GOODNIGHT, FUCKERS #403: A WRITER OR AN AUTHOR

 Relax. Don't worry. I'm not going to say some stupid bullshit about what it takes to be an author versus a writer. Anyone who does that is full of shit. Whatever works for you is the real answer. The difference between feeling like an author or a writer is something that applies to me alone.

It's easy to feel like a writer. You sit down and write (or edit, or fucking hell, put together a synopsis), and that's it. I've felt like a writer for as long as I can remember. During the plague it was pretty easy to feel that. But I missed feeling like an author.

I got to experience that again for the first time in, what? Two years? Going to Printers Row this year was a lot of fun. I missed that kind of thing. Selling books. Signing books. Meeting readers. That's the shit that makes me feel like an author, and these were hard things to come by during these Covid Years. More importantly, I missed doing live readings.

Feeling like an author is difficult. I can't rely on just myself for that. I need the participation of others in order to get into that head space. And goddam! That felt good.

I really want to do more shows in 2022. I hope that we can put this plague behind us and have fun in public spaces full of people again. That would be nice. I'd like to do Days of the Dead again, for example. I'm still not back on board with comic book conventions. That would take a lot. But horror cons? I miss the hell out of those. And one day I'd like to table at Scares That Care. I'm pretty sure that won't happen next year, but maybe 2023? Who knows?

That would be pretty fucking cool.

Oh yeah, and sorry for almost creating a cult during and after the live reading of my story, "Butt Club," from Tales of Unspeakable Taste.

ATTENTION FELLOW AUTHORS! WHO WANTS TO GO TO A FREE FESTIVAL?

One of the cool things about the Printers Row show was meeting librarians. One of them invited me to do a festival in Morris, IL. It's at the end of September. You can read all about it here.


That's pretty cool. I get to sell my books for free. They have a set up for me for free. Here's a few more details from the email followup I got from the librarian:

Last year, we had 13 authors and they all told me they sold books. Some authors sold quite a few. Since I want to keep it simple for my own planning purposes, I don't charge authors to be here and I don't pay authors to be here. We provide a table, chair and an easy up tent. We set up in our parking lot and we get a lot of people passing through from downtown to Corn Festival events in a nearby park.

To add to the excitement of the day, this year, we are combining our comic con with the book festival. So, there may also be light SABR(see what I did there) training, a cosplay contest, Dr. Who trivia, etc. going on at the same time.

Last year, some of the authors said it was a really good book festival, especially for the first one. Authors seemed to make some connections with other authors, especially the ones with whom they shared a table. I love attending author festivals, so I was pretty excited to host my own. I had many people come up to me and tell me to have another one, so we are.


So . . .  local authors, or anyone who might be passing through the area, are any of you interested in doing this show with me? Let me know in the comments, respond on Facebook or Twitter or if you have my phone number, text or call.