The last two weeks have been a roller coaster. My last blog post left off with the exciting advent of my book tour. Now, on the other side of it, I find myself dealing with disappointment in a few minor ways. I sold books, yes, but I had high hopes. We’ll get into this normal course of feelings below. Still, it was a wild ride and I had so much fun with it. Now, we move onto the next phase…whatever that is.
Drawing from the Well
I’ve made more progress on Arc IV since the last blog, almost finishing it. That said, this particular arc is REALLY rough. It’s going to need some serious work to fill it out and make it feel right. That’s editing, though. Discovering that the rough draft is rough is definitely part of the process.
Arc I: 64/64
Arc II: 60/60
Arc III Part I: 24/24
Arc III Part II: 31/31
Arc IV: 36/44
Arc V: 0/59
Interstitia: 0/11
Total: 215/291
Filling the Well
The last two weeks have been pretty good for reading. I got through five books including finishing the first two books in the series starting with The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet. The second book of that was radically different and just turned me off so I fell off that series. I also listened to Call of the Wild which was great, if a letdown after the fantastic White Fang. And then there was Think Like a CEO which gave me some good tactics for work and The Time Machine by H.G. Wells which was an interesting look into far-future time travel as many books of that era were, such as everything by Jules Verne. Next up is the Aliomenti Saga by Alex Albrinck. We’ll see what I think of it.
95/100 for #ProjectBookworm2022
Nothing new in TV or movies the last couple of weeks. There hasn’t been time! We’re just continuing on with our normal shows, although we are trying out Only Murders in the Building. That’s a weird one but I’m oddly hooked on it.
Season 1 of WoW: Dragonflight begins today. It should be an exciting time with lots of new stuff to do.
Well Chat
Dealing with disappointment is an important part of life in general but is especially poignant in creative endeavors. I mention almost weekly that large creative pursuits take a long time. This is not an instantly gratifying goal. Undoubtedly, you will run into much disappointment over the YEARS it will take to bring your creation to fruition. I know I have. The important thing is how we deal with it.
This week was the latest fit with it. I had three book signings scheduled over the last couple of weeks and was stoked for all of them. The middle of the three, however, was not well attended. At all. Now, as I and my loving wife both told me, this is just part of the process. I’m new and unknown. When you’re starting out, everything can’t be a smashing success. You have to have lulls and disappointments before you achieve success. You have to go up the hill before you can reach the top.
None of that changes how it feels, though. After that signing, we had plans that I just couldn’t bring myself to engage in. We ended up staying home. On a night that I expected to be flying high to the point of annoying, I was literally on the couch pouting into my ice cream. It wasn’t pretty.
I don’t begrudge the signing. It was still so gratifying to feel legitimate with my books and my setup. I had just wanted it to go better. I tried to push through the disappointment because, in my head, it was clear that this was just a dud and I would bounce back. My heart wouldn’t listen, though. I have to thank and praise my wife for letting me feel those feelings and getting through them in my time. Her support means everything; it always has.
What I’m trying to say here is that disappointment is natural and, sometimes, you just have to wallow in it to get through it. Disappointment is a miry quagmire and the only way out is to slog through. Whatever self-care or coping strategies work for you, employ them in these instances. That’s what I did and the next day I bounced back refreshed, if a little tempered. Tempering makes steel stronger, though, so temper your steel, temper yourself, and keep going. You’ll arrive one day.
May the tide carry you to safer shores.
BSG