Oh, That Infamous Green Dress

Once in a blue moon (note to self: what the heck does “blue moon” mean?? I better look that up first chance I get) I find a piece of clothing so perfect that I wear it forever.

Right now, hanging in my closet, is a red cardigan sweater I got from my husband for Christmas 27 years ago. It is so comfortable, and cozy and nice to wear that it will be cherished until the last thread unravels and it is no longer a recognizable shape. You probably have something like that in your closet, too.

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Rain Rain Go Away

Okay, back to my Amtrak trip. Did I mention that we boarded in the rain…the pouring-down, watch-out-the-dam-doesn’t break, get-the-kids –to-the roof -type of rain? Did I mention that our car was the last one on the train and that there was no cover over us as we walked to our car so that we looked like drowned rats by the time we got on board? Never mind. That was probably the highlight of the trip, (After the bacon episode, of course.)

Meet Cari

We had a lovely lady visit our writer’s group this week: Cari Schaeffer. She has published her first book, Faith, Hope, Love and Chocolate.

We listened as she shared her story. It is lovely as a writer to hear someone else’s story and see their passion for the book in their hands as well as the stories in their heart.

Cari’s book has touched hundreds of ladies and her book is being used as the study book for some women’s retreats. Exciting!!!

Here is a link to her website: http://www.carischaeffer.com. I’m sure you’ll enjoy seeing what this fellow writer is up to.

Blessings!

 

Patricia Meyers
www.PatriciaMeyers.com

 

Me? A Writer?

Thirteen years ago a friend at church mentioned she and another writer were starting a writer’s group. Before I could even think I blurted “Oh, I have always loved to write.” Even though I am the only original member left in our little group and we have evolved into Paddle Creek Writers, I still remember sitting with those two dynamic women and wondering how I could aspire to being a real writer. In a couple of weeks we added Bev and Pat to our mix, followed soon by Michelle. Other members have come and gone but we four remain. If not for Pat, Bev and Michelle, my loose-leaf collection of recipes would still be sitting dormant on my lap top.

Pros and cons of e-book versus printed version – the final chapter

We’ve been posting, over the last four days, what each of us wrote as we sat for our 30 minute prompt writing session using the prompt shown above. This is the fourth and final installment of the series:

“Thomas! Have you seen my glasses?” Dorothy called to her husband.

“Have you looked on the top of your head?” came the reply from the living room.

“Of course!” Dorothy answered running her fingers through her graying hair to see if they were indeed shoved on the top of her skull.

“Are they hanging around your neck?” Thomas’ rough voice told of his annoyance with being interrupted.

Dorothy looked at her blouse to see if she had stuck her glasses in one of her buttonholes or on the chain of her necklace.

“Not there either,” she called from the kitchen.

“Well, I give up,” he said.

“Come here then and tell me what this recipe says,” Dorothy requested.

“Can’t,” he said. “Busy. Use a cookbook on your Kindle. You can make the font large.”

“Good idea,” Dorothy said. She scanned the kitchen counters and table.

“Thomas?” she called. “Do you know where my Kindle is?”

“Is it on the counter?” he called loudly.

“Nope.”

“Book shelf?”

“Nope,” Dorothy answered, her voice coming from the study.

“Bedside table?”

Dorothy turned and headed down the hall to the master suite. “It’s not here,” she yelled. “Are you sure it is not by your chair?”

“I haven’t seen it,” he replied.

Dorothy visited the bathroom, the laundry room and the screened-in back porch.

“Well, it’s nowhere,” she stated standing right next to her husband’s chair.

“Did you find your glasses on your search?” he asked, slightly lifting his eyes from the book he was reading.

“Huh. That would have been a nice reminder if you had said that while I was running hither and yon.”

“Go look in your car,” was his next suggestion.

“Good one!” Dorothy headed to the garage bouncing her head from left to right as if watching a ping pong match scanning surfaces as she passed through each room.

“No glasses, no Kindle,” she announced upon her return to the living room. “You don’t look extremely busy to me. Come read this recipe for me. One half teaspoon versus One half cup is going to make a major difference in the outcome.”

Pros and Cons of E-Book vs Printed – a third take

So, you’ve written a book. And now you have the audacity to want it published.  In this new information age there are many possibilities—all of them require some form of research, discipline and fortitude. How to choose? My advice would be to do the old ”here’s a list of pros and cons” exercise.

Here, in no logical or strategic order are my pros and cons for Print VS E-Book.

                                    The End.

Just kidding. There really are some valid strengths and weaknesses in the publishing process. Here, off the top of my head are a few.

Publishing – Have to write a query letter. If you have never written a query letter consider yourself one of the world’s lucky people. They are agony. Like root canal only worse.

E-Book – No query letter just go to Kindle and print away.

Publishing – Need an agent. This is actually much harder than it sounds. You send your first three chapters to an anonymous literary figure somewhere (probably New York) and six months later they write back and say your book was so awful they used your first 3 chapters to start the fire in their fireplace on Christmas Eve. They would have notified your sooner, but they were still laughing at the absurd idea that you consider yourself a writer.

E-Book- No agent is necessary.

Published – You will need a synopsis of your book for the agent (should you find one—and the publisher should your agent be any good and find one for you.) The synopsis is a one or two page summary of story, character, plot and ending. I always wonder why bother to write the whole book if you can summarize it in two pages? But that’s a question for another time.

E-Book – You won’t need a synopsis.

Are you beginning to see a pattern here?

If your  book is published, the publisher chooses the cover and has control of the title.

With E-Book, you design your own cover and write your own title.

Published books do appear in bookstores, but in this day and age the author has a heavy responsibility to market it.

E-Books are totally the responsibility of the author and marketing is his/her job.

Published books are smooth to the touch—smell good like a book should and have that satisfying spine snap the first time you open them.

E-Books are basically on little machines that need recharging and don’t make those pleasing page turning sounds.

Published books can be heavy and can be used to press flowers from your son’s prom or, if big enough, can be stood on to reach a dish on the top shelf.

E-Books fit in your purse and can’t press flowers.

Published authors are called by the Today show and they want to interview you on air.

E-Books authors are called by their grandma who is frustrated because she can’t figure out how to order a printed copy of your book to show to her bridge club.

But the bottom line is this:

Published—you are an author.

E-Book—you are an author.

Bev