homecoming

I'm leaving for the northeast tomorrow. On Tuesday, May 12th, at 5PM, I'll be appearing at the Browsing Area of the UMass-Dartmouth Library for the Temper Launch Party as a special guest reader.

I cannot even begin to tell you how excited I am about this trip.

For one thing, I haven't been home (my MA home, that is) in two years. The visit is long overdue. For another thing, I'll be visiting not only as me, but as Elisa Lorello, published author. And I get to do this at my alma mata. UMass-Dartmouth may not have the recognition of Harvard or Northweastern or even UMass-Amherst, but it's the place where I re-invented myself. It's the place where I loved and lost and loved again. It's the place where I became a writer. Namely, the writer I am today. I don't think anything can make me more proud than to show up and say, "Look at what I created. I made this, and it's largely because of you."

Don't even get me started on returning to Mirasol's cafe. You can be damn sure I'm bringing my laptop...

Homecoming is sweet. It's special. It's a point in the road where you can stop and see how far you've come and how far you've yet to travel. Summer vacation has just begun, as has my work as not only a fiction writer, but marketer, promotor, salesperson, and so on. The number of hats a self-published author wears can be daunting. But in light of homecoming, it's also a thing of wonder and possibility. I like hats.

I'll see you soon, and be sure to follow up on the trip with a post or two here.
Oh, and head's up: the blog's getting a new name when I get back!