Dear internet,

Yes, it is Tuesday and not Sunday. My apologies for throwing your schedule out of whack. I honestly forgot this week was an AMUN week, and for the rest of the month, I’m going to be dying from over-commitment, so I gave myself 15 minutes to write this and send it out, so you know I’m not dead.

So yes, it’s Tuesday. My flight leaves tomorrow at 6 a.m. where I wing my way to Canada for RWA conference. RWA’s organization has been a clusterfuck to say the least. There is only one RWA chapter in all of Canada, so why the conference is taking place ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE COUNTRY makes no sense. At least if I were in Calgary, where the chapter is located, I could visit my niece and nephew. But, I think it’s Stampede time, and per the Canadian relatives, coming to Calgary in July is like the worst.

Anyway.

I’m at my desk, laundry is laundr-ying, I’ve got clothes spread out on the bed, and my packing list gets updated as I flit through the house.

I love traveling so much, even on planes. I enjoy people-watching and trying to guess the personalities of those who pass by me. I also amuse myself that 3% of the US population are sociopaths, so I must come across them in my travels.

To go one further, when I’m in neighborhoods, I try to guess how many people are falling in love, falling out of love, having sex, breaking up, etc, etc.

Look, no idea why I think these things! I just live here.

(I also refuse to think of horrible things happening in the world because if I do, I could not function.)

Those Fucking Commitments

Best Kate warned me. Kristin warned me. Mr. Lisa warned me. I even warned myself. i.e. stop committing myself to things that I have no time, energy, or mental headspace to do. Yet, I am a consummate “need to be helpful” kind of person, and honestly, how much time does it take to do X anyway? I’ve got plenty of time.

Only that’s a lie unto itself.

I found myself fucking myself over for July. Here’s why:

• Teaching a virtual class that was scheduled last year this past Saturday and I needed to pull apart and redo the whole deck, which I did until 5 minutes before the class and then reworked it AGAIN after class, thanks to feedback

• RWA conference is this week, and I’m presenting on a topic that I do have a deck for, but that needs to be re-worked based on feedback

  • I teach on Saturday morning

• I decided to teach a mini-workshop (only 3-4 mini lessons) for a virtual RWA conference (while I’m at the physical conf) on a topic I’m heavily knowledgeable in but do not have a lesson plan for

• Prepare a video for Virtual Jane Con, the virtual Jane Austen con, that was due July 1 for my go-live date of July 20th, which has not been completed, and it’s July 15

  • And yes, the VJC and the mini-virtual con are the same week as RWA, because why the hell not do this to myself

• I’ve got two advertisements at two writers ’ conferences in July and August: RWA and Killer Nashville. Both are huge in their respective genres, and I needed to not only create the ads (which I showcased in the last AMUN issue) but also NGI’s website needed an overhaul to accommodate what I was promoting

• Revamp what I sell on NGI’s website

• Fuck, I revamped the whole thing content-wise, let’s just get that out of the way

• I had to record and edit a series of videos for an on-demand class I sold to a company that specializes in helping authors. The 30-minute video got chunked down to 13 mini-videos and took over 6 hours to make. SIX HOURS. And that was for a “jesus this was due June 1 and now it’s July 10” panic mode. Also, there is a slide deck

  • The company agreed to let me sell my on-demand classes via NGI’s website and Udemy if I so choose so that’s helpful for future passive income

  • I’ve sold eight fucking classes to them and each will get the same treatment (except I’ll be better at recording and producing),d but I am not looking at those until at least mid-August

• Update the NGI onboarding doc

• Create an NGI workshop survey doc

• I’m now the chair for the RWA Bookselles and Librarian committee

There is more, but this should give you an idea of what I’ve been doing since early June, and this does not include hustling at three libraries.

This is not including my commitments to voluntarily manage online presence for four separate groups, aka I’m not getting a fucking cent for this work. That’s slid way off the fucking park. Hell, it’s five including my Jane Austen empire, and I haven’t even been posting over there! And my own social media? I’m on BlueSky and IG, but rarely post to BS, and the last time I posted on IG was June 30. I have high hopes of creating video and images at RWA this week, but who's to say I’ll post, let alone create the content.

I know I’m forgetting something, and I cross-checked my to-do lists, but I got myself in this fucking pickle.

So, I’m getting myself out.

I recently had a chat with the former president of one of the writers' groups I manage on social media. She handles workshops now for that group. She said she spends so much time volunteering with RWA and various chapters (plus I think she’s in non-RWA chapters), she’s had zero time to write. She created a plan to prioritize writing, and she will soon resign from all chapter work (and RWA) at the end of the year, when the positions are up for election.

So yes, inspiration.

I’m resigning from that chapter and another group I do social media for in the next few weeks. I’ll do social media for a local romance writer’s chapter (not RWA affiliated), plus the Austen Empire. When chapter renewals come up in early 2026, I’ll probably step away from all chapters and just keep with RWA. We’re recruiting more members for the Bookseller and Librarian committee, so I’m not carrying the workload solo.

I’ve got goals for NGI, and my writing, and but at this rate, nothing is getting done.

I mean, I am underemployed (and underpaid). I cannot even imagine doing all this shit with a full-time job!

I promised myself in January that I would finish a book by my birthday in June. It is now July, and I have not written a word. The new promise is to finish the book by the end of the year. If I get off this shit that is not important, I can make that happen.

So yes, I am behind on everything and made more so that I told myself an hour ago I would finish this in 15 minutes and yet.

RWA Conference

I mentioned earlier that the RWA conference organization has been a clusterfuck for this thing. I do not get this because RWA has been around for fucking decades, and this should not be such a hot mess that it is. I’m a planner and I need to know what’s happening when so I can make sure I’ve got the money, time, and energy to do what I need to do. Not that fucking difficult or complicated.

The current clusterfuck is transportation to the hotel from the airport. My plan was to fly into Buffalo, take an Uber to the Rainbow Bridge. Do the 1/4 mile walk with my backpack and messenger bag, flash my passport, get through customs, and walk the five minutes to the hotel.

Easy peasy.

Well, it was offered on getting transportation to the hotel from the airport and I thought why the hell not? I sign up and it’s been a game of email tag you’re it with the organizers. At last notice, I’m getting a group text Tuesday (today) from the driver to organize my arrival time with his pick-up at Buffalo airport and then he/she is driving us to Niagara Falls to the hotel. (It’s 11:42 a.m. EDT and no text yet.) Now, we’re not paying ahead of time for the service so the onus is on us to pay at the time of service. And by us I mean up to four people in the car (plus luggage). One of us is going to have to pay via credit card (or cash if you did the exchange) and the rest of us Venmo or PayPal what we owe. Usually, I’m the one who steps up to do this, but I decided this time I won't be in charge of paying the driver. I’ll just Venmo you my share, thanks.

Speaking of money, a Canadian local on a mailing list for the conference mentioned that some stores accept American dollars, as Niagara Falls is on the border. Since this set off flurry of confusion, I really wish they hadn’t done this. Anywho, this is not uncommon, as Sault St. Maire, ON (Sault St. Marie, MI), Sarnia, ON (Port Huron, MI), Windsor, ON (Detroit, MI) are all border cities, and some places also do this. This led up to a flurry of emails from people wanting to pay with only American dollars on the trip. Like, fuck my friend, Canada is a fucking country! It is not the 51st state! Get cash from an ATM or pay with your credit cards (more favorable rates than getting cash at the airport exchange thingies.)

(The only way I’m affording this trip is because the American dollar is so strong in Canada. CA dollar is .70 to US $1.)

Others were freaking out about needing adapters for their electronics (Canada uses the same adapters as the US). I also sent an email reminder that, as Canada is international, people needed to check their cell plans for data/cellular service. Thankfully, our cell provider considers Canada/Mexico as “local” so I won’t get charged for using data or making calls.

On another list for the conference, this time a chapter I’m in, wanted to organize a lunch for chapter members. Well, that was a flurry of fucking zillion of emails and I was like hey, let’s go to WhatsApp. 90% of the people were like, “Yeah, great idea!” and then there are a few who couldn’t figure out the app, how it worked, etc. I am not doing fucking tech support so I kept sending them to WhatsApp help site and they refused to use it.

It’s just. Yeah. Fucking people, man.

The highlight, for me, on this trip is that I bought pleather pants (on sale) that I’m wearing to the fancy dinner Saturday night. The dress code is “cocktail” and I had no idea what that meant (keep in mind I live in t-shirts and some kind of pant/skirt). I looked up examples, went to the mall, and tried on a few dresses. I found one I really liked and bought it, but as I was waiting for them to ring me up, I saw the pleather pants on the clearance rack. I grabbed two sizes (the smaller one fit) and tossed them on the counter to be purchased.

I bought sparkly barrettes for my hair, which is now 1/2 down my back. I am also bringing a curling iron since my hair is wild. I don’t know what top I’m wearing yet but I’m hoping, with wearing a red lip, I’ll look like something out of Grease.

My 15 minutes turned into 1.75 hours, and I really have to get some work done, so I’m leaving this off for now. Catch up with me this week on TikTok and Instagram as I plan on recording the fuck out of my travel adventure. (Plan. Let’s see execution.)

American Foundation for Suicide Prevention Fundraiser

I’m fundraising for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention for a walk on September 14. As most of you know, a very beloved person in my life, the selfish bastard Brendan McAdams, killed himself on January 10, 2025. He would have been 46 this year.

My goal is to raise $1000 USD. I've got under $500 more to go. Go to AFSP’s website to donate. I'll be posting an announcement in every issue of my newsletters and regularly on my social media until the day of the walk. If you can donate even $5 or share this link (https://bit.ly/AFSPWalk2025), you will be an amazing human being and doing me a huge solid.

Thank you.

P.S. I have dual citizenship with Canada (mother was American, father Canadian), and I have both passports; however, I always travel on the American one. In 2000, when I was leaving Toronto after my dad’s funeral, I got waylaid by US customs to determine if I was an American citizen or not. They would not accept mail, Social Security Card, or driver’s license as proof (because you do not need to be a citizen to get those things). I was in the US Customs holding room for several hours before they let me go. I almost missed my flight. (Since this was pre-911, passports were not required to enter Canada or Mexico from the US.) This was not the first time I’ve been harassed for answering that I am an American citizen, and yet Canada is my place of birth.

My American passport (and passport card, which is only good for getting into Canada and Mexico, and I always have it with me) is my only proof of American citizenship. I requested naturalization papers back in the early ‘00s. US government cashed my check and never sent me the paperwork. I’ve been meaning to follow up, but never got around to it because I'm not sure when I would need it. Now, I’m kicking myself for not doing that follow-up. When I get a better income, I’m hiring an immigration attorney to get that paperwork for me because I am deathly afraid that by requesting it myself, that’ll trigger something and I’ll get deported.

You may scoff and say, “Lisa. You are as white as the driven snow, surely you will not get deported.” Au contraire mon ami. White people have been kicked back to their birth countries despite having legal status in the US. I am beyond deathly afraid that at the border, something is going to happen to me. Thankfully, I have several Canadian family members' phone numbers (they live in the Toronto area, so they are relatively close) that I can call if something happens.

Tots and pears, I can get in and out of Canada safely this week!

Poutine4evah,

lisa x