Travels with Crusie and Books Part 2

Well, not actually with Crusie. Though, come to think of it, we did a lot of driving. Lani Diane Rich and I went out to Jenny Crusie's magical wonderland of a house, deep in an enchanted forest in, of all place, Ohio. By the deep flowing Ohio River, it's a strange and quirky place full of clutter and magic and beauty everywhere you turn. Oh, and dogs, of course. The divine Wolfie, the sweet Lucy, and the incomparably flatulent Bernie.
We talked Dogs and Goddesses. We talked career frustrations. We talked food and friends and craft (writing) and crafts (knitting and crocheting) and went to the Ihop three times before we burned out on pancakes, the fabulous Hobby Lobby twice, and nary a bookstore in sight. You can tell when writers are burned out on the business when we don't go to bookstores, particularly when a new book is out.
And the new book is out. It has a small print run, which is heartbreaking, but that's the way of the world. Sometimes it seems like the more beloved the book, the smaller the print run, but I am nothing if not resolute and stubborn. We call it building our backlist. Sometime, in the near or distant future, it will be republished and the world will weep at its beauty. This time around, my hopes aren't high.

Ah, but back to happier things. When we were in Ohio we bought a fireplit and dragged it home to have a ritual (I was going to write down what I can't change and set it on fire and then throw whiskey on it). Lani and Jenny had things to release as well, but we never got around to it. And now that I'm in my mother's apartment building I think I'd set off fire alarms if I tried it. So I'll just have to cowboy up for the next few days.

Cherrycon was small and intimate and wonderful, with all the fabulous cherries in full bloom. It was a week of inspiration and laughter and friendship, the sort of thing we all need in our lives to help us get through the harder times.

Have any of you had a fabulous journey with friends? Tell me about it. And if you haven't, I charge you all to grab a couple of girl friends or boy friends (someone non-sexual) and hit the road, if only for the day. Life's too short not to grab it.