Category Archives: In process

Before I was an author…

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Recently, I started listing the stories and my book for a writing resume. I remembered that years ago, I had a couple of poems published in two anthologies for The International Library of Poetry as part of a course I took through them; somewhere I have all of the material from that course. Both compilation books published in 2001 and I have copyrights on them. I took the books off the shelf and read the poems not knowing the would have true meaning 16 years later and even before.

It Would Be Me published in Timeless Mysteries, March 28, 2001

The Path published in The Language of Memory, November 30, 2001

Reaching Alumni!

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Since the year 2000, I have received the Ferris Magazine. It’s a magazine for alumni who graduated from Ferris State University in Big Rapids, MI. I received my Bachelor’s Degree in Printing Management from there. I have been working on getting a class note placed in the magazine with the announcement that I published or “authored” a book.

After waiting many months, I arrived home from work today with the printed copy of the Fall 2014 edition in my mailbox. I immediately jumped online to see if the electronic version got posted. Sure enough.

The magazine reaches 90,000+ alumni, which means my class note could reach 90,000+ people! That’s nuts and cool at the same time!

2014-11-12 19.31.50

Here’s the link to the full-page class notes posting:
http://www.ferris.edu/HTMLS/alumni/ferrismagazine/archive/2014-fall/#44

Re-living a tragedy

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“As the world grieves, may more light be shed upon mental illness and the prevention and education of suicide”. -K.E.Voss

It’s been over a week since the world learned of the passing of Robin Williams. Since then we have learned the cause of his death by suicide — he hung himself and had attempted to slit his wrists. I apologize for my bluntness, but it’s not something to hide behind, it’s truth. We also know he had the beginning stages of Parkinson’s Disease, which may have caused his depression or added to it.

There’s so many questions and there may never be answers. He may not even know.

I do know, like many people who have lost someone to the completion of suicide, may have been affected by Robin’s death; I know I have. When I heard the details of how he died, I had an immediate flashback to the moment I found my husband. It sent a wave of emotions into me. Your breath is a powerful tool to calm the mind down. I had a visit scheduled to my chiropractor who doesn’t just assist with physical ailments. Talking about it and getting adjusted, which helped my emotional and mental health as well as physical, made for a better night. Seeking support from friends geared thoughts to other things. This created only a bump in the road for me that became smoother.

Others affected may not have had it as simple as I did. Reliving tragedies isn’t fun especially if you still have fresh wounds. Depending on what you witnessed, it takes a good amount of time to heal and even then the memories can resurface.

Death opens wounds for those affected by suicide

Remember to call upon and check on those who maybe re-affected by worldly or local/national tragedies. Show you care. Be there.

En route!

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Earlier today, I received an email from my Kira from my publisher, Henschel Haus Publishing, with this exact wording, “Books have shipped – I’ll keep you posted as to when they arrive … YAY!” Could I have gotten more excited, oh yes I could and can and did. My response included, “Oh goody goody gumdrops!! ”

My excitement of course, couldn’t be contained so I shared the news with a few people. I also updated my Facebook status to read, “The first run of books are en route to Milwaukee!”

I hope work is busy for the next couple days so my mind isn’t entirely focused on receiving word that the books are here.

Excitement builds.

 

Full Speed Ahead!

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Following months of proofs and corrections, there’s light at the end of this tunnel. As like the synopsis of the book, editing can take on its dark days, but there’s hope that things will turn out right.

Last Friday, I sent in the last of the corrections. The next stage included having the electronic book turn electronic, in other words converted to an eBook format for Kindle. Then on schedule having the electronic copy sent off to the printer, for you guessed it, book printing!

Over the weekend, I worked on home projects while trying to keep my mind from wondering if the electronic copy got submitted to the printer. I figured it wouldn’t be until today, however, excitement hides logic. I learned this afternoon that indeed, the book became suitable for Kindle and that the book headed to the printer this afternoon. I also found out that a few minor errors received correcting. I guess they didn’t cease upon my approval.

Now I wait for less than two weeks. During this time, I have plenty to keep my mind occupied including completing the Iron Idleman month long competition at my YMCA and working on other projects at home. I plan to start gearing up for my first book signing events. I do know, my excitement hasn’t stopped building and very soon I can say that I’m a published author.

So much happening…

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In less than a week, so much has changed.

*I acquired another person to read and review for publication.
*I received the 2nd proofs and I had them printed and bound through my jobs print center.
*I’ve handed two of these copies out and emailed the PDF files to two other people.
*The date of publication has moved up by a month to the end of March.
*I booked the first of many (I hope) book signings!

Decisions, decisions

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Who knew that when publishing a book, there’d be lots of decisions? From deciding on a book cover to choosing photos that require involvement in the book and that’s just now. First I had to decide if I liked the layout and fonts, chosen specifically for this book (or maybe not). It’s not just the design and layout.

While I’m working through my editing phase, I note that I have to choose chapter titles so they aren’t the generic chapter 1, chapter 2, etc. I’ll have to idea generate as I read through the chapters to decide on what to write.

For months and I mean many months, ideas on where to take my book once published keep arriving in my mind or through others. From bookstores to various cities for example, Big Rapids, MI where I went to school, are on the list. That’s All I Got has a home in Milwaukee, WI and the list of ideas grows monthly. Pretty cool, but then my brain tells me how much work this might be, but do I let it discourage me? Nope.

I had to choose people to review the book before it’s published. Each person I asked plays a different position in my journeys course and each one knows different parts of my progress, though none of them know the entire story. I’m thankful that each person excitedly agreed to read the book ahead of time and give a short review that will appear on the back cover.

A task given to me involved searching and choosing photos from our engagement, wedding, and honeymoon. The suggestion was six photos so I have nine. I had to decide which head shot photo to use. I had four retouched and from there I chose one for the book and the others for the blog and Facebook pages.

Lots of decisions made and more to come as the book progresses forward. Each detail has numerous pieces and each part has numerous ideas. I’m sure the most fun involves marketing and promoting. Keeping it simple, real, and cost-effective even though it could prove challenging. I’m up for the difficult tasks that arise.