Unfortunately, the thing about working for yourself is that you’re always working. I mean always. And even when you are not physically working, you are still thinking about work. I love it though. Wouldn’t change it for anything, but I am a pretty tough boss.
We spent Thanksgiving in Turpin, Oklahoma and Liberal, Kansas. It was nice meeting some of my husband’s extended family for the first time. I actually sold some books, too! But while I was getting to know the fam, work was on my mind. I brought my computer along and with the small snippets of time I did have (usually in the mornings while my son sat on the potty), I worked on a personal essay.
We came back early because I had to work on the weekend. Saturday I attended and sold books at the 2nd Annual Corrales Book Fair. It seems around here most people want to read non-fiction. I had several interested people come to my table, but once they realized my book is fiction, their noses would crinkle up and they would try to overcome whatever disdain was brewing inside of them. Fiction? What can I possibly learn from fiction? I think it’s a harder sell for a fiction writer, but in many ways, I think you learn more from fiction than non-fiction. John L’Heureux said, “Journalism aims at accuracy, but fiction’s aim is truth. The writer distorts reality in the interest of a larger truth.” I seek to construct truth in everything I write, and though it is not plainly obvious as it is in non-fiction, it is up to the reader to find that truth, and therein lies the truth reward. I did sell six books though, but I was there for five hours. An average of one book an hour.
Last night, I went down to KUNM, the local NPR station for Albuquerque, Santa Fe, etc. to do an interview with Ramona King. She paid me a very huge compliment. She gets many manuscripts to read, but she said mine (After the Tsunami) was the only one she read from beginning to end. It drew her in. If you want to listen to the interview, it will be archived for two weeks. You can go here. I am on at about 8:25PM, 11/27/2011. I thought it went well… there wasn’t enough time for me to really draw out my answers the way I wanted, but so is the nature of radio. I really enjoyed talking with Ramona. It was like chatting with a friend, which is the best kind of interview!
During this time, I received a generic rejection from Agni as well as a positive rejection from Camera Obscura.
