 For Authors: June 13, 2012 Issue [#5098] |
  For Authors
This week: Potpourri - An Assortment of Thoughts Edited by: Fyn  
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| "I've learned that no matter what happens, or how bad it seems today, life does go on, and it will be better tomorrow. I've learned that you can tell a lot about a person by the way he/she handles these three things: a rainy day, lost luggage, and tangled Christmas tree lights. I've learned that regardless of your relationship with your parents, you'll miss them when they're gone from your life. I've learned that making a "living" is not the same thing as making a "life." I've learned that life sometimes gives you a second chance. I've learned that you shouldn't go through life with a catcher's mitt on both hands; you need to be able to throw something back. I've learned that whenever I decide something with an open heart, I usually make the right decision. I've learned that even when I have pains, I don't have to be one. I've learned that every day you should reach out and touch someone. People love a warm hug, or just a friendly pat on the back. I've learned that I still have a lot to learn. I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel." ~~Maya Angelou |
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The quote above pretty much sums up the variety (or potpourri) of thoughts scrambling around in my head. I need to express some of them, let them loose to land where they may, so that I'll have room for other thoughts to hatch. Besides, these thoughts circling around are just making me dizzy -- well, dizzier than normal! *grin* They may not seem to be related, but in actuality, they truly are.
1. Starting a business is the most terrifying, most exhilarating, most exhausting and most satisfying thing I have ever done. Finally, I am working at a job I love. I remember being the one who, in the past, 'watched' the clock. Is it break time yet? Lunch time? Time to go home? I looked at my watch the other day and realized I'd been 'at work' for 14 hours! Blew my mind...no wonder I was hungry! It used to be I'd go to work to get a paycheck. Haven't seen one yet; nor do I expect to for a few months. Sure, the belt is pulled tight and all that, I'll survive. I will surely celebrate when I can, with good conscience, write myself that first check. Learning curves are gentle turns or horrifying hair-pin curves. But I am living the dream I have envisioned for decades! I have books out. I have authors signing. I have a tree in my office. (Yes, a tree! The leaves are my authors and their books.) I am happier than I ever thought I could be. The grins swirl even when I can't quite get a program to do what I want it to do or when there are sixty-five MPH winds during an event.
2. More than ever before, I am aware of the people around me. It isn't that any one of them just might be a potential author. It is just more cognizant or more 'there' somehow. For example, last weekend I met Mara ♣ McBain  . She came up for an event/book-signing/Wynwidyn Press has arrived 'thing.' I knew we'd clicked on the phone and through emails. I hoped that we would 'in person.' We did, neither one of us was the 'dreaded axe murderer' and we had a blast. This was despite ridiculous winds blowing our books around and eventually trying to blow the tent into the middle of next week. It was fun seeing the person behind the fantastic writing, beyond the awesome new book and in the moments! Her recently published book, Club Justice has a lot to do with motorcycles and the day she was visiting was also the "Blessing of the Bikes.' We took her and her husband to Hell. Michigan, that is, to a place called The Dam Site Inn where most of the bikers were. She was in one of those 'in need of additional inspiration' spots in her next book and it seemed like the perfect place to take them to dinner.
The menu was bare to say the least, as the place had sold out of almost everything. It didn't matter. We were so busy people-watching that the food was almost an after thought. I thoroughly expect to see several of the characters we saw show up in her book. I will be watching for them. Our waitress was the chirpiest, craziest waitress I've ever had and even though she was rushing around like crazy, spazzing out and forgetting things, again, it did not matter. Both Mara and I were so busy absorbing everything and everyone we saw that our food was eaten almost without thought. The husbands were busy either talking wood-working tools or laughing at us. It was great.
So much of the day was full of those 'moments' that scream to be incorporated into something, anything that we might/would/will write!
3. Traveling Sticks. They could be canes or staffs or staves or carved sticks. I have always believed that a walking stick does not 'belong' to someone. It is a tool for a while and then journeys on to someone else. I've had a willowood walking stick for about fifteen years. It isn't from a willow tree, as in a weeping willow, but a specific tree called a willowood. The wood has flanges in it where it spreads apart, widens and then narrows again. Hard to find, rare to see. I was at a garage sale yesterday and saw a long stick full of holes. I had no clue what it was, but it was oddly shaped, the perfect length and I wasn't it. It wasn't for sale. We talked and chatted and he showed me a thin willowood walking stick he'd carved as a gift for his brother. We chatted some more and when I left, I made an offer for the holey stick. I left with it and when I got home, my husband told me all about how it was from cactus. I just knew it 'screamed' at me and I wanted it for the office.
Inside, I was telling my hubby about the gentleman and his story. My eyes fell upon my willowood stick at the same time as my husband's eyes did. We looked at each other and he said, "See you in a bit." I went back to the garage sale and showed the man my willowood walking stick. He caressed it and held it and he smiled. I told him that walking sticks need to journey and that this particular stick would continue its journey with him. There were tears in his eyes as I walked away...and in the rear view mirror, he was still standing there with his hands running over the wood. May they have pleasant journeys together.
4. Will any of these events or people find their way into my writing. Yes they will. Of course they will. Writing is not simply putting pen to paper. It is taking observations, people we encounter, events that transpire and vistas that we see and molding them, playing with them, carving them into a tale to pass on...kind of like a traveling stick, don't you think?
ps...I must give some credit here to Tadpole1  as she, too, uses the term 'traveling stick.'
Ah...Much better. That cleared up some space. Now I can focus on a really special idea that is coming soon...
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Traveling sticks, bikes and trees...
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jitsufreek says: Your newsletter helps a lot getting back into the swing of writing-things. Thank you!
Good! Inspiration...love giving folks some!
LJPC - the tortoise  writes: Terrific NL, Fyn! All those things are so important. The idea of self-publishing positively makes my brain-hurt...then I go hide under a chair. I especially loved the quotes you used at the top - they're so funny!  ~ Laura
Don't hide...it really is not all that scarey! Feel free to email with any questions...
Mara ♣ McBain explains: Self publishing certainly highlighted the sheer number of things I didn't know anything about. I was lucky enough to make a friend who happens to be a great editor. Her help was invaluable!  Thank you, Fyn! I also spent a ton of time reading up on formating and layout and then HOURS on end trying to set my manuscript up and tweaking until I got it as good as I could. It is a job. I am certainly hoping my next book can go through a small press and spare me pulling my hair out. I'm leaning toward Wynwidyn Press. 
Good way to lean! *grin*
Zeke  says: I have self-published a book and now everyone in my family has a copy.~~Zeke
Now come the next steps--getting out there and marketing it, set up book signings and sell your book!
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ANN Counselor, Lesbian & Happy adds: what a wonderfully helpful newsletter. I learned some important things...that is why I read a newsletter. You're one great editor. Thanks. ann
Thank you!
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