Book Talks and Learning from Mistakes
Plus three new chapters 👌
Greetings tree amigos!
Thanks to everyone who has shown support by reading and providing feedback. More helpful than you think. Writing a book is as much a self-exploration as it is a creative endeavor. So I’m going to make a habit of updating you on Substack with posts like this one.
Now I want to share two bits I’ve learned about myself in the last two weeks.
It started with this message from my editor:
Yikes 🤦🏼♂️
As some of you may have seen, I did my first two book talks (via Zoom) recently.
Whether it was Mr. De Andrade’s class in Oakland, or Ms. Polit’s in Austin, I couldn’t have enjoyed my time more. I love helping people find creative flow — and kids have it on speed dial.
But I learned two things in the process.
Lesson One
Editing a book is harder than writing one
June is my deadline for editing and, we’re still making significant changes.
And I’m deeper into my story now than when I started it in Cuba. Storylines are twisting all around each other like tangled yo-yo’s.
And that makes it harder.
So why then was I surprised to receive Stephanie’s message?
Lesson Two
I can’t do everything
You may already know this about me, but I have a bad habit of biting off more than I can chew. I chalk it up to a big ego.
These book talks were not work. The kids blew me away.
But still, my writing suffered:
Stephanie sent me that message because I had forgotten to delete an entire page I had meant to cut. It BROKE the story.
Writing a book is like building a house.
If she hadn’t caught the mistake, that one rotten beam of wood would have sent The Tree of Knowledge tumbling.
Which leads me to the big lesson…
Timing is everything
I look forward to doing more book talks when the time is right. But now I need to focus — creating this world fills up all the seats in my mental theater.
For others, it might be balancing work with family. Or romance. Or sanity in quarantine. We all MAX ourselves out from time to time. But we need our efforts to be in the right places. It’s not fair to ourselves or to others if we keep selling tickets.
—I’m still learning. And you all are helping, whether you realize it or not.
CLICK HERE FOR NEW CHAPTERS
Appreciate your feedback immensely
yes.