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Dialogue with my muse |
| I have been carrying on a dialogue for almost a year. During this time we have discussed the progress of my writing, editing, and publishing efforts. Join in to listen to our conversation about my daily writing life and add your comments if you think of anything Calliope and I miss. |
| JOE: Good morning Calliope. Haec dies quem fecit Dominus. CALLIOPE: Help me out. My Latin's a little rusty. JOE: Okay. "This is the day the Lord has made." CALLIOPE: You sound excited. JOE: I am. Finally my book, Navigating Life is on its way back to the printer, text, cover and corrections. CALLIOPE: Great. Now back to the waiting. JOE: Still, it's a relief. I suppose this gets easier with time. I find getting everything just right a challenge. CALLIOPE: I take it you're not the obsessive compulsive type. JOE: Right. I am more the impulsive type. I think my personality is more suited to the freewheeling process of writing. CALLIOPE: And less toward the minutia of publishing? JOE: Exactly so. As Clint Eastwood put it, "A man's got to know his limitations." CALLIOPE: Glad you recognize yours. Have you thought of seeking a traditional publisher for this aspect. JOE: I have, but so far it only led to frustration on my previous attempts. This time I did not even seriously consider finding an agent or publisher. Maybe one of these days I'll have a go at it again. CALLIOPE: At least you got this far. Now what? JOE: Back to work on marketing and publicity. Talk with you on Monday. |
| JOE: Good morning Calliope. CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. What's with the new title above? JOE: It's a long story. My friend Gerry and I were corresponding about my publicity for Navigating Life. CALLIOPE: And? JOE: We got to discussing how to get people's attention with hooks, a skill which does not come naturally to me. CALLIOPE: I'm with you so far. JOE: He suggested that I was working too hard and expecting results when it might be more important to sit back and listen for inspiration. CALLIOPE: I could have told you that. JOE: I now realize it. I know you are constantly whispering in my ear but I'm too busy blathering to hear you. CALLIOPE: So what did you do? JOE: I started rereading Lao Tzu's Tao Teh Ching yesterday. CALLIOPE: Then what? JOE: I woke up at 3:00 Am this morning with my head full of ideas which prompted me to get out of bed and write them down before they disappeared. CALLIOPE: I'm glad Gerry, Lao Tzu and I could help. JOE: So am I. Talk with you tomorrow. |
| JOE: Good morning Calliope. CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. How are you today? JOE: Fine. I'm glad not to have a doctor appointment as I have had each day this week. CALLIOPE: Anything wrong? JOE: No. Two visits were checkups with my primary and arthritis doctors. All is in good order in my body as far as I can tell. I even came away with one less prescription than I had before. The third appointment was to give blood for an arthritis study on markers for arthritis. I don't quite understand the technicalities but I guess I don't need to. CALLIOPE: Glad to hear things are going well. What do you make of it? JOE: I remember my friend Steve D'Annunzio saying that misfortune in your life can be taken as a sign that you need to change something. I was just wondering if there is a message from God in good fortune too. CALLIOPE: What do you think it might be? JOE: Maybe that I am on the right track with alerting people to consider how they live their lives and what the effect is on people. CALLIOPE: That's the goal of your book, Navigating Life, isn't it? JOE: It is. CALLIOPE: So now what? JOE: I had been thinking about what direction to take with my writing once this book is published. CALLIOPE: And? JOE: I think I should continue with this theme. I have started on a book of commonsense wisdom for teens and think I should get back into that project. Talk with you tomorrow. |
| JOE: Good morning Calliope. CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. How are you today? JOE: Trying to stay calm and focused. CALLIOPE: What's making it difficult? JOE: Continuing work on revisions for Navigating Life. We're getting closer to it being ready for publication with the exception of a few small details still in the process of being worked out. CALLIOPE: Anything you can't handle? JOE: No. But the closer I get to publication the more excited I get about the adventure and the harder it is to keep myself calm. CALLIOPE: Understandable. How is the publicity coming? JOE: I worked on a one page publicity blurb which I want to run by Carol before I share it with you. CALLIOPE: When will that be ready? JOE: Hopefully in the next day or so. CALLIOPE: How about your column on Peace? JOE: It is just about finished. I heard from a good number of readers what gives them a sense of peace. It turned out as well as I expected. Talk with you tomorrow. |
| JOE: Good morning Calliope. CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. How are you today? JOE: A tad rushed. CALLIOPE: How so? I thought you would be more relaxed with the book revisions submitted. JOE: I am. But I have two places to go this morning and also have evening plans. CALLIOPE: So it's hard to plan any marketing activities. JOE: That doesn't mean I can't be thinking about them as I drive around. I decided on an approach to marketing Navigating Life this morning before I even got out of bed. CALLIOPE: Which is? JOE: Now that we have elected Obama and expect him to make some changes in the world, what are we going to do on our part? CALLIOPE: Sounds like a good approach. How are you going to go about it? JOE: I plan to list thirteen things we can do, one of them outlined in each of he chapters of Navigating Life. CALLIOPE: I'd like to see it when it's done. JOE: No Problem. I'll share it with you. Time to get going. Off to the races. Talk with you tomorrow. |
| JOE: Good morning Calliope. CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. I was beginning to fear you would not show up today. JOE: Never fear. I had some early morning appointments in Batavia. CALLIOPE: What's up for today? JOE: Even before I left for Batavia, I was up finalizing revisions on Navigating Life. CALLIOPE: So is it ready now. JOE: It is. I just now sent it off to Booklocker. CALLIOPE: When will it finally be ready? JOE: That's out of my hands. I need to wait for the printing wheels and presses to do their thing. I'm practicing patience. CALLIOPE: A good idea. Any other developments over the weekend? JOE: Yesterday I attended an Author Extravaganza at Lift Bridge Book Store in Brockport. CALLIOPE: And? JOE: I found it most productive. I got to read a selection from Navigating Life and also talked with some other authors about writing, publishing and marketing. CALLIOPE: Anyone special that you met? JOE: I finally met Bob Fussell, an attorney and author from right here in Leroy. I figured I would meet him sooner or later. We had a great talk and plan to get together. Talk with you tomorrow. |
| JOE: Good morning Calliope. CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. How are you this morning? JOE: Struggling to stay calm and focused. CALLIOPE: How so? JOE: I received my bound galley of Navigating Life. After discussion I realized I had made some glaring errors in the manuscript. CALLIOPE: And? JOE: The bottom line is that I will need to correct them at an extra expense. CALLIOPE: How did that happen? JOE: ADHD strikes again. I thought I had that part of me under pretty good control. CALLIOPE: Doesn't sound like it. JOE: No it doesn't. I let my excitement about the project and rush to get it into print by Christmas lead to premature submission of the manuscript. CALLIOPE: Now what? JOE: I have been working steadily on corrections but taking breaks so as not to become fatigued. CALLIOPE: How is it coming? JOE: I think I have them done. I will look over the manuscript one last time to be sure I didn't miss anything. Talk with you on Monday. |
| JOE: Good morning Calliope. CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. How are you today? JOE: Not half bad. CALLIOPE: What have you been up to? JOE: Puttering around while waiting for my book proof to arrive. I've been catching up on my writer and marketing communities, listening to a marketing broadcast and preparing publicity for Navigating Life. CALLIOPE: You have been busy. When do you expect your proof? JOE: I was just getting to that. It arrived yesterday afternoon. Technically it is a bound galley. I was quite satisfied with how the cover turned out after all my grief in developing it. CALLIOPE: Why didn't you just pay to have it done? JOE: I'm not yet in a financial position to pay people for such services as design or even proofreading. Sometimes I wish I were. CALLIOPE: Did you learn anything from doing all your own design work? JOE: I learned to appreciate all that goes into it. I also got to think about each component of my book more than I would have if I had farmed out the work. CALLIOPE: There are those benefits. How about proofreading? JOE: That is the one place I wish I had been able to hire someone professional. Many of the sections were proofread in the past. I didn't feel I could impose on friends to proofread this text. Maybe I will regret it. I think in the future that I will try to budget money for this. CALLIOPE: Good idea. When do you expect the book to be available. JOE: You'll be the first to know. Perhaps in another week or so. Talk with you tomorrow. |
| JOE: Good morning Calliope. CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. How are you this morning? JOE: Good. I have my Christmas shopping and report writing done and am ready to get back to work on my writing. CALLIOPE: Did you get anything literary done yesterday? JOE: I finished posting the reading guides I developed and shared with you a couple days ago. CALLIOPE: Did you do one for Navigating Life? JOE: Not yet. I need to wait until my book is listed on Amazon so I can include it. CALLIOPE: I see. What plans do you have for today? JOE: I think I will start posting this blog on the sites where I previously did. CALLIOPE: Don't you still have links there to this site? JOE: I do but decided it was too much to expect readers to travel here. I thought it might be best to just post them where I did before. CALLIOPE: Why did you change your mind? JOE: It had to do with Google. I thought that by listing my blog in several places it reduced the Search Engine Optimization qualities of the blog. CALLIOPE: Doesn't it? JOE: I think so but decided it made more sense to have greater visibility than to count on it optimizing visits to my web site. Talk to you tomorrow. |
| My blog Conversations with Calliope is now available at www.commonsense-wisdom.blogspot.com. |
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Hope they like snow! 
I just tell them to go get a life...
It's a sunshiny 24 here at the moment; 19 in Buffalo.