Greetings from the road!
Specifically, I’m working at a Marietta, Georgia Starbucks. A Jonesboro, Georgia book club made this trip possible. They chose my memoir Not Without My Father as their monthly read!
Next week, I’m in greater Washington, DC. On Saturday (3.14), I’m speaking at the She Wins Unconference. Sunday (3.15) finds me entertaining volunteers at Frederick County Public Libraries’ Annual Volunteer Appreciation Event.
Because I’m on the road, I’m concerned about germs. Check out my latest article for Medium.
I don’t often circle back to groups where I’ve previously appeared. This road trip gave me the opportunity to reconnect with several groups I spoke to in 2017. Most attendees got at least one of my books; many people got them all.
It was humbling to hear how many people actually read and enjoyed my books. More people got them because of how a few readers raved.
As I pivot toward riskier endeavors as a speaker and author, I needed to hear how my work impacts lives. Praise is nice, but making people think? Causing them to act in ways they may not have chosen without reading me? That’s life-affirming stuff.
How am I taking risks, you ask?
I’m shifting the focus of my writing.
My next novel is a stand-alone story drawn from my upbringing in an evangelical Christian church. It’s not a memoir, but it is drawn from life. It will clearly paint how evangelical Christians came to support their current crop of politicians and pull back the curtain to reveal their end game.
I’m trying things that scare me.
I secured a slot at the sold-out Erma Bombeck Writers Workshop. In April, I’ll attempt stand-up comedy IN PUBLIC. I’m meeting with every industry professional and skeptic to pitch my current project. I am determined to find someone to represent me as a speaker. I’d like to make connections to build a one-woman show. AND I want to keep writing books. Continued growth means flinging myself out of my comfort zone.
I’m making time for people who dream and act.
For too long, I mistook friendship for a place to find creative support. I burdened friends and readers alike with the downsides of creating. In the process, I never learned the power of a creative tribe. I spent much of 2019 cultivating relationships with fellow creators who understand the compulsion to make. They tell me I CAN. They get how shattering it is to try and fail, but they also grasp why one gets up and does it again and again. We share successes and struggles, supporting each other to create transformative things. I carried more than I could for far too long, but I’m sorry if I heaped it on you.
I’m pitching my work to professional publications.
So far, my biggest score was my impeachment dinner article for Heated with Mark Bittman. (Full disclosure: They distributed it but decided not to feature it because Mark thought the tone was off-brand.) I wrote an article for Medium about giving back during Lent as an attempt to write obliquely about my evangelical upbringing. You’re going to see more of my writing with outlets you recognize. I’m honestly terrified.
3 Comments
My life and work is a different arc, but I find great pleasure in following yours as you progress on your own voyage of discovery. Hope we can hook up somewhere this year.
I do, too. We need to make it happen. You and Laura are important to me.
And THAT, my dear, is a four-way street.
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