It’s weird being back online. I left social media back in Covid Season One (2021?), but I needed to put up a personal site for book projects, so here it is. It’s not that I really left…I still worked with clients and managed their accounts. Corporate work and personal presence are different, though.
So, I guess I’m back online. Or, at least, I’ve reestablished a personal website. I don’t think I’ll ever go back to social media, but that’s a whole different story. I made the mistake of searching Charlie Kirk’s name on IG the day he was shot, and I can’t unsee the unfiltered, unrestricted, 4K videos of his death that were fed to me totally without warning. I deleted IG for good. I won’t manage client socials anymore. It’s all a hard pass from me, Meta. I was never on TikTok, so that was an easy pass. I manage a few YouTube channels, so that’s the only place I’ve stayed active.
Before the pandemic I was doing in-person workshops to help freelance writers learn the business side of writing, and I did some work with the Editorial Freelancer’s Association. After the shutdown, I took a break to focus on copywriting. Built up a nice portfolio in the energy sector and worked with some startups. Very rewarding. Worked with great people developing great projects.
I tried and failed to get an agency up and running, and that’s a story for a series of posts. lol
This year felt different, though. AI has been a big part of that, and I could talk endlessly about how it’s changing the business of writing. (I’ve written a few articles about AI at Live Write Publish.)
When a major contract ended in May, I was left with a hole in my schedule and questions about how to move forward. I seriously considered homesteading. Or crocheting “professionally.” lmao
What to do next?
I decided to finish and publish Displaced. Not for anyone else. Not for marketing or sales. Just to get it cleared from my psyche. That story was living with me for 20 years. My partner had the best advice when I was waffling over it: Publish it. Let it go.
It was taking up precious mental real estate.
Once I made the decision, I plowed through and got it done in two months. There were tears. There were arguments. There were days in my bathrobe with unbrushed hair at 6:30 a.m. clutching a hot coffee and editorial notes. I found out someone I thought was dead was actually alive, and that was a happy surprise and welcome conversation. I reconnected with memories I hadn’t thought about in 14 years.
At some point I’ll write more about the process of editing and publishing the book, but it’s done. It’s out there.
And I’m back.
I’ve started another book, and my goal is to document more of the process this time around. We’ll see how it goes.
That’s the TL;DR. I’ve been working. I’ve been focused on being offline and spending time in person with people. There has to be a digital balance, though. So, here we are.
Ready for another adventure.