A Title, A Preorder, and Other News

I got two pieces of great news last week. Not only did the publisher decide on a title for my book, but a mockup of the cover is also ready! When I first saw the cover, I was immediately reminded that I’m not a graphic designer and that I’m very grateful that my publisher employees good ones. Their graphic design department did a great job, and although it was completely different than I’d envisioned my first book cover (which I’d done many, many times while walking/running/hiking/not sleeping), but different in a good way. I’m so excited! I can’t share the cover yet because the final version is pending committee approval, but I’ll update this post as soon as I’m allowed.

I’m trying to keep up with everybody’s recommendations for my professional writing life. I joined Twitter a while ago (@victoriastopp) and have spent an embarrassingly large amount of time getting used to it and attempting to build a following. So far, it feels like a cult that isn’t ready to offer me the Kool-Aid yet. I also redesigned this blog, which meant choosing a new theme and implementing it. I have zero connection to these people other than finding their site via Google, but I’m so appreciative of whomever the geniuses are at http://www.wpbeginner.com. Their tutorials make doing my own website upkeep way less frustrating.

I’m at a crossroads of sorts, or maybe in a holding pattern, or maybe at/in a different cliche. Whatever and wherever I am, I’m unsure of how to treat this part of the publishing process. I have two novels that have a good start, but I’m not sure if I should keep going with both, pick just one for now, or abandon both and throw myself 100% at marketing my nonfiction book that will be out this year. The options are a little trying sometimes, and I’ve been working a few extra shifts at my PT job lately to help keep an even keel and use the other side of my brain. Collecting a paycheck rarely seems like a poor choice.

the love of baseballIn other writing career news, the two anthologies my work will appear in still haven’t come out, but one— The Love of Baseball: Essays by Lifelong Fans— is available for preorder on Amazon. The second anthology should be in print soon, and I’ll likely know within a couple weeks if an essay contest I entered gives me a green or red light. I definitely need to get on a more regular schedule of submitting to contests and calls for publication.

 

I’m still teetering on the edge of truly shitty health, and while June has been much better than May, feeling great is an increasingly distant memory. I went to a regenerative medicine doctor (and wrote about it here), and I’m cautiously hopeful that once my lab results are in, the good doc can work a miracle or two. I do my best writing when I’m running, and I’ve run less in two months than I usually do in two days. I gave up three vials of blood for the first round of testing, which was surprisingly painless, but this week I’m looking at a draw of 13 vials, and I can’t see how that will be easy.

My self-imposed deadline for deciding to keep going with both or just one novel is dinnertime tomorrow. Continuing to write two at once seems like a not-so-great idea, but so does giving up one, if only temporarily. If I could go on a good, long run, I’d have the answer by mile 5.

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