Here We Go Again

Just squeezing in my post for the month. Writing is a great expenditure of time and energy. Yes, people may claim I am taking it easy, or doing something that should only be enjoyed in retirement, but I beg to differ.

Yesterday, two days ago, was “to do list day”? They have a day for everything now. I am waiting for the “gossips cut your tongues out day”. You know the type, preaching self extinction cause we are all so evil; the ‘what do you mean I need to repent!?’ type.

Have you made your resolutions?

Indignation is all the rage, but it wont get us to outer space, or to Heaven. So if you want to write a great science fiction novel put your indignation aside and envision a future of achievers, willing to sacrifice, suffer and give their lives simply because they must to get it done.

That is the problem with the world today, they do not appreciate what it took to get us here, where we are, sitting idly before screens of various size and function.

I blame the baby boomers for this lack of generational adoration. Of course I do. I blame baby boomers for everything, especially the millenials.

My novels are, will be, life, not technology driven. Except that they will be written on a computer. Those typewriters were too difficult to maintain.

One story at a time on my weekly to do list. One short story a week, to pop off or edit. Extended periods designated solely for the novels, unless we can streamline our schedules, namely making the same or better money with lessening expenditures of time and effort, giving me more time to write. Then I can split the day between short stories and novels; and I keep meaning to write more Haiku.

More time to write; it is a dream I have; as we start even another business and lunge full bore into the home remodel.

So my blogs have suffered this past year. I failed to post even once on the blog that started it all.

If I knew then what I know now, I most likely would not have named my second blog as I did; “It’s a Dog’s Life”. Or perhaps the title is appropriate.

Discipline is what I need to expand upon, and creating a time table for my blogs may be the framework to achieve the goal. I will designate each blog as a monthly or quarterly. I will try to create each planned post the first week of each month, to give me plenty of time to edit before publishing.

I looked up and referenced a post I made five years ago. Wow! What was I trying to say? I may go back and edit all my work at some point, though that has grown to a humungous task.

The to do list has been growing huge, over the course of this past year, as I never take anything off the list until it is done. I am clearing away the old tasks quickly as the year comes to an end, the warm weather being highly beneficial to the work at hand.

The list, my writing goals just a few among so many others, has previously kept my writing from progressing at a healthy pace.

Prioritization, or lack thereof, may be something I need to master if my plans for world domination are truly to come to pass. Mastering prioritization that is, not the lacking. I already have that down pat.

Dost I jest?…

A real Magic-8-Ball moment.

Thank you for reading.

Happy New Year!

Lifestyle, or, I Got No Abs

I have been known to procrastinate. So I made a new determination to alter my schedule to facilitate productivity and healing.

“Healing?” you ask.

Yes, with my recent medical issues and some worthwhile advice from that font of wisdom YouTube, I have discovered through my own trial and error that sleep is very very important in healing your body. As is fasting.

I wake up earlier, get the weight of my prayers in, they keep me up late when I procrastinate over them, and then head to the gym.

Physical fitness and activity are my strategy to drive my productivity throughout the day, as well as being awake more during daylight hours. It is just hard to get things done after dark; except writing. But if I start writing after dark then it will be nearly morning before I realize what time it is.

Yes, as I attempt to cement down this routine, my body is thriving, and the creative juices are flowing ever greater. With this weather soon I will have only writing to do, as work on the house pretty much ceases with the cold.

Yes, the gym. It has been possibly ten years since I have gone. Muscle memory has failed me, or perhaps it is just that I got no abs. Couldn’t do a single sit up. My only defense is that it was an inclined bench. A bit embarrassing but the back is strong (probably why my back has been so tight this last year: the difference in strength of abs vs. back) and everything else is in good to fair condition. I have always had trouble with exercising the abs, and you need those abs in the bench press.

The Chuck Hammer sagas are front and center though I can get those short stories, and drafts of a couple other novels, out quick if I set my mind to it.

Almost failed to meet post this month.

Thanks for reading.

Have to once again recommend a high school classmate of mine’s autobiography. It is a truly valuable read. Will make a great Christmas gift for a young up and comer.

Here is another valuable read. It must be valuable or people would not be warning you

Getting Undressed

An apropos title for a high school classmate’s autobiography. An appropriate analogy to the overcoming of the internal challenges we all face in making the changes necessary to achieve one’s purpose and to bring success. Success, in this man’s case, not only for himself but for others.

“Getting Undressed –From Paralysis To Purpose-“ is a must read for any young professional. It is not simply about finding hope in what many would find a hopeless situation, or in keeping faith and a sense of purpose when an uncertain future lay before you, but it is a story that highlights the necessity to foster the ability to change and adapt to ever changing life situations; whether from getting through college to maneuvering through ever changing work environments. Particularly hard in a wheelchair back in the day.

Understanding what drives people is essential to writing a good story. Conciseness makes a story all that more enjoyable and powerful. This tale of a life being lived well excels in its ability to be concise, written with the purpose of uplifting the reader through personal testimony. I have read a few autobiographies, and while I found all fascinating, some lingered in minutia and took me forever to finish (between naps).

This book is a lean 200 pages with, most importantly, pictures. A good picture book is hard to find and always a joy when found. I am center top in the track team photo.

I was in a calculus class with David Cooks at the Jesuit institution we attended: Marquette University High School. I always admire his glow in the face of such a seemingly devastating turn of events. But it certainly was not easy, as I could see on his face in more trying moments. I am sorry if he felt he received any uncomfortable stares.

I am certain I stared much more at our Jewish underclassman than I did at David Cooks, if that is any consolation, simply because he was not only tall but chubby, …actually fat. I mean our underclassman, not David Cooks. I am sure I could provide some sound dieting advice for him.

I never knew that he was not Catholic. I mean David Cooks, not our Jewish underclassman.

Not sure what that Chinese guy was.

For an all boys school it was and is a very diverse supportive environment. A great place to attend high school. I am wondering if they need a new diversity director; a position David Cooks held for some time, as well as the position of head coach of the varsity basketball team. Perhaps I should throw my hat into the ring, for diversity director, not basketball coach. I am a white male after all, which should make me a shoo-in don’t you know.

Or would it help if I said I was female?

There was one part of his autobiography that confused me however. After making it into the Fuqua School of Business at Duke, on page 113 David Cooks writes; “I was no longer always the smartest person in the room.”

I am thinking back really really hard and I am pretty sure we were all in the same room when Mr. Lazowski was teaching calculus.

I am scratching my head.

The dog has fleas.

Thanks for reading.

Almost missed posting this month, but I am grateful that I can connect you with something of profound value. I highly recommend the book. And book him as a speaker if you hold such power.

You can order a signed copy from his site.

I had to pay $20 for the book! Lucky ya’ll.

Maybe he is smarter than me.

I am scratching my head.

Medical Emergency

This household is full of excitement as our favorite band is coming out with five new hits tomorrow, after seemingly disappearing for quite awhile.

I hope I will not be disappearing anytime soon, but a scare, or what they call a scare, I really don’t allow things to scare me but needed to act with the utmost prudence, sent me to the emergency room.

The rumors have been confirmed true. I am just too sweet, or “beyond sweet” in my wife’s words.

The demands of the garden and the vision I have for our small piece of this world, amplified by the time restraints brought by a coming Winter, have kept me working in the physical realm. I have had little time to write, or rather build up the motivation to write.

Now a whole new distraction of investing in what is at this time required to restore my health keeps me listening to various YouTube doctors. And if a doctor is on YouTube you know they must be right.

I will focus on finishing up the short stories and a tale of “Life on the Farm”. The title may be misleading here, but maybe not. I have no new stories growing in my mind. I have to get these out first. My regained memories, not in the news, required no input from outside sources to come to mind, just the healing properties of time and goodwill to all, even to those seeking my destruction.

In my book, as the expression goes, that really creates content of significance for a writer. It is easy to see the evil, but submitting to the good gifts you with understanding.

A Varidesk may benefit my condition.

Thank you for reading.

Do As I Say, Not As I Do

I picked up a few books, real books, hard copy novels from my parent’s estate, as they have passed on.

The authors are names most would recognize. If you asked someone who any of these people are, they would most likely answer; “Don’t they write books or something?”

Amidst all the advice one may come across as a self publishing author, to show not tell, is amongst the most frequent. To develop content, such as a person’s character or back story through some dialogue, action or event; intertwining various threads. How someone reacts in a confrontation can convey much about them and their past.

So I start to read one of these crime novels. I had selected three books from three different recognizable authors. I am over 10% into the first book. Telling is 99% of what I have read so far.

And the repetition of background is just too tedious.

I am sure all that will change. Long storylines, back stories, for an assortment of apparently unrelated characters makes one wonder how these characters will all come together. It grabs your interest as it bores you into a midafternoon stupor guaranteed to ruin any intended nap time.

But these names, and perhaps there are several people contributing to each book, make big money; at least they are renowned for selling lots of books. Once in awhile a movie deal may come along.

How does this stuff make money when far better works, those approaching the level of literature, are completely lost in the crowd? Yes, I have read many a wonderful self published work that actually does show rather than tell. It makes a much more interesting read.

I am not saying best selling novels are not up to adequate standards for a good read and plot development. I am saying that there is far better stuff out there that few will ever see or be exposed to.

How does this happen?

Why have I not received the call, with the job market as it is now?

Actually I did receive a call, from a head hunter looking to fill some positions in Architecture, and responded enthusiastically. As of yet I have not heard back. There were suspicious aspects to the call, such as what sounded to me like canned crowd noises in the background. I had to wonder if someone had an interest in me saying anything that could possibly be construed as a lack of interest in my chosen profession.

There are lots of traps in life. Or you can stretch innocent but not so common experiences into something insidious for a good storyline.

Like being ordered to inspect a job site without a hard hat. Oh sure, I asked five people at the office (I was being outsourced at the time) if I could borrow theirs; “No.” The contractor offered to provide me with one. He was talked down by my boss, and as I am ordered up several stories on a cherry picker to inspect some work, pictures are taken. You have to know that it was not I who was in trouble with OSHA.

One could twist that into quite a tale of intrigue, but you need more for a proper plot.

I should have known better, with that virtual shell game of putting my initials on some work I was going to take over, save file here, save file there and so forth. Perhaps the work that I corrected was not the work they wanted to pin me with.

The intrigue builds. How will the story end?

I should say hello to Scott here. Hello Scott.

So I go into one of the civil buildings downtown last month to pull a permit to raze one of my garages. I speak with a delightful lady. A few moments into our exchange, a city official from the next stall slides over. He Leans in crossing the back of the desk divider. The entire time, more than a few minutes, he is perched at forty-five degrees gawking at me through some not so stylish eyewear.

But there’s more! What a story a vivid imagination could make of all this. Nearly everyone in the office is getting up an slow walking behind her, gathering for little chats and joining in the gawking.

The plot thickens. Forty-five degree man continues to gawk.

These are the kind of events I suffered through that pushed me to create an freedom of information request of my Alderman some years ago under the freedom of information act. I was told no e-mails in his system met the criteria, but have since learned otherwise. It may have been a technicality. After a second FOIR I again received zero e-mails. Not sure what I am going to do about that.

I have to say I have never felt any sense of malice on the part of my alderman or the city in my interactions.

Well, …two months ago I was the only one to get a parking ticket in our alley for parking our vehicle on our property overnight. I asked everyone else along the alley who parks their vehicles in the same way, “Have you ever received a parking ticket for parking on your apron in the alley?” The typical answer was, “No, never.”

So am I going back to work in Architecture, full time, working under the critical eye of another? A critical eye is good if you want to produce quality.

It is sort of like Polish jokes. The south side of Milwaukee was one huge mass of ethnic Poles back in the day. I was a young kinder back then. Many Polish jokes went around implying a lack of skill and understanding on the target groups part. Yet today if you look up any skilled trade, or seek out craftsman of the highest caliber, there is a strong likelihood they will be Polish.

We have a great Polish Fest here in Milwaukee.

So what was with the jokes? The Germans were running everything.

Things are not always as they appear. Standards have become arbitrary in a world of moral relevance. We want to believe we live in a moral and ethical world, but we fail when we mistake position with, even in some cases professional prowess, not to mention the righteousness of a person.

And in the digital age, it can be far worse. I will expound on that point in another blog; No Sanction. I haven’t posted there in awhile but… I’m back.

So the writing grows in prominence as the days grow shorter. I have some YouTube videos I am trying to piece together, one of me demolishing my garage, hard hat and work boots included.

Not too many months ago I had three dreams, yes some dreams I never forget, of hit men being hired to take me out. I even remember back into my mother’s womb. Too much information? Sorry.

They were just dreams of course, but look at all the material I have here to make a great story of mystery, intrigue and victory over all the odds.

Thanks for reading and tolerating my rant.

Analog

How I long for the analog world. A world of the moment where shiny screens do not drive one to false hopes and dreams, is the world I miss. A topic touched on by science fiction, but not too deeply.

Oh yes, evil computers or manipulative villains, human, robot or otherwise, are always foiled in their attempts to make humankind submit to an agenda man is supposedly completely blind to, is a well worn staple.

But what of the unplanned chaos of a world increasingly devoid of direction? A world that forms around an ever changing flow of light with no purpose or meaning, other than the pursuit of its purveyors for an even more exciting light.

Truth is stranger than fiction. …Yes it is.

Well… I had to get my post in this week. I am not reading much these days. Maybe I need to buy some real books? Those e-readers have lost their luster. At least an e-reader screen doesn’t destroy your eyes.

Have you noticed these days that your eye doctor demands you have your retina check? Every visit. You know, the eye drops. They are tracking something.

And do not get me started on LED lights.

The digital world is a very dangerous place in so many ways.

I liked watching “Green Acres” when I was a kid.

Oh how I long for the analog world.

I could never get those typewriters to function at a sufficient level to make use of them. I will have to check the Internet for Typewriter Repair shops.

Thank you for reading.

The light of truth will never lead you astray.

Disaster

I plug in my external hard drive and nothing happens. I see the drive start up and spin, but no window opens, no PIN prompt comes up. I cannot find the device on my computer.  I try several times over; same result.

Most of my writing is consolidated on the drive, though there are other scattered digital sources and hard copy… for most of my writing.

My mind flashes to when I grabbed up an extendible flashlight. You know those with a magnet on one end. I discovered my external hard drive clinging to said magnet and I yanked it free.

Had I wiped the entire drive. And I’m not talking about ‘with a cloth.’

Then my wife and I watched the movie, an Amazon original, “Paterson” and life suddenly comes into alignment. A movie about a man with a boring life and a crazy wife who writes poetry. The life most all married men have. Watch the movie if you want to catch the connection.

Then when everything finally makes sense, I set to one of my tasks, added to the list in response to my apparent loss of files, on that weekly list of things to do: review all digital backups.

A few weeks after I have logged my external hard drive as a digital waste land, I plug in my external hard drive once again, just for giggles and laughs. The prompt for my PIN comes up. I stare in wonderment, contemplating whether this is really happening or not and enter my PIN.

Walla!

It appears all my files are there, and undamaged. The One Cloud feature had come up on my computer, a feature I have noticed since Windows10 came out. Not exactly sure what One Cloud is (possibly a cloud backup), but I considered the possibility it may have had something to do with my uncharacteristically good fortune. Yet I have no recollections of saving anything to that mythical cloud that holds all secrets.

Disaster averted.

Then I think, “Wait a minute.”

Back over a year ago I wrote how this particular device had disappeared for some three months. And when It suddenly appeared in a place I had searched five times over, having completely emptied my computer bag each time, I found myself in dismay. It is not a small device. When I connected it up after its three month absence, I was prompted through my Windows file folder to open the device then enter my PIN.

This is not how I had accessed the device originally, when I first purchased it.

Originally I received a direct prompt for my PIN from the device…as I do now.

There is a story in there somewhere. Truth or fiction, it is hard to say which would be more interesting.

Multi-tasking is out. It is like when they said butter is bad for us but then we all realized we were lied to. Garden, home renovations have held the spotlight for a while. After receiving quotes for various projects, I realized that I can earn nearly a years salary in savings if I could do all that work myself this year.

Still, I am scheduling in the writing, providing some extended focus time.

Almost losing all my easily accessible work I feel prodded to get the stories/books done.

Thanks for reading.

Parents

Both my parents are gone now; within a period of five months. Family dynamics are changing. A deeper understanding of who my parents were here on this earth progresses in their absence. Their powerful influence deeply acknowledged as it wanes. Responsibilities related to what their family of six sons will or will not become fall upon a younger set.

An insight into the human dynamic captivates. Honest observations of such events, a sense of understanding, can only make one a better author.

My dad sold me my mother’s Buick Regal after she passed. It needs new tires.

I was driving the Regal shortly after purchase and punched one of my mother’s Catholic stations on the radio. Religious music is uplifting, consoling, but as the interior of the car began to smell more and more like the inside of a Catholic church I had the sense that I was not alone.

Yes, for a month or so I had to readjust the driver’s car seat every time I got into the Regal. My mother did, or rather does have a sense of humor.

We were visiting my dad everyday these last several months. He hung in there so well, we almost forgot he was dying. Reflections on the family take me away at times. Demands of Spring, namely the garden, and work on my garages that I cannot put off any longer have kept me from writing, even posting on my blogs.

Getting back into a schedule will get me back on track. I must prioritize, delegate my time and be rigid with myself.

My cousin recommended a publisher to me at my dad’s funeral. He is an author himself. I was genuinely moved that he came so far to share with us.

So it is either crank out all my work into the proper format this summer and send it all to a publisher, or hit a writer’s conference and plod ever onward into the world of self publishing.

I have a lot of work, not to mention writing to do, to get in order. Pushing ahead quickly on the keyboard you naturally expect there to be some errors and typos as a result. In my case, if you see any errors or typos in my posts or in any other creative endeavors of mine…

It is my mother’s fault.

Thanks for reading.

Two Things

Thinking of my youth, my younger days and the education I received, there are two things that I believe would have helped me in my writing.

You know… when I was really young I used to watch “The Monkeys” never being able to imagine being as old as those crazy group of friends.  I was watching  an episode of “The Monkeys” some time back on retro television. I smiled as I watched those kids and their crazy antics, and thought to myself, “Oh crap.”

But that is besides the point. Music is not the topic even though “The Rolling Stones” is Satan’s music, “The Who” makes the “Beatles” look like just another boy band and “AC%DC” was the best thing ever to come out of Australia.

Not sure what that is saying in terms of things coming out of Australia.

But then again I do have two things in regards to music.

After our favorite band finished, the reason we attended Summerfest last year, we caught  “Styx”, or rather Dennis De Young, afterwards which made me wonder, “What would make the best theme song for me?” “Renegade” came to mind “Never more to go astray”. It is good to be a wanted man. Still, I am neither a fearful nor an angry man, nor wanted apparently.

“Too much Time on my Hands” may be more appropriate considering the last several years of under employment. “Is it any wonder I’m not the President?”

Great music. Makes me want to break out my old albums. “Styx” came out of the Midwest by the way. Just sayin.

But, back to the topic,  as I try to write, find the proper word and construct proper sentences, there are two things I wish I would have learned, or learned more better, when I was young.

First, in regards to finding the proper word, or understand more clearly the words I use, I wish I had taken Greek and/or Latin when I was younger. At the prestigious high school of my youth they were far from unpopular subjects. Most students of such classics were more interested in pursuing law or the sciences rather than in any artistic pursuit.

Second, I wish I had paid more better attention to my English teachers. But in my defense, they were not very approachable people. Hardly perceived as kind, they ruled by fear. That may be a slight exaggeration, but everyone over 40 knows what I am talking about.

I had a great English teacher in high school. If he were alive today he would be the oldest man in the world. He was harsh, and critical. I failed his first test. Afterwards he went over the test with the class pointing out all the correct answers. On the next test, including all future tests… half the questions were the same as the previous test, and when I got a 70% he praised me to all heck for my improvement. Not to familiar or comfortable with praise, yet I soon was achieving 90-100% on my tests. Everyone from my high school remembers him.

The grammar has come back to me the more I write. It is all in there somewhere. Finding new words, the best most precise words, is a bigger challenge for me right now.

Actually, with Spring and the garden I have not written too much but the work plods forward. Still visiting my dad every day.

I will soon be firing up the old YouTube channel again, home & garden and mountain biking being the main topics.

Thank you for reading.

Tom Petty was just plain cool.

Seracs

The word I was looking for is seracs. I will not go back and edit my second book simply to be more accurate. I have to keep on with my current writing. I have been able to write more, but more on my blogs than my upcoming works.

I heard a report on BBC Radio about a dictionary of land features. I forget the exact title, but I searched for it on the Internet at the time but found no trace. So many interesting words, precise in distinguishing features no matter how indistinct from each other they may be. When is the last time you used the word defile, to describe that space between two mountains?

Words such as knoll, hillock, hummock, rise, hill or in the contrary a hollow, valley or depression represent a slice of the scope of words available. The small distinctions in a local landscape described in words most of us have long forgotten or have never heard can create an element of fantasy as the reader is educated. Types of rock and strata are other foundational words can add depth, or play as a representation of settlement or the passage of time.

Describing a Lunar landscape requires a very distinct vocabulary, otherwise you sound completely uninformed and your science fiction visions will not play.

My father has wit and is sharp as a tack as far as knowing who is with him and following conversations. He doesn’t know where he is half the time however. He is passing away and the family is praying for him.

The last six months or so have been dominated, more than I likely realize, by the passing of my parents. Still I should be much further along in my writing goals.

I truly did start this post mid-month, I just failed to finish it until now.

Thank you for reading.

Terms for desert features.

Space terms.

Still Not On Time

Here it is. My mid-month post, and it is not even a leap year.

My father is dying; on his way to the eternal. My mother recently passed away. The dynamics of my life and family are changing drastically.

I am revamping my numerous blogs one by one. I receive no compensation from placing any links in my blog posts or the sidebars. All links will be reviewed.

Words. Wordsmith. I will by looking for links that will expand one’s vocabulary. We listen to “A way with Words” on our way to church Sunday mornings. I love old radio shows and how they can turn a phrase.

Developing characters requires each to have a unique way of speaking. Whether it is by nationality, accents and sentence structure, or the personality of a character. A character that loves metaphors has to be speaking in metaphors the whole read through.

It is like not forgetting the color of their hair or eyes.

I have met and worked with people from all around the world. I have traveled and lived all over the country not to mention the world. Family who served in the military have that generic military accent that has barely a hint of a drawl. Still, I have a very limited library of the ways people speak.

Particularly in my Lunar colony in the next Chuck Hammer, with a very international cast, I need to carefully research and seek advice.

I will search for sites that can help in just this fashion and add them to the sidebar. I hope to be useful to those of you following.

Thank you for reading.

Slush On

I bought no Christmas gifts for those everyone insists do not exist. There were no cookies and milk for Santa, though we all know that he truly exists. My mother passed on to a place in which all understand that Jesus exists. I have had the flue twice this season and a bit of the latest still persists.

And nothing ruins a perfectly good Winter like slush, right when snow of light white fluff should exist. At the time of year when the greatest of cold hold the records of which books consist.

It leaves me miserable and dumbfounded.

We bought a small, very safe and not too powerful, space heater. We have no ambitions of interstellar travel, but merely needed something to take the chill off; in the bath for my wife and at the writing desk for me (and maybe the bath too).

It makes a difference, both the heater and support from some of my cousins, in my drive to complete my works of fiction.

The slush, this time of year, it goes nowhere and you know it will refreeze into an ugly dangerous mess that will last the rest of the Winter. And Spring is still quite a ways off here.

We removed clutter in a New Year cleaning and have our goals and schedule set for 2018. No excerpts from my writing is planned until I succeed in publishing my next book. I hope to have news on that next month.

I have to remind myself that I have some notebooks in which I had written some poetry.

I wish you all a Happy New Year.

Thank you for reading.

Bah Humbug

I understand Ebenezer’s perspective on the holidays. How can anything productive, namely the advancement of my written works, be achieved with all the time spent shopping and merry making, the eating and drinking and giving, that surrounds the Christmas season?

Determined still to my adopted craft, I am then struck down with illness.

The passing of my mother two days before the New Year consumes my remaining strength. Even now the cold pierces home and flesh, stealing any healing energies the grace of God may provide.

Though the bank fold may thicken, a moments disaster could leave us in ruin.

In other words, my life goes on as usual.

Happy New Year. Sorry for my tardiness in posting.

I plan to work through a contract on one self published author’s platform I have investigated, finish out a hardcopy version of one of my works with my original self publishing platform, then decide how to advance from there. Shall I look for a full service publisher?

Publisher’s radio advertisements and associated websites are alluring.

When I first looked into publishing companies, nearly ten years ago, I read statements that ran something along these lines: “We throw away all unsolicited manuscripts and are not responsible if any of our books resemble in any way a manuscript you may have improperly submitted to decorate our trash bins.”

Now, companies are advertising that they will truly read your manuscript, …promise. Just give yourself a chance and sign up, call, for a free submittal package.

How does one break out of the self published pool of millions? How can one stand out?

Though people claim everything is different in this age of digital world wide access media, maybe it is not.

I would love some real honest face to face feedback on my work. If I can keep the nose to the grind stone I can produce five books this year.

Is Barnes and Noble the only book store left? You know where we found gifts appropriate for newborns, after long tedious searches through your traditional toy stores? That’s right; at Barnes and Noble.

Self publish success stories are simply the piecemeal assembly of a team, that traditionally a publishing company provided as a package. Though some authors may maintain a social media following, to promote their work, that does not replace book signings and getting into the book store.

I believe social media to be limiting. People are rebelling against the mindless screen stare culture. They seek to return to real human ties and face to face breathing the same air experiences, more and more.

And you wonder why the rich get richer and no one else? Because everyone throws up all their ideas on the Internet for the rich to steal and market. Because they can. They have all the money.

Bah Humbug!