Web of Nations

One of the highlights of my childhood was when my parents took my two brothers, my twin sister and me to the World’s Fair in New York. The year was 1964 and car travel from Maryland to New York was not quite as convenient as it is today.

The exhibits were awe inspiring! I remember the exact details of many of them. General Electric had a pavilion called “Progressland” which had a revolving theatre. As a child, I felt like I was a member of the Jetson family, circumnavigating the earth in outerspace, as I sat in the theatre seat. The exhibit was an audo-animatronics presentation of the progress of  the use electricity in our homes. Our world has gone so far beyond the use of electricity exhibited at the New York World’s Fair that it is unfathomable.

Disney’s creation of the “It’s a Small World” exhibition at the Pepsi pavilion was the exhibit that took the cake, for me, though. We were treated to a boat ride around the world with little dolls in their native garb dancing to the wonderful song the exhibit was named after. The song will be remembered by all of us in my generation. What vision Disney had back in 1964 for their company and our world’s economy!  I just read on msn.com that Disney has gotten the okay to build a theme park in China. That’s progress!

Yes, indeed, “It is a Small World” and it keeps getting smaller with each generation of bright, imaginative  young people. They are all our future!

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More Indie Publisher News

Learn from others. Attending other author’s book tours and book release events are an ideal way to learn to promote your book.

There is a great resource for finding out what author will be coming to your area by going to www.BookTour.com.

You can search the website by date, author and place and find out where you can meet and hear about your favorite author’s newest book releases, including NY Times best selling authors.

Learning from others is a great way to educate yourself so that when you are ready to promote yourself as an author, you have the knowledge of what it takes to have a successful book tour.

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Weekend Indie Publisher News

First things, first!

Tune in This Morning! Poor Frank, he must be feeling ignored! I have been unable to listen to his Radio Show “Cover to Cover” for a few weeks now.  If you have never listened to this radio show for writers and publishers, every Saturday morning is your chance. No need for a radio, “Cover to Cover” can be listened to on line at www.wnzf.com. Host Frank Gromling always has insightful, interesting guests on his show sharing their knowledge of the publishing world.

Tune in at 11:30 am Eastern Standard Time, 10:30 am Central Time, 9:30 am Mountain Time and 8:30 am Pacific Time.

Let’s show Frank our support today!!! Listen in and learn with me!

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Registration is now open for The Association of Writers (AWP) 2010 Conference in Denver, CO!! You can save money now by registering early. Major sponsors, literary partners and patrons make this great three day event possible at the Hyatt Regency form April 7 – 10, 2010. The event includes a book fair, presenters and  exhibitors.

A wealth of information for writers is available through the AWP. They sponsor writing contests, writers conferences, information on writing careers and MFA writing programs. Check it out at http://www.awpwriter.org.

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Rockin’ Out!

“Life without music would be a mistake” ~ Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche

I am having a wonderful time! Have you gotten in on the latest radio craze? Tune into www.Pandora.com to see what I am talking about! I have built my own radio channel playing all the tunes that I like, and you can too!

Right now, the keyboard is moving to the strokes of “You’ve Got a Friend” by Carole King, but I have to make this blog quick because I hear the Four Tops calling “Baby, I Need Your Lovin’ .”  Here we go, that is much better, I’m ” Back in Your Arms Again,” so the Supremes say.

I don’t want to end this blog all too quickly though, we have all heard our Momma say “You Better Shop Around” – or was that Smokey?

 Yeah, I know, it is cheesy!  But it is Friday! You can all tune me out and tune into www.pandora.com if you want to listen to something different!

 

 

 

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Snoop No Further

Both of my parents have always been avid readers. My Dad could compete with Evelyn Woods in the speed reading department.  Hand him a book and he will devour it, no matter what the subject.

My mom has never been a person to read just one book  at a time.  She always has a work of fiction and a book of non-fiction going at the same time or a book of heavy reading sits on one side of her night table and a book of light reading sits on the other. She is a “bookie”, as she refers to herself. She belongs to a book discussion group and gets great pleasure in discussing the books she has read with her fellow “bookies.”

Residing in two separate parts of the country, I only see my parents a few times a year. After our initial greetings and welcomes, I often find myself drawn to visiting their bookshelves to see what interesting titles have been added.

You can tell alot about perfect strangers by the books that occupy their bookshelves. A person would need  not snoop beyond my parents bookshelves to know that they are sailors, gardeners, afictionados for home and decorating design. They have a love for all things Vermont and Chesapeake Bay. They love great fiction, including the most current NY Times bestsellers.

My dream is to someday have a proper place to house all the books that I have collected throughout my life. That way, visitors to my home could tell what my life story has been without having to ask. Instead, we could talk about other things, like the weather.

Mired in Mashed Potatoes

One of my favorite rainy day pastimes is to get out my cookbooks and leaf through the recipes. I really don’t like to cook, mind you, but I sure like to read the recipes. I leaf through cookbooks hoping to spur myself into action and cook something new and different. I get stuck in such awful ruts of cookin’ the same ole thing.

It does not matter how many mouthwatering, fancy cookbooks I own, I always revert to the same trusty few. By now, their paperback covers are gone, I have scribbled inside, grease and food stains mark the pages. My favorite cookbooks are all those independently published by women’s leagues and clubs, church and parent-teacher associations. They sell their own cookbooks to support a cause such as buying Christmas presents for needy children or to raise money to support a library or school or to help send kids to summer camp. The expenses to publish these “bare bones” cookbooks, devoid of beautiful color images of food, is minimal  but that does not mean the recipes are not good. The recipes inside often have been handed down from one generation to another. They serve their purpose for people like me – I am a comfort food junkie!

The other day I got out one of my recipe books that I had not looked at in quite some time. It was published by the Winhall Library in Winhall, Vermont. I spied something I had completely forgotten about.  There was a page listing the names of the contributors to the cookbook and beside my name it read “her son gets the award for having checked out of the library the most amount of books in one single day.” Next time I make something from that cookbook, I will have to remind my son of his award.

Maybe one of our customers in the far off places of the world will send me a comfort food cookbook from their country for Christmas. Then I will feel obligated to cook something different and my family will really have reason to celebrate!!!

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Jiminy Cricket!

When was the last time you heard someone whistle? It has been a long time for me. Oh, I have heard people whistle as in “Come here” or “That is quite snazzy!”  but, I don’t hear anyone whistle just for the sake of whistling anymore.

About 12 years ago, I had a boss who often arrived at work whistling. He seemed to know intuitively that a stressful day was ahead. When the pressures of the day began to build, and things were looking grim, he would start in and whistle a happy tune. It was a subtle reminder to his staff to lighten up, cheer up and smile. This was especially meaningful  because I was working in the hospitality industry at the time. Brian, my boss was a pleasure to work with.

Over the past few months, I have had quite a number of readers “tweet” my blogsite. This is extremely fulfilling to me. Blogging is much more challenging than one might think!  “Tweets” confirm that what I am doing is all worthwhile and that I am on the right track.

The other day, I began to devise a plan that would allow us to whistle back our appreciation for all of those that “tweet” for us.My concern though is, if we spend all our time tweeting and whistling  back, it may destroy the productivity of our work day. But, we would all be living in a much more “chipper” world.

What do you think? It is just a thought!

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Quietly Making their Marc

Some people want nothing to do with Angels. Nothing! I don’t quite understand. The moment you say you have angels watching over you, people look at you as if you are an alien from space. They think you have weird, eccentric ideas.

I know I have had a “higher being” watching over me since the day I was born. There is no doubt in my mind. It could be fairies, it could be God,  little gremlins or just a good soul, for all I know!

I am grateful for the “higher” presence in my life. It allows me to sleep serenely knowing it is not all up to me. Someone bigger and better than I am is out there lightly hovering over me, guiding me, protecting me and loving me. I think it is pretty sweet!!!

Note: November is family story month and many of you readers may not understand this blog. I have posted this in honor of my Dad, whom his eight Grandchildren call “Peeps.”  He is the best and he taught his children all he knew about business and being there when needed!

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Taking Charge

“Be self reliant and your success is assured”                                                  ~ Anonymous  

Graduates in the generation before mine sought jobs that they could rely on for security their entire working lives. There was little intention of “job hopping” once one found his or her chosen station in life.

Job security is a thing of the past, and with this brings an uncertainty for the future.  Many moan and groan about today’s lack of  security in jobs.  Yes, it is unsettling but I do not see a devastating downside  to having to rely on one’s own gifts to make it in life. I often have more faith in myself than others.  Does this not lead to a stronger work ethic?

I equate lack of job security with driving in a bad snowstorm.  You never know when your car will go off the road. It is not my own driving skills that scares me, it is the actions of others that scares me.

The way I see it, it is up to me to make my own way in the world.  Life comes with no guarantees or entitlements. Life is what we make it. What is wrong with returning to the work ethics of our founding fathers of our nation?  Working with real vision, persistance, perseverance,  and never giving up when you believe strongly in something.

I am excited about the future and what it holds for the next  generation. Granted, things will not be the same as it was for me, but change  is good. On the horizon, just in my immediate family, I can see a brilliant architect, an empathic neo-natal nurse, a fine custom home builder, a creative independent filmmaker and who knows what else.  They will  all let me know when they get there. As long as they follow their passions and their dreams and work hard to get there, life has to be grand!

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Poets Abound!

On this Halloween, I have decided to give all our loyal blog readers a treat. Since poetry is not among my repertoire of writing accomplishments, I wanted to share the poetry of David Bowman, a member of the Steamboat Writers Group. His poems have been published in Street Rag, Spilled Ink, Main Street Rag, and he recently won Atlanta Review’s International Merit Award! Way to go David!

All writers who can effectively express themselves through poetry earn my utmost respect.  Pick up and read a  book of poetry this Halloween. You will be in for a real treat!

Pumpkin on the Porch

 

On our street lived the twelve apostles

of what ever season, it didn’t matter,

on a rural road, with no turn around

that’s no telling of the dead end where

the road fell into a culvert, buried by

dying weeds, the gold to gray, how

every season, Christmas with stringed

lights of hope, decorations of joy, Easter

rising again to bunnies & baskets sweet

youth, Halloween, always the trick before

the treat, Fourth of July, flags & fireworks

cracking summer air, Valentine’s Day, the loneliest

holiday that still spiked our lawns with balloon

hearts, helium begging towards winter loved sky,

Thanksgiving, a feast we were all thankful for,

a sadness that it was only a day, only a day.

Mrs. Dickenson lived just on the rise, the oldest,

by far, she had been the first to come, wanting

to be the last.  To enjoy her final ride at 90,

wild winds of time blowing back her gray

thinning hair.  She called us from her front

unpainted porch, asked if we might take her

to “Perkins’s Pumpkin Patch, To see what

the harvest brought”  We had to carry her

to the car, reaping her bones. Knuckle gnarled hands

of labor stung with arthritic attendance, Mrs. Dickenson

a widow of three decades, she remembers all

the wars, the wedding, the harvested seasons,

holds on to the seat, both hands, as if fearing take off.

We wheeled up & down gourded lanes past

the last of the tomatoes, the biggest pumpkin

holding down the scale, obese at 989 pounds,

image the seeds, choices of all sizes, it does matter,

size, I mean, because you know they charge by the pound.

She bought a pretty pumpkin, a few curled up gourds,

a bag of apples, the crisp snap from a far off orchard

she would give them away on Halloween night

a healthy treat, she’s been, packing her harvest bag.

We decorated Mrs. Dickenson’s pumpkin,

painted on a lopsided smile, planted a dying bloom

in scalp to give it hair, dangled gourds twisted

for ears, set it on the unpainted porch to celebrate,

another harvested season, winter a week away.

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