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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. CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. How are you today? JOE: Relieved. CALLIOPE: On what account? JOE: Because I finally decided I was spending entirely too much time on web site development. I was interested in web site optimization but everything else took a back seat including writing and editing. I realized I have other priorities. CALLIOPE: Sounds sensible. What did you work on yesterday? JOE: After I realized my morass, I worked on editing Marital Property. CALLIOPE: And today? JOE: I will be out for a while today. However I have a column to write and plan to make it a priority today. CALLIOPE: What are you writing about? JOE: I found a newspaper article about dirty tricks college applicants and their parents use against their competition, quite reminiscent of recent political ads. I thought I would write about the implications of such tactics for the author as well as for society and maybe some alternatives. CALLIOPE: Sounds like a good topic. Good luck with it. Anything else going on? JOE: I plan to continue working on editing Marital Property. CALLIOPE: Is you website functional for now? JOE: I think so. Why don't you take a look. Talk with you tomorrow. |
| JOE: Good morning Calliope. CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. I missed you Saturday. JOE: I know. I got caught up in website development, e-commerce, etc. and never made it here. CALLIOPE: Did you have a busy weekend? JOE: Yes. We were out socially Friday and Saturday evenings and as I said I worked on my website. Yesterday I just felt a need to relax. CALLIOPE: Not a bad idea. Did you mention a book review last week? JOE: Yes. I have been reading Richard Bayer's The Good Person Handbook and am planning to review it. CALLIOPE: Tell me about the book. JOE: It approaches many of the ideas I pursued in Commonsense Wisdom for Everyday Life. CALLIOPE: Does it differ in some ways? JOE: He is much more structured than I am. He is organized from page one and presents an orderly flow of ideas, one building on another. CALLIOPE: Do you like that approach than the one you took? JOE: Not necessarily. Mine is organized into categories. although not as structured in its development. I have had readers say they like to be able to read a brief self contained passage on a particular topic without belaboring it. CALLIOPE: How does his book compare with yours? JOE: I think we have different approaches. Some people like ideas to flow in strict order and others like more spontaneity. I think there is room for both approaches. Talk with you tomorrow. |
| JOE: Good morning Calliope. CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. How are you today? JOE: Reeling from yesterday's market research. CALLIOPE: How so? JOE: I worked hard to find an affordable auto responder for readers to sign up for my columns online without advertising attached. CALLIOPE: Did you find one? JOE: Yes and I downloaded it. Then I found all sorts of complicated direction about things I have never heard of. I don't know if is even possible for me to use it. I wasn't ready for such a challenge. CALLIOPE: Maybe it's the price of going cheap. Anything else going on? JOE: I am busy reading Richard Bayer's The Good Person Guidebook which I agreed to review. CALLIOPE: Sounds a little more manageable. JOE: It is. At least I am on familiar ground. I am enjoying the book and have learned some lessons I can use in organizing Commonsense Wisdom for Teens, my next project after I finish Marital Property. CALLIOPE: Have you thought any more about offering your book free? JOE: I have and found that Booklocker has a program of offering most of a book free but not all. Since I have used them before, I will consider this program. CALLIOPE: Probably easier than doing it on your own. JOE: I agree. Talk with you tomorrow. |
| JOE: Good morning Calliope. CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. How are you today? JOE: Fine. CALLIOPE: What have you been up to? JOE: Trying to get back into a routine. I am catching up on my email and working on marketing. CALLIOPE: What did you accomplish yesterday? JOE: I worked more on search engine optimization, specifically keywords, and meta tags for my my websites. CALLIOPE: Sounds a little involved. JOE: It is. Not like the old days on Mt. Olympus. CALLIOPE: Anything else going on? JOE: I visited a physical therapist to see if I can increase the mobility of my hands which was compromised by my arthritis. CALLIOPE: Any progress? JOE: Nancy gave me some exercises to do. Hopefully this will help. CALLIOPE: What's on for today? JOE: More marketing work and revision of Marital Property. Talk with you tomorrow. |
| JOE: Good morning Calliope. CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. Welcome back. JOE: Thank you. CALLIOPE: How was your trip to New York? JOE: Great as usual. Flying was uneventful. We had no plans for the time we were there but used all of it to good advantage. CALLIOPE: What was the highlight? JOE: Seeing the musical Spring Awakening. I had been wanting to see it for several years but didn't get the chance for one reason or another. CALLIOPE: What did you like about it? JOE: The depiction of the full range of human emotions through the lives of late nineteenth century teens. CALLIOPE: Sounds a little dated. JOE: It does sound that way. Although circumstances have changed, emotions and perceptions have not changed all that much in the past hundred years. CALLIOPE: Did you learn anything about writing? JOE: More about marketing. I read several articles about the future of publishing, one in particular about giving away writing. CALLIOPE: Sounds self defeating. JOE: Again I agree about first perceptions. Nevertheless I think there is merit to the idea and will explore it further. Talk with you tomorrow. |
| JOE: Good morning Calliope. CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. Are you finished with your marketing challenge? JOE: Not quite. My web site is back functioning well. There are a few refinements I would like to make such as adding my podcast and some keywords. CALLIOPE: Is that your plan for today? JOE: If I have time. This morning I am taking Carol for some outpatient surgery and then we will shop and have lunch. I'm not sure how much time that will leave me. CALLIOPE: What's up for the next few days? JOE: Carol and I are leaving for New York tomorrow morning and will be back Tuesday. CALLIOPE: Anything special going on there? JOE: We're just going to visit Carol's son who is just back from Germany after a stint in The Barber of Seville. We just thought it was time for a visit. CALLIOPE: Anything planned? JOE: No. We will play it by ear. But I will stay aware of opportunities to discuss writing and marketing. CALLIOPE: Enjoy your trip. JOE: We will. Talk with you on Wednesday. |
| JOE: Good afternoon Calliope. CALLIOPE: Good afternoon Joe. I was afraid you fell off the face of the earth. JOE: I didn't but my website did and it took me until just now to get it working again. CALLIOPE: What happened? JOE: I spent yesterday working on search engine optimization with Steve Weber's website. CALLIOPE: And? JOE: I learned quite a bit that I was anxious to implement. CALLIOPE: How did that go? JOE: In the long run, okay. But along the way I managed to run into quite a few snags while trying to implement simplification. CALLIOPE: Sounds like a contradiction. JOE: Simplicity is not always easy to achieve. Just ask anyone who tried to simplify his or her life. CALLIOPE: Did it turn out okay in the long run. JOE: Yes. I still haven't figured out how to post an interview on my website although I had it working before. CALLIOPE: Something to work on. JOE: I guess I need some sort of challenge. Talk with you tomorrow. |
| JOE: Good morning Calliope. CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. How are you today? JOE: Fine. CALLIOPE: How did your writers meeting go last night? JOE: I heard from several members that they could not make the meeting. However only one other member showed up. CALLIOPE: Were you disappointed? JOE: It was not what I expected but Larry and I had a chance to compare notes on the literary scene and on marketing in particular. CALLIOPE: Sounds like you made the best of it. How did you do with your writing yesterday? JOE: I had planned to do some recordings but then realized the deadline for my next column was fast approaching. CALLIOPE: What did you write about? JOE: Credit and cash. I think personal and government choices to live on the basis of money we hope will come in creates problems at both levels. CALLIOPE: You don't usually address political issues. JOE: No I don't. I didn't approach it from a political point of view but rather one of responsibility. CALLIOPE: Were you pleased with it? JOE: Yes. I am considering venturing out into some other politically charged issues. Talk with you tomorrow. |
| JOE: Good morning Calliope. CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. Did you sleep in this morning? JOE: If you consider 6:30 sleeping in, yes. CALLIOPE: What have you been up to? JOE: Yesterday I discovered a site called Internet Career Builders run by Steve Weber with whom I have been familiar for a while. He has quite a bit of information about using the internet for business. I have been pursuing what he has to offer. CALLIOPE: Did you need more information. JOE: I think so. I do have my website and blog but have not gotten much response from my efforts so far. I think I need to learn a little more about how to go about internet marketing in a more constructive and organized manner. CALLIOPE: I hope this site helps. JOE: So do I. CALLIOPE: How are the videos coming? JOE: I did not get to them yesterday with my interest in the new site. I plan to work on them later today after yoga and lunch. CALLIOPE: Revived and fortified? JOE: That's my plan. I also have writers meeting tonight where I plan to read a revision of one of my chapters from Marital Property for feedback on my first person approach. CALLIOPE: Sounds busy. JOE: Yes. and exciting too. I feel energized today. Talk with you tomorrow. |
| JOE: Good morning Calliope. CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. How are you today? JOE: Fine. CALLIOPE: Tell me about your day yesterday. JOE: One thing led to another. I started the day participating in the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk. CALLIOPE: Does that have a personal significance for you? JOE: Yes. My girlfriend Carol is a three year survivor of breast cancer. Her mother and one of her sisters died of it and she has another sister and a fair number of friends who are survivors. CALLIOPE: How did participating affect you? JOE: I didn't realize it at the time but then spent last night looking at my life, what it means and what I need. I tend to ignore these most of the time and concentrate on what I can offer others. CALLIOPE: What did you do specifically? JOE: I spent some time playing the guitar, drawing, reading The Mastery of Love by Ruiz and listening to music. CALLIOPE: What kind of music? JOE: I discovered a new music site, Pandora Radio, which lets you create music stations to fit your own taste. It also learns your taste, suggests and supplies music which fits them. CALLIOPE: What was that experience like? JOE: Extremely comforting and relaxing. I am listening to Enya Radio as I am talking with you. See you tomorrow. |
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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.