Friday, March 20, 2009

Back Home from a Long Journey

They say travel is broadening, and my boundaries have been tested in the most enjoyable way by the visits to so many wonderful hotel rooms over the past weeks. I want to thank all the party guests in Suite 69 who shared their storytelling talents in celebration of hotel sex and the publication of Do Not Disturb: Hotel Sex Stories, edited by Rachel Kramer Bussel. This truly was an Arabian Nights of the modern day and I am so thrilled to be part of this supportive and brilliant community of erotic artists! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

While I love traveling, but I also like coming back home. Over the past weeks, I've been thinking about another journey I've taken. It's been a little over a year since I started learning about book promotion in order to give my novel, Amorous Woman, a tiny chance of reaching readers. In a way, it was a journey to a foreign land for me, a year-long stay in a place where I didn't know the language or customs, and sometimes wasn't sure I wanted to be there at all. However, the adventure brought great rewards as well. Nearly every contributor to the party in Suite 69 is a friend now due to my efforts to "put myself out there."

Who knows how successful I was as a promoter in the "traditional" sense? Someone recently mentioned an article suggesting that only the very top writers benefit from the promotional machine and the middling writers fare the same as those who do nothing. This might be referring to corporate measures of "success," which are not my measures (by those standards I am a failure and always will be). Perhaps my resistance against that machine, which deemed me unworthy, was completely futile, but I did gain so much. I learned I can do things I never thought I could, but most of all, I made so many wonderful writer friends, so I refuse to accept that pronouncement as truth, even if the financial aspect of it proves the point.

For quite a while now, I've also been talking about a new novel I'd like to write. People are always asking "what's next?" and I had an answer in terms of what, but not when. I was still too caught up in the promotional chase. But recently I realized that it is time to come home to my own writing. I feel an urgency now, a visceral need to do it, that hasn't been there before. Of course, I will have to cut back on some activities to make time for my writing and put that first on my priority list. I will still be blogging a few times a week, doing my columns and doing a few interviews. I'll also be weighing in here on the experience of writing a second novel, which has its own challenges, many of which are the same as writing a first! I'm always happy to join in a blog tour or add my photo to a voyeur's peep into the private lives of erotica writers. But the main focus of my writing will not be in the blog0sphere for some time to come. (I'm also hoping that by announcing this publicly, I'll be motivated to keep this promise to put my new work first).

I do hope my blog buddies will continue to stop by now and then and leave comments, as I will do with your blogs. But I'm starting off on a new journey now, destination unknown. Wish me luck.

9 comments:

Neve Black said...

Donna,
I am right here with you; tucked into your napsack - offering support and my, Oooh, and ahhhhs into your next successful and wonderous journey!

Nikki Magennis said...

good luck on your journey, Donna! Thanks for having me in Suite 69, and I can't wait to see what transpires from your latest adventure! x

Isabel Kerr said...

It's been delightful Donna! All the best with your next writing endeavor and we'll be right here with you!

Jeremy Edwards said...

Donna, thank you so much for hosting us in your super-sexy Suite 69! And thank you so much for all the rich enchantment you bring to blogland.

I'm thrilled to know that you'll soon be embarking on your next beautiful, thought-provoking, imaginatively erotic novel!

Craig Sorensen said...

I understand, Donna, and I wish you well on your journey. I'm glad you're writing your next book, because I want to read it.

Donna said...

Thank you Neve, Nikki, Isabel, Craig and Jeremy. Just the people I was writing about :-)!

I'll still be here, but I'll be in my anguished writer mode instead of my cheerful promoter mode. You'll get to see the real me!

EllaRegina said...

Happy to see you in whatever form!

I add my voice to the thank-yous for Suite 69. It was a blast!

Now, close your eyes while we spin you around three times and let you free!

1 - 2 - 3!

There you go! You're off!

Emerald said...

Congratulations, Donna, on all the success you have had — and indeed, it seems to me there have been prolific amounts — and thank you for so thoughtfully, thoroughly, and generously sharing your accounts as such here. I find you truly an inspiration.

Congratulations also on being in touch with the urge inside you that asks you to create right now. Best to you as you be with that.

Thank you again for having me to your blog to be featured during the Suite 69 party, and for the love and light you shine into the Universe.

Erobintica said...

Donna, thanks for having me in Suite 69 (haha, you've had so many of us!) and best of luck on your new adventure. As for being in your anguished writer mode - I think we'll all be more than understanding. ;-)