bad review, though I do wonder how often that happens. This one is not super in-depth, but it's very positive and I'm pleased.

The book did not advance in the Booklife Prize I mentioned in the last post, which was a bummer but honestly the silver lining is how easily that rolled off my back. The trick with success in anything - certainly in your odds of booking acting gigs - is numbers. The law of averages. There is so much that is out of your hands, your only hope is to keep on keeping on.

Which is not to say I know what's next! Honestly, weighing the ROI is dispiriting. I'm not in this to sell a million books, to be honest. But I'm not that interested in a financial black hole, either. It's really hard to know how to spend wisely. My latest investment is in a display at the American Library Association conference, which at least feels like a good use of funds. There will be an actual copy of the book in a place where literally everyone is interested in books. The ordering info will be in a catalog they take with them. I have sold one book to a library in Colorado and I have to tell you, it made my whole week.

I am aware, of course, how weird and surreal this all is. How I'm pushing forward on this path even while a giant force is chipping away at the foundations we've all build our lives on. Will libraries survive this administration? Will schools? I honestly don't know what the future holds. And I'm not a person given to optimism. But I truly believe that we have to keep creating, keep putting our hearts on the line, keep building, no matter who is trying to tear things down.

In that vein, I'm revising my one-person show for a performance planned for April in Oakland. It's been really fun to work on it again and I look forward to doing it for a proper crowd. It's a benefit for Chapter 510, a nonprofit org that does incredible writing-related outreach to young people in the Oakland are. This performance is a benefit, so if you're local and interested, please do consider donating to the cause.