Nothing Stays the Same But Change!

Yes, I admit it.

I've been AWOL.

In case anyone's been wondering why, well, hold onto your hats. A few days after I returned from ICRS, I received a phone call from Brad Waggoner, the new president of B&H Publishing Group. I'm always happy to talk with Brad. He has such a heart for God and a passion for making B&H a real force in the publishing world. The phone call wasn't very long, but it turned my world upside down.

In short, the realities of our beleaguered economy had finally hit B&H, and there had to be layoffs. My boss was among those who would be leaving. In addition, his boss, the publisher, was retiring. Now that's enough to shake things up for me, but the big news was yet to come.

I've been promoted. To Executive Editor over B&H fiction.

Now, this is a job I've done before, at Multnomah and at Zondervan. But it's a job that entails a WHOLE lot more than focusing on acquisitions, which I've been doing for the last year and a half. Most especially, it means I need to understand the workings of my company better, and get to know the folks on my team a whole lot better. So how do I do that from a couple thousand miles away (no, thank heaven, they aren't asking me to move!)? I travel to N'ville more. Every couple of months, to be exact.

So back on a plane I went, winging my way east for with a week-long visit to the Nashville offices, complete with back-to-back meetings every day. Now all I have to do is transfer my copious notes to the computer, organize and prioritize them, then act on 'em.

Yeah. No problem.

Thankfully, the PTB (powers that be) agreed to let me bring someone in to work with me on getting my woefully unorgainzed office organized so I don't lose details--or my desk--in the morass. What? You think I'm kidding?

SO not kidding.
After all, I just finished (or so I thought) my heavy travel schedule for the year,
so it's been get home, unpack what I don't need and add it to the pile,
pack what I do need, and back on a plane!
Now it's time to sort through it all. This picture is mid-organization mode.

In between sorting piles and files and figuring out WHAT DO I DO WITH ALL MY BOOKS???, I've also been coming up to speed on the balls (no pun intended) I need to keep in the air. All of which has left me excited and full of anticipation--but far too weary to do much more in the evenings (which is usually when I write my blog posts) to do anything but crawl into bed.

So, there you have it. The reason I've been offline. But I'm back now! {insert wild applause here, please.} Stay tuned for all the wild and wonderful things happening with B&H Fiction. And, of course, yours truly--who my new boss, Brad Waggoner, has dubbed WWW (Wild Woman of the West).

Just met me and the man already knows me so well.