A couple of days ago I wrote this post. It wasn’t planned at all, just a random stream of consciousness type of thing that turned a bit heavy. It wasn’t really meant to be whiny, but in hindsight, I think it was. Somebody on Twitter kindly pointed out that there are nice, supportive people all around the world too, and the truth is, she’s right. Sometimes I need to reminded.
Over the last several months, ever since my bunny post, I’ve had myself in a self-enforced internet exile. From the outside, it may not have seemed as harsh as it was, but the truth is, I have some rather stringent filters in place to limit what I see, no matter where I am online. As neurotic as it sounds (and it is, I don’t deny it), having those filters has helped my psyche tremendously, but the truth is, there’s a down side, too. In filtering out 75% of the world, I ended up blocking the good as well as the bad. I know that sounds like a no-brainer, and maybe it is, but it’s really become clear to me over the last few days that in severing my contact with a great deal of negativity, I also severed my contact with the positive.
I don’t know for sure what the solution is at this point. I’m sort of cracking the doors open an inch at a time, waiting to see what happens. No matter what, I do want to say that I really do appreciate all of the readers who buy/borrow the books, who read the books, who stop by to comment on the books or who email me about the books. You guys are my #1 inspiration. You’re the light that puts the rest in the shadows. Both of those posts may sound like I’m angry at readers, or maybe at reviewers, but I swear, neither of those things are true. At all. Having an opinion about my books (even a negative one) doesn’t make you a wolf in my mind. It’s attacking people personally — not just me, but others out there as well — that makes somebody a wolf. And those are the people I can do without. But no matter how much we authors bitch and complain, we do love the readers. Always. Because in the end, the readers are why we’re here — we’re creating something out of these crazy voices in our minds, and we’re just hoping that it touches somebody, somewhere, the way it’s touched us. That’s all. So to all the readers, thank you. I’ll even go so far as to speak for every other author I know without bothering to ask them first: thank you. We do love you, and most of us would have quit this game ages ago, if not for you.
Now, a rather graceless change of topic: Italy!
As I mentioned earlier, I leave on September 6th. I thought I’d post my itinerary, in case anybody is interested.
Sept 7-11: Rome
Sept 11-12: Siena
Sept 12-17: Florence
Sept 17-19: Lucca
Sept 19-23: Venice
I’ll be taking along a lovely, nearly-naked paper mascot and posting pictures over at Coffee and Porn in the Morning. (Think Flat Stanley, except way sexier.) I’m sure I’ll be tweeting pictures too. With any luck, I’ll come home inspired!
Enjoy Italy. I was there last fall (in many of the same places) and had a wonderful time. http://www.galleriaborghese.it/borghese/en/edefault.htm was my absolute favorite. Everything is less crowded in the fall. Enjoy and release
Thanks very much! I’m pretty sure that one is on our itinerary. I can’t wait!
I’m a country boy and there is an old saying that I think applies here. ‘A man does not throw pine knots up a persimmon tree with no persimmons on it.’ IMDb bred this lot of trolls who don’t have a life and get their attention by ripping everything apart and the anonymity of the internet makes it possible for them to do so without facing the opponent. Cowardice but still they don’t say these things to your face and they should not count. There are those who just simply don’t want or are uncomfortable with the proliferation of gay issues but writers, please don’t let this deter you in any way. You must have gotten it right or the trolls would go where they can do the most good.
Thanks Ernest! That’s a good perspective to take.
And once again I’m reminded how freakin amazing my fellow authors are. THANK YOU
for verbalizing a lot of what’s been rattling around in my head for the last year. Thank you for protecting your bunny and yourself. Thanks for not giving up on the genre, and for being an inspiration to so many of us, readers and authors alike. ::hugs:
: Such very
big ::hugs::
Thanks VJ! I appreciate that.
Hey Marie?
*hugs tight*
That’s all.
Thanks Evaine!
That sounds like a wonderful trip. My daughter was considering going to Cuba with some friends on spring break, but now she’s decided she wants to go to Rome in the summer after she graduates. So we’ll see. (Knowing her she’ll have changed her mind a dozen times by next summer.) Italy is one of the places I’ve never been to in Europe. Maybe she’ll have no friends who can go with her and she’ll invite me to join her.
Sometimes I think the bad part of the internet is like a spider web in the forest. You’re on your hike, listening to the birds, chatting with friends, looking at the pretty flowers then … arrgghhh spider web on your face, run, gross, ick, oooh. To quote Sweet Brown.
Ha! Yes, that’s an apt analogy! And although it sounds awful for me to say, “I hope your daughter has no friends”, I do hope you get to be her traveling companion!