First off, let’s acknowledge the fact that I haven’t been very inactive on the blog in the past couple of months. This is for good reason! April and May have been heavily focused on promoting Mental Damnation: Reality across Alberta, British Columbia and in the digital realm. The blog has had a lot of event and press posts lately and very little article or blog-related posts. Now that the book launch tour of Mental Damnation: Reality is coming to a close I can return to the trade of an author – the writing. After all there is only one of me.
Welcome to May’s edition of Unprocessed Thoughts: Only One Person
Something that came very clear to me during this year during the production, to the promoting of the new novel, is how stretched you can become with your resources. Your resources being: time, energy, influence and budget. I had a conversation with a colleague of mine over coffee today and we were chatting about the minimalistic lifestyle. We are both pro for reducing what you own and lessening your living space for mental clarity. We found that the statement “you can only be in one room at a time” is applicable to both living and business.
As one person you can only do so many tasks at any given point in time. Your mind can only focus on so much at once before it become scattered and you’re unable to do anything effectively. I experienced this first hand with April and May. I was driving around Western Canada, talking at panels, giving readings and promoting at signings. In the off time I was preparing for these events and had little to no time to write, socialize or even work on the graphic/web business, which is my primary income.
You can only be at one place at one time.
You can delegate tasks as needed to have influence in multiple places but this requires people with a special skill set and you require a budget to pay them accordingly. If not, the tasks fall back to you, it’s the nature of business.
At the beginning of the year I went into April and May fully knowing that this would be the side effect of touring for the book. It was well worth it too. I made many great connections with new colleagues, friends and fans during these months. I am excited to return next year to these conventions and book stores to promote the next release and reconnect with people.
Strategize and Plan Ahead
Now that I have done a tour at this level for the first time, I can prep for next year and improve on this year’s experience. Keeping an open mind during the conventions, talks and readings can help you better prepare for next year. Planning can help provide clarity and smooth out the process for any given project.
Already I’ve got many exciting things coming down the pipeline that I cannot wait to share with everyone. This includes new stories over the next year. I also will be taking a side step to revise my graphic design and web business now that the year 3 mark is just around the corner. So expect some design-related posts to pop up.
Even though I am done the book tour (with the exception of the Calgary Comic Expo) there is no shortage of tasks to do. As the previous headline states: strategize and plan ahead.
Beer Note: Delirium Tremens
I’ve eyed this beer a number of times at liquor stores and finally decided to give it a go at BRU Coffe + Beer House. I expected this to be a darker beer considering it said “strong beer” on the cover. It’s not, it’s a very flavorful golden ale. You wouldn’t know this was 8.7% unless the label told you otherwise, very easy to drink. This ones gets a high rating of 4.5/5.
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