Going to Book 'Em!

I've been getting ready to participate in Book 'Em this Saturday. It's an event held in Lumberton at Robeson Community College featuring lots of authors, panels, and book sales. I've gone before, but this year I will be a participant and have a table to display and sell my books. Part of the earnings will go to Book 'Em's literacy program. The idea is to Educate, not Incarcerate. In other words, a youth who reads is less likely to get into trouble.

Getting ready doesn't mean making sure I have books to sell, although that is probably the most important. I need to get people to stop at my table. So I am handing out bookmarks, and little bags of candy that include information about my books. I need signage, so I printed out some signs and now I need something to display them on, like a small easel. I think I have some somewhere... oh, and a tablecloth.

I'm so afraid of forgetting something. It isn't as if I can make the hour and a half trip back home to fetch it! A camera? Good idea.

What I like is I don't have to worry about making change. Volunteers do all the checking out. I hope my biggest problem will be deciding what to write if someone asks me to autograph their purchase.

This is a bigger problem than you might suppose. I have seen other authors post that they have no idea what to write besides their  name. Inspirational authors write Bible verses. I usually end up writing something stupid/silly and wish I could grab the book back and say, "No, no, let me do that again."

As you can tell, I'm both nervous and excited. It's one thing to do a booksigning at the local library or arts council when you know everyone and they are already disposed to be kind. It's another to have someone pick up your book and toss it back on the table in disinterest.

It's like someone looking in the buggy and saying, "My, what an ugly baby!"

Won't happen, of course. People who love books enough to come to a book fair are generally fun to meet and talk to.

And I'm looking forward to meeting lots of readers, and hopefully gain them as fans.

Wish me luck!

When enough is too much

We thought we had dodged the bullet as far as winter weather was concerned. But last night we got a taste of what everyone up north and out west has been suffering, but instead of snow we got freezing rain and sleet. (Jim swears there was a little snow in the mix.)

I can't say we suffered because our power did not go off, although it is off in other parts of the county. The sidewalks and roads were icy this morning but we did not need to go anywhere.

The schools were closed and I just got a reverse 911 call that one of the schools has been opened as a shelter. I couldn't  help but remember the photos I've seen of snowdrifts up in New England. Those folks couldn't get out of their houses to go to a shelter if they wanted to.

Fifteen years ago we did get snow, sixteen inches if I recall the official number. We were snowed in for a week and were without power most of that time. Luckily we had a generator, propane camp stove and lantern, and lots of candles. We had gas logs in the fireplace. So we stayed warm, could heat up soup and coffee, and even read or play Solitaire with a deck of cards.

Since then, we removed the tank to the fireplace logs and I don't know what happened to the generator. We still have candles and the propane lantern and camp stove, which we got out in preparation. Luckily, we didn't need them.

I suppose Mother Nature has to remind us once in awhile who is in charge. Still, my sympathy goes out to those who are snowed in and without electricity. I hope they were better prepared than we were and have heat or are able to get to a shelter.

A little snow and ice gives us a fairyland of glitter and awe. Too much, and it's a catastrophe.

I think I join millions of others in wishing for an early spring.

The virtual mailbox

I worked on a newsletter today and I am about ready to go put my feet up.

Years ago, when I was doing newsletters for some organizations I belonged to (and still belong to some) I did them in Adobe PageMaker and then printed them out and mailed them. I felt a great sense of accomplishment when I finally learned how to set up a data base and print out the address labels.

Later on, I learned to design the newsletter in Word and then I could attach it to an email and send it out into the ether where it miraculously ended up in people's mailboxes. The ones on their computer, of course, not the one at the end of their driveway. This was after more people got computers and email accounts. For awhile I was emailing some and snail mailing the rest. By now, though, most people have email.

But then people upgraded on got different versions of Word or didn't have Word at all but some other word processing program. Not everyone could open the newsletter, so I learned to convert it to a .pdf and send it that way.

Recently, a suggestion was made that I send the newsletter via Mail Chimp. This program allows you to select a template and fill the blanks with your articles and pictures and then send it, not as an attachment, but in the body of the newsletter. Everyone can get it and they don't have to open or download a file.

Simple.

Except I forget from one month to the next how to do it. Today I thought I was finished three times and three times my work got all messed up or disappeared completely.Then I remembered, duh, how I did last month's. I'm going to write it down so I don't forget next month.

Old dogs can learn new tricks, it just takes us longer.

I can't wait to see what the next new big thing is. I suppose I will have to learn to send the darn thing by mental telepathy.

What I do when I should be writing

I love Facebook. I know some people hate it, but when there is nothing on TV, I like to scroll down and watch informational videos.

I mean, if I didn't look at Facebook I would never have known the marshmallow farmers in North Carolina are in trouble because of all this rain:

But I mostly like cat photos. There are lots and lots of cat photos and videos. I like the one where the chubby cats try to squeeze themselves into tiny boxes.

Yes, I'm easily amused.

My youngest son's cats, Moe and Odie, have their own Facebook page. He takes photos of his two cats and they are adorable.

Now, I happen to own the mother of one of those cats, so I have a proprietary interest. So I have been attempting to take a picture of her doing something cute and photogenic.

The trouble is, what she does best is sleep beneath our bed. It's a little hard to get a good shot and the best I've gotten is two scary eyes glowing from under the box springs.

There are two morals to this story:

I am not ever going to be famous on Facebook for my cute cat videos.

I am wasting too much time on Facebook.

Have a great week!

New Year's Resolutions...nah.

It's that time again. Christmas is over, the cookies eaten, The gifts and decorations put away, and the tree taken to the recyle center (if real) or back in its box (if artificial).

We had a wonderful time in St. Simons, Georgia, with family. The grandkids are all teenagers now, so there was no need to entertain them or drag them places. We got to do what we like best, which is to settle back with a good book and nibble. The entire length of the shelf in the kitchen was laden with cookies, candy, cake, and snacks of every kind. 

So after all the indulging, I suppose the next sentence should be "In 2015 I resolve to stick to my diet..."

Not so. In fact, although I enjoyed the goodies, a long walk on the beach whenever the sun shone (which was rare) took care of the extra calories. I came home weighing the same as I did when I left. And since I hit my doctor's recommended weight some time ago and have managed to keep it off, the only diet I'm looking at is eating smarter, not less. and I don't need a resolution for that.

I could resolve to write more, but honestly, I'm writing as fast as I can. I wrote seven pages yesterday, which doesn't seem like much except I had to stop every other sentence to look something up. Even fantasy needs research if it is to sound at all probable.

So what I do resolve is to treat people a little more kindly, to love my family a little more deeply, and to follow God's plan for me wherever it may lead.

Happy New Year!

  

Christmas - who won?

We watched a show last night about people vying to win a prize for the most outstanding Christmas decorations in their house and yard. To say I was flabbergasted is putting it mildly. Two million lights? Hundreds of Disney cutouts? Eight acres of lights and scenes?

Some people take Christmas much too seriously. Even though they say it's "fun" it looked to me like months of hard work just to make their neighbors smile.

Or snarl, if you'd like to sleep at night and can't what with the flashing colored lights and Christmas carols blared out over a loudspeaker.

Another sign of overload is people going into debt for their foreseeable future by buying 52-inch televisions and the latest electronic game players for their kids.

Is this what Christmas has come to? Each year has to be bigger, better, and more expensive?

I challenge you to remember the best Christmas gift you ever received as a child. Maybe something stands out, like a new bike or your own radio (assuming you were a child before cell phones and computers).

I can't remember what was under the tree, but I remember the fun we had decorating it. I remember making paper chains with red and green construction paper and paste made of flour and water. And the year we tried to string popcorn using needle and thread and ending up eating most of it.

I remember coming home from school to the warm aroma of cinnamon and ginger and brown sugar, and seeing the cookies laid on a clean towel, waiting to be iced and sprinkled with colored sugar.

I remember leaving church on Christmas Eve and the stars overhead illuminating the snow that crunched under our feet. Diamonds above and below, a better light show than any electric or LED bulbs.

When did celebrating Christmas become a contest?

When did we forget the simplicity of the first Christmas and its setting? No colored lights there, just the rays of a single star.

Topsy-turvy

What happened?

The weather was perfect with clear Carolina blue skies and balmy temperatures. The trees displayed a palette of red, gold, orange, and yellow.

Then I woke up to dull gray skies and wet, muddy ground covered with damp and soggy leaves. And it is cold! I had to dig out my winter coat.

It can't be winter yet! Winter doesn't officially start until December 21.

But weather doesn't follow a calendar. I have to remember that for half the world, December heralds the lovely days of Spring -- that is, if you identify Spring by warm breezes and flowers popping out of the ground. Which they are, in Australia and South Africa and South America.

I can accept that winter is approaching in my part of the world, because that means holidays, namely Thanksgiving and Christmas. Of course, they celebrate those holidays in the southern hemisphere, too. But I can't imagine saying, "Oh, the forsythia is in bloom -- Thanksgiving must be just around the corner!"

Thanksgiving has to be celebrated on a day when you can see your breath when you step outside, not robins.

And what is Christmas without snow? Not that we get many white Christmases in the South, but there is always that tantalizing hope that this year will see the flakes spiraling down on Christmas Eve.

So I'm not complaining. The old Earth is going to turn and as it does, the seasons will come and go, and the bright blue skies will return. The thing is to enjoy each season while you are in it.

Even if it's raining and cold.

Because then you get to wear your new sweater and drink hot chocolate in front of the fireplace.

And you can't do that in July.