Oh my – the last day of November. I think if you follow this journal (and thank you for that) you know what a whirlwind and an emotional rollercoaster this month has been. From saying goodbye to one of our very dearest friends, to travelling to Nova Scotia, then hosting two couples who are very close to our hearts in Palm Springs.
 
Yesterday I was flying so high that I can barely come down long enough to write the journal I was planning on, but I promise you, it can wait until next Friday. (So much for best-laid plans, and all of that). Please indulge me, if you will, until I come down from this cloud, somewhere up amidst the rainbows that surrounded us in a rare desert rain yesterday.
 

 
It started on Wednesday night when I got word that an extra show had been added to the Oakville Centre. I had a choice of doing a second, later show on Monday, February 25 but, concerned about the alarm clock the next morning for Toronto TV, I took their other offer of an “In Conversation With” for Sunday, February 24. I posted it to my journal here yesterday and then, once I hoped readers who come on at 8 am had seen the ticket sale opportunity (my algorithms show that to be the peak time for visitors), I posted on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. 
 
Then the messages started to come that the second event was also sold out. I didn’t believe and called the box office. A very nice young woman there told me that they were all gone; I asked her to suggest to any disappointed callers that they could keep coming to this website for updates on future venues/dates and so on. And I hope that’s what they did yesterday before the notice went up that tickets were sold out.
 
There are a few other venues being added. If it was up to me, I’d visit every area in and around the GTA; I’m being asked if I’ll come to Peterborough or the Niagara Region. At this point, I’m not at all sure of that, and don’t forget this all involves driving in February to get me from Point A to Point B. 
 
I’m not ruling out returning once the book launch in just three months has concluded. I’m new to the publishing business, but other authors (and Anita MacArthur who worked for a publishing house and knows her way around a launch) tell me that there’s a fast burst at the time the book drops and then I’m on my own. I get that. No one expects HarperCollins to keep flying me around to go to readings, meet-and-greets and signings. But I’m going to continue to do this on my own as long as I can. 
 
If it means buying a small theatre for an evening (which author/broadcaster/podcaster Terry O’Reilly has done) and selling tickets and books, then maybe I’ll do that. Perhaps someone will do it for me. Maybe I’ll be speaking on cruises (a dream of mine) or be part of a TED talk or a gathering on healing or authors or writing or…who knows? All I do know is that this is going to be a long and winding road and I can only hope that somehow it’s going to lead to your door, if that’s what you want.
 
Wherever I am, I’ll post it here first. Because of our years together, I feel that journal readers deserve a head start, if that’s possible, and when I have news, I’ll be sure to share it. 
 
Have a gentle weekend as we get set together for December. I’m going to end on a note of gratitude once more for all of the time we’ve spent together and hope that you know how sincerely humbled Rob and I both are by all of this. What a year 2019 promises to be!