Where the Heart Leads

I’m still working on my poetry book, but this morning I awoke with a dynamite scene for the book I’ve worked on for years! I think this book will need a real publisher. It might sell on Amazon.com as a self-published book, but hopefully the success of my self-published books will cause a “real” publisher to give this book a second look.

Scenes from this book pop into my head frequently, and I will put off writing them because I’m trying to hard to get the poetry book ready. It seems a better use of time to write the scenes when they show up.

I wish I had more time to devote to my writing career. Maybe I should be careful what I wish for? I do have bills to pay and need to eat. Getting a new career off the ground takes time.

Book Ideas

I have come up with at least 10 book ideas. I am still looking at self-publication but some of these books, if they get enough exposure, may sell well. Everything I read says if I can find a publisher publisher for them even after I’ve self-published, I can do that as well.

I went back to work. It was difficult because I could not take my nausea medicine. One kid threw up in the lunchroom and I was almost right behind him! I’m back at home tonight and on my medicine again and think I may finally beginning to feel well.

The weekend is ahead and I can continue to rest and recover from my illness. I can also work on my writing from time to time.

Illness

I’ve been home sick for two days and all I’ve accomplished is a work of anger.

It started when I came in the house on Tuesday night expecting dinner to be ready.  I am diabetic. I need to eat at dinner time. I had given my son, who lives with me, money to go to the grocery store and buy something he could cook for dinner. He says he went, but saw nothing he felt like fixing. What?

He said maybe I’d like one of those TV dinners in the freezer? Did he mean the cheap ones I got for $1 and I only bought because of their cost? My stomach was queasy. I didn’t think I could keep one down. He fixed the expensive Chinese frozen dinner I’d bought for himself and went to bed. Last decent thing in the house, he scarfs it down and goes to bed. And I’m sick and diabetic.

I searched the empty cabinets. I sifted through the left overs and freezer. I found a frozen pizza and ate it. It wasn’t good. I slept badly all night and the next morning I got up and made a doctor’s appointment.

The doctor was in the room for about 10 minutes. He didn’t listen to me. He was eager to get to lunch. He prescribed an antibiotic and a nausea pill and said to stay home for two days.

So it’s the evening of the second day and I have been working all afternoon trying to fix some homemade soup. I think it’s almost ready. It’s a lot of work, but the only thing I think I can keep down.

Tomorrow I go back to work so I can pay bills so my retired son, who hasn’t worked a fulltime job, except for a few months in 2011, can enjoy his retirement.

I’m feeling grouchy and put upon. I hope that soup is ready. I really, really need to quit my day job.

Poetry Book

I just went through the poems I have in a folder on this computer. I found ten that are appropriate for my pet poetry book. I remember other poems that were published . . . one was about Muffin’s Game and it was about Muffin in the bathtub . . . little yellow cat . . . I need to go through all my published magazine pages and find the others. The lowest number of poems I want in this book is 30. I know they exist . . . I just need to find them. I can always write more and will, but if these were good enough for magazines to buy, they should be good enough for a small book of my poems about my pets. Some will be previously published; others are new.

Createspace

I went to the website for Createspace and looked around. It appears to be do-able.

I find myself composing little poems in my head now during the day. I need to keep a writer’s journal with me at all times.

My day job is going well and I have more energy than I’ve had in years. I don’t know what’s causing that. It could be various things from changes in my health to changes in my attitudes. Part of it, I’m sure, is because of my little old dog who cheerfully walks to the corner and back with me daily.

It’s Saturday today and I’m so full of ideas. The grocery store is one of them. I need to go and until I do, it will nag at my mind. That’s next on the agenda . . . after a shower.

Last week was hard at work. I stayed late 3 days and it tends to make me more tired. However, after a night’s sleep, I bounced back.

I have missed no days at work this year yet. Last year was horrendous. I had pneumonia; I had Shingles. Those were the two biggies. I also had a week long stomach virus. I had colds and bronchitis. I wasn’t sure I’d make it through the year, but I did.

Well, I’m rambling and I try not to do that in my blogs. I came to mention that I am still working on the self publication of my book of pet poetry. Can’t seem to come up with a catchy title, and titles are usually one of my strong suits. Maybe as I play around with the poems, one will jump out at me?

There have been so many pets in my life. I loved them all dearly. I got my first one at age ten. She was a dog named Honey. She was half cocker spaniel and half rat terrier. I had her until I was 23. She followed me anywhere. I lived in a small town and if you wanted to find me, you just needed to see where that dog was sitting. Once in awhile she got in a store. She got in church one day when I went for children’s choir practice. I was too young and too naive to realize the dangers of an off leash dog who followed me everywhere. She was hit by a car once, but seemed to just be glanced by it. Is that the right word? Usually I look up words. This Saturday morning I feel lazy.

The grocery store beckons. So does some more time on my poetry book. I hope to announce its publication Nov. 1. Stay tuned!

Still Studying Self Publication on Amazon

I’ve got a “nuts and bolts” book that really explains the process of self-publication on Amazon.com It’s called “How to Self-Publish a Book on Amazon.com   I also have a book titled “Aiming at Amazon” that seems to deal more with marketing your book. I’ve started the second book, although I haven’t finished the first. I will finish the first. I started the second to compare them.

The second book tends to annoy me because he is constantly bringing up topics and then saying he will discuss them in later chapters. Then why mention them NOW? If it was just one or two, I’d understand, but he continues to whet my appetite for knowledge, while saying he will get to it later. I plan to read the whole book. I don’t know why he uses this strategy.

At any rate, I am on target as far as researching how to self-market on Amazon. I hope to begin gathering needed money for this project and finishing my book in October. My publication date is still November 1 in my plans. However, this new book did say it can take several days to a week or so to see your book listed on Amazon after submission. I don’t know. I just know I wish Aaron Shepard, who wrote Aiming at Amazon, would not mention a topic until he’s ready to completely explain it. It’s annoying.