my (semi-animated, semi-authorized) book launch event, now on YouTube!
Did you know that I foolishly went around from bookstore to bookstore with all my crazy A/V equipment in order to show animated videos and presentations alongside my book readings? Yep, it cost me a lot in therapy visits and chiropractic visits, but it was also really fun to mix up the book reading event with some of my bad drawings and animation gimmicks. If you didn't get a chance to see this stuff at a bookstore, then you're (arguably) in luck, because, here it is!
a few more ways to spot a yuvi in the wild before he goes into hiding in his attic…
If you know me at all, it’s probably obvious at this point that I’m an introvert. Mostly, I prefer to hide in my attic, and only communicate with the world through YouTube, Zoom, or some other well-bounded digital method. But I do have this exhibitionist streak alongside the introvertedness. It’s a complicated cocktail of angst and delight, but I do love to chat with actual humans in actual bookstores about actual books.
The Fuzzy Secrets to Writing a Decent Novel (video)
It’s been on my mind lately how the act of writing (and completing) a decent novel requires some particular qualities beyond just learning the craft of writing. And so here is a fuzzy video about the fuzzy art of writing a NON-fuzzy novel. 🌪❤️️
How do you promote a thing when the world is collapsing around you?
Oh. I hope you weren't expecting me to answer that question. This isn't one of those "smart advice" or “good insight” blog posts. 💡 This is more of a I-don't-know-the-answer-and-I-have-no-idea-what-the-hell-I’m-doing-and-I'm-trying-to-write-my-way-through-it situations. 😱🤯
Most People Don’t Give a Shit About Your Thing (video)
This latest video talks through the mindset shift that I’ve taken on this year (for all my creative pursuits). I knew that I didn’t want to be too disappointed by any activities related to my new book. There are just too many factors to consider with a book release, and many of them are out of my control. As much as possible, I wanted to savor the good stuff without having unrealistic expectations. I also didn’t want to ever feel gross with how I share or promote anything. So I boiled down the mindset to “most people don’t give a shit.” Think of it like a second-rate, neurotic version of Buddhist ideas related to unmet expectations and the problems with a “wanting mind”… or something like that.
some honest and chaotic thoughts about creativity and book launch week (with A LOT of pictures)
So I did a reading at historic Powell's Books on Tuesday — the day of my book launch. But I also decided to use the days leading up to the book launch to push out all kinds of crazy creative things. I’m not positive that I can come to a grand conclusion about what this all means. But I’ll try, and at the very least, I can meander us through a picture-filled story that involves books and apps and social media and videos and music and essays and podcasts, and then I can land us (in the final postscript) inside a messy gazpacho filled with guilt and passion and triumph. Who wouldn’t want to go on that kind of adventure!?!?!? 🎢🛼🚌
Book Launch Day!
🤯😵💫 OK. Holy shit. My book is officially out the door today! I ONLY CRY WITH EMOTICONS with Red Hen Press. I can't believe the day has arrived. I can't tell you how many people I should thank for this. It takes a community to write a book as far as I can tell. Thank you to all the dear people. For more info about the book, check out my book page. (And the latest episode of the Neurotic Tornado 😫🌪 podcast covers stage fright, book launch nerves, and a bizarre peeing nightmare. We also invite Jackie Shannon Hollis to talk about her public speaking experience with her memoir, This Particular Happiness out with Forest Avenue Press.)
#️⃣🔢 In the meantime, here are some crazy statistics about writing I ONLY CRY WITH EMOTICONS for you to ponder:
Gatekeepers & Creativity (video)
My novel is coming out in just a few weeks! And I’m thrilled to be publishing the book with a great press like Red Hen Press. At the same time, it’s been on my mind that—right now—we have this ability to share our creative work with an audience in so many different ways, some ways involve gatekeepers, and some don’t. And so of course I made a video about that.
Publishing Purgatory & Pants
I've lost my focus. I have a book coming out in two months and I have no idea where to put my attention. It feels like I'm doing nothing and everything at once. I’m working on too many things but don’t know which things are the most important.
So let me list out the pieces of my messy month and see if I can come out the other side with some insight that could be useful for anyone, regardless of what kind of month you've had…
miscellaneous thoughts about my insecurities with publishing things
A few months ago, I posted about how I missed blogging. I wrote it as if blogging was dead, as if I wasn't writing those words on MY OWN BLOG... It wasn't until I got some feedback (thank you, Betsy! 😜) along the lines of, "so... why not keep blogging!?" that I realized there's nothing stopping me from posting things in just the way I once loved to do.... Nothing stopping me, except for me. But ME is a pretty difficult force to overcome. I’m so nervous about saying something the wrong way, or someone reading it the wrong way, or regretting something I say… 😱 To the point where I freeze up at the keyboard when I’m writing something specifically meant for a blog or for social media. It all feels a lot scarier and more complicated these days…
acknowledgments (video)
So I thought it would be amusing to create a video where I make fun of myself attempting to write the acknowledgments for my book. But in the process of making fun of myself, I mistakenly stumbled into a sincere desire to stop and appreciate the things that allow me to be creative. So here's a video that's a mish mash of all those feelings…
a multi-creative in the attic (video)
I've always struggled with being monogamous when it comes to my creative outlets. I've been writing for most of my adult life, but I also dabble with YouTube videos and making apps and making music (sort of) and various other activities. I used to focus on the downsides to working on so many different pursuits (and there are plenty of downsides!), but this video is about me accepting (and maybe kinda sorta embracing) this quality. (I also do about 12 seconds of research and find out that there's already a name for this quality. But since I don't like the name, I made up a new name…)
Writing a Novel When You're Too Busy to Write a Novel (video)
In a blog post about my forthcoming novel, I claimed that I'd pull together a video about writing the novel. Well, here it is. It's under five minutes, but it still required 1060 bad drawings, some background music that I created on my iPad, and one video of me sitting on the toilet. Oy!
a story about mistakenly writing (and publishing) a novel as a way to take a break from writing another novel
I recently got news that my book (my second novel!) is going to be published by Red Hen Press. I’m totally excited to work with such a great press—I've been following them for a long time, and most recently I loved reading Sugar Land by Tammy Lynne Stoner. But this isn't about me awkwardly showing off about my book and this press, at least not yet. Today I want to look at the process of actually writing a book in the middle of a busy life with family, a day job, side projects, whining, and chronic pain. When a book goes out in the world and you're holding it (or its digital equivalent) in your hands, it's easy to think that writing the book was just this one coherent thing the author had to do, but writing a book is chaotic and confusing and has to somehow fit inside a busy, messy life. And I enjoy (for some reason) analyzing how to jam a writing process into this life. I don't have a magic formula, but I have a process (sorta), and thought it would be fun(ish) to talk about it.
Darth Vader and the Lemon
A short story of mine (Darth Vader and the Lemon) was just published in Carve Magazine. It’s a story about the complexities of step-parenting, and it’s full of bad metaphors about Star Wars. The oldest draft of this story that I can find on my computer goes all the way back to May of 2009. That’s more than 10 years ago! In those first few years...
On publishing stuff at medium.com...
So I've been re-publishing a few of my published stories on medium.com this month. Medium can be described as many things, but one thing it is... is a site that looks beautiful where people can self-publish their writing. It has been on my mind to do this, because many websites - even sites that post amazing content - are not so pretty. Either they are poorly designed or they have intrusive advertising or something else. I have no grand plans here, I just thought it would be fun to post a few of my favorite stories on this uncluttered site so a few people could read and enjoy them. Or at least if they don't enjoy them - it is entirely my fault. So here they are, in case you want to check a few of them out. Most are quite short...
16: New Frontiers of Vulnerability
In this podcast episode, we discuss vulnerability, shame, and my own craziness. We talk about Brené Brown’s research and we talk about the essay I recently published. Join us for this delightfully vulnerable romp...
Taking Risks (failvid-15)
The idea of taking a risk has been on my mind lately. In particular, I've been thinking about those risks people take that don't necessarily end with a fabulous success story. So here's a video about it.
vid002: From head to heart
In this video, I fixate on one particular topic: Scott's quest to turn his second book (a novel in progress) into a deeper story. And more generally: can you turn something formulaic (and in your head) into something deeper (and in your heart)? ...
tctpod-season1-02: The second big thing (with Scott Sparling)
In this podcast episode, I talk with Scott Sparling about the challenges of writing the second book. We talk about bringing a work-in-progress into your heart when it wasn't born in the heart. We talk about the egomaniacalness of comparing your work to the Beatles. We discuss the pros and cons of having a deadline for your writing project. We discuss bad book sales, writing in tree houses, stones on the beach, delusions of grandeur, depression, tenacity, stubbornness, and masturbating while writing. Enjoy! ...