Looking back over this year, it was a little crazy. I got back to boxing (I finally achieved Level 5) and feel like I have mostly recovered from my Moderna vaccine injury after 2 1/2 years. I have only minor recurrent brain fog from time to time although I still have peripheral neuropathy and probably always will.
I couldn’t write or draw or paint for a couple of years, because of it, and even writing SHADOW PLAY was a struggle because of ongoing issue with word selection. I’d have to look up the spelling of common words and would frequently get common sayings wrong (close, but not correct), but I think I’m past that now. Sure hope so!
When SHADOW PLAY was turned down by my previous Big Five publisher although they thought it was a really good book (but didn’t think it would be a bestseller), I decided to create ReBound Press, and published it myself. It has been a wild learning curve! On the plus side, SHADOW PLAY got a full page review in the Arts and Entertainment section of the Ottawa Citizen, a two page spread in Luxe Magazine and was featured in 55 Plus magazine as well, so it’s getting some nice buzz. It’s also getting the highest rankings of any of my books on Goodreads — 4.94/5 so far.
For those of you wondering, my net profits after all my costs (typesetting, artwork, printing editing etc.) will be about $4,500, and I have roughly $ 2,500 in inventory (unsold books). Definitely not enough to live on, so I have to grow this business if I plan to continue doing this as I ease into retirement without a pension, but at least I’m on the right side of the ledger. Many self-published authors aren’t.
I would have done better financially, but I decided put HUNGRY GHOSTS back in print as well. That cost me a bundle not just to reprint it, but because I missed some typesetting errors and had to toss out an entire print run at my expense (don’t ask how much that cost — in terms of lost inventory, it was thousands). Unfortunately, I had shipped out a bunch of them to readers before I realized the mistake, so I got dinged both for re-shipping the replacements as well as re-printing the books I had to throw out. That hurt for sure.
Due to a printing error, I gave another case of books to the Centretown Community Health Centre so Julia Huckle could arrange to distribute them to precariously housed and isolated people who might like to read a new book they can’t afford to buy. I hope they enjoy them!
On the positive side, back in June, I was awarded the OLIP Welcoming Ottawa Ambassador award for the work I did finding host families for Ukrainian refugees (I placed about 200 Ukrainians with host families). That meant a lot. My friends, Bruce Mayo and Sandra West, got the same award — ironically, they got theirs for being a host family to a young Ukrainian lawyer who I had placed with them!
I also did 23 pet portraits to raise money for Niall Harbison’s dog rescue in Thailand to pay for Tina’s surgery — she was an incredibly special retriever found in a terrible state. It broke my heart when she passed away this year, but a lot of people were moved by her plight and touched by her gentle, loving spirit. I was able to raise around $ 2,500, with people paying whatever they felt was reasonable for the portraits and sending the money directly to Niall. Here’s a sample!
With the help of my friend, Tim Stahl, who arranged a GoFundMe, I was also able to help my friend Pete. Pete found out he was terminally ill in June and because he had given his notice earlier in the year before he found out he had terminal lung cancer, he had to vacate his rental unit by July 1. He was penniless, in debt, and about to be homeless when I found out about his situation. I knew I had to do something to help and started doing more pet portraits; then Tim got hold of me and offered to set up a GoFundMe even though he’d never met Pete.
We raised over $10,000! I’m endlessly grateful to everyone who helped this good man. It meant the world to him to have that support in his final days.
Pete left me all his art supplies and I promised him I will continue to do pet portraits to raise funds for good causes so he can pay it forward even after his death. I dedicated SHADOW PLAY to him, and I’m glad he was able to know that before he passed away–he thought it was “awesome.”
I also organized my annual sock drive, “Sock it to Christmas!” this year, and with Greg MacEachern’s and Eric Kalbfleisch’s help (Barry Larocque from my office also helped to deliver bins), we were able to collect just under 1,000 pairs of new winter socks for the shelters and for the Parkdale Food Centre’s Soup and Socks Program! As always, the Royal LePage Team realtors were incredibly generous — we had six bins out this year in our various offices and will do the same next year. And Greg managed to collect 210 pairs of socks all on his own! Amazing!
Finally, despite all the chaos, I achieved the Royal LePage President’s Gold Award this year (top 20% of individuals in Ontario when it comes to gross commissions), which was a pleasant surprise. It was a challenging year in real estate (in pretty much everything, for most folks) so I started off the year not thinking I’d hit any awards levels at all. Thanks to my wonderful clients — enjoyed working with each and every one of you.
My goals for 2024 are to create two Indie Awards, one for mystery authors like me, whose books were previously shortlisted and won some awards, but who no longer qualify for any Canadian awards because either we’re self-published or our books aren’t available in regular Canadian retail channels. The other will be for jacket cover design artwork. These will be called the Tobys, and I am working on what the award will look like. I’m hoping to find a corporate sponsor in the new year to cover costs. If anyone knows anyone who might be interested, give them a nudge!
Every single one of my achievements, except for boxing, is something I could not have achieved without the help of my community– you supported Ukrainians, bought my books, contributed to my fundraisers, and donated socks. So heading into the New Year, I want to thank you all for your support! Here’s to 2024! I hope mine is a little less frantic and that ReBound Press continues to grow and that readers continue to enjoy SHADOW PLAY!
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!
Kiss and Sell 