S is for Sad

I am sad that my visit with my niece and nephew was cut short due to a mouth infection I have. Ugh. I am sad that I will get home to my house and for the second year in a row I will have no water. I am saddened that for some reason my water pump turned on and ran for an entire month with no one at the house causing an astronomical light bill.

I am sad that I could not make it farther than Morgantown, WV today. Rain and fog had me getting off to stay here. I had hoped to at least make Wheeling, WV by the time I stopped.

Otherwise life is good, just sad.

TTFN

R is for Rotten

Rotten luck seems to be following me home. Ugh. I have an unexplained pain in my upper right jaw. So bad, that it makes me cry. The right side of my face is swollen. Eating is not fun. I am still brushing but have backed off the flossing.

Am at the moment waiting for the advil pm and advil to kick in. About to douse it again with Kanka. Just want it gone.

TTFN

Q is for Quality

Are you a writer? What kind? The kind who puts out an ebook every month? The kind who slaps together a novel in six months? Think about what you are writing. Is it quality work?

Self-published authors are flooding the market. Yeah!!! Go Indies!!!! I think it's great. However I am appalled at the quality of some of the writing out there. I strive to make my work the best it can be. I've put it through writing workshops to make it better. I get it critiqued and edited to be the best it can  be. I continue with each book to try and make my writing better.

I have a small publisher who believes in me, but I was self-published first. I have a following which helps. I'm not where I want to be. I'm not on the NYT Best Sellers list. That's my goal. I want to be able to walk into Barnes and Noble and take a photo of my Dad pulling my book off a shelf. Those are attainable goals. Why?
Because I believe in quality work.

Look for quality. Accept nothing but your personal best. Find reviewers. Not all of them will like what you write. Let them be posted anyway. Take the bad stuff and make it work for you in your next piece. Quality is what you are striving for. If you write quality you will gain following.

TTFN

P is for Possible

I don't care who you are, anything is possible. If you have your heart set on doing something or being something, you can make it happen. It takes work to attain your goals. It is possible.

I think every young boy wants to be a professional athlete at some time in his life. Most don't make it. Some because they are not athletic, some because they don't believe they can. I always told my students to have a back up plan.

I wanted to be a writer from the time I was twelve years old. My parents supported that but, told me I needed a back up plan. So I went with my second option. I studied to be an English teacher. I ended up teaching special education. But I never forgot about my writing. It took longer than I'd thought but, my first book was totally self-published in 1978. I typed it, paid to have it bound. There were exactly 50 copies. I gave most of them away. It was 2004 until I published again. It is now 2012, I have several books under my belt. I am now finally coming into my own as a writer. Now, that I have retired from teaching. Anything is possible.

Follow your dreams to possible.

TTFN

O is for Options

Life is full of options. I'm retired so every day has different options. I can decided how much I want to work and what I want to work on. 

When I'm writing I can choose whether to work on a novel, an article, or just my blog. It's up to me which publisher I wan to put books with. For some it is up to them whether they choose to self-publish or find an agent or small press to publish. 

It's up to me whether or not I am productive. I can choose to do absolutely nothing or be active an energetic. Life is all about options. Which options will you make?

TTFN

N is for Nobility

Nobility something that has gone the way of all things old. The European caste system has pretty much gone by the wayside and with it the last of the nobility.

This country was founded on a system of equality, so nobility has not had roots here. We are a country of haves and have nots and in some cases it's because people have worked hard to make what they have count. The closest this country came to nobility was the Kennedy's and yet, many of them have proven they are no more noble than your next door neighbor or the panhandler on the corner. In fact, in many ways the panhandler might be more noble.

Yes, the world is still filled with royalty in the figurehead sense, but the nobility is all but gone. Not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing.

TTFN

Travel

I will be traveling for the next week or so as I meander home to Michigan. I will endeavor to keep up with the A-Z challenge as I am really enjoying it. You all have a blessed Sunday.

TTFN

M is for Mystery

Mostly because that is what I write. I love a good mystery. One that keeps me guessing all the way to the end. If I have your book figured out in the first 100 pages, I may or may not bother to finish it. It depends on whether or not you're also telling a good story.

When I was teaching reading one of the things I did was read a mystery to my students. Mysteries engage the mind. They make you think. You start wondering who is next, or what will happen next. Sometimes a writer can tell you "who dun it" and do it so that you don't believe them. That is a talent.

I'm often asked who my favorite author is. My answer is always whomever I'm reading right now. I've read Agatha Christi, Sirr Arthur Conan Doyle as well as the big name like Patterson, Deaver, Cornwell, Paretsky, and the list could go on forever. I've also read John Gilstrap, Lee Childs, and William Kent Krueger names  you might not know as well. Along the way I've read Victoria Holt and Phyllis A. Whitney, Mary Higgins Clark, Mary Jane Clark, and Carol Higgins Clark. Again I could make you a list.

So, I probably fell into mysteries by reading them. I look for mysteries in life because life is full of them. Have you picked up a good mystery today?

TTFN

L is for Learning

I had a hard time choosing between learning  and  leaving. I'm learning to accept that I have to leave my winter haven and return home. It's not going to be easy, however, I can come back.

It's what you learn that's important. I have learned that you have to make an effort wherever you are. Whether you are in school or out in the world. You cannot learn by doing nothing.

So,  this winter I have learned that you can make good friends in a short time. That those friends will be there even if you are not and they will be waiting for you to return.

I've also learned that in putting forth effort good things happen. They may seem insignificant at the time, but they happen anyway.

I've also learned that learning can take place anywhere. It doesn't have to be in a classroom. It doesn't have to be taught by a specific person. It can be learned from research and experience.

Lastly learning is something to share. It's better when you can help someone to learn without them making your mistakes. But knowledge is power and sharing learning is sharing power.

TTFN

K is for Kindness

In this post I am using the following definition of kindness: the quality of being warm-hearted, considerate, humane and sympathetic.

I journeyed to the South Carolina low-country in January. I've been here for four months and am leaving for home on Sunday. I be been met with nothing but kindness from every person I've encountered. I don't think people here get angry. Southern hospitality is everything and more than I would have expected.

In the first month I met a few people at a church I chose to attend. Over the time I've spent here these people have become true friends. It hurts to think of leaving them. Not that I don't have friends at home, I have wonderful friends there, too.

In a solitary walk on the beach one day I met this amazing woman. She went through cancer with her husband when they were young. Together they have raised an amazing son. Tanner is a basketball player at Clemson University, but that's not what makes him amazing. While in high school Tanner started Tanner's Totes. He fills large  plastic totes with items for pre-teens and teens who will have extended hospital stays. The program has grown and is a non-profit. I was so impressed when I went to the website that I have decided with Tanner's permission to sponsor them. That means I will be giving money to his program with the sales of my books. It won't be massive amounts of money (I'm not making James Patterson bucks), but it will be a way to give to those who are in need.

I've met a group of people who thought nothing of giving two weeks of their lives to travel to Costa Rica on a mission trip. There one of my new friends found an autistic child. She had read that if you touch an autistic child you need to completely hug them. Through an interpreter she was able to get permission to do that. She slowly approached the young boy and the interpreter asked if the woman could hug him. The boy not understanding agreed. When she wrapped him in her arms he immediately wrapped his arms around her. No one had been able to touch him since he was a baby. The tearful parents thanked her in every way they knew how, because once again they would be able to touch their own child. He became very calm after she hugged him, something else his parents were amazed at.

Others have opened their homes and hearts to me and showered me with kindness. I hope when you meet someone new you will do the same.

TTFN

J is for Just

Just a minute, just hang on, just wait. What does that mean? We use those expressions all the time. Am I supposed to time you for a minute?  What am I hanging on to? What am I supposed to wait for? I think we take language for granted.

Is the "just a minute" said in frustration or to gain time to finish whatever you are doing? Is there a good reason for making the other person wait?

When you say "just hang on" is it because you are trying to save someone? Is it said in annoyance? What is the other person supposed to hang onto? Are they hanging on to a tree limb so as not to fall?

Then there is "just wait" usually said in the early stages of anger or frustration. Just wait until dinner is ready. Just wait until your father gets home. Or just wait until Mom finds out.

Sometimes you need to think about what you say to others and how it's perceived.

TTFN