tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7883117582283987772024-03-13T22:11:41.360-05:00All Roads Lead Somewhere...MLAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08876228076484705595noreply@blogger.comBlogger220125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-788311758228398777.post-9269158712037196432015-01-18T20:56:00.003-06:002015-01-18T20:56:43.224-06:00Mid-January Mild & Glorious Sunrises...<div style="text-align: right;">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sunrise from our back deck...</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Without much fanfare, mid-January has crept into the picture. And here in northern Illinois, one might get the impression that it’s late February or early March with this weekend’s milder temperatures ranging into the low 40s. A good deal of our snow from a week ago has dwindled, and ever-widening patches of grass out back are appearing by the hour!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And although this is nothing to get too wound up about, we all seem to be comparing and contrasting this year’s winter with that of last year’s polar vortex experience and agree that it’s a much more agreeable sort of winter! Having dry and bare pavement and sidewalks makes things much easier to navigate. In short, we’ll enjoy it for as long as we can.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The last several days have begun with beautiful sunrises, and they are fun to watch as they fully climb up above the horizon way out to the east from where I write. And though I prefer those dreary rainy days to really motivate me and get me into the proper writing frame of mind, it’s hard to beat one of these glorious sunrises.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Here’s to a good week ahead as we move into the next part of winter…</span></div>
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<a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:WinterSunsetinDeKalb_%28Illinois%29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: clear:right;"><img alt="Winter Sunset in DeKalb IL" border="0" class="zemanta-img-inserted zemanta-img-configured" height="320" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/ba/WinterSunsetinDeKalb_%28Illinois%29.jpg/350px-WinterSunsetinDeKalb_%28Illinois%29.jpg" style="border: none; font-size: 0.8em;" width="238" /></a></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption zemanta-img-attribution" style="text-align: center; width: 350px;">Winter Sunset in DeKalb IL (Photo credit: <a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:WinterSunsetinDeKalb_%28Illinois%29.jpg" target="_blank">Wikipedia</a>)</td></tr>
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MLAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08876228076484705595noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-788311758228398777.post-20866676706292228222014-09-25T08:21:00.000-05:002014-09-25T08:30:33.488-05:00Nothing to say…<i><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white;">“Blessed are they, who have nothing to say, and who cannot be persuaded to say it!” (James Russell Lowell)</span></span></i><br />
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<dd class="wp-caption-dd" style="-webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 11px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 4px 5px;">English: Elmwood, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Home of poet James Russell Lowell etc. Photograph taken by me, September 2005. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)</dd></dl>
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American poet James Russell Lowell (1819-1891) penned these words a long time ago, and they still ring true today.<br />
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As I was scrambling for a blog topic the past couple of days, his words kept popping back into my head, and I began to realize that perhaps I really have <i>nothing</i> to say. And until I actually <i>do</i> have something to say, maybe I should stop trying to force the issue.</div>
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Yet, I could write about the mess that the world finds itself in, particularly the evil that is ISIS and how our government is attempting to deal with it.<br />
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But even though I have very strong concerns about this latest threat to our precious way of life here, I don’t want to come off as just another reactionary, spouting that “we should have done this…we should have done that!”<br />
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As always, I leave it to those folks—our leaders—to make sense of it all and stow the politics long enough to protect our country and all of us in it!</div>
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Of course, I could devote hundreds of words to the current sordid state of affairs in the NFL, with its rampant, out-of-control domestic/child abuse, but what really more can anyone say to make much sense of a league gone mad, featuring massive humans—wealthy beyond reason—operating in a world that places them way up on pedestals and adorns them with crowns for being so good at what they do—on the field of play, that is.</div>
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I could throw out several paragraphs detailing my continued struggles to get much writing done on my next novel, the one in which I’ve been becalmed and landlocked for such a long time. However, I really don’t like to whine and complain, beating a dead horse over and over again. I’m sure readers don’t deserve having to read any more about it, either.</div>
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Amidst all of the sadness, sickness, and horror that swirls about in this world of ours, I’ll keep it to a couple of pleasant and good things. Yesterday, my one grandson, Jack, turned nine. We celebrated with one of his favorite dishes—Grandma’s lasagna, salad, and cake and ice cream. </div>
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Before we ate, he and his younger brother spent an hour or so out in our back yard having a terrific time playing whiffle ball and laughing and running and sweating.</div>
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They knew nothing about the tragedies that surround them or the growing evil over in Syria and its neighboring countries. They couldn’t care less about professional football players who don’t know how to behave in a civilized manner. And they most certainly couldn’t give a rat’s patooty about Poppy’s writing issues!</div>
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In their own beautiful world, life is still very good. They have a mom and dad who care and provide for them. They have warm beds to sleep in—safely—each night and a good school to get to every morning to learn and grow and try to be good citizens of the world.</div>
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As we all sat down to dinner and enjoyed the delicious offerings from my wife, I couldn’t help but feel a real sense of pride in my son sitting across from me and my two grandsons, one on each side of me—my legacy! I do hope the world will turn out OK for them in the years ahead.</div>
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So I guess I really didn’t have anything to say after all!</div>
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MLAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08876228076484705595noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-788311758228398777.post-5938313683955443352014-07-23T21:39:00.000-05:002014-07-23T21:39:44.069-05:00Those special coffee mugs and the memories they hold…<div class="mceTemp" style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">
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Anyone who knows me or has read any of my posts here, understands that one of my most favorite things each morning is that first mug of good hot coffee. My day doesn’t really come alive until I can enjoy that first sip of the stuff—almost too hot to actually drink—with a splash of half-and-half, and then, and only then, the day is permitted to begin and all things are possible.</div>
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And over the course of the years, our coffee mug collection at home has grown to the point of being ridiculous, almost to the point of qualifying for some Discovery Channel series, I’m thinking. We’ve almost run out of space in our kitchen cabinets that are reserved for the things. Be that as it may, I have two or three favorites I go to regularly, and, conversely, there are those I never use.</div>
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My criteria for my favorites consists of the following: size, shape, design or logo or other witty saying on the mug, and memories it conjures up. For example, one of my “regulars” is from the</div>
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<a data-mce-href="https://cortlandwriter.files.wordpress.com/2014/07/2328-2448-home.jpg" href="https://cortlandwriter.files.wordpress.com/2014/07/2328-2448-home.jpg"><img alt="2328-2448-home" class="alignleft wp-image-4355 " data-mce-src="http://cortlandwriter.files.wordpress.com/2014/07/2328-2448-home.jpg" height="169" src="http://cortlandwriter.files.wordpress.com/2014/07/2328-2448-home.jpg" style="float: left;" width="169" /></a>Hockey Hall of Fame, a place we visited in Toronto last summer about this time. Another one I enjoy came from the Abraham Lincoln Library and Museum in Springfield. It’s a perfect size and fits my hand ideally each morning (the mug, <i>not</i> the museum!)</div>
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A few that I don’t care for are usually those my wife has “collected” from various places she or I have visited. For instance, there’s a squatty, round thing that would barely hold enough coffee to sustain a gnat, but it has some design from Cherokee, North Carolina, that she liked, so it takes up space in the cabinet.</div>
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For obvious reasons, we don’t have the same number of mugs at our summer cottage. My two</div>
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<a data-mce-href="https://cortlandwriter.files.wordpress.com/2014/07/10810494000d-ronjon_i_dont_do_mornings_mug.jpg" href="https://cortlandwriter.files.wordpress.com/2014/07/10810494000d-ronjon_i_dont_do_mornings_mug.jpg"><img alt="10810494000D--ronjon_i_dont_do_mornings_mug" class="alignright wp-image-4353" data-mce-src="http://cortlandwriter.files.wordpress.com/2014/07/10810494000d-ronjon_i_dont_do_mornings_mug.jpg" height="208" src="http://cortlandwriter.files.wordpress.com/2014/07/10810494000d-ronjon_i_dont_do_mornings_mug.jpg" style="float: right;" width="208" /></a>favorites were the wonderful mug from Ron-Jon Surf Shop in Cocoa Beach, Florida. It’s a perfect size and has the typical Ron-Jon art work with the shark telling everyone: “I Don’t Do Mornings!”</div>
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My other “cottage” mug was the perfect mug, in that it was solid, had the name of the restaurant from whence it was “borrowed” years ago, and made me smile every time I thought of the person who did the “borrowing” and the laughs we always shared.</div>
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I write about that mug now in the past tense because while I was washing the dishes one morning last week, it slipped from my hand and met its end in the porcelain kitchen sink. I briefly gave some thought to trying to put it back together, but that would have been a fruitless venture, so it found its way into the trash instead.</div>
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I don’t think I’ll ever have another exactly like that one. The restaurant is out of business and our dear friend passed away in late March. I really don’t need some coffee mug to help me remember all of the good times with our friend, but it was a constant, silly symbol of friendship through the years that couldn’t be broken—unlike the mug itself.</div>
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I'm sure our collection of mugs will continue to grow, and there will be those I'll love, and those that will sit and take up space in the cabinet. Either way, they will be little reminders of the good times we share together traveling and seeing new places….<strong><em>MLA</em></strong></div>
MLAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08876228076484705595noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-788311758228398777.post-63309817134500035522014-07-15T14:03:00.000-05:002014-07-15T14:03:02.640-05:00Re-discovering John Updike & a trip home<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">
<strong><em>(Writing from home in northern Illinois)</em></strong></div>
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Following the wonderful 4th of July weekend that was filled with kids and grandkids and plenty of</div>
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fun in the lake and in and around the cottage, I decided it was time to venture back home for a few days to attend to those persistent "calls of necessity." Those, of course, include taking the recycling containers to the drop-off place at the nearby landfill, shopping to re-supply the essentials for the cottage, doing the laundry, and mowing, trimming, and edging the yard that is healthier than it's ever been!</div>
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Regardless, it was time to come home. I was last home in early June, and today I feel kind of like a stranger in my own house. My routines in the kitchen, which are pretty automatic in the morning making coffee, taking care of clean dishes in the dishwasher, etc., aren't so automatic at the moment. I find myself pausing to remember exactly where things go and the gentle order of operation when I'm here on a regular basis.</div>
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So, today I did the various shopping "runs" to Sam's Club and Wal-Mart for those items I will take back to the cottage two days from now. I also put back on my bookshelves those books I finished reading during the past few weeks up at the cottage.</div>
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<dt class="wp-caption-dt" style="-webkit-user-drag: none;"><a data-mce-href="http://www.amazon.com/Pigeon-Feathers-Other-Stories-Updike/dp/0394440560%3FSubscriptionId%3D0G81C5DAZ03ZR9WH9X82%26tag%3Dzem-20%26linkCode%3Dxm2%26camp%3D2025%26creative%3D165953%26creativeASIN%3D0394440560" href="http://www.amazon.com/Pigeon-Feathers-Other-Stories-Updike/dp/0394440560%3FSubscriptionId%3D0G81C5DAZ03ZR9WH9X82%26tag%3Dzem-20%26linkCode%3Dxm2%26camp%3D2025%26creative%3D165953%26creativeASIN%3D0394440560" style="-webkit-user-drag: none;" target="_blank"><img alt="Cover of "Pigeon Feathers and Other Stori..." class="zemanta-img-inserted zemanta-img-configured" data-mce-src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/4170YWWRPAL._SL350_.jpg" height="350" src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/4170YWWRPAL._SL350_.jpg" style="-webkit-user-drag: none; border: 0px none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Cover of "Pigeon Feathers and Other Stori..." width="219" /></a></dt>
<dd class="wp-caption-dd" style="-webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 11px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 4px 5px;">Cover of Pigeon Feathers and Other Stories</dd></dl>
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One of them, <em>Pigeon Feathers and Other Stories</em> by John Updike, re-affirmed my desire to get back to writing those short stories I keep meaning to finish. It was very good to read those stories I'd first discovered in my American Lit courses at Kent State, back about 1970 or thereabouts, and I saw things this time through that I failed to do then. </div>
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Could it be that I'm older and wiser now? (Well, <em>older</em> anyway!)</div>
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I had two very good--uninterrupted--weeks of working on my novel, <em>Sandbar's Secret</em>, but I had to shut things down with company and the festive weekend that was the 4th of July celebration.</div>
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And I didn't mind shutting the old MacBook down one bit. Dragging the grandsons around the lake on a tube, dodging the insane "Weekend Warriors" on our lake, was fun, to say the least. The old 90-horse Yamaha outboard ran as smooth as ever, propelling our Tahoe pontoon around and through the waters without a hitch.</div>
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Now, with today's "chores" finished, I can settle in and finish catching up on other e-mail and reading posts from my blog friends and offer a comment where appropriate. Tomorrow's plan is to do the yard work early in the morning and take care of any other household duties which I haven't gotten to as yet.</div>
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Before I know it, Thursday morning will roll around, and I will be packing the Chevy Equinox once again to return to the cottage on the lake. It's good to know that there's still plenty of summer left for writing and reading, and I am most anxious to get back into my novel WIP, <em>Sandbar's Secret</em>, and find time to read the new biography, <em>Updike</em>, by Adam Begley. We have no company coming this weekend, so that is a good thing! I love friends and family when they come spend a few days and nights with us, but I also savor those weekends when there are no such visitors!</div>
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And so, here's hoping things are well in your world. I send you good wishes from a beautiful day here in northern Illinois, where today's list has been checked off, and I prepare for tomorrow's…<strong><em>MLA</em></strong></div>
<h6 class="zemanta-related-title" style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; line-height: 19px;">
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MLAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08876228076484705595noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-788311758228398777.post-6809845752201163092014-06-18T21:54:00.000-05:002014-06-18T21:54:25.289-05:00Back to a summer writing routine…<h2 style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; line-height: 19px;">
<strong>Settling in for the summer once again…</strong></h2>
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<dt class="wp-caption-dt" style="-webkit-user-drag: none;"><a data-mce-href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/36651180@N07/3711028095" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/36651180@N07/3711028095" style="-webkit-user-drag: none;" target="_blank"><img alt="Sunset at Sister Lakes, Michigan" class="zemanta-img-inserted zemanta-img-configured" data-mce-src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2614/3711028095_e654cc9216_n.jpg" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2614/3711028095_e654cc9216_n.jpg" height="256" style="-webkit-user-drag: none; border: 0px none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Sunset at Sister Lakes, Michigan" width="320" /></a></dt>
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It’s wonderfully peaceful and a bit on the dreary side this morning here on the banks of beautiful Magician Lake in southwest Michigan.<br />
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And it’s good to be able to enjoy it all without having to travel anywhere, no company to “entertain,” and no major tasks that need doing. It’s simply time to get writing. To knock the dust off my Scrivener projects, in other words!</div>
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I have been reading more than writing so far this summer, and this past weekend the place was “headquarters” for our annual NASCAR “Race Weekend.” And as much as I look forward to it each year and all of the fun we have from beginning to end, I’m relieved that it’s over with.</div>
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What now? For the next week, I will be here all by myself and will have no excuses <i>not </i>to attack my writing projects: a couple of short stories (sort of sequels to the other two I published last year—“Hobo Willie” and “Pinewood Farm.” And, of course, there is the next novel that has been hibernating and “cooling off” as it awaits my attention.<br />
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In short, there’s plenty of work to be done, and I suppose I’m finally in the proper frame of mind to re-establish my daily writing routine: up early each morning and at the MacBook by 7:00 to pound out the words and then wrap things up by 9:00.<br />
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Of course, those times aren’t chiseled in stone by any means, but the earlier in the day I write, the more productive I seem to be. That way, I have the remainder of the day to take care of anything that needs tending to around here and/or to spend some quality time out on the water on the pontoon.</div>
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I plan my weekly visits to the laundromat and the grocery store either for Wednesday or Thursday mornings. On those mornings, I have to re-adjust my writing time—often in the evening—but I’m very flexible once I re-discover the discipline it takes to immerse myself into the writing routine. </div>
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Of course, when it’s a rainy or otherwise crappy “lake day,” employing the writing discipline and tuning out all of the surrounding distractions is not an issue.</div>
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Even now as I type this post, rumblings of thunder sound off to the west, and I know that I’ll manage to accomplish much on this first day of getting back to writing. And there’ll also be time to catch up on reading other blog post from my many blogger friends.</div>
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And so it is. Time to get the mellow jazz on iTunes Internet Radio for my background inspiration, and get to gettin’!….<strong><em>MLA</em></strong></div>
MLAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08876228076484705595noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-788311758228398777.post-11444370489116543622014-05-29T08:30:00.000-05:002014-05-29T08:30:58.775-05:00"Move-in" Weekend & Season's First Storm…<address style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">
<strong>Magician Lake</strong></address>
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<strong>Sister Lakes, Michigan</strong></address>
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<a data-mce-href="http://cortlandwriter.files.wordpress.com/2014/05/image-6.jpg" href="http://cortlandwriter.files.wordpress.com/2014/05/image-6.jpg"><img alt="Image 6" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-4143" data-mce-src="http://cortlandwriter.files.wordpress.com/2014/05/image-6.jpg?w=225" height="300" src="http://cortlandwriter.files.wordpress.com/2014/05/image-6.jpg?w=225" style="float: right;" width="225" /></a>Up at 6 a.m., having my first cup of morning coffee (not out on the porch, however, ‘cause it’s damp and chilly out there), and knocking the cobwebs from my dear, old MacBook. And it’s the first morning that I don’t have anything that needs doing at any certain time today.</div>
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Yep. “Move-in weekend” has come and gone, and it couldn’t have been better, either. To say that the weather was outstanding would be understating things immensely! Plenty of sunshine filled each day, beginning with our arrival here early Friday right on through Memorial Day on Monday.</div>
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There was not the slightest hint of a storm until late Monday evening. By that time, everything was in its place, Carolyn’s annual planting complete, and the pontoon all covered and moored in its usual spot down the slope below our 101-year-old cottage.</div>
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When the season’s first storm <i>did </i>roll in late Monday night, it had its normal share of wind as well as a drenching rain. It was no big thing to roll down the porch blinds that keeps things somewhat dry, and I remembered the visqueen, that polyethylene sheeting, that we always use to cover the futon when a storm is near.</div>
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So when I crawled into bed, tired, achy, and worn out from all of the weekend’s tasks and physical challenges, I felt pretty good about having everything buttoned up and secure against the thunderstorm that was now hitting us with pretty good force. Let it rain!</div>
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I’m not sure exactly when it was—around 3 a.m., perhaps—that I remembered that I had done nothing to secure our pier furniture, consisting of a few plastic chairs, a couple of footstools, and a small table. I’d forgotten all about them as they sat right where I’d placed them the day before after a much-needed bath in the lake.</div>
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Whenever there’s wind of any sort, the chairs and table are not going to win out. Instead, they’ll be blown off the pier and end up along the shore, which—thankfully—is close and in very shallow water. As I lay there remembering my failure to bungee cord the pier furniture, I knew I’d be getting in the water for an early morning “search and rescue” mission in a few hours. With that it mind, I rolled over and went back to sleep and listened to the rain on the roof.</div>
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A few hours later, as the dawn of a new day arrived and the storm from the night gone, I came down and got the morning coffee going and put on my water shoes. In the early light of the morning, I could see that a couple of chairs that had been stacked together had remained in place, as well as the two low footstools, but the three other chairs and the little round table were gone.</div>
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And so I went down to see what I could see. Sure enough, the three chairs were resting against the shoreline not far from where I was standing on our pier, and I could see that the little table had traveled farther, to the end of the pier two cottages down. No problem at all. I stepped off into the shallow water and retrieved our chairs and table and returned them to the pier and tied them down with a cord I’d brought along.</div>
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A few minutes later, I was back in the cottage and having a wonderful cup of hot coffee. The day ahead promised to be a good one for getting some reading done and to get things going for my writing routine for the summer. This post is the first effort along those lines.</div>
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There are a few little tweaks and adjustments needed to finish the move-in process, and I’ll be attending to them today. In the meantime, another cup of coffee is in order….<em><strong>MLA</strong></em></div>
MLAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08876228076484705595noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-788311758228398777.post-2672480434049474712014-05-22T22:27:00.000-05:002014-05-29T08:33:03.121-05:00That "New Car" Smell…<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">
Amongst all of our other busy tasks last week, we bought a new car. It had been something that</div>
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we’d spoken about, tentatively planned for, and put off doing until the last possible moment, hoping to get my 2001 Ford Ranger through just one more spring and summer.</div>
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But some strange and metallic noises from my trusty Ranger’s rear end began a couple of weeks ago, speeding up our decision-making concerning the purchase of a new vehicle. The noises really were no surprise because the possibility of that happening sooner or later was brought to my attention by my friendly oil change person the last couple of times in.</div>
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Something called a shackle spring was pretty much rusted through and would need replaced. I am not a mechanically inclined person who can do anything too involved with a truck or car, so it would cost around $300 to have the thing fixed.</div>
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But with over 200,000 miles on the truck, we didn’t really want to invest any more money into it, and, instead, we knew it was time to finally make that much-delayed trip to the auto dealer and jump back into the wonderful world of car payments! So that’s exactly what we did last Monday.</div>
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We returned to the friendly dealership in a nearby town where we’d purchased Carolyn’s car a couple of years ago. They were pleasant and wonderful to deal with then, and they were as nice and accommodating this time as well. I drove a couple of models, and then we found the one we liked and agreed to purchase it. Two days later, we returned and picked up our brand new 2014 Crystal Red Chevy Equinox LT.</div>
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I’ve spent the better part of the last several days trying to figure out all of the “hands free’ technology and what everything is supposed to do and how it’s supposed to be done! I’m certain that what I’m considering tricky and cutting-edge technology has probably been around for at least a year, and pretty much routine for anyone under 50.</div>
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Since I’m way past 50, I’m still just a little foggy when it comes to understanding things such as Bluetooth, Pandora, Stitcher, etc. That’s why I abandoned Twitter (twice!) because I couldn’t figure out what a hashtag was supposed to do (still can’t!) and, thus, pay no attention to anything <i>Twitter</i>.</div>
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All of that being said, I am enjoying the rather simple way to make a call without having to be holding and clicking things on my iPhone. I can just give the command (if I remember to wait until after the tone, which I never do!) of whom to call and it all comes through the sound system loud and clear.</div>
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Besides all of that tech stuff, the car rides beautifully, and the gas mileage is a vast improvement over the dearly departed truck! The seats are comfy, and there’s plenty of room to haul what we need to haul. I’ll really get to put this to the test a week from this Friday when we load it up with cottage “stuff” to move in that weekend.</div>
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I’ll miss my old Ranger, but I’m thrilled to have something brand new that will get me hither and yon in style and comfort. Now, if I can just figure out how all of that built-in technology is supposed to work and what it’s supposed to do. Suggestions, anyone?…<strong><em>MLA</em></strong></div>
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MLAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08876228076484705595noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-788311758228398777.post-76155595957701291962014-04-13T06:10:00.002-05:002014-04-13T06:15:12.129-05:00A writer friend & mentor…<div class="mceTemp" style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">
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Every once in a while, I like to write to people and make sure all is well in their world, especially if I haven’t heard from them in a very long time. And so yesterday I sent a brief e-mail to a friend and his wife to let them know I was still alive and kicking and hoped that they were as well.</div>
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Both of them are in their 80s and really not doing very well at all. I knew this from the last communication I had several months ago, but I always am holding out hope that the good Florida sunshine and climate will be an elixir that is good for what ails them.</div>
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When I checked my e-mail early this morning, there was a reply from my old friend telling me that his wife was no longer able to feed herself or manage any of the other necessary functions and was now a resident of a nursing home. I wasn’t a bit surprised, but it was still sad as I thought back to our first meeting back in the mid-90s, the both of them vibrant and healthy and happy-go-lucky.</div>
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I became acquainted with Dick one evening by chance back in the America Online days, when all this Internet/Web stuff was new to most of us. His online name—something indicating that he was a writer—caught my eye, and I dropped him a message telling him about my same kind of interest in writing and publishing.</div>
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And as it turned out, he was a transplanted, retired Chicagoan living in Florida, and he was very interested in my desire to be a writer, having written and published several books himself. From that very first meeting online, we exchanged long and wonderful e-mail letters (most of which I still have in a three-ring binder) for many years.</div>
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I was still teaching middle school, and every March Carolyn and I, our two kids in tow, would head off to Florida for spring break to spend the week with her parents in Sarasota.<br />
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The year I met Dick, we made plans to meet with him and his wife, Alice, while we were down there for spring break. Dick and Alice lived farther north, near Clearwater, so they suggested they’d drive down in their camper to a campground of which they were familiar near Sarasota and have us join them for dinner and a get-to-know-one-another visit.</div>
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That turned out to be a wonderful time as we enjoyed a real face-to-face meeting and shared our personal stories of our lives, families, and interests. I could tell that Dick was sincerely interested in being a sort of mentor to me in getting started in writing seriously and, eventually, publishing.</div>
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I learned a lot from that first meeting, not the least of which was that to be a writer, one must have <em>discipline</em>—a word that Dick would remind me over and over again in e-mails and conversations in the ensuing years.</div>
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And though I puttered and tinkered with my writing during those years, it wasn’t until I retired from teaching in June of 2007 that I sat down and told myself that all of the dribs and drabs and various drafts I had started over the years needed my serious attention.</div>
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In short, I found some of that <em>discipline</em> which Dick liked to talk about and began in earnest to write my first novel. It turned into <em>Black Wolf Lodge</em>, and I even paid tribute to my friend Dick in the story as the “wind chime man,” a person who had inspired the main character, Rick Brenson, to pursue his dream of writing.</div>
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Over the years, the e-mail communications slowed and then all but petered out, for one reason or another. I never knew if I had said or done something to offend my friend, but those long and newsy e-mails stopped coming. </div>
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Carolyn and I did stop and see him and Alice a few years ago on our journey through that part of Florida, but things just weren’t the same. There was an obvious tiredness in the man, and Alice was frail beyond belief.</div>
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Sadly, Dick had lost his zest for writing and now spent most days forwarding news items about politics and the great divide this country has experienced. Instead of reading and enjoying things sent from this man—my writer friend—as I did for several years, I now simply hit [DELETE].</div>
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Though it was wonderful to receive an actual e-mail note from Dick yesterday, it was also sad and heartbreaking to realize that age and health have caught up with him and Alice, and those glorious days of “getting to know you” are but a memory—yet a good memory!…<b><i>MLA</i></b></div>
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MLAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08876228076484705595noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-788311758228398777.post-76475622497803441382014-04-05T11:49:00.000-05:002014-04-05T11:49:00.500-05:00April sneaking up on us!<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">
I can honestly say that today feels as though some good spring weather is just waiting to thrust</div>
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<dt class="wp-caption-dt" style="-webkit-user-drag: none;"><a data-mce-href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/78779574@N00/3001026229" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/78779574@N00/3001026229" style="-webkit-user-drag: none;" target="_blank"><img alt="Springbrook Prairie Naperville 001" class="zemanta-img-inserted zemanta-img-configured" data-mce-src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3009/3001026229_526636b149_n.jpg" height="214" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3009/3001026229_526636b149_n.jpg" style="-webkit-user-drag: none; border: 0px none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Springbrook Prairie Naperville 001" width="320" /></a></dt>
<dd class="wp-caption-dd zemanta-img-attribution" style="-webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 11px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 4px 5px;">Springbrook Prairie Naperville 001 (Photo credit: Michael Kappel)</dd></dl>
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itself into the big picture—and none too soon, either! The sun is brilliant on this April Saturday morning; the sky is as blue and clear as one can imagine. And the temperatures are a very pleasant 50° at the moment here in northern Illinois. </div>
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It’s the kind of morning that I really feel guilty sitting here at my MacBook to create this post because I know I should be out doing something—even if it’s just picking up debris and litter, leftovers from the winter blasts.</div>
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<dt class="wp-caption-dt" style="-webkit-user-drag: none;"><a data-mce-href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Chicken_Wire_Role.jpg" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Chicken_Wire_Role.jpg" style="-webkit-user-drag: none;" target="_blank"><img alt="Chicken Wire Role" class="zemanta-img-inserted zemanta-img-configured" data-mce-src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/8/80/Chicken_Wire_Role.jpg/75px-Chicken_Wire_Role.jpg" height="100" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/8/80/Chicken_Wire_Role.jpg/75px-Chicken_Wire_Role.jpg" style="-webkit-user-drag: none; border: 0px none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Chicken Wire Role" width="75" /></a></dt>
<dd class="wp-caption-dd zemanta-img-attribution" style="-webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 11px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 4px 5px;">Chicken Wire Role (Photo credit: Wikipedia)</dd></dl>
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Also, there are the numerous chicken-wire protective “cages” we put around most of our young bushes and trees to thwart the ravenous attacks of the rabbits these past frozen months. </div>
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Last year, we failed to protect the plantings, and the rabbits chowed down heavily, taking everything right down to the ground. Fortunately, most bushes survived last year’s onslaught, and this winter’s precautions have seemed to work all the better. Now, it’s a matter of taking down the wire and stakes and storing them away until late next fall. Within the next few days, I’ll be making a trip to buy the first application of crab grass preventer/weed-n-feed.</div>
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I’ll also be attempting to fix our 20-foot telescoping flagpole. One would think that a simple little release button that doesn’t pop out would be an easy fix, but I’ve had a devil of a time trying to get it to work. I’m sure the problem is all a result of the terrible weather these past months, and I’m counting on the manufacturer to ease my pain and help me get the thing back in normal operation!</div>
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Sitting here and typing these words, I realize that April has really sneaked up on me this year. Could it be that we’ve been so beaten down by the winter that just was, that we have forgotten about the ceaseless march of time? And though it’s still been cold, damp, and bitter most of these early days of the month, there have been glimpses of what is surely to come.</div>
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And this year, I’m certainly ready to get out and tackle these spring chores that need doing—without any hesitation or hemming or hawing, either! Each day, I am thankful that I completed <a data-mce-href="http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B00CCTYRFQ" href="http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B00CCTYRFQ"><i>The Good Luck Highway </i></a>when I did and am free now to spend the time necessary outside, away from my writing desk—especially on a day such as this one.</div>
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I’ve had some wonderful feedback and positive comments regarding my second novel. It’s amazing just how much a writer can learn about his own work through the comments and feedback from readers. My story, a very fun one to write, touches on friendship, love, disappointment, trust, and growing up. I hope anyone reading it will see these elements clearly—while having a fun time along with Mac and Led on their “adventure.”</div>
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Thanks to one and all who have bought the Kindle Edition, Nook Book, or the paperback. Very soon, I’ll get back to tackling my next projects: A series of short stories and the next novel. It will bring back Rick and Karen Brenson, main characters from <a data-mce-href="http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B00CCTYRFQ" href="http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B00CCTYRFQ"><i>Black Wolf Lodge</i></a>. It has been a fun story to start writing, and I’m growing very eager to dive right back into it after being away since November.</div>
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<dt class="wp-caption-dt" style="-webkit-user-drag: none;"><a data-mce-href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/7791881@N04/2343408679" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/7791881@N04/2343408679" style="-webkit-user-drag: none;" target="_blank"><img alt="Long farm lane that dead ends at a chicken house.." class="zemanta-img-inserted zemanta-img-configured" data-mce-src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2204/2343408679_533830ff3b_n.jpg" height="320" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2204/2343408679_533830ff3b_n.jpg" style="-webkit-user-drag: none; border: 0px none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Long farm lane that dead ends at a chicken house.." width="213" /></a></dt>
<dd class="wp-caption-dd zemanta-img-attribution" style="-webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 11px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 4px 5px;">Long farm lane that dead ends at a chicken house.. (Photo credit: D.Clow - Maryland)</dd></dl>
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In the meantime, outdoor beckons…and I must heed its call!…<strong><em>MLA</em></strong></div>
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<a class="zemanta-pixie-a" data-mce-href="http://www.zemanta.com/?px" href="http://www.zemanta.com/?px" title="Enhanced by Zemanta"><img alt="Enhanced by Zemanta" class="zemanta-pixie-img" data-mce-src="http://img.zemanta.com/zemified_h.png?x-id=bd213750-c663-4008-8728-91efbff1bc60" data-mce-style="border: none; float: right;" src="http://img.zemanta.com/zemified_h.png?x-id=bd213750-c663-4008-8728-91efbff1bc60" style="border: none; float: right;" /></a></div>
MLAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08876228076484705595noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-788311758228398777.post-79350484433992157852014-03-29T09:31:00.000-05:002014-03-29T09:37:43.395-05:00Dealing with the "In Between" time…<div class="mceTemp" style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">
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<dt class="wp-caption-dt" style="-webkit-user-drag: none;"><a data-mce-href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Question_book-new.svg" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Question_book-new.svg" style="-webkit-user-drag: none;" target="_blank"><img alt="English: A new incarnation of Image:Question_b..." class="zemanta-img-inserted zemanta-img-configured" data-mce-src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/99/Question_book-new.svg/262px-Question_book-new.svg.png" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/99/Question_book-new.svg/262px-Question_book-new.svg.png" height="178" style="-webkit-user-drag: none; border: 0px none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="English: A new incarnation of Image:Question_b..." width="229" /></a></dt>
<dd class="wp-caption-dd zemanta-img-attribution" style="-webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 11px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 4px 5px;">English: A new incarnation of Image:Question_book-3.svg, which was uploaded by user AzaToth (Photo credit: Wikipedia)</dd></dl>
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<em>What now?</em><br />
An important question, indeed. The book is finished, published, out in the world for one and all to consider and buy (I hope!) and read and eagerly await the next one!</div>
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This strange little “in between” time seems to be perfect for catching up on so many things that there just wasn’t time for during the hectic writing, revising, editing, formatting, and publishing stages these past few months.</div>
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For instance, my writing desk hasn’t been this tidy and organized in over a year, although the side cabinet shelves next to my printer still need attention. I’ll get to that, I promise myself.</div>
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Plus, I’ve even donated a large bag of old paperbacks I’ll not need again, clearing some much-needed space on my tall book cases here in my office.</div>
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And I must say, it’s a very good feeling to actually be “weeding out” and eliminating all of the flotsam and jetsam that has slowly and steadily crept into my workspace.</div>
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I've also begun some Scrivener “housekeeping” as well. Since I like the settings that I used for <a data-mce-href="http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B00CCTYRFQ" href="http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B00CCTYRFQ"><em>The Good Luck Highway</em></a>, I created a template from that project and will be ready to hit the ground running when I begin work on the next book, without having to fiddle around with anything—especially Compiling!</div>
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And, of course, there’s the all-important marketing aspect of promoting <em>The Good Luck Highway</em>. So far, I’ve had a nice response from friends and strangers, but I’m finding that this marketing thing is a never-ending process.</div>
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Wouldn’t it be great to have an agency to handle this and do it up right! Alas, that’s not going to happen anytime soon, so I have to do the best with social media, word of mouth, and my charm. (Well, two out of three might work!)<br />
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Regardless, this whole thing is fun. Some people collect things. Some paint. Others build birdhouses. Still others work on old cars or remodel and “flip” houses. I write. And, yes, it’s fun—even when the words won’t come and the ideas have gone the way of the dodo bird.</div>
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I read once that an author, after completing a book, will find himself caught in a sort of “dead zone” which usually requires readjusting to a normal pace, free of the daily grind of pounding out the words to reach a deadline successfully. Although I never gave it much thought until now, I realize the truth in that.</div>
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It’s much like going through a form of withdrawal—getting away from the story and plot and conflicts and characters that I’ve lived days and weeks and months with. I must admit, it’s a little hard to say farewell to those guys and their adventure! Kind of makes me wonder if they’ll show up in another story…</div>
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So here in my in-between “dead zone,” I’m taking care of some important duties around</div>
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<dt class="wp-caption-dt" style="-webkit-user-drag: none;"><img alt="photo" class="wp-image-3568 size-none" data-mce-src="http://cortlandwriter.files.wordpress.com/2014/03/photo.jpg?w=225" src="http://cortlandwriter.files.wordpress.com/2014/03/photo.jpg?w=225" height="262" style="-webkit-user-drag: none; border: 0px none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" width="171" /></dt>
<dd class="wp-caption-dd" style="-webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 11px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 4px 5px;">Two copies of THE GOOD LUCK HIGHWAY resting on the corner of my clean and tidy writing desk.</dd></dl>
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here, clearing out the rubble, and making way for the next stint. I’ve caught my breath, stayed away from writing anything all week, and have the table set for the next project. As I said, it’s all fun!…<strong><em>MLA</em></strong></div>
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MLAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08876228076484705595noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-788311758228398777.post-9899781547310559682014-03-27T10:28:00.000-05:002014-03-27T10:28:25.148-05:00So long, good friend…<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 23px;">
<a data-mce-href="http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B00CCTYRFQ" href="http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B00CCTYRFQ" style="color: #990000; text-decoration: none;"><img alt="The_Good_Luck_Highwa_Cover_for_Kindle" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-3364" data-mce-src="http://cortlandwriter.files.wordpress.com/2014/03/the_good_luck_highwa_cover_for_kindle.jpg?w=199" height="300" src="http://cortlandwriter.files.wordpress.com/2014/03/the_good_luck_highwa_cover_for_kindle.jpg?w=199" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgb(204, 204, 204) 4px 4px 12px; border-color: rgb(221, 221, 221) rgb(204, 204, 204) rgb(204, 204, 204) rgb(221, 221, 221); border-style: solid; border-width: 1px; box-shadow: rgb(204, 204, 204) 4px 4px 12px; display: inline; float: right; height: auto; margin-bottom: 1.625em; margin-left: 1.625em; margin-top: 0.5em; max-width: 100%; padding: 3px; position: relative;" width="199" /></a></div>
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Even with the excitement of publishing a new book, and hearing from so many who have purchased it in one form or another, today is rather sad for me--something which brings everything right back to earth. And that is the passing of a very good friend.</div>
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Our friend, in his late 70s, hasn't been in the best of health the past few years, but this is very unexpected! I intend to write more about our good friend, Bob, in future posts, but at the moment I'm going to step away from the blog, forego any marketing and promoting of THE GOOD LUCK HIGHWAY, and reflect on the many memories I have about Bob and our times together.</div>
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Like that freight train out there right now, slowly passing the water tower, our lives are here but for a moment and then are gone away down the tracks. Goodbye, old friend!…<strong><i>CortlandWriter</i></strong></div>
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<dt class="wp-caption-dt" style="-webkit-user-drag: none; font-weight: bold;"><a data-mce-href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/71235231@N00/5252497516" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/71235231@N00/5252497516" style="-webkit-user-drag: none; color: #990000; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><img alt="Fishing" class="zemanta-img-inserted zemanta-img-configured" data-mce-src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5248/5252497516_53c79e4fd2_n.jpg" height="213" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5248/5252497516_53c79e4fd2_n.jpg" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgb(204, 204, 204) 4px 4px 12px; -webkit-user-drag: none; border-color: rgb(221, 221, 221) rgb(204, 204, 204) rgb(204, 204, 204) rgb(221, 221, 221); border-style: solid; border-width: 1px; box-shadow: rgb(204, 204, 204) 4px 4px 12px; display: block; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 3px; position: relative;" title="Fishing" width="320" /></a></dt>
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MLAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08876228076484705595noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-788311758228398777.post-64762846180743515132014-03-27T10:24:00.000-05:002014-03-27T10:24:04.487-05:00Take the time to get it right!<div class="mceTemp" style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 19px;">
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<dt class="wp-caption-dt" style="-webkit-user-drag: none; font-weight: bold;"><a data-mce-href="http://www.amazon.com/Good-Luck-Highway-Mark-Anderson-ebook/dp/B00J1WU1LG/ref=la_B00CCTYRFQ_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1395155030&sr=1-1" href="http://www.amazon.com/Good-Luck-Highway-Mark-Anderson-ebook/dp/B00J1WU1LG/ref=la_B00CCTYRFQ_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1395155030&sr=1-1" style="-webkit-user-drag: none; color: #990000; text-decoration: none;"><img alt="The_Good_Luck_Highwa_Cover_for_Kindle" class=" wp-image-3364 " data-mce-src="http://cortlandwriter.files.wordpress.com/2014/03/the_good_luck_highwa_cover_for_kindle.jpg?w=199" height="300" src="http://cortlandwriter.files.wordpress.com/2014/03/the_good_luck_highwa_cover_for_kindle.jpg?w=199" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgb(204, 204, 204) 4px 4px 12px; -webkit-user-drag: none; border-color: rgb(221, 221, 221) rgb(204, 204, 204) rgb(204, 204, 204) rgb(221, 221, 221); border-style: solid; border-width: 1px; box-shadow: rgb(204, 204, 204) 4px 4px 12px; display: block; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 3px; position: relative;" width="199" /></a></dt>
<dd class="wp-caption-dd" style="-webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 11px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; padding: 10px 0px 5px 20px; position: relative; text-align: left;">The Good Luck Highway-Now available as a paperback and Kindle Edition and soon-to-be Nook Book</dd></dl>
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It has been a very busy and productive week since I last took the time away from my endeavors in publishing my new book, <i><a data-mce-href="http://www.amazon.com/Good-Luck-Highway-Mark-Anderson-ebook/dp/B00J1WU1LG/ref=la_B00CCTYRFQ_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1395155030&sr=1-1" href="http://www.amazon.com/Good-Luck-Highway-Mark-Anderson-ebook/dp/B00J1WU1LG/ref=la_B00CCTYRFQ_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1395155030&sr=1-1" style="color: #990000; text-decoration: none;">The Good Luck Highway</a>, </i>as a paperback, a Kindle Edition, and a Nook Book, to attend to my Blog. And believe me when I say, it's best to take your time and work carefully through each step of the process.</div>
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A wrong click here, an errant upload of the wrong file there, and unnecessary delays to the publishing process are added. In short, in all of our excitement and eagerness to be finished and have our masterpiece live and available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, et al, it is imperative that we check and double-check all requirements.</div>
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I'm not sure that any of us enjoys re-tracing our steps and having to re-do things--especially since the Review process takes several hours (days)--but it happens. I know from experience this past week!</div>
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A wise teacher once told his reckless students that to avoid frustration and failure, they should "do it right the first time." I was one of those reckless students, and through the years I've tried to apply his words of wisdom to most tasks I undertake. Unfortunately, I haven't always hit the mark, and every now and then I slip up and end up going back to square one. Ouch!</div>
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However, one really terrific discovery I made through the whole process was an invaluable resource that truly helped me reach my goal of publishing my book in paperback, Kindle, and ePub formats.</div>
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It's a nice little book by Ed Ditto titled <a data-mce-href="http://www.amazon.com/Format-iBookstore-Smashwords-CreateSpace-Afternoon-ebook/dp/B00AFOMI8S/ref=la_B001NSVJUI_1_6?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1395158761&sr=1-6" href="http://www.amazon.com/Format-iBookstore-Smashwords-CreateSpace-Afternoon-ebook/dp/B00AFOMI8S/ref=la_B001NSVJUI_1_6?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1395158761&sr=1-6" style="color: #990000; text-decoration: none;"><em>How to Format Your Novel for Kindle, Nook, the iBookstore, Smashwords, and CreateSpace in One Afternoon</em></a>. Quite a title, but it's full of excellent step-by-step instructions, suggestions, and other "tips" for getting our <em>Scrivener</em> project compiled correctly.</div>
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I don't know Mr. Ditto, and I'm not getting any payment for this, but I highly recommend that anyone who is ready to publish--especially first-timers--should check out his book. It will certainly help one and all to "do it right the first time!"…<strong><em>CortlandWriter</em></strong></div>
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<dt class="wp-caption-dt" style="-webkit-user-drag: none; font-weight: bold;"><a data-mce-href="http://www.amazon.com/Kindle-Wireless-Reader-Wifi-Graphite/dp/B002Y27P3M%3FSubscriptionId%3D0G81C5DAZ03ZR9WH9X82%26tag%3Dzem-20%26linkCode%3Dxm2%26camp%3D2025%26creative%3D165953%26creativeASIN%3DB002Y27P3M" href="http://www.amazon.com/Kindle-Wireless-Reader-Wifi-Graphite/dp/B002Y27P3M%3FSubscriptionId%3D0G81C5DAZ03ZR9WH9X82%26tag%3Dzem-20%26linkCode%3Dxm2%26camp%3D2025%26creative%3D165953%26creativeASIN%3DB002Y27P3M" style="-webkit-user-drag: none; color: #990000; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><img alt="Cover of "Kindle Wireless Reading Device,..." class="zemanta-img-inserted zemanta-img-configured" data-mce-src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/417XQ0XwQuL._SL350_.jpg" height="350" src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/417XQ0XwQuL._SL350_.jpg" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgb(204, 204, 204) 4px 4px 12px; -webkit-user-drag: none; border-color: rgb(221, 221, 221) rgb(204, 204, 204) rgb(204, 204, 204) rgb(221, 221, 221); border-style: solid; border-width: 1px; box-shadow: rgb(204, 204, 204) 4px 4px 12px; display: block; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 3px; position: relative;" title="Cover of "Kindle Wireless Reading Device,..." width="350" /></a></dt>
<dd class="wp-caption-dd zemanta-img-attribution" style="-webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 11px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; padding: 10px 0px 5px 20px; position: relative; text-align: left;">Cover via Amazon</dd></dl>
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MLAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08876228076484705595noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-788311758228398777.post-84850953092655988902014-03-11T12:29:00.001-05:002014-03-11T12:29:21.096-05:00Blasts from the past…<div class="mceTemp" style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 19px;">
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Hello again, everyone! It's wonderful to be back at the blog after a very busy week of getting my new book, <em>The Good Luck Highway,</em> into shape and ready for sending out for publication. By late Friday morning, the interior and cover were both ready to go, and by evening, I received confirmation that both files had met the technical requirements and that the next step is to proof it all. And that's where I'll be immersed throughout this weekend.</div>
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Following my sending the book files off to CreateSpace, and because I was "finished" with my editing for the day, I was "recruited" to help the dear wife begin a project that she's been eager to get to all winter: Emptying out the many containers on the shelves in one of our storage rooms in the basement. There are about six of these rubber containers, so I started with the first one in line.</div>
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When we moved here nearly seven years ago, these containers came along from where they had been exiled to in our crawl space in the old house. Some of them are labeled; some are not. The first one I pulled down said, <em>"Mark's things."</em> And though I knew there is a lot of memorabilia of mine tucked away here and there, I didn't really know what to expect. Once the lid was removed, however, forgotten moments of my past came rushing back--without warning!</div>
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There were a couple of athletic letters I'd earned from junior high, a baseball trophy I was awarded for being a member of the 1964 County Champions in Huntington, Indiana, and various other bits of nostalgia that I'll have to sort through now that the lid is off.</div>
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But what really caught my eye was a still-bright orange school folder from my high school in Ohio. I recognized it as my journalism/newspaper clip book, full of several of my published articles and columns I'd written during my junior year as sports editor of the school paper.</div>
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Generally speaking, I have a wonderful feeling about those distant high school years, where I was allowed to begin to hone my writing skills and be published every couple of weeks. But the reality, then and now, is I goofed off and didn't really take the job seriously and really was not very well appreciated by my journalism teacher/newspaper adviser. In fact, I think she really despised me!</div>
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I had fun entertaining myself and my buddies around me, and I thought I could crank out a column or story without giving it much thought or any kind of leg work that would have been truly necessary for worthwhile stuff. Taking the time to re-read these "gems" yesterday, I wanted to smack myself squarely in the jaw and send myself back in time where I could have a "re-do" or a chance to hit the re-set button!</div>
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But what stung more than my trite and empty pieces were the terse comments from the teacher/adviser. They are still impossible to miss, and the fed-up tone is as obvious and strident today as it was in 1967, shouting out in stark red or bold black pen:</div>
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Mark, you must plan your assignments more carefully. Let's get some real 'meat' on the sports page this six weeks--not stale rehashes and columns written in one period by just wandering around verbally.</div>
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Ouch! OK, so I was a bit lax when it came to being an organized editor, often times forgetting deadlines and not getting my page laid out and the proofing and changes made in the print shop, causing me to be on the adviser's "list' most of that year.</div>
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I thought about her yesterday while I read back over her comments, and I wonder where she ever wound up. When she became the new journalism teacher/newspaper adviser that year, she had replaced a legend who had been there since Caesar crossed the Rubicon, and she was pretty uptight about wanting to establish herself and make her own mark at the school. I guess I wasn't much of a help there.</div>
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Needless to say, I wasn't asked to fulfill the duties of sports editor during senior year, but I was busy with other endeavors by that time, trying to figure out whether or not I wanted to go to broadcasting school in Chicago the next year or attend Kent State.</div>
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I pretty much had forgotten about that high school newspaper experience from forty-seven years ago, but it all rushed back once more as soon as the lid was removed from the Rubber Maid container yesterday.</div>
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And as I now gently place these pages from the past back into the still-bright orange clip book from 1967, and back inside the storage container, I smile and offer a long distance apology to my adviser--wherever she may be. Sorry about all that!…<strong><em>MLA</em></strong></div>
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<dl class="wp-caption aligncenter zemanta-img" data-mce-style="width: 360px;" style="background-color: white; border-bottom-left-radius: 3px; border-bottom-right-radius: 3px; border-top-left-radius: 3px; border-top-right-radius: 3px; border: none; clear: both; margin: 0px auto 1.625em; max-width: 100%; padding-top: 4px; width: 360px;">
<dt class="wp-caption-dt" style="font-weight: bold;"><a data-mce-href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ashland_High_School.JPG" href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ashland_High_School.JPG" style="color: #990000; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><img alt="A view of Ashland High School in Ashland, Ohio." class="zemanta-img-inserted zemanta-img-configured" data-mce-src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8d/Ashland_High_School.JPG/350px-Ashland_High_School.JPG" height="224" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8d/Ashland_High_School.JPG/350px-Ashland_High_School.JPG" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgb(204, 204, 204) 4px 4px 12px; -webkit-user-drag: none; border-color: rgb(221, 221, 221) rgb(204, 204, 204) rgb(204, 204, 204) rgb(221, 221, 221); border-style: solid; border-width: 1px; box-shadow: rgb(204, 204, 204) 4px 4px 12px; cursor: default; display: block; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 3px; position: relative;" title="A view of Ashland High School in Ashland, Ohio." width="350" /></a></dt>
<dd class="wp-caption-dd zemanta-img-attribution" style="font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; padding: 10px 0px 5px 20px; position: relative; text-align: left;">A view of Ashland High School in Ashland, Ohio. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)</dd></dl>
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<a class="zemanta-pixie-a" data-mce-href="http://www.zemanta.com/?px" href="http://www.zemanta.com/?px" style="color: #990000; text-decoration: none;" title="Enhanced by Zemanta"><img alt="Enhanced by Zemanta" class="zemanta-pixie-img" data-mce-src="http://img.zemanta.com/zemified_h.png?x-id=3a7f33c2-bcdb-4e0c-9b12-d109db2dbae8" data-mce-style="border: none; float: right;" src="http://img.zemanta.com/zemified_h.png?x-id=3a7f33c2-bcdb-4e0c-9b12-d109db2dbae8" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgb(204, 204, 204) 4px 4px 12px; border: none; box-shadow: rgb(204, 204, 204) 4px 4px 12px; cursor: default; float: right; height: auto; max-width: 100%; padding: 3px; position: relative;" /></a></div>
MLAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08876228076484705595noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-788311758228398777.post-14952240744815237852014-03-03T20:55:00.000-06:002014-03-03T20:55:01.642-06:00The Good Luck Highway<div class="mceTemp" style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 19px;">
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<dt class="wp-caption-dt" style="font-weight: bold;"><a data-mce-href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/42769910@N00/8576415566" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/42769910@N00/8576415566" style="color: #990000; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><img alt="scrivener-basic-composition" class="zemanta-img-inserted zemanta-img-configured" data-mce-src="http://farm9.static.flickr.com/8527/8576415566_91825d57e9_n.jpg" height="212" src="http://farm9.static.flickr.com/8527/8576415566_91825d57e9_n.jpg" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgb(204, 204, 204) 4px 4px 12px; -webkit-user-drag: none; border-color: rgb(221, 221, 221) rgb(204, 204, 204) rgb(204, 204, 204) rgb(221, 221, 221); border-style: solid; border-width: 1px; box-shadow: rgb(204, 204, 204) 4px 4px 12px; cursor: default; display: block; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 3px; position: relative;" title="scrivener-basic-composition" width="320" /></a></dt>
<dd class="wp-caption-dd zemanta-img-attribution" style="font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; padding: 10px 0px 5px 20px; position: relative; text-align: left;">scrivener-basic-composition (Photo credit: ChrisL_AK)</dd></dl>
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This past week, I've spent an inordinate number of hours at work on final revisions and edits of this next book of mine, <em>The Good Luck Highway</em>. And although it has been a productive week, I've reached the stage where I'm growing weary of my characters, storyline, and overall conflict! I don't know if this is a good or bad sign (maybe a combination of both), but I'm hoping that this is a natural phenomena that happens to many writers after they have invested so much time, thought, and work into a book.</div>
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If I can avoid any more unexpected interruptions during the next two days, I will have the thing finished and ready to "put out there" and share with the world very soon.</div>
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<dl class="wp-caption aligncenter zemanta-img" data-mce-style="width: 360px;" style="background-color: white; border-bottom-left-radius: 3px; border-bottom-right-radius: 3px; border-top-left-radius: 3px; border-top-right-radius: 3px; border: none; clear: both; margin: 0px auto 1.625em; max-width: 100%; padding-top: 4px; width: 360px;">
<dt class="wp-caption-dt" style="font-weight: bold;"><a data-mce-href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:US_Highway_98_at_Newport%2C_Florida.jpg" href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:US_Highway_98_at_Newport%2C_Florida.jpg" style="color: #990000; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><img alt="US Highway 98 looking westward from the George..." class="zemanta-img-inserted zemanta-img-configured" data-mce-src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/16/US_Highway_98_at_Newport%2C_Florida.jpg/350px-US_Highway_98_at_Newport%2C_Florida.jpg" height="261" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/16/US_Highway_98_at_Newport%2C_Florida.jpg/350px-US_Highway_98_at_Newport%2C_Florida.jpg" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgb(204, 204, 204) 4px 4px 12px; -webkit-user-drag: none; border-color: rgb(221, 221, 221) rgb(204, 204, 204) rgb(204, 204, 204) rgb(221, 221, 221); border-style: solid; border-width: 1px; box-shadow: rgb(204, 204, 204) 4px 4px 12px; cursor: default; display: block; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 3px; position: relative;" title="US Highway 98 looking westward from the George..." width="350" /></a></dt>
<dd class="wp-caption-dd zemanta-img-attribution" style="font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; padding: 10px 0px 5px 20px; position: relative; text-align: left;">US Highway 98 looking westward from the George NeSmith Bridge at Newport, Florida, USA (Photo credit: Wikipedia)</dd></dl>
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On another note, I am excited about the cover design and will be sharing that in an upcoming post very soon. I couldn't be more pleased with the way it has turned out. And it will definitely be an important part of <em>The Good Luck Highway</em>. …<strong><em>CortlandWriter</em></strong></div>
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<a class="zemanta-pixie-a" data-mce-href="http://www.zemanta.com/?px" href="http://www.zemanta.com/?px" style="color: #990000; text-decoration: none;" title="Enhanced by Zemanta"><img alt="Enhanced by Zemanta" class="zemanta-pixie-img" data-mce-src="http://img.zemanta.com/zemified_h.png?x-id=854c90c3-35de-4da2-b951-bacb65491939" data-mce-style="border: none; float: right;" src="http://img.zemanta.com/zemified_h.png?x-id=854c90c3-35de-4da2-b951-bacb65491939" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgb(204, 204, 204) 4px 4px 12px; border: none; box-shadow: rgb(204, 204, 204) 4px 4px 12px; cursor: default; float: right; height: auto; max-width: 100%; padding: 3px; position: relative;" /></a></div>
MLAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08876228076484705595noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-788311758228398777.post-44466897816375471172014-02-22T09:00:00.000-06:002014-02-22T09:00:14.152-06:00Back home again…<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 23px;">
<em><strong>(Writing from beautiful northern Illinois)</strong></em></div>
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<dt class="wp-caption-dt" style="font-weight: bold;"><a data-mce-href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Map_of_Illinois_highlighting_DeKalb_County.svg" href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Map_of_Illinois_highlighting_DeKalb_County.svg" style="color: #990000; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><img alt="Map of Illinois highlighting DeKalb County" class="zemanta-img-inserted zemanta-img-configured" data-mce-src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e2/Map_of_Illinois_highlighting_DeKalb_County.svg/75px-Map_of_Illinois_highlighting_DeKalb_County.svg.png" height="134" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e2/Map_of_Illinois_highlighting_DeKalb_County.svg/75px-Map_of_Illinois_highlighting_DeKalb_County.svg.png" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgb(204, 204, 204) 4px 4px 12px; -webkit-user-drag: none; border-color: rgb(221, 221, 221) rgb(204, 204, 204) rgb(204, 204, 204) rgb(221, 221, 221); border-style: solid; border-width: 1px; box-shadow: rgb(204, 204, 204) 4px 4px 12px; cursor: default; display: block; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 3px; position: relative;" title="Map of Illinois highlighting DeKalb County" width="75" /></a></dt>
<dd class="wp-caption-dd zemanta-img-attribution" style="font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; padding: 10px 0px 5px 20px; position: relative; text-align: left;">Map of Illinois highlighting DeKalb County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)</dd></dl>
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It's great to get away, but it's also wonderful to return home! And that's exactly what we've done, following a two-week vacation to places we'd never visited before: Stone Mountain, Atlanta, A.H. Stephens Historic State Park, Savannah, and Charleston.</div>
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It was fun sharing pieces of our trip, and I received some very nice responses from readers who found our little adventure interesting. Even with some weather issues in the Charleston area, we still managed to get done what we wanted to get done.</div>
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A nice drive up I-26 to Asheville, North Carolina, and then on to Waynesville for the weekend was a good way to wrap up that part of the trip before we set off on the final leg toward home, via Fairborn, Ohio, to pay a visit to Carolyn's aunt and uncle.</div>
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So, after all of the miles had clicked off, we were safely home Tuesday afternoon, tired and eager to get the car unloaded, the suitcases emptied, and the washer started! And it's always good to find everything in the house exactly in the same condition it was in when we pulled out two weeks prior. No flooded basement. No broken furnace. No broken water pipes. No infestation of giant fruit bats!</div>
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The only issue we did have almost immediately, was our fifteen-year-old snow thrower giving up the ghost--finally--after threatening to do so several times this winter. Not worth fixing, it has given way to a brand new one, straight from the dealer's showroom! I haven't had to put it to work just yet, but she's all gassed and ready for that next storm that's sure to hit us very soon, without question!</div>
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<dt class="wp-caption-dt" style="font-weight: bold;"><a data-mce-href="http://cortlandwriter.files.wordpress.com/2012/12/cropped-100_3643.jpg" href="http://cortlandwriter.files.wordpress.com/2012/12/cropped-100_3643.jpg" style="color: #990000; text-decoration: none;"><img alt="cropped-100_3643.jpg" class=" wp-image-1429 " data-mce-src="http://cortlandwriter.files.wordpress.com/2012/12/cropped-100_3643.jpg?w=300" height="67" src="http://cortlandwriter.files.wordpress.com/2012/12/cropped-100_3643.jpg?w=300" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgb(204, 204, 204) 4px 4px 12px; -webkit-user-drag: none; border-color: rgb(221, 221, 221) rgb(204, 204, 204) rgb(204, 204, 204) rgb(221, 221, 221); border-style: solid; border-width: 1px; box-shadow: rgb(204, 204, 204) 4px 4px 12px; cursor: default; display: block; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 3px; position: relative;" width="300" /></a></dt>
<dd class="wp-caption-dd" style="font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; padding: 10px 0px 5px 20px; position: relative; text-align: left;">Looking out to the fields to the east from our back deck</dd></dl>
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And so the rest of the week rolled on, back to normalcy and routines and house chores that need doing. And, of course, I've spent the past two days and evenings diligently working through the last edits and revisions of my forthcoming second novel, <em>The Good Luck Highway</em>. Things are coming along well, and I'll be happy to wrap it all up and have the book available very soon. Stay tuned….<strong><em>CortlandWriter</em></strong></div>
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<a class="zemanta-pixie-a" data-mce-href="http://www.zemanta.com/?px" href="http://www.zemanta.com/?px" style="color: #990000; text-decoration: none;" title="Enhanced by Zemanta"><img alt="Enhanced by Zemanta" class="zemanta-pixie-img" data-mce-src="http://img.zemanta.com/zemified_h.png?x-id=4bc5cc19-f35a-48f8-af76-47f9d714de95" data-mce-style="border: none; float: right;" src="http://img.zemanta.com/zemified_h.png?x-id=4bc5cc19-f35a-48f8-af76-47f9d714de95" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgb(204, 204, 204) 4px 4px 12px; border: none; box-shadow: rgb(204, 204, 204) 4px 4px 12px; cursor: default; float: right; height: auto; max-width: 100%; padding: 3px; position: relative;" /></a></div>
MLAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08876228076484705595noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-788311758228398777.post-90816018725867653822014-02-09T18:42:00.000-06:002014-02-09T18:42:11.975-06:00All good in Atlanta!<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 23px;">
<em><strong>(Writing from beautiful Savannah, Georgia)</strong></em></div>
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<dt class="wp-caption-dt" style="font-weight: bold;"><a data-mce-href="http://cortlandwriter.files.wordpress.com/2014/02/margaretmitchell.jpg" href="http://cortlandwriter.files.wordpress.com/2014/02/margaretmitchell.jpg" style="color: #990000; text-decoration: none;"><img alt="margaretmitchell" class="size-medium wp-image-3015 " data-mce-src="http://cortlandwriter.files.wordpress.com/2014/02/margaretmitchell.jpg?w=225" height="300" src="http://cortlandwriter.files.wordpress.com/2014/02/margaretmitchell.jpg?w=225" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgb(204, 204, 204) 4px 4px 12px; -webkit-user-drag: none; border-color: rgb(221, 221, 221) rgb(204, 204, 204) rgb(204, 204, 204) rgb(221, 221, 221); border-style: solid; border-width: 1px; box-shadow: rgb(204, 204, 204) 4px 4px 12px; cursor: default; display: block; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 3px; position: relative;" width="225" /></a></dt>
<dd class="wp-caption-dd" style="font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; padding: 10px 0px 5px 20px; position: relative; text-align: left;">Margaret Mitchell's home. She and her husband lived in the lower-left apartment, where she typed Gone With the Wind.</dd></dl>
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Right off the bat, let me say that in my last post I overreacted just a bit with my fears of navigating around Atlanta without getting killed this past Friday. In fact, our thirty-minute drive from our hotel to Peachtree Street, the location of author Margaret Mitchell's home, was very pleasant and enjoyable.</div>
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Perhaps it was the gorgeous 55° morning that made it so nice, but whatever it was, we found where we wanted to be without a hitch, other than my piece of careless driving which involved turning the wrong way on a very wide one-way street. Fortunately, there were only a few oncoming cars whose drivers graciously slowed to allow me to hurriedly get out of their way and turned in the right direction, before pointing out what a total moron this guy from Illinois must be!</div>
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The tour of the house lasted about thirty minutes, and the most enjoyable part was going through Mitchell's tiny first-floor apartment where she typed her masterpiece on a small Royal typewriter, which sits on a small table surrounded by dozens of manilla folders and envelopes in which she'd place her <em>Gone With the Wind</em> manuscript parts. The place is set up just as it was when she and her husband lived there. </div>
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The guide provided a pretty informative and comprehensive biography of Mitchell, who, it turns out, was like many creative folks: Lacking confidence in their work and afraid to show it to anyone. The story of how she wrote her one-and-only novel is very intriguing.</div>
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<span class="mceItemHidden">Of course, afterward, the inevitable gift shop drew most of my wife's attention, so I waited patiently studying the map to figure out just exactly how to get out of Atlanta and on to our next destination: The A.H. Stephens State Historic Park in Crawfordville, Georgia, about two-and-a-half hours to the east. Originally, we had planned to visit the World of Coca-Cola in Atlanta, but since we arrived in the area much later than planned, we decided there wouldn't be time. So when we finished with the Mitchell house, it was a quick hop, skip, and a jump to the interstate we needed to connect up with I-20. Soon, we were well on our way, leaving Atlanta in our rear view mirror.</span></div>
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The weather was very cooperative as we motored east through very pretty country. It was wonderful to see actual green grass and bushes and trees along the way. I even had my window down a bit to let in the fresh air and to blow out the stale winter poison we brought along from Illinois. </div>
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<dt class="wp-caption-dt" style="font-weight: bold;"><a data-mce-href="http://cortlandwriter.files.wordpress.com/2014/02/ducks.jpg" href="http://cortlandwriter.files.wordpress.com/2014/02/ducks.jpg" style="color: #990000; text-decoration: none;"><img alt="ducks" class="size-medium wp-image-3016 " data-mce-src="http://cortlandwriter.files.wordpress.com/2014/02/ducks.jpg?w=225" height="300" src="http://cortlandwriter.files.wordpress.com/2014/02/ducks.jpg?w=225" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgb(204, 204, 204) 4px 4px 12px; -webkit-user-drag: none; border-color: rgb(221, 221, 221) rgb(204, 204, 204) rgb(204, 204, 204) rgb(221, 221, 221); border-style: solid; border-width: 1px; box-shadow: rgb(204, 204, 204) 4px 4px 12px; cursor: default; display: block; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 3px; position: relative;" width="225" /></a></dt>
<dd class="wp-caption-dd" style="font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; padding: 10px 0px 5px 20px; position: relative; text-align: left;">The "Welcoming Committee" at our cottage in the pines of A.H. Stephens Historic Park, waiting for some tasty treats!</dd></dl>
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Now it was time to become immersed in the life of the man for whom the state park is named, particularly since his home is there. I had very little knowledge of the man who was the vice-president of the Confederacy and governor of Georgia.</div>
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<span class="mceItemHidden">By Saturday, I had learned much and gained a respectful appreciation for A.H. Stephens. And our two-night stay in a very nice cottage on the park grounds was a fun and pleasant experience. After all, how bad can it be when a welcoming committee of two tame, friendly, and hungry ducks patiently waited for us to get the suitcases unloaded and to find some Fritos for them!</span></div>
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In my next post, I'll write more about our time in the park, touring the Stephens home and museum, a "down-home" Georgia barbecue place, and our journey on to Savannah. Stay tuned…<strong><em>MLA</em></strong></div>
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MLAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08876228076484705595noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-788311758228398777.post-36506242871366584832014-02-06T20:10:00.000-06:002014-02-06T20:11:54.870-06:00Digging out and hitting the road and into the traffic…<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 23px;">
A famous Scot wrote a long time ago that "the best laid schemes of mice and men often go awry," and how true--time after time--his words prove to be.</div>
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In my last post I wrote of our plans to set out on our February "get-away" to points south: Atlanta, Savannah, Charleston, and Waynesville, North Carolina. And we hoped to be on the road and out of the treacherous winter weather by late Tuesday evening and drive through to Stone Mountain and spend a couple of days in and around the Atlanta area.</div>
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<dt class="wp-caption-dt" style="font-weight: bold;"><a data-mce-href="http://cortlandwriter.files.wordpress.com/2014/02/driveway-before-leaving.jpg" href="http://cortlandwriter.files.wordpress.com/2014/02/driveway-before-leaving.jpg" style="color: #990000; text-decoration: none;"><img alt="driveway before leaving" class="size-medium wp-image-2981 " data-mce-src="http://cortlandwriter.files.wordpress.com/2014/02/driveway-before-leaving.jpg?w=225" src="http://cortlandwriter.files.wordpress.com/2014/02/driveway-before-leaving.jpg?w=225" height="300" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgb(204, 204, 204) 4px 4px 12px; -webkit-user-drag: none; border-color: rgb(221, 221, 221) rgb(204, 204, 204) rgb(204, 204, 204) rgb(221, 221, 221); border-style: solid; border-width: 1px; box-shadow: rgb(204, 204, 204) 4px 4px 12px; cursor: default; display: block; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 3px; position: relative;" width="225" /></a></dt>
<dd class="wp-caption-dd" style="font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; padding: 10px 0px 5px 20px; position: relative; text-align: left;">A clear path from our garage to the snow-covered street so we can begin our February "get-away!" (Image property of CortlandWriter ©2014)</dd></dl>
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However, as seems to be the case this winter, whenever any plans are made, some major winter storm will set in on said date when those plans are to begin! Thus, our leaving was postponed until late morning on Wednesday, after first having to fire up the snow thrower so we could get out of the driveway.</div>
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Though not completely cleared of snow and dangerous ice patches, the interstate highways in northern Illinois were not too bad, but the farther south we went, the worse they became. Very tense driving was the rule for most of the day and early evening, until we decided to stop in Paducah, Kentucky, and revel in the joy of having survived the long, icy, snow packed haul.</div>
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Although there was far less snow piled all about than what we're used to at home, there was plenty of cold and ice on the side roads and the hotel parking lot. But things were beginning to look up as the forecast was for no snow and I-24 to Nashville and Chattanooga was going to be dry and bare in the morning. Yea! I could actually drive the speed limit unlike our first day's adventure. And so we were up and out and on I-24 by 7:30 this morning and enjoyed the drive on a mostly cloudy day and arrived at Stone Mountain right before 3 p.m.</div>
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I've often wondered where all of the people driving in and around Atlanta come from as there always seems to be millions of them going here and there and very fast. I'm used to Chicago driving, but I'm familiar with the lay of the land so can pretty much deal with it. Being in uncharted and unfamiliar territory today, though, in the midst of motorists in a mad hurry, we found it just a bit over the top.</div>
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In spite of the traffic, we found our hotel and checked in without any problem and soon we paid a short visit to nearby Stone Mountain Park and viewed the famous Confederate Memorial Carving on the side of the mountain. Over the years I had heard mention of this but never had the opportunity to see it up close and personal, live and in color!</div>
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<dt class="wp-caption-dt" style="font-weight: bold;"><a data-mce-href="http://cortlandwriter.files.wordpress.com/2014/02/stone-mountain.jpg" href="http://cortlandwriter.files.wordpress.com/2014/02/stone-mountain.jpg" style="color: #990000; text-decoration: none;"><img alt="The famous carving on the side of Stone Mountain. Quite impressive!" class="size-medium wp-image-2982 " data-mce-src="http://cortlandwriter.files.wordpress.com/2014/02/stone-mountain.jpg?w=225" src="http://cortlandwriter.files.wordpress.com/2014/02/stone-mountain.jpg?w=225" height="300" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgb(204, 204, 204) 4px 4px 12px; -webkit-user-drag: none; border-color: rgb(221, 221, 221) rgb(204, 204, 204) rgb(204, 204, 204) rgb(221, 221, 221); border-style: solid; border-width: 1px; box-shadow: rgb(204, 204, 204) 4px 4px 12px; cursor: default; display: block; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 3px; position: relative;" width="225" /></a></dt>
<dd class="wp-caption-dd" style="font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; padding: 10px 0px 5px 20px; position: relative; text-align: left;">The famous carving on the side of Stone Mountain. Quite impressive! (Image property of CortlandWriter ©2014)</dd></dl>
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The museum and Memorial Hall provided some interesting information and background. We enjoyed seeing a couple of well-produced movies about the carving and the Civil War in Georgia.</div>
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Of course, Carolyn managed to squeeze in a quick visit to a gift shop just as it was about to close, and managed to purchase a coffee mug, a couple of post cards, and a Stone Mountain Christmas ornament. Uncanny, that woman!</div>
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So it's onto the Margaret Mitchell House in downtown Atlanta in the morning. I'm already steeling my nerves to deal with the morning hum and buzz of traffic and trying to navigate more uncharted waters. It's not surprising that Mitchell, the author of <em>Gone With the Wind</em>, died by being hit by a speeding automobile on Peachtree Street in downtown Atlanta in 1949!</div>
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Assuming we survive the fun and games of Atlanta traffic, we'll be on our way to the A.H. Stephens State Park in the afternoon, where we'll spend two days browsing about and learning what there is to be learned.</div>
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My wife is very excited to gather as much information as she can on Alexander Stephens, a second-cousin twice removed and vice-president of the Confederacy. I, of course, plan to find some interesting tidbits to share in my next update. Since we're staying in a cottage on the park grounds, it should be very unique and fun.</div>
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At this writing, I'm pretty confident that we won't have to do any snow blowing or shoveling to maintain our planned itinerary. But then again, this winter really shouldn't be underestimated and really shouldn't be trusted!…<strong><em>MLA</em></strong></div>
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<dt class="wp-caption-dt" style="font-weight: bold;"><a data-mce-href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/18922711@N00/481372502" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/18922711@N00/481372502" style="color: #990000; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><img alt="Stone Mountain" class="zemanta-img-inserted zemanta-img-configured" data-mce-src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/224/481372502_73de944399_n.jpg" src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/224/481372502_73de944399_n.jpg" height="213" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgb(204, 204, 204) 4px 4px 12px; -webkit-user-drag: none; border-color: rgb(221, 221, 221) rgb(204, 204, 204) rgb(204, 204, 204) rgb(221, 221, 221); border-style: solid; border-width: 1px; box-shadow: rgb(204, 204, 204) 4px 4px 12px; cursor: default; display: block; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 3px; position: relative;" title="Stone Mountain" width="320" /></a></dt>
<dd class="wp-caption-dd zemanta-img-attribution" style="font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; padding: 10px 0px 5px 20px; position: relative; text-align: left;">Stone Mountain (Photo credit: ucumari)</dd></dl>
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MLAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08876228076484705595noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-788311758228398777.post-8604920945018091682014-01-30T07:02:00.000-06:002014-01-30T07:02:29.595-06:00Road trip!<div class="mceTemp" style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 19px;">
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<dt class="wp-caption-dt" style="font-weight: bold;"><a data-mce-href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/65834671@N00/2253784828" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/65834671@N00/2253784828" style="color: #990000; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><img alt="January" class="zemanta-img-inserted zemanta-img-configured" data-mce-src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2258/2253784828_475f9e7153_n.jpg" height="213" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2258/2253784828_475f9e7153_n.jpg" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgb(204, 204, 204) 4px 4px 12px; -webkit-user-drag: none; border-color: rgb(221, 221, 221) rgb(204, 204, 204) rgb(204, 204, 204) rgb(221, 221, 221); border-style: solid; border-width: 1px; box-shadow: rgb(204, 204, 204) 4px 4px 12px; cursor: default; display: block; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 3px; position: relative;" title="January" width="320" /></a></dt>
<dd class="wp-caption-dd zemanta-img-attribution" style="font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; padding: 10px 0px 5px 20px; position: relative; text-align: left;">January (Photo credit: Deadly Tedly)</dd></dl>
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The end is near…</div>
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…Yes, the end of January, that is, and this means that the wife and I are about to embark on our annual February vacation/road trip.</div>
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This year, the weather being what it has been, the two of us are most definitely in the mood to load the car and set out for points south.</div>
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That is exactly what we plan to do late next Tuesday evening, when we'll leave our tiny hamlet here in northern Illinois and set sail for Stone Mountain, Georgia, our first stopping point on this year's adventure. We're keeping our fingers crossed that the recent snow, icy roads, and howling winds will not rear their ugly heads again on the night we want to get out and on the road.</div>
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We'll spend a couple of days in and around the Atlanta area, with plans to visit Margaret Mitchell's home and The World of Coca-Cola before heading east to the A H. Stephens State Park, named after Alexander H. Stephens, Vice President of the Confederacy.</div>
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Why this park, you ask? It seems as though Carolyn, my wife, recently discovered, in her many extensive and exhaustive ancestry/genealogical researches, that A.H. Stephens was a second-cousin, twice removed.</div>
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That being the case, it will be way more meaningful and fun when we tour the</div>
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<dt class="wp-caption-dt" style="font-weight: bold;"><a data-mce-href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Stephens_Monument.JPG" href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Stephens_Monument.JPG" style="color: #990000; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><img alt="English: I took this picture at Liberty Hall i..." class="zemanta-img-inserted zemanta-img-configured" data-mce-src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d7/Stephens_Monument.JPG/350px-Stephens_Monument.JPG" height="263" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d7/Stephens_Monument.JPG/350px-Stephens_Monument.JPG" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgb(204, 204, 204) 4px 4px 12px; -webkit-user-drag: none; border-color: rgb(221, 221, 221) rgb(204, 204, 204) rgb(204, 204, 204) rgb(221, 221, 221); border-style: solid; border-width: 1px; box-shadow: rgb(204, 204, 204) 4px 4px 12px; cursor: default; display: block; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 3px; position: relative;" title="English: I took this picture at Liberty Hall i..." width="350" /></a></dt>
<dd class="wp-caption-dd zemanta-img-attribution" style="font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; padding: 10px 0px 5px 20px; position: relative; text-align: left;">Liberty Hall in Crawfordville, Georgia. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)</dd></dl>
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Confederate museum and Liberty Hall, Stephens's home. We also have reservations for a two-night's stay in one of the cottages located in the park, and I'm very much looking forward to that.</div>
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Then it will be on to Savannah, Georgia, a place we stopped at briefly one time years ago on our way to our home at the time in Titusville, Florida. I recall it being a beautiful, historic spot, and I will enjoy the two days we plan to spend there learning more about the place. And if the weather is as typically moderate and pleasant as I've heard, that can't be all bad, either.</div>
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On the road again to Charleston, South Carolina, for a few days and to find out, first-hand, what everyone has forever told us about Charleston being one of their very favorite places to visit and spend time. The historic stuff alone will be well worth the time and money we're investing in this February's trip. I'm eagerly awaiting that part of the journey.</div>
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And it can't be a February get-away without spending some time in the beautiful mountains of western North Carolina at Carolyn's brother's house in Waynesville. We'll make the relatively short drive there when finished immersing ourselves in all things Charleston. Our weekend with her brother and his wife will be fun and relaxing before we make the drive from there back to northern Illinois.</div>
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At each of these wonderful places along the way, I plan to get plenty of writing done in the evenings: updating this blog, working on the current WIP, and sending e-mail. Last year's February genealogy "field trip" to Athens County, Ohio, Coalwood, West Virginia, and Waynesville, coincided with the start of Gwen Hernandez's online <em>Scrivener for Mac</em> class. During the course of that trip, I completed several of the first lessons that Gwen would post each day. I found it to be lots of fun working through the lessons in a different location each morning.</div>
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Now that February is creeping in (and not a moment too soon!), it's time to dig the Eddie Bauer bag out of the closet, get the clothes laid out and packed, and begin to get serious about hitting the road. Leaving northern Illinois for a couple of weeks will be just what the two of us need--if the weather "gods" see fit to smile on us!</div>
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I'm looking forward to writing about all of this as the miles and days unfold beginning next week. Stay tuned…<strong><em>MLA</em></strong></div>
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<dt class="wp-caption-dt" style="font-weight: bold;"><a data-mce-href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/42466430@N00/8734301051" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/42466430@N00/8734301051" style="color: #990000; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><img alt="Cortland, IL" class="zemanta-img-inserted zemanta-img-configured" data-mce-src="http://farm8.static.flickr.com/7313/8734301051_d90021bb0c_n.jpg" height="232" src="http://farm8.static.flickr.com/7313/8734301051_d90021bb0c_n.jpg" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgb(204, 204, 204) 4px 4px 12px; -webkit-user-drag: none; border-color: rgb(221, 221, 221) rgb(204, 204, 204) rgb(204, 204, 204) rgb(221, 221, 221); border-style: solid; border-width: 1px; box-shadow: rgb(204, 204, 204) 4px 4px 12px; cursor: default; display: block; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 3px; position: relative;" title="Cortland, IL" width="320" /></a></dt>
<dd class="wp-caption-dd zemanta-img-attribution" style="font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; padding: 10px 0px 5px 20px; position: relative; text-align: left;">Cortland, IL (Photo credit: moominsean)</dd></dl>
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MLAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08876228076484705595noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-788311758228398777.post-16579056774019931472014-01-23T11:27:00.002-06:002014-01-23T11:29:47.286-06:00My writer's window…<div class="mceTemp" style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 19px;">
<dl class="wp-caption alignright" data-mce-style="width: 235px;" id="attachment_2870" style="background-color: white; border-bottom-left-radius: 3px; border-bottom-right-radius: 3px; border-top-left-radius: 3px; border-top-right-radius: 3px; border: none; display: inline; float: right; margin: 0px 0px 1.625em; max-width: 100%; padding-top: 4px; text-align: center; width: 235px;">
<dt class="wp-caption-dt" style="font-weight: bold;"><a data-mce-href="http://cortlandwriter.files.wordpress.com/2014/01/writing-view-2014.jpg" href="http://cortlandwriter.files.wordpress.com/2014/01/writing-view-2014.jpg" style="color: #990000; text-decoration: none;"><img alt="My writer's window - winter out there!" class="size-medium wp-image-2870" data-mce-src="http://cortlandwriter.files.wordpress.com/2014/01/writing-view-2014.jpg?w=225" src="http://cortlandwriter.files.wordpress.com/2014/01/writing-view-2014.jpg?w=225" height="300" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgb(204, 204, 204) 4px 4px 12px; -webkit-user-drag: none; border-color: rgb(221, 221, 221) rgb(204, 204, 204) rgb(204, 204, 204) rgb(221, 221, 221); border-style: solid; border-width: 1px; box-shadow: rgb(204, 204, 204) 4px 4px 12px; cursor: default; display: block; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 3px; position: relative;" width="225" /></a></dt>
<dd class="wp-caption-dd" style="font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; padding: 10px 0px 5px 20px; position: relative; text-align: left;">My writer's window - winter out there!</dd></dl>
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I read an interesting post yesterday by Scrivener expert and blogger, <a data-mce-href="http://gwenhernandez.com/2014/01/22/new-year-new-office/" href="http://gwenhernandez.com/2014/01/22/new-year-new-office/" style="color: #990000; text-decoration: none;">Gwen Hernandez</a>, in which she wrote about her new office and comfortable surroundings. Included was a photo of her new writing office, and I can well imagine the enjoyment she'll have working there.</div>
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Her post got me to thinking, again, about how important it is to have a regular place designated as my office, study, work room, workshop, etc. But whatever name I give it, though, the only thing that matters is that this is a place <em>where I</em> write…<strong>regularly!</strong></div>
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And, like Gwen, I'm fortunate to have my own room. It is complete with three large floor-to-ceiling book cases, two cabinet/shelf units for storage and printer and stereo, and a perfect-sized writing desk.</div>
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"I have a view of trees and the street through two windows, and a room all to myself."</div>
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And, just as Gwen writes about her new office's view of trees and the street, I also have one<em>--</em>my writer's window. The view it provides is very important. I believe that if I wasn't able to look up from my writing every now and then, out onto the back yard and the farm fields beyond to the east, and our small town's water tower standing sentinel out a few hundred yards away, the Union Pacific Railroad freight line tracks below, I wouldn't be as productive.</div>
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There are so many stories out there through my writer's window in every season of the year. Right now, at -2° and the wind chill -26°, Jack London seems to come to mind. Quite timely, I think, with the special miniseries, <em>Klondike, </em>that I watched on Discovery Channel this week.</div>
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In spring I watch the planting of the fields, which at the moment are empty and waiting; summer is heat and watching the corn grow so tall much of the water tower is lost from sight; autumn is harvest time, amidst the golden tinges and a feeling of closing up for another year. And then, it's winter all over again, and the search continues for new stories through my writer's window….<strong><em>MLA</em></strong></div>
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<dt class="wp-caption-dt" style="font-weight: bold;"><a data-mce-href="http://cortlandwriter.files.wordpress.com/2014/01/driveway-winter-2014.jpg" href="http://cortlandwriter.files.wordpress.com/2014/01/driveway-winter-2014.jpg" style="color: #990000; text-decoration: none;"><img alt="Looking westward from our garage across to our neighbors in this winter of 2014" class="size-medium wp-image-2882 " data-mce-src="http://cortlandwriter.files.wordpress.com/2014/01/driveway-winter-2014.jpg?w=225" src="http://cortlandwriter.files.wordpress.com/2014/01/driveway-winter-2014.jpg?w=225" height="300" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgb(204, 204, 204) 4px 4px 12px; -webkit-user-drag: none; border-color: rgb(221, 221, 221) rgb(204, 204, 204) rgb(204, 204, 204) rgb(221, 221, 221); border-style: solid; border-width: 1px; box-shadow: rgb(204, 204, 204) 4px 4px 12px; cursor: default; display: block; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 3px; position: relative;" width="225" /></a></dt>
<dd class="wp-caption-dd" style="font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; padding: 10px 0px 5px 20px; position: relative; text-align: left;">Looking westward from our garage across to our neighbors in this winter of 2014</dd></dl>
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MLAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08876228076484705595noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-788311758228398777.post-44355516624308373752014-01-19T22:59:00.000-06:002014-01-20T07:14:45.827-06:00My marathon TV sports day and other annoyances…<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 23px;">
OK, today was a rather long stint of television, with the Blackhawks hockey on early,</div>
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<dt class="wp-caption-dt" style="font-weight: bold;"><a data-mce-href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Chicago_Grant_Park_night_pano.jpg" href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Chicago_Grant_Park_night_pano.jpg" style="color: #990000; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><img alt="Chicago skyline with the CNA Center showing th..." class="zemanta-img-inserted zemanta-img-configured" data-mce-src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/ba/Chicago_Grant_Park_night_pano.jpg/350px-Chicago_Grant_Park_night_pano.jpg" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/ba/Chicago_Grant_Park_night_pano.jpg/350px-Chicago_Grant_Park_night_pano.jpg" height="90" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgb(204, 204, 204) 4px 4px 12px; -webkit-user-drag: none; border-color: rgb(221, 221, 221) rgb(204, 204, 204) rgb(204, 204, 204) rgb(221, 221, 221); border-style: solid; border-width: 1px; box-shadow: rgb(204, 204, 204) 4px 4px 12px; cursor: default; display: block; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 3px; position: relative;" title="Chicago skyline with the CNA Center showing th..." width="350" /></a></dt>
<dd class="wp-caption-dd zemanta-img-attribution" style="font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; padding: 10px 0px 5px 20px; position: relative; text-align: left;">Chicago skyline with the CNA Center showing the Chicago Blackhawks' logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)</dd></dl>
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followed by the two NFL championship games to determine the Super Bowl participants in two weeks. And, of course, I spent most of the day right there watching them all, making me the epitome of a true <em>couch potato</em>! (I hate this term!) And dubbing myself this, calls to mind many similarly annoying terms and expressions that are becoming more prevalent. For example, <i>staycation, vacay, man cave,</i> or any cryptic texting language that isn't spelled out: UR for "you are." And I need capitalization and punctuation, please! And could we avoid statements such as the following: <em>"I love me some cowboys!"</em>? Where did any of this come from?</div>
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My marathon sports viewing day cruised merrily along, and as it did, the repetition of so many insipid commercials really began to grind away on the nerves. For instance, all of the car commercials where there is the legal disclaimer that it's a professional driver on a closed course and that we shouldn't try this, particularly the one where the car leaves the street and drives up some ramp and jumps onto a speeding train! I'm hoping that the words <em>"Cars can't jump on trains" </em>is meant to be an attempt at humor. But then, I'm not too sure about that. Can there really be people who think that cars <em>really</em> can jump on tops of trains?<em><br /></em></div>
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Then there's those overdone, annoying commercials featuring young kids. You know, the kids who are maybe twelve years old at the most, lamenting about how tough they had it when they were young and not having the same technology as today's youngsters. Or the one for a certain communications provider, featuring an adult sitting at a round table surrounded by little kids who say off-the-wall things and blatant nonsensical utterances. OK, the concept was cute and funny the first million times it was shown, but it's time to move on.</div>
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And would someone please clue me in as to the significance of the bathtubs in the commercial for the product that helps correct the problem of male erectile dysfunction? Why are they in separate tubs? Wouldn't it be more practical to have them both in one? Curious.</div>
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And finally, aside from the constant droning of the commercials, there are the broadcasts of the sporting events themselves. Aside from many smarmy play-by-play guys who blather on and say nothing, there are the cute female sideline reporters whose job it is to try to interview a player or coach <strong><em>immediately</em> </strong>at the end of a half or at the conclusion of the game. This can't really be that important, seeing as though players and coaches generally are either over-the-top joyous for having won, or they are bordering on insanity because they lost the contest! Either way, they have nothing much to add to the game viewing.</div>
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A real gem of an example of this very thing occurred at the end of the Seattle victory earlier today, when a Seattle player made quite a classless spectacle of himself. These on-the-field interviews aren't needed, but they'll be there forever. Alas!</div>
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All in all, it was a fine afternoon and evening, but I have to mutter and grouse about things every now and then, and I guess today was the day for doing so. It would seem that I spent just a bit too much time tuned in today. Back to writing and work on the novel in the morning. Nothing to grouse about there! Have a good week, all…<em><strong>MLA</strong></em></div>
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MLAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08876228076484705595noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-788311758228398777.post-14858903139488754052014-01-18T08:26:00.000-06:002014-01-18T08:26:06.615-06:00Sit right down and write a letter!<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 23px;">
Last weekend, with the break in the weather--the milder temperatures and melting snow--I set out to unplug our outdoor Christmas lights on the back deck and those out on the tall evergreen in the far corner of the yard.</div>
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Since the dwindling snow made it rather easy to get out and about, it was pretty simple to roll up each of the orange extension cords and get them dried out in the garage until it will be time to return them to their designated Rubber Maid storage container for another year. The lights themselves will come down soon, but now they rest out there, dark and lonely.</div>
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<dt class="wp-caption-dt" style="font-weight: bold;"><a data-mce-href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/36387370@N00/4718577296" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/36387370@N00/4718577296" style="color: #990000; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><img alt="POTD - heavy duty extension cord (basement pho..." class="zemanta-img-inserted zemanta-img-configured" data-mce-src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4014/4718577296_1954496381_n.jpg" height="320" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4014/4718577296_1954496381_n.jpg" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgb(204, 204, 204) 4px 4px 12px; -webkit-user-drag: none; border-color: rgb(221, 221, 221) rgb(204, 204, 204) rgb(204, 204, 204) rgb(221, 221, 221); border-style: solid; border-width: 1px; box-shadow: rgb(204, 204, 204) 4px 4px 12px; cursor: default; display: block; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 3px; position: relative;" title="POTD - heavy duty extension cord (basement pho..." width="240" /></a></dt>
<dd class="wp-caption-dd zemanta-img-attribution" style="font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; padding: 10px 0px 5px 20px; position: relative; text-align: left;">POTD - heavy duty extension cord (basement photo so it must be a Sunday) (Photo credit: amyvdh)</dd></dl>
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It didn't take me long, that little task, but it got me to thinking about how quickly our holiday celebrations come and go, passing into memory almost before we realize it. And I then began to recall the past few weeks and the wonderful gifts of having our kids and grandkids around, if but for a very short time to help us celebrate the season.</div>
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And so the "dismantling" of Christmas has begun and besides all of the taking down and putting away, there remains one other major ritual: Writing post-Christmas letters, thanking one and all for the thoughtful gifts, spending time with us, and sharing their holiday spirit in doing so.</div>
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For as long as I can remember, I have been an avid letter writer, and I've always felt that there is no better time than after the Christmas holiday to write and send letters from the heart--the old-fashioned way! No, I don't mean handwritten by pen (my penmanship is frightful!) but typed out, printed, sealed in an envelope, postage stamp attached, and dropped in the post office to be sent on their merry way.</div>
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In this age of instant messaging, texting, and e-mail, most people fail to see much value in old-fashioned letter writing any more. But I'm <strong><em>not</em> </strong>one of them. Receiving a written letter in the mail from a friend or relative has always been one of life's greatest joys for me.</div>
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I must admit that I love all of the modern technology that has made texting, e-mail, cell phones, and other forms of social networking so readily available in our lives. Yet, all of this, I'm pretty sure, has pretty much rendered the practice of letter writing a forgotten art form. Perhaps one of the most disturbing things that speaks to the current state of communication is that many people with Facebook, Twitter, texting, and all other forms of social media <em>don't even e-mail anymore! </em>To say the least, it makes me wonder where we're going in our ways of communicating.</div>
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Still, I often write letters to friends and relatives for their birthdays, anniversaries, or to wish them congratulations for some achievement, <em>get well </em>wishes, or simply to send along family updates. And I know the chances of receiving any kind of reply or acknowledgement that my letter was received are pretty slim. Yet, I take great satisfaction in the simple act of taking the time to write and mail the letter.</div>
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And so I must ask: <em>Readers, what are your feelings about the art of letter writing? Is there a place for it in our world of human communication?</em> <em>Or am I just romanticizing about a lost art from a lost time?</em></div>
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<dt class="wp-caption-dt" style="font-weight: bold;"><a data-mce-href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/25053835@N03/2550236041" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/25053835@N03/2550236041" style="color: #990000; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><img alt="Letter Carrier Delivering Mail" class="zemanta-img-inserted zemanta-img-configured" data-mce-src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3047/2550236041_8bf541147e_n.jpg" height="320" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3047/2550236041_8bf541147e_n.jpg" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgb(204, 204, 204) 4px 4px 12px; -webkit-user-drag: none; border-color: rgb(221, 221, 221) rgb(204, 204, 204) rgb(204, 204, 204) rgb(221, 221, 221); border-style: solid; border-width: 1px; box-shadow: rgb(204, 204, 204) 4px 4px 12px; cursor: default; display: block; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 3px; position: relative;" title="Letter Carrier Delivering Mail" width="232" /></a></dt>
<dd class="wp-caption-dd zemanta-img-attribution" style="font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; padding: 10px 0px 5px 20px; position: relative; text-align: left;">Letter Carrier Delivering Mail (Photo credit: Smithsonian Institution)</dd></dl>
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In some small way, I'll do my very best to keep the practice of letter writing alive. If anyone reading feels as I do, and would like to correspond via the "old-fashioned" way, mention so in the comments section, and we can get the ball rolling.</div>
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This idea kind of brings back memories from long-ago school days when we'd have Pen Pals. Now, as back then, it would be a fun, learning experience. Regardless, if nothing else, take some time and write a letter to someone soon. It's a good feeling--for sender <em>and</em> receiver! :-)….<strong><em>MLA</em></strong></div>
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*Note: On my "Must Read" list is a new book by Simon Garfield titled <em>To the Letter: A Celebration of the Lost Art of Letter Writing </em>(Gotham Books)</div>
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MLAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08876228076484705595noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-788311758228398777.post-41868996714313241702014-01-06T11:46:00.000-06:002014-01-06T11:46:10.461-06:00Home…Safe & Warm<div class="mceTemp" style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Home…I</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">t’s certainly good to be back at my familiar cluttered writing desk after a couple of weeks away from the </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">regular routine of working on my books and blog posts. Our trip to Michigan and Ohio was good, and we managed to travel on days when the weather was cooperative. And the drive back across northern Ohio and Indiana was without problems, unlike it would be had we waited one more day to head for home.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">The Polar Vortex has descended upon us, and, at this writing, it’s a mere −17°, and if it’s any consolation, this is as cold as it’s going to get. We had significant snow during the last two days, but it has moved out, leaving clear skies and bright sunshine—and these sub-frigid temperatures—in its wake. Fortunately, it won’t stay this way for long as it’s going to gradually warm up throughout this week. Tomorrow, for example, it’s supposed to be 7° and even reach above freezing by the weekend.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">On mornings such as this, I realize just how fortunate I am to have this wonderfully warm and comfortable house, plenty of food and drink, and this cluttered writing desk with my trusty old MacBook doing what it does best. I also think of those who have nothing, or very little, and are struggling to survive this dangerous condition.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Makes one wish there was something that could be done immediately to ease their plight. Even two tiny birds struggled past my window a few minutes ago, no doubt seeking some kind of shelter from this arctic day, and I can’t be sure if they will succeed in doing so since, for them, there’s just no place to go!</span></div>
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<dt class="wp-caption-dt" style="font-weight: bold;"><a data-mce-href="http://cortlandwriter.files.wordpress.com/2012/12/cropped-100_3643.jpg" href="http://cortlandwriter.files.wordpress.com/2012/12/cropped-100_3643.jpg" style="color: #990000; text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><img alt="cropped-100_3643.jpg" class=" wp-image-1429 " data-mce-src="http://cortlandwriter.files.wordpress.com/2012/12/cropped-100_3643.jpg?w=300" height="67" src="http://cortlandwriter.files.wordpress.com/2012/12/cropped-100_3643.jpg?w=300" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgb(204, 204, 204) 4px 4px 12px; -webkit-user-drag: none; border-color: rgb(221, 221, 221) rgb(204, 204, 204) rgb(204, 204, 204) rgb(221, 221, 221); border-style: solid; border-width: 1px; box-shadow: rgb(204, 204, 204) 4px 4px 12px; cursor: default; display: block; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 3px; position: relative; text-align: left;" width="300" /></span></a></dt>
<dd class="wp-caption-dd" style="line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; padding: 10px 0px 5px 20px; position: relative; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Winter from our back deck</span></dd></dl>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">So I will spend much of today getting caught up here and continue the revisions and edits for <i>The Bet</i>. I will check the blogs I follow to gain some further inspiration. And I will be thankful for being inside, warm and safe. I hope the same for all who read this. Be careful…<b><i>MLA</i></b></span></div>
MLAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08876228076484705595noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-788311758228398777.post-49248894971426747462013-12-30T12:58:00.000-06:002013-12-30T13:05:21.109-06:00Kindle edition ready at last!<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 23px;">
A quick post today to announce that my first novel, <strong><em>Black Wolf Lodge</em></strong> published in November of 2010, is finally available in Kindle format on Amazon (<a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HJXPWAY">http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HJXPWAY</a>).<a data-mce-href="http://cortlandwriter.files.wordpress.com/2013/12/51yhiseyfgl-_bo2204203200_pisitb-sticker-arrow-clicktopright35-76_aa278_pikin4bottomright-6922_aa300_sh20_ou01_.jpg" href="http://cortlandwriter.files.wordpress.com/2013/12/51yhiseyfgl-_bo2204203200_pisitb-sticker-arrow-clicktopright35-76_aa278_pikin4bottomright-6922_aa300_sh20_ou01_.jpg" style="color: #990000; text-decoration: none;"><img alt="51YHISeyfGL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA278_PIkin4,BottomRight,-69,22_AA300_SH20_OU01_" class="alignright size-full wp-image-2751" data-mce-src="http://cortlandwriter.files.wordpress.com/2013/12/51yhiseyfgl-_bo2204203200_pisitb-sticker-arrow-clicktopright35-76_aa278_pikin4bottomright-6922_aa300_sh20_ou01_.jpg" height="300" src="http://cortlandwriter.files.wordpress.com/2013/12/51yhiseyfgl-_bo2204203200_pisitb-sticker-arrow-clicktopright35-76_aa278_pikin4bottomright-6922_aa300_sh20_ou01_.jpg" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgb(204, 204, 204) 4px 4px 12px; border-color: rgb(221, 221, 221) rgb(204, 204, 204) rgb(204, 204, 204) rgb(221, 221, 221); border-style: solid; border-width: 1px; box-shadow: rgb(204, 204, 204) 4px 4px 12px; display: inline; float: right; height: auto; margin-bottom: 1.625em; margin-left: 1.625em; margin-top: 0.5em; max-width: 100%; padding: 3px; position: relative; width: auto;" width="300" /></a><span data-mce-style="font-style: inherit; line-height: 1.625;" style="font-style: inherit; line-height: 1.625;"><br /></span></div>
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There's really no reason why it has taken so long, but thanks to Scrivener, it's all ready now--very affordable--with a much better cover than the original paperback edition. Thanks for considering giving it a read!</div>
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I will be back on a regular basis following the holiday festivities and travels and look forward to hearing from one and all. Happy New Year, friends…<em><strong>MLA</strong></em></div>
MLAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08876228076484705595noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-788311758228398777.post-64326110015740765612013-12-22T10:24:00.000-06:002013-12-22T10:24:42.637-06:002013-Discovering many wonderful things…<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 23px;">
Late December is here—almost Christmas—and the snow falls outside. Much yet <a data-mce-href="http://cortlandwriter.files.wordpress.com/2013/12/photo.jpg" href="http://cortlandwriter.files.wordpress.com/2013/12/photo.jpg" style="color: #990000; text-decoration: none;"><img alt="photo" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-2748" data-mce-src="http://cortlandwriter.files.wordpress.com/2013/12/photo-e1387729022510.jpg?w=224" height="300" src="http://cortlandwriter.files.wordpress.com/2013/12/photo-e1387729022510.jpg?w=224" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgb(204, 204, 204) 4px 4px 12px; border-color: rgb(221, 221, 221) rgb(204, 204, 204) rgb(204, 204, 204) rgb(221, 221, 221); border-style: solid; border-width: 1px; box-shadow: rgb(204, 204, 204) 4px 4px 12px; cursor: default; display: inline; float: right; height: auto; margin-bottom: 1.625em; margin-left: 1.625em; margin-top: 0.5em; max-width: 100%; padding: 3px; position: relative;" width="224" /></a>remains to be completed on the revising and editing of <i>The Bet</i>, my current novel I’m hoping to publish soon, but I’m making progress on that all the same. Just need to get through the busy days ahead and get back on track once again. No excuses…just fact!</div>
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2013 has certainly been a year filled with many highlights for me. Meeting several new friends in the blogging world and in various other online communities has been fun and rewarding. I have truly enjoyed sharing common interests—particularly the love of words and writing—with a wide array of folks “out there” in the blogosphere. Reading their many thoughts and ideas, I usually learn something and actually feel that I’m a better writer after doing so. At least I hope that I am better when I post my own thoughts and ideas, striving to be as interesting and “readable” as those I read and follow.</div>
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The best thing that happened to my writing this year, though, was my discovery of, and immersion into, the world of <i>Scrivener</i>, a fantastic tool for writers! At first, I had very little idea what it was all about or how it really worked. Fortunately, however, I found Gwen Hernandez’s <i>Scrivener for Dummies</i> and spent February and March taking her online course <i>Scrivener for Mac</i>, and the rest is history, if I may throw out a hackneyed cliché.</div>
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Cliché aside, <i>Scrivener</i> has made my writing—novels and blogs—more organized, and the whole process much easier. Using <i>Scrivener</i> to write my novel for NaNoWriMo in November was a fun and well-organized, challenging experience. Of course, when creating my stories, I still have to come up with the right words that will successfully tell the tale, but <i>Scrivener</i>, from Literature & Latte, helps me do so. Without a doubt, it has become my best friend when I’m wearing my writer’s hat! Anyone reading this, who has not tried <i>Scrivener</i>, should do so and take advantage of the 30-day free trial. It would make for a wonderful last-minute Christmas gift as well.</div>
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<dt class="wp-caption-dt" style="font-weight: bold;"><a data-mce-href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Merry_Christmas_n_Happy_New_Year.jpg" href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Merry_Christmas_n_Happy_New_Year.jpg" style="color: #990000; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><img alt="English: merry christmas" class="zemanta-img-inserted zemanta-img-configured" data-mce-src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/37/Merry_Christmas_n_Happy_New_Year.jpg/300px-Merry_Christmas_n_Happy_New_Year.jpg" height="335" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/37/Merry_Christmas_n_Happy_New_Year.jpg/300px-Merry_Christmas_n_Happy_New_Year.jpg" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgb(204, 204, 204) 4px 4px 12px; -webkit-user-drag: none; border-color: rgb(221, 221, 221) rgb(204, 204, 204) rgb(204, 204, 204) rgb(221, 221, 221); border-style: solid; border-width: 1px; box-shadow: rgb(204, 204, 204) 4px 4px 12px; cursor: default; display: block; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 3px; position: relative;" title="English: merry christmas" width="300" /></a></dt>
<dd class="wp-caption-dd zemanta-img-attribution" style="font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; padding: 10px 0px 5px 20px; position: relative; text-align: left;">English: merry christmas (Photo credit: Wikipedia)</dd></dl>
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So on this snowy morning here in northern Illinois, I send good wishes to all readers and fellow writers who, like me, need to get back to work on writing, revising, and editing. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! May 2013 close out warm and happy for you all, and 2014 hold many wonderful and exciting adventures every day.…<b><i>MLA</i></b></div>
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<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a data-mce-href="http://mikecoville.wordpress.com/2013/11/08/scrivener-after-1-week-of-nanowrimo/" href="http://mikecoville.wordpress.com/2013/11/08/scrivener-after-1-week-of-nanowrimo/" style="color: #990000; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">#Scrivener after 1 week of #NaNoWriMo</a> (mikecoville.wordpress.com)</li>
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<br />MLAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08876228076484705595noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-788311758228398777.post-3890508343495984172013-12-07T11:28:00.000-06:002013-12-07T11:28:04.282-06:00A Season to Write…<div class="mceTemp" style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 19px;">
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<dt class="wp-caption-dt" style="font-weight: bold;"><a data-mce-href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:A_cold_day_in_December%5E_-_geograph.org.uk_-_633104.jpg" href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:A_cold_day_in_December%5E_-_geograph.org.uk_-_633104.jpg" style="color: #990000; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><img alt="English: A cold day in December!" class="zemanta-img-inserted zemanta-img-configured" data-mce-src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f3/A_cold_day_in_December%5E_-_geograph.org.uk_-_633104.jpg/300px-A_cold_day_in_December%5E_-_geograph.org.uk_-_633104.jpg" height="225" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f3/A_cold_day_in_December%5E_-_geograph.org.uk_-_633104.jpg/300px-A_cold_day_in_December%5E_-_geograph.org.uk_-_633104.jpg" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgb(204, 204, 204) 4px 4px 12px; -webkit-user-drag: none; border-color: rgb(221, 221, 221) rgb(204, 204, 204) rgb(204, 204, 204) rgb(221, 221, 221); border-style: solid; border-width: 1px; box-shadow: rgb(204, 204, 204) 4px 4px 12px; cursor: default; display: block; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 3px; position: relative;" title="English: A cold day in December!" width="300" /></a></dt>
<dd class="wp-caption-dd zemanta-img-attribution" style="font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; padding: 10px 0px 5px 20px; position: relative; text-align: left;">English: A cold day in December! (Photo credit: Wikipedia)</dd></dl>
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It's cold, and it's good to be inside! Sage words, I know, but winter has definitely crept in and it's the perfect time to get that revising/editing completed on the novel before too many more days fly off the calendar.</div>
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NaNoWriMo has come and gone, and I've read a lot of summaries and testimonials by fellow writers this past week regarding the levels of success attained during that most hectic November. </div>
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For the most part, no one seems to feel as though they failed, even though they may not have reached the 50,000 word target. Most felt that the process of building a draft, albeit short of the "winning" word count, was what really mattered.</div>
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I stopped at just over 52,000 words, yet the novel is <em>not</em> complete. As those other writers did, I found the experience of getting a novel that far along to be worth every minute and hour I invested during November. Like them, I now have a solid first draft that needs a conclusion. But that's for later this winter and spring. Again, that is the true beauty that is NaNoWriMo.</div>
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Right now, though, it's time to get serious once again and put this year's NaNo creation away--let it sleep and mellow--and knock the cobwebs off <strong><em>The</em></strong><em><strong> Bet</strong>, </em>my next novel to be published. This novel is the one I knocked out in NaNoWriMo 2012 and worked on finishing up over the summer and early fall. Now, I'm in the revising/editing/polishing phase and eager to be finished with it and have it ready for publication before the end of the year. And, as I've written about previously, I really have no other excuses now since November with all of its "interruptions" has fled the scene.</div>
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December, with the advent of cold and inclement weather, is certainly one of my favorite times to get work done. My ideal time to write/revise/edit/polish is when it's mean outside and quiet and comfy inside, with calm and pleasant beautiful music in my ear buds. Even though the sun is shining brightly on this Saturday morning, the temperature is not going to climb out of the 'teens, so it's one of those "ideal" times to be inspired to work on the novel that patiently awaits in my <em>Scrivener</em> projects folder.</div>
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<dt class="wp-caption-dt" style="font-weight: bold;"><a data-mce-href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Scrivener_Logo.png" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Scrivener_Logo.png" style="color: #990000; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><img alt="Scrivener (software)" class="zemanta-img-inserted zemanta-img-configured" data-mce-src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/15/Scrivener_Logo.png" height="128" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/15/Scrivener_Logo.png" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgb(204, 204, 204) 4px 4px 12px; -webkit-user-drag: none; border-color: rgb(221, 221, 221) rgb(204, 204, 204) rgb(204, 204, 204) rgb(221, 221, 221); border-style: solid; border-width: 1px; box-shadow: rgb(204, 204, 204) 4px 4px 12px; cursor: default; display: block; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 3px; position: relative;" title="Scrivener (software)" width="128" /></a></dt>
<dd class="wp-caption-dd zemanta-img-attribution" style="font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 0.6em; padding: 10px 0px 5px 20px; position: relative; text-align: left;">Scrivener (software) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)</dd></dl>
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One of the many positives that came from the month-long grind of NaNoWriMo is that there was no time to think about <em><strong>The</strong><strong> Bet</strong></em>. It was forced into that "sleeping and mellowing" stage, away from my eyes, where I might have been tempted to jump back in to tinker with the plot, characters, or setting and distract me from work on this year's NaNoWriMo novel.</div>
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But now that NaNoWriMo is finished, I have re-awakened the story after a month's hiatus, and much of what I was growing weary with has taken on a fresh, new look, and I have already seen ways to make the whole novel better. Thus, I'm finding the rewriting/revising to actually be kind of fun for a change!</div>
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Now, all we need are some gray skies, some swirling snow, and a wonderful sense of shelter inside where it's warm and comfy. That would be truly ideal writing weather! Without a doubt, I don't think I'll have to wait too long for that weather to arrive if current forecasts are correct. Can't wait!</div>
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Anyone else feel the same way? Happy revising, all…<em><strong>MLA</strong></em></div>
MLAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08876228076484705595noreply@blogger.com0