Getting ready for the book launch party next Saturday (4/15)

Wow. 
About a year ago I was sharing a glass of wine with my friend and mentor, CarolAnn Waugh and mentioned that I was starting to think I was ready to get a book project off of my to-do list. She laughed and said the only way to get going was to actually get going. Make an outline, figure out the chapters, and start writing. Sure, sounded easy. But then I figured I should wait until the perfect time and environment, so I packed up my laptop and headed to my July retreat in Crested Butte. I was going to hunker down and write a few hours each day, then return to Denver in August with a completed manuscript and momentum. Hah! Turns out CB is such a gorgeous spot that I could not pull myself indoors long enough to open the computer. So I started August with not much more than the outline I had started months earlier, and absolutely no momentum. I had a good laugh at myself thinking that the situation had to be perfect before creativity would flow. Hadn't I been dismantling that myth for 20 years already? I realized that I had to approach this project just as I learned to settle into "interval art" when the kids were little. I had to stop waiting for perfect time, expecting perfection, and get on with the task, even if it was going to be in odd intervals. Like 15 minutes here, 45 minutes there, etc. Once I established this new routine I was off to the races; the manuscript got written, the art work completed and the editor hired. From first words to finished product took around 9 months, seriously. I'm excited to host the launch party next Saturday to complete the full cycle and celebrate with a little bubbly (and lots of spray inks!). My gratitude certainly stands before my expectations as I am humbled by the joy this project has brought. 

---