Pressing the Reset Button and Trying Again
Hi there, it's been a while! Three months to be exact. To be honest, I didn't expect my absence to be so prolonged. I can only offer shameless excuses and regret over how silent the release of my second book has been. As I find myself regaining my footing a little, I'm trying to recommit myself to the passions I enjoy, and I'm learning how to make more time for myself after a year in Austin (time sure does fly!)
The truth is, it's been difficult navigating my new life. My job here in Austin keeps me busier than it did in New York. Family is Dallas has me on the road a lot, and friends here in Austin compete for the little time I have left. I'm thankful for all the people in my life, but its high time I start saving some time and energy for myself.
With all the, again, shameless excuses out of the way, allow me to reintroduce myself and tell you what you can expect from this blog!
Who Am I?
For those who are new to my website, or for those who may not know, I'm Andrew Freeman, a self-published author and journalist by trade. Television reporting, specifically. I studied at the University of North Texas before getting my first job in Southern Oklahoma. I then spent five years in Upstate New York (through the pandemic) and returned home to Texas just last year. I report for CBS Austin as a general assignment multimedia journalist, which means often, I'm shooting and editing my own video.
Writing is my real passion, however. It's the reason I got into journalism in the first place, and I'm so grateful that every day I get to write stories. Real stories. Real people.
But I've always loved creative writing the most. I've tried my hand at mysteries and horror, but fantasy is what I enjoy writing best. In high school, I finished my first fantasy novel. Honestly, it was a bit derivative and full of tropes, but at the time I was proud of myself for finishing something. It was close to 600 pages! Perhaps one day I'll try and do something with it.
In college, I took a long break from reading and writing due to obvious constraints at the time, but I'd still get the "itch" every now and then. It wasn't until 2021, bored at the airport due to a delay, that Welcome to Wis' Apothecary was born.
I've always loved magic. Again, fantasy is my bread and butter. But at the time, I had coincidently consumed a lot of media back-to-back that had to do with witches. Feeling a bit inspired, I wanted to write a story about a witch myself. But what if she worked at an apothecary? What if she was an apprentice? And what if I did short stories, each about a different customer or experience at the potion's shop?
I kept writing and didn't stop. Within six months, Welcome to Wis' Apothecary was on shelves thanks to an incredible editor and illustrator who helped me along the way. Volume two took a bit longer, two years as a matter of fact, and it was just recently released back in April!
I was disappointed I couldn't have the same kind of release I did for the first one, due to circumstances, but I'm still proud of myself for putting out another volume. I'm now dedicating my Sundays and Wednesdays to Wis' Apothecary, and as we speak, I'm in the middle of writing the first story for volume three. But there are other book-related obligations too, like this blog.
Musings of a Storyteller
I'm going to return to weekly blog posts, writing them on Sunday and publishing them every Tuesday. When it comes to Wis' Apothecary, I want to write about lore, the characters, read fan mail and give sneak peeks at the writing.
There are lots of other topics I like to cover as well: reading, travel, the self-publishing process, reviews and journalism. Really, there's a ton I can write about, so there really isn't any excuse as to why I can't come up with one measly blog post a week!!
Hopefully you'll find what I'm writing about to be interesting, and I'd love to hear any questions or comments! If there's something you'd like to know about Wis' Apothecary, self-publishing or writing in general, even journalism, drop me a line! I'd be happy and willing to discuss anything here!
Looking Ahead
Again, I have to admit, the release of volume two didn't exactly go according to plan. But I'm getting more acclimated to life here in Austin every day, and one thing that's never wavered is my love for the world of Wis' Apothecary. I'm so glad to be writing again, and I hope this time I'm allowing for myself will lay the foundation for even more writing and series development.
I want to look into audiobooks this year. Less ambitious, I want to roll out merch: character pins, mugs, logo t-shirts... the artwork already exists, now I just have to execute it. And if that goes well, maybe I can get back up to New York for book events after all. I mean, Rochester was where it all began! I will never forget that.
Let me apologize for once more disappearing for a quarter of a year. But please know that, with this blog post, I'm publicly recommitting myself to this love of mine, and to you, my faithful readers. There's a lot to look forward to, so please stay tuned! I promise we'll talk soon.
Until next time, thanks for reading!
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