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 |  Life, Adventure, Family, Writing what else is there? Random thoughts. |
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WELCOME TO: GEMINI RISING   UPDATED INTRO 28 MAY 2024: Just a little about me. I've been married for 32 years this past NOV and currently live in Southern California, but I grew up in New Hampshire. I've got 2 boys who are young adults. I work as a 911 dispatcher for LAPD. I enjoy my job a lot. Still. If you can believe that. I love to write. Thankfully both of my boys achieved Eagle Scout. My Scouting days are over and I'm back to focusing on my writing. I like to get out in nature, drink coffee and watch football. Here's a little bio about my zodiac. GEMINI: Gemini, the sign of the Twins, is dual-natured, elusive, complex and contradictory. On the one hand it produces the virtue of versatility, and on the other the vices of two-facedness and flightiness. The sign is linked with Mercury, the planet of childhood and youth, and its subjects tend to have the graces and faults of the young. When they are good, they are very attractive; when they are bad they are more the worse for being the charmers they are. Like children they are lively, and happy, if circumstances are right for them, or egocentric, imaginative and restless. Their good qualities are attractive and come easily to them. They are affectionate, courteous, kind, generous, and thoughtful towards the poor and suffering - provided none of the activities resulting from expressing these traits interferes too greatly with their own lives and comforts. Geminians can be successful in many walks of life though their general characteristics tend to make them unreliable. They are often skilled manipulators of language, in speech and writing, and may be: debaters, diplomats (though in politics they are more interested in theory than practice), orators, preachers (brilliant rather than profound), teachers, authors, poets, journalists, or lawyers. This is me. I am a Gemini. Pure, Raw, passionate. The NEW focus of this blog is to share my adventures, travels, random thoughts, book reviews, thoughts, opinions, and writing adventures from actual writing, writing/editing tips, marketing, research. I'll get there. BLOG ACCOMPLISHMENTS: SEPTEMBER 2024: I participated in the
![Merit Badge in Nonfiction
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Congrats on your Honorable Mention in Blog Week Birthday Bastion 2024](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/type-Nonfiction.gif) Big thanks to WakeUpAndLive~doingNaNo'24   for hosting the contest! OCTOBER 2024: I participated in the
![Merit Badge in Halloween
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Congratulations on completing the 13 Poetic Days of Halloween.](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/group-Halloween-2026567.gif) Big Thanks to Lyn's a Witchy Woman  for hosting the contest!Find me at: WEBSITE: http://www.stephanieburkhart.com FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/StephanieBurkhartAuthor GOOD READS: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4031660.Stephanie_Burkhart YOU TUBE CHANNEL: http://www.youtube.com/user/botrina?feature=mhee Previous GRATITIOUS Warning, that I decided to keep in case I post about something that might offend.  WARNING I intend to be open, honest, and forthright. No topic is off limits from religion to you name it, I'm going there. If you think you might be offended...back up now - this blog isn't for you. For those who "dare"  check out the "Gemini Rising..." 
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Today’s Prompt for 5 SEP is: The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go. Dr. Seuss. Tell us more about the writer in you. Plans/Aspirations/Fears/Status etc? Word Count: 437 Amazing how Dr. Seuss inspired not only my generation, but generations, period. There’s so much wisdom in those words – the more you learn, the more places you go. Going places and gaining experience is learning and it’s a fun way to learn. It’s the “This is amazing” factor of new places that imbue a sense of wonder. That’s something I had when I went to Germany with the US Army in the 1980’s. It’s not only the sense of adventure and wonder that I draw on as a writer, but it’s those powerful emotions I experienced at the time as well. From the aughts to the mid-teens, I wrote a large amount of material that was published with small press. Unfortunately, those small presses went out of business, or down-sized, in the late teens, leaving me with a lot of good material that was now, unpublished. My plan and aspirations going forward now, it to re-publish my material as a self-published author. The work is slow, but rewarding. Any writing fears? No. I’ve gotten over them. I really fine-tuned my writing during the aughts and early teens. Learning how to self-edit and be patient with yourself was really an important skill to learn. While I do have 2 new works “in the works,” I don’t believe I’ll be finishing them any time soon. So far, I’ve re-published 8 of my stories. I have 1 novel length story that’s been re-published, 2 novella length stories that are available in ebook and print, and 5 shorter stories between 10-20K words that are available for ebook. I have at least 13 more stories to go! If anything, I suppose my fears is not getting the work done at all. When you self-publish, you really take a lot onto yourself. First you write the manuscript, edit, work with a beta reader, edit some more and prepare a final copy. Next you need to work on a cover. Then comes blurbs – a book length blurb, a short hook, and a series blurb. Then you need to secure a copyright to legally protect your intellectual property. You need to secure ISBNS and and barcode for publishing. Then you need to format and upload. Once officially published, there’s marketing, which really isn’t easy, especially with me, because I want to work on the next story. Currently, I’m working on re-publishing a short story for Kindle/Smashwords. It’s a sweet Christmas story that takes place in the Netherlands about ice skating. The only thing stopping me is that I run out of time. Let me get going. I’ve got things to write! All the best, Steph |
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