Although my initial plan this month was to focus on edits for Modern Hauntings, this ended up being a very admin heavy month. Between event applications opening, publication plans, and a big fundraising event to start the year, most of my writing was, well, non-fiction.
At this point, I’m confirmed for 18 author and/or fundraising events for 2025 with 5 pending applications and notes galore to remind me when later applications open. I spent the first few days of January meticulously planning to make sure that I’d get plenty of work and volunteer time this year without burning out. I’m also going to be making more of an effort to attend social clubs and events that are just for fun. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy, after all.
But the most important admin work I did this past month was for The Book Purge. Given the amount of book donations I received in 2024, I wanted to start the year off with a big fundraiser a) to raise lots of money for the cats (especially the ones who recently had surgeries) and b) to clear out some of the books so that I can make room for more donations. Thanks to Studio Staja, the event was a massive success! The Book Purge raised $715 for the Ottawa Stray Cat Rescue. And at the rescue’s merch table, they raised $347 – which works out to a total of $1062 for cats in need! I would love to make this an annual thing, and I’ve already gotten a couple of requests to bring the Purge to other events this year, so I’d say this was a fantastic start to the fundraising for 2025.
Now that all the leftover books are back in my home and unpacked, I’m working on an online catalogue of Purge books. At the time I’m writing this blog post, there are 951 books in my Libib library – and I still have six boxes and bins left to go through! This way, readers will be able to see what books are available and can request specific titles for upcoming events. Or, if someone is unable to come out to an in-person event, they can browse the library and we can arrange a pick-up/drop-off. I expect I’ll still be uploading books to Libib well into February, adding them to my newly reorganized Purge bookshelves as I go. My hope is that once I’m done, I’ll be able to start accepting book donations again.
With January almost over, it’s time to dive back into the edits for Modern Hauntings – but I still have more admin work to do! That’s right, it’s time to plan another event. Next week, I’ll be attending a not-so-secret meeting to start planning the book launch party for The Tunnel. Once the venue and I have discussed and confirmed details, I’ll start sharing them with all of you. And, of course, I’ll be putting out a call to local artists to participate.
But that’s all I’ll say about it for now. As always, stay tuned for details and stay spooky!
