I’m back in the Philadelphia area, battling a cold and trying to wrap my arms around everything that’s on my plate. My holiday was great – I spent two weeks in Charleston incognito because my plan was to get ahead of everything that’s coming up. But, of course, things don’t always go as planned. I received great emails and comments after my last post about Brian Rhinehart’s tragic death, and I want to thank all of you for your support of what we’re trying to do and your comments.  

Almost all of the emails came in through our email at storytelling@plenarypublishing.com, and as I read through them, it dawned on me that I need an email where people can reach me to ask questions, offer feedback, etc. (besides my company email, which is linked to my Blackberry and can’t withstand more email). I also noticed suggestions that my blog should get more personal in relaying my efforts to get this company off the ground (my fears, successes, failures, personal sacrifices, etc.), and while I can assure you that I’m not that interesting, I’ll do my best to accomodate that. So, if you want to reach me specifically, you can now email me at tieffa@plenarypublishing.com.

Just before Christmas, I flew my younger brother up to NY for his 25th birthday. I scooped him up in Newark and we headed over to the city for a whirlwind sightseeing visit. My bro’s only been to NY once, when I first moved up North, and I thought it’d be cool to see New York at Christmas. We stayed in Times Square and froze ourselves as we did the tourist thing and skipped around the city seeing everything from the Statue of Liberty to the city at night from The Top of The Rock (where it was cold as hell), to Rockefeller Center and the beautiful tree (I’ll post photos from our trip on Flickr). There is nothing like Christmas in New York, which brings me to one of the questions I received from several people: did you really say you’re moving back to Charleston? 

I did. And I am - sort of. Being in New York always reminds me of the love affair that I have with the city (and yes, I love “Empire State of Mind”), more so than any other place I’ve worked or visited. At the same time, I love my home even more than that, and I want to locate my company in the place that shaped me and that’s rich with our history. In fact, I went house hunting while I was down there, seeing as how I have until April 30th to do so, but I won’t officially move back until the end of the year, if not early next year. I do plan to keep a place up North so that I can shoot back up here when I want to get away, but my eventual plan is to get an apartment in New York and to locate Plenary’s second office there. *fingers crossed*

After my brother and I left New York, we drove my car down to Charleston because I decided to give it to him and get something new for myself. Needless to say, we got stuck in Richmond in that ridiculous snow storm, and doing five miles per hour on I-95 with hundreds of other drivers in snow that refuses to stop is no picnic. Fortunately, we weren’t one of the cars that got stranded, but we did spend the night at a cute little Country Inn that took hours to reach.

When we arrived in Charleston, I received a Twitter DM from Cheri Paris Edwards that Brian Rhinehart was in the hospital. I remember thinking at the time that I’d have to check on Brian to make sure he’s ok, but then I was consumed by Christmas shopping, which I hadn’t even started, and finishing line edits for LaTonya Jones’ Southern Discomfort. When I heard the news of Brian’s death, I was shocked and stunned, as I recounted in my earlier blog posting. The number one question that I received over the holidays: are you still going to publish Brian’s book?

Answer: I don’t know at this point. I have to talk to Brian’s family about what they want to do, but I’m also trying to be respectful of what they’re going through at the moment. Brian’s book is not finished, and to publish it would require hiring a ghostwriter to finish his work. I also received suggestions that I should finish it for him, given how closely we worked on it and that it would be sad if it’s not published because writing was his life’s dream. The truth is that I can’t think that far out at the moment, a strange place for me as a person who’s had five and ten-year plans since I was a kid. Thinking about things makes me think about how unfair all of this is, and I honestly don’t know how to handle this one. I’ll keep you posted.

I also received comments about why I don’t blog more often, and why I went silent after my post about Brian. Over the break, I spent my time editing, writing and spending time with my family. My laptop and Blackberry are usually attached to me, and it felt great to step back and reflect on things even as I gear up for this year. I dealt with feelings of insecurity and whether I’m going to fall on my face with this new venture (hence the reference to Adele’s song, “Chasing Pavement”), chased my almost four year-old nephew around the house (while considering my own plans for family life) and how I’m going to make this transition from law to publishing (kicking and screaming).

One of my biggest fears is failure, and I have a tendency to over plan as a result of that, but the net effect of my Christmas escape is that I came back relaxed, focused and eager for things to begin. I realized that my fears have held me back to some degree because I haven’t always put myself out there when I should (like being a legal commentator, but that’s a story for another day), that I’ve learned some of my biggest lessons when I’ve made my biggest mistakes and that it’s time to shed my security blanket and accept things as they come. With Plenary specifically, I feel this company in my bones, I’ve planned for it for three years, and the ride so far - mistakes and all – has been great. I promise to share more of my journey as the year progresses, and to have as much fun as possible doing so.

I received other questions that I’ll answer this week, such as specific updates on what’s going on with our other releases. Some I won’t answer, like where I live, my cup size and whether I have any fetishes. The Internet is truly a gift and a curse. Until then . . .

TNH