5 graduation cupcake toppers on Etsy, plus Seattle excitement building

5 graduation cupcake toppers on Etsy - I'm proud of this Cupcakes Take the Cake post! Love researching the minutiae of cupcake culture, and making it timely, at that.

Looking forward to trying more cupcakes in Boston this weekend (and some heavy duty walking - less than 5 weeks til the Rock N Roll (Half) Marathon)! At this point, if I don't walk all 13 miles, I won't be kicking myself. I haven't trained as hard as I could have, but I do hope I will be able to do at least 11 in the 4 hours alloted. Then I will retire to my hotel and luxuriate and relax and maybe get some Sweet Iron Waffles.

And then prepare for one of the hottest readings I've ever done - Monday, June 27th, 6-8 pm at Babeland in Capitol Hill - I will be bombarding you with information/begging you to make it a packed one. For now, while I get that everyone wants to RSVP on Facebook to tell us why they can't make it, I will ask that if you can't make it, please do me a gigantic favor and tell your Seattle friends (you can use that handy Facebook link). It's a free event, with free cupcakes, and Naked Girls Reading reading from Gotta Have It, and Shanna Germain in from Portland. And free copies of SexIs Magazine (print edition). Trust me, it's gonna be super hot.

I probably won't read in Seattle for...a very long time (no offense to Seattle, I'm just retiring from most readings so I can focus on better book marketing, and I just can't afford to travel that much, physically or financially or timewise). I'm trying not to go insane stressing over Seattle and London, but at the same time, if I don't put every ounce of energy into these readings I can, what's the point?

I almost canceled the Seattle trip but then decided to go through with it, and I'm proud of that decision. I learned a lot from making that plan insanely early, which I'd never do again, but I'm looking forward to trying something I wouldn't have done. I'm also going to carve out some time in 2012 (my 2011 time is pretty much spoken for) to look into writing retreats, even if it's just 4 or 5 days. I need it, and owe it to myself. That is an infinitely better use of my time than the crazy reading schedules I've been keeping the last few years. I don't regret it, I just felt this total shift in my priorities, aided by my royalty statements. Doing something that doesn't work ad nauseam is, well, not wise. I'm not saying I'm so wise at 35, but I'm learning. Plus I just realized after ending In The Flesh that I like being at my computer more than on a stage. I like creating words. I have so many friends who live for being on stages, performing, acting, etc., and I admire them greatly, but I am not them, and I shouldn't have to be to be a writer. I enjoy gathering people together, hosting, organizing, but I also see the many costs that takes on me and I am grateful for a chance to have a quieter life.