Tomorrow

Thursday morning I am doing radio interviews about my new book from 8:30 until 11:10. My voice will be heard on radio stations all over the country. It is a terrifying prospect. My friend Jennifer, a PR person, has been helping me to prepare. She has mock interviewed me and coached me on my answers. She has instructed me to dress professionally and smile when I speak, even though nobody on the radio can see me.

Then, next week, I'm going on tour. For the whole week, all up and down the East coast. I'm calling it my Read Lots of Books without Interruption week and am taking all kinds of novels and books about quilts. By calling it my reading week, I don't have to think about how tired I will be after talking to two or three or four groups of people every day, and saying the same thing each time. I am almost 46 and I still have the energy for all kinds of things, but I don't have the energy for this. I do, however, have the energy to sit and airports and read, which I'll be doing a lot of. So that's what I'm focusing on.

I'm trying to be a trooper, though. I am trying to remind myself that I might sell more books by doing radio interviews and going on tour. But, you know, I've never made a strong connection between writing books and making money, though it is actually how I make my living. The two don't seem to have anything to do with each other. Writing books seems deeply personal to me. How can it be a money-making venture?

On Monday night I went to my first local Quilters' Guild meeting (and I joined--I am a guild member--whee!). The speaker was so hilarious she was exhausting to listen to. What was funny was her quilts were absolutely beautiful. She seemed too funny to make beautiful things. I couldn't put her and her quilts together.

My favorite part was at the very end, when people came up to the front to show their most recent work. It was all amazing. What artists!

And it was nice to sit there safe in the knowledge that I will never quilt for money. I will never have to worry about what reviewers say about my quilts, or whether kids like my quilts, or whether not anyone will buy my quilts. I don't think there's any fear I'll start getting stressed out about whether or not I'm the best quilter in the guild, because I could make a quilt every week and take every class offered for the rest of my life, and I'm never going to be half the artist or seamstress that a lot of these women so obviously are. It's nice to be really mediocre sometimes. It's nice to do something just for the love of it. It's nice to do something and never, ever have to go on the radio to tell people how you did and why they should like it.

I don't know if I'll have time to do another post before I go. So I'll go ahead and say goodbye for now, and I'll see you again the week after next. If I survive. Which I might not.