So it goes...

 One of the many fallouts of the pandemic is the momentary death of live book festivals. Along with other large conferences, these events if held would be nothing short of irresponsible super-spreader events. The local festival in Waukesha, the Southeast Wisconsin Festival of Books went virtual last November in an attempt to keep some semblance of a conference. Others have followed suit including the Twin Cities Book Festival in October.  I didn't realize how much I missed the interactions and networking I have at these events until I didn't have them. I miss presenting at them, I miss talking to my peers and I miss talking to readers.  Nevertheless, I still need to pursue the promotion and marketing of my books, particularly my newest, Cretin Boy. This means searching far and wide for venues to get it out there.  One of the better ones I've found is the Deep Valley Book Festival held in the Mankato area of Minnesota. They are typically in-person, but because of CO...

 I keep looking for an end or a bit of light with regards to the pandemic. It's hard when we're 10 months into it and still looking at probably another 6-8 before we see widespread vaccinations. Unfortunately our numbers are as high as they've ever been and hospitals are starting to feel the pinch on a much broader scale. We're not too bad locally, but am hearing reports of places that are. In the meantime, I continue to stay home as much as possible and minimize contact with people.  To keep a sense of normalcy, I continue to try and get some writing done. In the last week I've submitted to 3 poetry magazines and a nonfiction story about introversion to Introvert, Dear, a website on the cause. I'll tell you more about it if you text me. LOL. Little introvert joke there. The combination of writing and my wife are keeping me sane through all of this. I'm still reporting into work twice a week with three days working from home. When I get down about any of it ...