My running group, Marathoner in Training (MIT), asked members to write a “Good Thing” that happened during the ever-so-odd and nearly cancelled 2020 spring season. I contributed this love note to my running tribe.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This week’s “Good Thing” comes from Nita Sweeney who refuses to choose between the 13:00 Run/Walk group and the 14:00 Run/Walk group, and who often finds herself finishing after the Walker group.
This MIT season has been filled with both “good” and difficult things.
In February, while my husband Ed and I were on book tour in California, for Depression Hates a Moving Target, Ed, had a heart attack. He also had pneumonia twice, and open-heart surgery in March that left him on a gastric feeding tube for two months. Gratefully, he continues to heal and is returning to good health.
Ed and Nita Sweeney returning from California in February 2020
Meanwhile, with bookstores and libraries closed, and book festivals cancelled or postponed, I launched a second book. This, a writing journal, You Should Be Writing, I co-authored with Mango Associate Publisher Brenda Knight.
For my sanity, I returned to running after everything I just mentioned (combined with a pandemic and a civil rights revolution) had derailed my training.
Nita and Scarlet the #ninetyninepercentgooddog
But those aren’t the “good things” I want to share.
When Ed came home from the hospital, and his care transformed me from “award-winning author” to “accidental home health aide” overnight, I feared I wasn’t up to the task. My MIT friends saw my distress. Food, supplies, cards, and stuffed animals flooded in and have not stopped even now that Ed is recovering.
All You Need is Love and a Unicorn
But their real gift came one Saturday when I got a text that said:
“Look out your front door.”
After a few of them had met for a socially distanced run, they had each driven separately to our house. When Ed and I looked out, we saw them, standing six feet apart, holding motivational signs like those normally seen at races. It brought Ed and I to tears. We both felt as if Ed was in a race for his life.
MIT Folks at the Door
That brings me to the “good thing.”
Whether you’re struggling to get in the miles, having a bad day, or feeling so low you’re not sure you want to stay on the planet, please reach out to me or any other member of the MIT family. We will stand with you and cheer you on the same way these MIT members have done for Ed and me. MIT is family, nothing less.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Even if you don’t live in central Ohio and can’t join our MIT family, if you run, you’re part of the tribe. That makes you family! The offer I made to the MIT members stands for you as well.
KCEI Cultural Energy Interview with Mike Tilley and Nita Sweeney
One highlight of the New Mexico leg of my book tour for Depression Hates a Moving Target, was this interview with Mike Tilley of KCEI 90.1 FM – Cultural Energy. Not only had he read the book, but he surprised me during the interview by sharing memories of things we had done in common. I hope you enjoy our conversation as much as I did.
I had the money. Publisher-funded book tours are few and far between. Most authors who want a book tour must cough up the money themselves. And, those travel dollars might be better spent in other forms of promotion. Gratefully, by the time Depression Hates a Moving Target came out, I still had a few dollars of the small inheritance my mother left my siblings and I. Mom, a shining star of a person, would have loved a book tour. If she were still alive, she would have insisted on traveling with me and likely found a way to share the spotlight. I used her gift on airfare, hotels, rental cars, and food, and thanked her when the credit card bills rolled in.
I had the time. I haven’t had a “day job” since 1994. This has not been a “vacation.” My depression, anxiety, and bipolar disorder required hospitalization, intensive treatment, and medication to keep me alive. But not having a job allows me the freedom to travel. If I had to coordinate a book tour around another occupation, I might have made a different choice.
I had the focus and the energy. Travel is exhausting. Add to that the pressure of talking about your book to strangers. Even the best-organized book tour is no small feat. It might make more sense for an author to spent that time doing online marketing. For decades I was on medication that saved my life, but dulled my thinking and sapped my energy. Exercise has allowed me to stop taking the more powerful drugs. As a result, I have the energy and focus to write articles and send out marketing pitches from a hotel room when I might otherwise need to sleep.
I had help. Ed, the #onehundredpercentgoodhusband, is a master at logistics, and my sister, Amy, also helps with marketing. Without them, I would have lost precious time coordinating events, time I needed to use for online marketing. If you don’t have an Ed or an Amy, perhaps you can find an intern. Some colleges offer credit to interns looking to learn from “real world” experience. And if you have an Ed or an Amy, thank him or her every single day.
It allowed me to support independent bookstores. While I don’t shy away from appearances in chain bookstores, most of the readings I’ve done on my book tour have been at independent, local booksellers. Indie bookstores are the heart of a city. I’m sad every town doesn’t have one. And many of these lovely shops struggle to meet the bottom line. Attracting readers to their stores by giving a reading or a book talk feels tremendous. It’s a win-win, of course, but it feels like the best kind.
It gave me an excuse to see friends and family. You’ve probably figured out by now that what you see on social media is ever-so-slightly contrived. We scheduled book tour stops in places we wanted to go. Los Angeles Times Festival of Books? A visit to see Ed’s 102-year old mother, Ed’s son, other members of both of our families, and some friends. Cleveland? Seven friends were running their first marathon. Lancaster, Pennsylvania? A Dead Runners Society gathering. The Bay Area? Ed’s Berkeley fraternity reunion and the possibility of meeting my editor. Lexington, Kentucky? Time with Goddard classmate, author Lisa Haneberg. New Mexico? Natalie Goldberg and too many other friends to name for fear I’ll forget someone. Yes, I sometimes stay in a friend’s guest room, but for the most part I’m using it as an excuse to see (and thank) people I love. We would have taken these trips at some point. We probably wouldn’t have piled them all together, but hey. It’s been lovely.
It looks good on social media. Success begets success. Social media images matter, so I used my desire to see family and friends as a way to shape my online image. I want my social media followers to ask, “I wonder where Nita is today?” I’m grateful because Mango shares on their social media accounts nearly everything I send their way so my marketing posts serve double duty. This is the world we live in. A book tour looks good!
It was my dream. But the main reason I decided to arrange a book tour was because it was my dream. I’m old enough to think that a book tour is a hallmark of success and mature enough to know that if I want that, I have to give it to myself.
When your book comes out, examine your priorities. An honest self-appraisal will help you decide if a build-your-own book tour is for you.
