Joni is a full time developer. Joni is a single mom with a 4 year old. Joni is a newly (almost) published author. (T-3 days until launch!) Joni is a self-published author, which means Joni is also a PR agent. How does she do it all? We don’t know. She’s not sure either. Seriously, it’s amazing everyone is still in one piece and the house didn’t burn down.
Getting a little serious now.
Really, when did I get so busy? Back in my younger years, I would go to work, come home, and call it a day. These days? Not so much. I still go to work, but I no longer commute. (Thanks pandemic?)1 Theoretically, I should have more free time now, but I have a 4 year old, so in reality, I have less free time. In fact, I am in free-time debt.
When in Rome…
Obviously, the natural solution to having no free time is to write and publish a book. Because, when you have (time) debt, why not get some more?2
Sweet Little You is 100% a passion project. In fact, before writing the book, I was actually considering going to grad school to study machine learning.3 However, the idea for this book came to me with such a force, I couldn’t stop myself from writing it. After that, I had this baby of a book that I just needed to edit and proofread and get reviewed. I found myself looking up illustrators and typing “how to self-publish a children’s book” into my browser.
Long story short.
Nearly one year later, here we are. Sweet Little You will be officially born4 on August 1, just 3 short days from when I am writing this.
So now, when I am not working my regular job and when I’m not being a mom, (though, let’s get real, when I am I ever not being a mom??), I am the exclusive PR representative for… me. It’s not a terrible arrangement so far. PR-rep-me has already lined up book reviews, interviews, and even a little bit of buzz on Instagram. If release day goes well, I may even double her salary.
In the meantime, actual-me doesn’t have time to sleep much, which is how I find myself writing rambling articles about my lack of work/life balance at 12:58am. It’s OK. Sleep is for the weak.
I’m kidding. Sleep is good for you. Go get your 8 hours of sleep and, while you’re at it, eat well, exercise, and watch plenty of sci fi. Your balanced-you will thank you.
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Not to be glib, because the pandemic, especially the early parts, were awful. I could get into that more, but I won’t. At least not here. Maybe in another blog post. But the pandemic is directly related to my now-permanent work-from-home status, and that is a change that I never, ever want to revert. ↩
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This is terrible advice, financial or otherwise. Do not, under any circumstances, listen to me. ↩
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True story. ↩
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Books are “born” on their official release date. Seems fitting here, since this is a book for babies. ↩