Notes from the Tail End of a Whirlwind Book Tour
By Natalia Sylvester | December 7, 2018 |
I’m writing this at 11:15 p.m. in a hotel room in Dallas, in a bed that is not my own. I meant to be asleep 15 minutes ago, and then I realized that—even though I’d written this on my planner 3 days this week!—I forgot to write today’s post.
It’s been a year of every type of emotion imaginable. A year of so much writing. So much traveling. So much book touring (almost non-stop) for Everyone Knows You Go Home since it came out in March. So little is actually in our hands when a book releases, so I told myself earlier this year that I would do everything I could do for it. For me that translated to doing events. Meeting readers. Crashing at friends’ and family’s places all across the country and sometimes, oftentimes, being home no more than a week or two at a time.
This is the dream, right?
Kinda.
Things that make it absolutely beyond worth it for this introverted homebody who would rather be writing in bed:
The young mom in California who brought her young son to my reading because he’d never met an author before…and getting a note from her the next day telling me how her eyes had teared up hearing her boy telling her grandfather all about it later that evening.
Having readers ask me to make their book out to their mom. A book that I wrote as a gift to my mom…becomes a gift to theirs.
Standing-room only crowds full of loved ones.
Standing-room only crowds full of strangers.
Three-person crowds on a cold and rainy day—and pulling up a chair and just chatting.
Hearing my literary hero (the author who inspired me to write fiction!) introduce my book before a reading using words like masterful and magical (how is this real life?!).
Driving all over LA with my husband for four days straight for book tour—and not minding the traffic because even that felt like an adventure.
From my journal, after that CA trip: “the way he smiles at you in the audience like it’s the first time he’s heard you read these words, so you stop to think, what is that expression? And you dare to think it’s pride, and think how humbling it is to make those you love so much so proud.”
From my journal, after an event at The Wild Detectives in Dallas: “that people who you barely know would come through leaves me in awe of this world and all the beings in it.”
Making wishes in magical cars with fellow writer friends after a day of paneling at a book festival. We’d really only just met IRL but we were so honest and vulnerable with each other, perhaps because how we write is how we live.
Reading an excerpt from the book accompanied by live, improvised music in a bar in Brooklyn—like having a score for the words.
The community. The conversations. The selfies. The authors who are your peers who are now true friends.
There are so many more moments and memories I’m too sleep-deprived to list now. And I’m eternally grateful for all of them—but understand that those are the highlights. In between and behind each one there have been tears and stress and failures. Things that went all wrong. Difficult conversations: some of which were fruitful and others which went nowhere. Days and days and days of canceled plans with friends and loved ones. Forgetfulness. Exhaustion and homesickness and needing to spend a day or two in bed after a trip just to recover from the emotional overstimulation of being “on” for so many days at a time. Work-life stress and the illusion of balance. Looking at a calendar and realizing you won’t have a free weekend home with your family for a month a half. Trying to design an eflyer for an event only to have the design program freeze on you after an hour’s worth of work—and having that be the one little thing that breaks you.
So yes…after my event today—a meeting with a book club I’m very excited about—I’ll be home. For the rest of the year, and the beginning of next, I’ll be working (and have been working) on edits for my next novel which will be out in 2020. I’ll be spending time with my husband and our pups. Planning game nights with friends. Getting back to a regular gym routine. (Finally) organizing my desk. Calling my mom and my grandmother more. Reading all the books. Making plans to do…nothing.
Which will of course turn (happily) into writing. In the end, all of the book touring doesn’t matter if the writing is not the most blissful part of it.
Because it’s been a very full 2018. Here’s hoping and wishing and planning that 2019 sees a very full life.
What were the highlights of your year? What are you most looking forward to in 2019?
Born in Lima, Peru, Natalia Sylvester came to the U.S. at age four. A former magazine editor, Natalia now works as a freelance writer in Austin, Texas and is a faculty member of the low-res MFA program at Regis University. Her articles have appeared in Latina Magazine, Writer’s Digest, The Writer, and NBCLatino.com. She is the author of Chasing the Sun, named the Best Debut Book of 2014 by Latinidad and chosen as a Book of the Month by the National Latino Book Club. Her second novel, Everyone Knows You Go Home, is forthcoming from Little A in 2018.
Natalia, I loved reading about all the highs that stuck out in your memory, but also the reality of the constant travel and the need to be ON. My husband and I have often remarked how nice it is for me to be able to stay home. I love it so. I hope you have a wonderful time staying home, writing in bed! It’s one of my favorite things to do too. A Merry Christmas to you–your name is all about it!
Highlights for me: publishing my first novel, Bound, going to a Gregorian chant workshop with my husband, hearing and singing High Mass three days in a row, realizing that writing has saved my life in more ways than one, watching my daughter make beautiful art, my son, a man already.
I’m looking forward to having an empty nest with my husband, to singing and playing more, to at least one new PB coming out, and perhaps two more, and better health.
Congratulations on your debut! It sounds like you have an amazing 2019 ahead.
Sounds exhausting. And exhilarating. Being a published author is not all fun and games, as you note. Like you, I am a homebody / hermit who longs to stay home and write in my cozy, quiet office. But oh, would I do anything to have that chance to be exhausted and exhilarated talking to other readers and writers about my book. First, I have to find an agent who will sell it to a publisher!
No matter where we are in this writing journey, we find joy in the words – and challenges in the grueling, gritty work it takes to find success. Thank you for showing both sides.
Congratulations on your tour, and here’s to the solace of home and the return to the writing of your next book!
Thank you! Even when it’s exhausting, it’s never lost on me how grateful I am to be able to do it. Wishing you much joy & success in the new year.
Natalia, that sounds exhausting! And every writer’s dream…until you’re living out of a suitcase for a month and a half! I can appreciate how nice it is to be home after all those travels. Talking and connecting with the people (your readers) who come to your events, is definitely the best part. I’m a children’s author, so I love to do school visits because I get to connect directly with the audience for my books – kids.
Blessings in 2018 for me are: the publication of my picture book with Disney Press, MULAN’S LUNAR NEW YEAR In October. Being asked by an editor to write a math-concept picture book for consideration (it’s so nice to be approached by an editor instead of having to beat down doors to see if anyone’s interested in publishing my work) and having that book eventually be acquired by Charlesbridge Publishing (release date – Fall, 2020 or Spring, 2021), participating in and writing a play for a 24-hour play festival which was a blast, and writing various magazine articles. And travels to the East Coast with my family.
Oh my goodness, congratulations on your books and the play!
I agree with you about the travel—though I will say that this has been the year I’ve learned all sorts of ways to pack & travel more efficiently!
Got a little teary at your journal entry about your husband. Thanks for this. For the highs and the lows. You’ve inspired me to keep a journal for 2019 just about my two books coming out. May you enjoy your time at home.
That one got me, too, Erin. Thanks for the inspiration, Natalia.
Thanks, Vaughn. I have to admit it got me too when I first looked back & reread it!
Thank you! And congratulations on your upcoming books! I love journaling, especially during moments like these. It’s important to be able to look back and appreciate things we mig otherwise overlook.
The stuff of dreams… May all your wishes come true. Thank you for sharing this leg of your author journey.
Oh Natalia, this post made me so emotional in so many different ways! Thank you for sharing this glimpse into your journey. <3