And The Road Goes Ever On

A four-month hiatus from Un-blogging, you say?

Yup.

Been one of those four-month runs of crushingly frustrating work busyness. The kind where even the tiniest spark of creativity gets snuffed out, erased by real life stress and demands. I remind myself constantly that my day job allows me the freedom to pursue my night job where I run around the city in my underwear, fighting crime and…

Ok, I don’t do that. I’m a nerd, not a superhero. I’m not even a nerdy superhero. Besides, what would my name be? Insurance Dude? The Underwriter Writer?

You get the picture (minus the part about me in my underwear, unless you’re into that sort of thing).

Anyyyyyyyyywayyyyy…

Reading has been a great help to me during this time. Consistent advice I’ve read from other authors is to read often, and I have done just that. Recent reads include Joe Abercrombie’s First Law Trilogy and Martha Wells’ Murderbot. And I recently started rewatching Season 1 of Andor. Such an excellent show, wonderful writing and characters, and compelling, interlocking stories.

In addition, I have successfully run four consecutive tabletop RPG sessions (and counting!) with my fabulous gaming crew of ne’er-do-wells. Many laughs were had, and during those few hours every other Sunday night, I can forget about coverages, policies, exposures, and production goals and simply focus on a smidge of goofy fun.

Also, a dear friend’s girlfriend gifted me this AMAZING crotchet bundle of joy!

LOOK AT HIM! OH MY HEART!!!!

I love him. My very own Buddy.

Then, the most incredible thing happened to me two weeks ago.

She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed’s best friend and her husband were visiting the city of Lawrenceville the weekend of Free Comic Book Day looking for, you guessed it, comic books.

They ran across Liberty Books, a local bookseller and decided to take a peek. Inside the shop, they saw an author at a table doing a book signing. Curious, they spoke with Lynda Hayes, the very friendly and informative owner of Liberty Books and asked her if she supported local authors. She said absolutely she did. Being the wonderful friends that they are, they showed her BUDDY THE KNIGHT. Lynda did a quick review of the Amazon listing, then mentioned that I should contact her about setting something up. I received the text message, called Lynda, and we had a fabulous conversation.

SO WHOSE GOT TWO THUMBS AND WILL HAVE HIS VERY OWN FIRST EVER BOOK SIGNING LIKE EVER AND I MEAN EVER?????

This guy.

(Objects in this picture are fatter and uglier than they appear)

SAVE THE DATE: JULY 19TH, 2025 at Liberty Books from 10 AM to 3 PM EST.

For those who don’t know me, I don’t have grand aspirations. I want to be successful in my professional career, both for personal satisfaction, but also as a very literal means of supporting my family. I want to continue to provide for them in any way I can. My family is my life. I work for them.

Which means I don’t do a lot for myself. Although I do like to eat. Oh, and make soup. Have I mentioned I love soup?

Besides making soup, writing is one of the few things that are all about me and me alone.

I’m sure I’ve mentioned this in an earlier Un-blog post, but I’ve long held two dreams about writing. The first, to see my books on the shelf at an actual bookstore. That dream was realized a few years back when a bookstore in Holliston, MA showcased these two beauties:

Seminal moment for me, even though I wasn’t actually there in person to see it. My old editor gifted me this photo when she was working at the store. I can only hope they went to a good home and were enjoyed. Regardless, I keep the photo to remind me anything is possible.

And now, I have a book signing in July!

Honestly, if nobody shows up, I don’t care, because I will be sitting at a table in an honest-to-goodness bookstore doing a book signing. And on top of that, I’ll also be doing two book readings from Buddy in the children’s section of the shop that has this awesome giant plastic tree that you can sit beneath and read to your heart’s content. I mean, it just doesn’t get better than that.

That’s where the road leads me this time. Writing is a journey. It truly is. It has its ups, downs, curves, potholes, and straightaways. It meanders, it wanders (but is never lost!), it takes you places far and near, some are dark, some are light, some are muddy, and some are bright. And all journeys must end, but today is not that day.

I question my writing a lot, just like every author who has ever published anything is wont to do. Writing is a subjective enterprise. What I love, others don’t. What others enjoy, I don’t. You say “tomato” and I say something else.

Universal acceptance doesn’t exist, and that, on its own, makes writing hard, let alone all the other factors I could recount. Yes, authors want readers to love their work unequivocally. But that’ll never happen. Sure, you’ll get a few readers who adore what you’ve done, and those you cherish and hold close to keep the doubting demons at bay. But the truth is, the writing journey is perilous and fraught with dangers. You need a thick skin, and hopefully your own crew of thirteen dwarves and a cranky wizard to help guide you along the way.

So when serendipitous moments like the one I had come along, you hold on tight to it with both hands, and you remind yourself that regardless of how small the moment is, it is YOUR moment. Suck the marrow out of it, even for the little time you get to experience it. Enjoy it. Revel in it. And never lose hope. Good does happen. Kindness is real. And sometimes, dreams can come true.