Multi-Tasking As An Author (Or Crazy Person)

First things first, Happy Independence Day!  

Here's a photo of cake (that I didn't make, boo) that will probably make you very hungry. And have the urge to bake. Or maybe that's just me. 

(source lovefromtheoven)

So earlier this week I had a mini revelation, and I knew I had to share it with all of you. 

Multi-tasking. Is. Ridiculous. 

We're inching closer (and closer, and closer) to Friday, aka #ObumbrateDay (you can sign up to attend the online event on Facebook here or just Twitter hashtag #ObumbrateDay), or as I like to call it, The Day I Spend More Time Staring At Amazon Than Any Other Day of The Year. Between working a 12-hour shift at my day job, I'll be slamming the internet like a giddy author, happily posting quotes and answering questions and doing flash giveaways all day. 

But until that day actually comes, I've been doing a mountain of prep behind the scenes! Designing t-shirts, formatting the digital version of Obumbrate for Kindle/Nook/iBooks, completing paperback and hardback designs, promo items, bookmarks, I could list this stuff all day. I'm also pretty sure that if I wasn't so twitchy about being hands-on with my projects, I could have someone do some of this stuff for me and reduce the work load, but honestly where is the fun in that? 

But back to topic. Multi-tasking is a miserable feat, and one that, if conquered, I tip my hat to you. I've only barely managed to juggle work, family, friends, and all the little things in-between and maybe catch my breath along the way. Example, my Monday kind of went like this: 

9AM- Up. Acknowledge that the dishes did not magically finish themselves last night. Inwardly sob. 

9:30AM- Receive email from CreateSpace, kindly informing me my cover was rejected because one of the E's was toeing the red line. Promptly rage. 

10AM-2PM- Re-do cover. Get distracted along the way with imgur. Curse those cat photos. 

2-4PM- Oh hey, those dishes still haven't finished themselves! And they're... growing. 

4-8PM- Head over to friend's house for a few hours. Insert random stop at Starbucks and B&N.  

8PM-3AM- Can't sleep, so let's do more graphic design! 

Rinse and repeat for two days. Only add more later. 

In hindsight, this doesn't look that bad. But something about trying to make a photo look good and accepting it in the end is impossible. 

Oh, speaking of! If you've been lurking around Goodreads, you've probably seen the new cover for Illumine. Surprise! If not, as a 4th of July and early #ObumbrateDay treat, here's the cover.

It's HERE! ILLUMINE is here!

Click here to get Illumine for your Kindle Device or App!


Phew! What a last couple of days. Anyone else feel like they've been steamrolled flat then re-inflated with buckets of nachos? That's probably just me.

Cheesiness, from the nachos or just natural we'll never know, aside I wanted to do a quick little blog post officially saying that yes, Mom, now you can go buy the book. And everyone else too. Not that you didn't already know that I'm sure, most people I know are tech-savvy enough to do a little Googling and find the link.

As for everything else going on right now, with my book finally released into the wild (may you all have mercy on me) I am very ready for a night of completely undisturbed sleep. I cannot tell you how weird it is to be sitting in front of a computer at 6:38am the second night in a row without sleep and trying to figure out why everything's moving when you just need it to stand still for a teeny, tiny moment so you can read the line over again and fix it. Again. Times a million.