With Winter Institute looming I decided to do some advanced level soul searching about what I absolutely need to do by way of preparing to go to Memphis while not leave a disaster at the bookstore unfolding in my wake. Here is a terrifyingly candid breakdown of what must be done and means of resolution.
 Prevent a cataclysmic disaster in my absence
(Pay core utility bills, power, telephone, internet)
Don’t incur the wrath of the federal and state governments
(Do W2’s 940, 941 and quarterly and monthly taxes)

Don’t be an oath breaker
(Deliver on my promises to beloved school accounts, specifically helping find titles to support a King Grant application for the following area. “Titles to replace books in areas that are considered aged-sensitive. These areas are: Systems Data/Computer Programs, Political Science, Social Problems and Services Religion, Education, Commerce, Communications and Transportation, Astronomy and Allied Sciences, Life Sciences and Biology, Medical Sciences/Medicine, and Geography. ” Aaah.)
Don’t let my beloved staff become cast as oath breakers
(Make sure that when college classes start the day I leave that we are not  short on course book adoption titles.)

Don’t expose oneself to a catastrophic failure of leadership    
(I’m the chair of the current Indies Introduce kids’ panel and am responsible to have read and rated at least eight debut ARCs before our next meeting immediately after I get back. Since I won’t have time in Memphis I need to get ahead on things. No complaints – I love Indies Introduce.
Do the square thing by ABA
(Option A: Must prepare for ABA Board meeting by assiduously reading the materials. Option B: Give up control by assenting to the Board’s beta test cloning program, pioneered by Dan Cullen, and trust in the painstakingly engineered compliance optimized Brechner clone to give me whatever information after the fact it deigns necessary for its original to have. Result: For now I’ll go old school and do the meeting myself.)
Don’t be a bad guest.
(Try and read up on the ARCs pertaining to the author dinner I have been graciously invited to. Reality: Cross fingers and hope there is some overlap with Indies Introduce titles. Maybe I made a mistake about that clone.)
Prepare for my WI 13 panels.
(I’m on two this year, “Sensitivity Readers and Free Expression” and “Author Education and Lunch.” I have bent the grey matter on them both to some considerable extent, especially the former.)
Find time to write a ShelfTalker post before I go.
(There’s no way that’s going to happen. Sigh!)
Wish me luck!