When we were at the convention this weekend we got locked out of our hotel room. It was no great shock because our hotel room keys always get demagnetized. And we always laugh about it. This time, out hotel room was really, really, really far from the elevator and we had to drop M&Ms on the way to our room so we could find our way back. When Karen went down the hall to the phone to call the front desk for the second time (apparently the security guard who was supposed to let us into our room got lost, too), I snapped this photo.
I've been sitting here for a few minutes giggling to myself about being locked out of our hotel room and thinking about some of the events of this weekend and how it wasn't just our room we were locked out of. I see our banner and the words fearlessly mixing the media of life and art and I am reminded why we started doing this in the first place. For a moment, I was going to not speak my truth but our own words snapped me back to reality.
It's been almost a year since Visual Chronicles came out and the other day we saw that our publisher was promoting that it is their best selling craft book. It's great that it is and it is great that they are promoting it, now. But still, I feel kind of not happy about some things. I feel bad that the people who are able to pay their mortgages because of authors who work really hard get irritated when we speak up or ask questions or request help. I feel bad that authors are often not told important information that could help them do their jobs better. I feel bad that authors who do care that their books aren't being promoted properly are considered "unfriendly" when they suggest simple, obvious ways of doing better to people who don't get it. I feel bad that what I thought would be really isn't what is. And
I worried that the people who think we are "unfriendly" because we are
good business women would read this and call us worse. And I felt bad
that I am not talking about just us. And, most importantly, I feel bad that I was about to not write and it's totally fucked up because I worried that people might be offended by me saying fuck.
And then, I read this comment here and I saw that us being us really has helped people~ our only intention, ever:
...by the way, on a side note, I can't catch balls either. I remember that's one of the things I had read in your book initally that made me feel so happy along with many others of course. But it made me realize how I'm not the only one in the world to be like that after all
People, thank you for reminding us why we do this. This is gonna be a really good year. I am about to get over my irritation and start making plans and baking cookies. Oooh, you know we love a plan.
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