Monday, April 07, 2008

my apologies for the frailty of flesh

There are times in your life that things are so bad all the cliches actually start making sense. Spinning out of control. Don't know which end is up. Emotional roller coaster.

And when you're there, the only thing you seem to know with certainty is just how messed up everything is.

Right now, I'm displaced. Sort of homeless, and I feel overwhelmed by the awareness that I don't have an anchor. I'm sitting here, listening to Russ Taff's WINDS OF CHANGE...

Well, I've seen my chances come and go
And come back round again
But everytime they took me by surprise
There was a day I used to want
the things I did not have
But it's never better on the other side.
Well, I've never gone so far that I've
forgotten my way home
The best things always bring you back again
over and over


The Hands of Time
Go Round and Round
They don't slow down when you lose your way
At every turn
The things you learn
You wear them proud like you wear your name
And as you go
On Down that road
Don't let the dust get in your eyes
It blows in the winds of change.


Hunger is no stranger
I've sat with him before
And everything I've done has not been good
As I've tried to make my stand
I've had to learn to fall
And maybe I've seen more than I should
But I've never gone so far that I've
Forgotten my way home
The best things always bring you back again


Sort of a psychological anchor, because when my life spirals I find myself listening to the music of my formative years, stuff a solid twenty years old, stuff that was on my (ahem) record player and in my tape deck when I was figuring out who I was and what I wanted in my life.

And not everything in my life has turned out the way I wanted.

I always feel a sense of responsibility to readers here, to be honest, and to be available. I'm sorry that I haven't been able to respond to all comments lately. I'm also sorry that I'm behind on e-mails and general correspondence, and I do need to update my website, because if you need to contact me now you should use sandraruttan.spinetinglermag at gmail dot com (remove the words and replace with symbols where appropriate).

I can't fully explain everything going on right now. The only thing I can tell you at this time is that I'm safe. That's really all that matters, but I do feel disoriented, and a bit lost. There is never a time when more is expected of you than in the weeks leading up to your book's release, and right now I have this overwhelming fear that I'm letting everyone down. I'm just trying to tread water and get the essentials done. Many of the things I thought were going to happen for the promotion of this book have fallen by the wayside, some with canceled interviews, some with things I just haven't gotten to yet. It's such a personal disappointment, because I've worked so hard for WHAT BURNS WITHIN, and for THE FRAILTY OF FLESH... and believe me, right now, I can relate to the hell I put my characters through in THE FRAILTY OF FLESH.

But more later. For now, I have things to smile about. I've got the new Deric Ruttan album on now (and wow, here's a ringing endorsement of a blog post not written by a third cousin) and I have the image of the book cover for THE FRAILTY OF FLESH on my computer, thanks to Erin @ Dorchester, who is the marketing goddess.

And for the people like you, reading, for Erin, who've worked so hard for me, I'm going to get the things done that I need to get done to make sure that I get those things I'm behind on done. (Wow, that made no sense at all. In other words, I'm going to be working hard to catch up.)



And I'm not sure why it's changing the colours, but it seems to be inverting the cover or something in the upload. Hmmm, weird... Ah, managed to fix it...

9 comments:

Jack Getze said...

Everything is going to be okay, Ms. S. Just relax, do what you can. You have so many friends.

Sandra Ruttan said...

And I love that one of them is a fictional character. ;)

Lyman Feero said...

Writers by their very natures are swept up in the life less ordinary. Sorry you find yourself in a rough patch but you are uniquely armed to deal with it, transform it and turn it into something if not wonderful then useful.

Sandra Ruttan said...

Which reminds me, Lyman, that you and I have an interview to reschedule...

Chris said...

Wow -- looking over your comments, it looks like we friends of yours are one motley crew indeed. You want we should rough up somebody for you?

Sandra Ruttan said...

Yeah, that Lyman, he's a scary one. ;)

Lyman Feero said...

Drop me a line. I'll give you my schedule.

Scary? Me? Naw... I'm a big teddy bear... who comes alive after midnight... and chews off people's knees.

...but I digress.

Picks by Pat said...

Nice book cover. You can't go wrong with an image of a spider web on the cover of a mystery!

Um, good content helps too. I assume you've taken care of that, though.

Sandra Ruttan said...

Lyman, I will, but not after midnight!

Pat, I'm proud of THE FRAILTY OF FLESH. Hopefully, readers will feel that's justified...