So, ok, first let’s address the seemingly strange issue that I was away from this blog for a little while, and then to mark my return, I didn’t write up a whole “what I’ve been doing” blog post like this one, all filled with pictures and links and things to see.
Instead, I Tweeted a picture of a clown, just to break the ice. Had to be done, sorry!
Actually, I Tweeted a picture of a bizarre clown wig that was labeled “Neon Afro Wig,” taken at a party store where I went at least six times in preparation for my friend’s baby shower. To prepare for this baby shower, I swear I turned into Helen from Bridesmaids with the overplanning, and probably not in a good way. But, the shower was yesterday, it was great, and I made cake pops, which looked like this:
Omg! So nice! So hard to make! It’s going to take a whole ‘nother blog post to explain the nervous breakdown I had while making them. A word to the wise: this video is clearly designed to make you feel inferior and to have this nervous breakdown, as it makes the making of the pops seem overly simple, WHICH I ASSURE YOU IT IS NOT. I should have known that any recipe starting with “bake two cakes” was not going to end by midnight, right? Also, how the HELL did they have the time to make that cute, twee little song for the background? Isn't that song almost mocking you? I kind of hate it.
I’m not posting pictures or anything about the baby shower, and you can't see any of the people in that photo on purpose, because the expectant mom doesn’t want me to, and you know what? Good for her. I feel that. Let her have a private moment in this overexposed social media age, for the love of crap. So, that’s why I wasn’t talking about that, and I'm not going to start, except to say that everyone had a great time and that the cake pops WERE SO GOOD.
Moving on. This is what ELSE I’ve been working on over the past month or so.
- Redesign. You know I work on this website for Johnson & Johnson, right? Well, it re-launched last month, and now it is beautiful, and the re-design took approximately ten months, and no, I am not exaggerating. Did you know I also found a single gray hair? Yep. These things might be related.
- Redesign. My company’s website was badly in need of a redesign, so that got done too. Don’t you love my new designer? I do. And, now that he’s done designing everything in my network, he can move on to your site. Send me an email about that if you’d like.
- Author site. Yes, LoriCulwell.com was also re-designed, and yes, I am excited about the way it looks too, and yes, I know that nothing shows up in that Pinterest side-widget, and I'm de-bugging it. If you like the website, I think you should totally hire my book promotion company to make one for you.
- BEA. Did you know that I spoke at BEA (Book Expo America?). Yes, it happened. It was so exciting! If you happened to be there and want to talk to me about it, hit me up on Twitter. It was standing room only in there! In case you're curious, no, I did not take any free books with me from the trade show floor. I am currently up to my ears in books, and I didn't want to add to the precarious pile in my office. I also showed up on Day 2 a little bit too late to attend a book signing with Molly Ringwald, so that was a bummer. Overall, though, BEA was a blast, I met a bunch of awesome people, and I can't wait to go back next year.
- How to Market a Book came out!!. This doesn’t even deserve to be at the bottom of the list, but it’s going to get its own blog post, so I am totally excited to announce that on the same day I spoke at BEA, my NEW BOOK ON BOOK MARKETING CAME OUT! I’m excited about this for many reasons, not least of which is that I’m totally psyched to have a book out there that gives writers some concrete things they can do on their own behalves, even if they feel like they can’t (or don’t want to) hire me or talk to me about it.
My awesome co-author Katherine Sears and I worked on that book for almost a year, it is packed with good info, and I absolutely promise that when you read it, you will get something out of it that a) you did not know and b) you can use right then to improve your network, get your book out there, and hopefully make yourself some money as a writer (if that’s your dream).
That’s enough of an action-packed update for now, but I did want to let you know that I am here and super busy, but that you should feel free to drop me a line or leave me a comment to say hi or whatever. I miss hearing from you guys!
Or really, maybe I’m just writing this post to get all of these formalities out of the way so that when I post a scene-by-scene snarky breakdown of the Dallas premiere last week, you don’t feel like “You never write, THEN YOU WRITE ABOUT DALLAS? WHAT’S UP WITH THAT?”
I feel like maybe the Funny Strange audience is split down the middle with people who want to hear what is going on with my life and people who just come for the pictures of clowns and weird food, don’t you ? Sometimes I wonder.
Anyhow, look around, get the marketing book, and tomorrow I will be back with some Dallas commentary that I promise will make you laugh and forgive my absence.