I’m happy to announce that Cheryl Hill won a signed copy of The Sweetest Hallelujah on the last blog post. Congratulations, Cheryl! Please contact me via the contact page on this website and give me your mailing address. Alternatively, you can give me the address of a good friend and I will mail the signed gift book to them.
I meant to announce the winner Wednesday, but the day before, my own expectations met with brutal reality. Somehow I twisted my back in the worst possible way, and the pain nearly buckled my knees. I’ve spent the last three days creeping around, clutching my poor back and yelling, “Ouch!” The heating pad is my new best friend.
Sitting at my computer is still painful. Meanwhile, pub date for The Oleander Sisters draws near (July 29), and the things I should be doing to prepare for the launch are stacking up.
The great thing about blogs and social media is the ability to instantly communicate with fans. The downside is that instant communication seems effortless and sets up expectations that are sometimes difficult and often impossible to meet.
Sickness, accidents, family obligations, even just the plain old blues remind me of my own human frailty. The author you see at book parties and conventions is a very public personae, and not the author you will see crumpled in her recliner with a heating pad. Nor is she the frazzled one you might encounter as she races through Wal Mart in the hour she has decided she can spare from her writing time. The public author is definitely not the one who just returned from the dentist with her jaw swollen or who woke up on book launch day only to discover that someone stole her body during the night and left her with one she can’t zip into her new dress. She’s certainly not the one who covered her sans-makeup eyes with big sunglasses and her un-styled hair with a hat so she could shop in gardening clothes incognito. No, the real author is somewhere being perfect, all day, every day.
How does your reality clash with expectations, either from yourself or from others? Comment on this post for a chance to win a selection of digital classics for your preferred e-reader. Thanks for stopping by.
On July 29, The Oleander Sisters will be available everywhere! The book is getting great early reviews, and I look forward to chatting with many of you as I sign your copy! See this site for book events. It will be available in all formats, trade paperback, digital and audio.
I’m happy to report that my back is much better. I don’t expect to turn cartwheels tomorrow, but I do expect to walk without wincing. By the way, I am writing my third novel as Elaine Hussey and loving it! I think you will, too!
Meanwhile, please do tell your friends about The Oleander Sisters.