It’s been a busy (and exhausting) couple of months. What began as a three-event schedule ballooned into a 19-event book tour. I’ve had one event nearly every week since July 2, which doesn’t sound like a lot–but when you consider that I’m very much an introvert, well, it’s a lot. Despite the energy suck, the events are always fun, and the opportunity to meet readers has been great. Most recently I was part of a really fun panel discussion at the Barnes & Noble in Center City Philadelphia with writers Adam Cesare and Hailey Piper (we talked about publishing and writing horror) and a book expo at a local mall.

This coming week will be my busiest ever, with a panel discussion on Tuesday and a two events on Saturday–a horror author book signing and then I’m teaching a flash fiction workshop. I do get a bit of a break after that–two events during election week and then a panel discussion in Iceland… and then I’m DONE for the year. There are a few things up in the air, so I’ve been avoiding making many plans for 2025 until I know more, but I definitely plan to do fewer events.

It might have been a busy couple of months, but it’s also been a learning experience. It’s interesting how much my experience with The Trajectory of Dreams a decade ago is completely different from the experience of A Misfortune of Lake Monsters. True, it’s different genres and categories, but even publishing has changed tremendously–and the level of marketing we’re all expected to do has expanded greatly as well. There’s so much to consider in terms of what I want to do next. A question that is paramount in A Misfortune of Lake Monsters–how much of our ourselves do we owe to others–is something I’ve been thinking about a lot in my personal and professional life. It has less to do with doing so many events and more to do with publishing itself. I’ve been fixated on one way of publishing for so long that I’m slow to consider other options… but it might be time to explore the options.