Accomplishments....

Due to a deal for a limited time at Lulu, I was able to purchase a test copy of my book right away. I used a promotional code to get a free copy of Second Thoughts, and only had to pay for shipping and handling. The deal runs from June 14th-July 31st, 2011, and is an incentive for authors to finish up and publish a manuscript they've been working on for whatever amount of time. I chose the cheapest shipping due to my finances, so it would take 5-15 days to get to me. I'm hoping it's sooner rather than later.

I was also able to fix my manuscript the way I wanted it, and previewed what it would look like after I uploaded it to Lulu. It turns out the alignment I needed to fix was a problem in the file conversion when I uploaded the manuscript. Everything's the way I want it, the book cover included, so I should be able to approve it for sale as soon as I receive the book in the mail.

I already have people chomping at the bit to buy a copy for me to autograph! They'll just have to wait a little bit longer!

I also need to print a retraction regarding the post-it note feature of Windows 7. It will save the note if you tell it to. When you go to close the note, a dialog box pops up asking you if you want to delete the note entirely. If you say no, it keeps the note the way it is and pops it back up whenever you open the program again. That's just something new I learned, and tested out for myself.

Endeavors....

It's about two in the morning, but I just got done fixing my manuscript the way I want it. Then I came online and found out about July Novel Writing Month starting this Friday, and took some time to sign up for that, too. I already have a head start with a new story I've been working on, so the time I'm going to be away from home, I'll use to find some free time to sit quietly and write in a notebook. I'll be out of town for a few days, but I was thinking about printing out what I have of the story so far, and taking it with me. It's the same story I started writing in November called "The Shepherdess Princess." I was stuck eventually, and was unable to get the allotted 50,000 words they wanted. I ended up stopping at 4,720 words total. That should give me some breathing room.

Anyway, I'll be spending some time on Lulu later getting "Second Thoughts" sorted out, but it could be a while before I can afford to order another test copy.

Slow Going...

I've resubmitted my manuscript to Lulu, but there's still a problem with it. I have my manuscript centered, but when I preview the submission to Lulu, it's all at the top. I remember having to manually center the necessary items in my last poetry book before it would show the pages the way I wanted them. For some reason, it doesn't work when the page is vertically centered automatically. I'll leave some pages the way they look, i.e. the table of contents, the list of other books by the author, and the copyright page. Anyway, it's quite an undertaking because this book is almost double the size of Fateful Firsts which had 131 pages compared to 199 pages in Second Thoughts.

Also, I'll be searching for the original cover design again. I couldn't find the one I just chose, but found one similar to it. I know it's there somewhere, but have other places to look on the site.

I'll spend today working on my manuscript until it's finished, or I become too tired to continue. Wish me luck this time!

I found a quote one of my friends posted on Facebook from Sylvia Plath. Here it is:

"And by the way, everything is writable about if you have the outgoing guts to do it, and the imagination to improvise. The worst enemy of creativity is self-doubt."

I know from experience that self-doubt, and thinking your work is not good enough can hinder the creativity. Since last Wednesday, I've been pondering on this quote whenever I turn on my computer because I have it as a post-it show up on my desktop when I sign in with my password. I love the post-it note feature of Windows 7 for such times as these.

My brother never understands why I use the feature. He asked me about closing the post-it note, but I wouldn't let him. Once it's closed, the note disappears for good until you rewrite it again.

Test Copy Arrived!

My test copy for Second Thoughts: A Collection of Poetry arrived via UPS Friday around 3 pm. By 3 pm Saturday, I had all 199 pages read and edited in spots. After I finish this post, I was going to make the necessary changes to my manuscript and resubmit it to Lulu. I'll have to buy another copy to make sure it looks okay before finally approving the book. I hope to order another copy sometime this week if my finances allow it.

On another note:

I went to my friend's remembrance type ceremony yesterday. A bunch of family and friends gathered for a bonfire in her honor at one of her favorite spots, and took turns spreading some of her ashes. It was a nice gathering, and people seemed to have a little fun despite the reason we were there. We could all feel my friend there in spirit with us. It turned out to be a beautiful day for it followed by a beautiful sunset.

I bought a copy of the local paper today that has her obituary in it. I'll be cutting that out sometime this week, and getting a frame for it to put it up on a memorial wall I've created in my apartment since my dad passed away 1 and 1/2 years ago. I added one of my neighbor's to the wall when she died in April 2010.

Story in progress

I've been working on another short story to add to "Leaving a Legacy of Love," but I have to finish it. There's so much to think about when it comes to writing about the experience.

Update-

This update, sadly, has very little to do with my work in progress. Some of my friends and family know why. One of my friends passed away last Friday, unexpectedly, at 31-years-old at a mutual friend's apartment. Needless to say, it made me start thinking my whole world could be gone in the blink of an eye. My friend who died turned 31 at the beginning of this year, and I'll be turning 31 in October, which struck me pretty hard. She wasn't much older than me.

Her family lived farther away from where she ended up living, so her friends became a second family to her. One of the memories I keep replaying in my head was from one of the last times I helped her out at my old workplace. Before she left for the day, she told me I was like a sister to her. I also think about how happy she was to find the love of her life, and to start saving up the money to plan her wedding. Now, that special event will never happen. Instead of the wedding we were all expecting, a funeral has been put in its place.

I called my mom, and woke her up as soon as I found out the news about my friend. I didn't care that it was one in the morning. My mom immediately asked me, "What's wrong?" when she answered the phone because she knew I'd never call her that late unless it was an emergency. I immediately start bawling my eyes out, and tell her what happened. I was still in shock when I called her, but she was more worried about me because I was so distraught over the phone. I spent most of the weekend afterwards either in a zombiefied state, forcing myself to get things done like going grocery shopping, or crying myself to sleep. The weekend went by like a blur, and I was in an emotional haze the whole time. Even now, the water works are trying to come.

Another Book Published!

Here's the cover of my newest book:

Well after having problems at Write2Life with adding a manuscript for publication, I decided to go back to Lulu to publish my poetry book Second Thoughts: A Collection of Poetry. I researched other self-publishing outfits, but they were more expensive than Lulu.

Getting back to Write2Life, after days of trying I was finally able to add an upload of my manuscript, but whenever I tried to revise or edit I would get an error page which I've been trying to work on for almost a year now.

I have yet to order a test copy needed to approve my book, but it is already listed on my Lulu Storefront: http://stores.lulu.com/store.php?fAcctID=1002159 because it already has general access. Just know, it might not let you order a copy without my approval of the book first. I'll let you know when that's done, so you can order away.

"Leaving a Legacy of Love: One Woman's Journey Through Life"

When I first planned on doing some writing this weekend, I wasn't sure if it would really happen. Most of the time I plan to write, but end up not being able to think of anything to write about. Last night before going to bed, I thought I'd give writing a shot. This entry is the result of that.

For years, I've been working piece by piece on my autobiography. I've entitled it "Leaving a Legacy of Love: One Woman's Journey Through Life." I figured it would be a lifelong project, but I wanted to get some stories down while I was young enough to remember them. Below is the newest addition about my visit to Alaska in 2007:

Part One: Alaska, or Bust!

My church goes on Work and Witness trips every summer to “exotic” places to build churches, and have fun getting to know each other better. In May 2007, the church got a group together to go to Big Lake, Alaska. The church congregation we were sent to help is actually located a few miles from Big Lake in Wasilla/Palmer, Alaska. I’ve wanted to go on such a trip since I started attending the Newport Church of the Nazarene. It’s partly because I’ve always wanted to travel, and partly because I’d be serving God through serving others. When the opportunity presented itself and the timing was right, I jumped at the chance to go.

What was so great about going on this trip was getting to turn a donated strip club into a church and soup kitchen. There is a man in the congregation that owned twelve strip clubs throughout Alaska, and got rid of half of them when he and his wife got saved. The one that got “donated” was actually leased to the church pastor at a very reasonable rate on a rent-to-own basis. The remaining clubs he owned he is slowly selling to the staff, so they could still have a job, and make a profit by owning their own businesses.

It was enjoyable and hard work the entire two weeks my group was there. Everybody on the team, which was thirteen of us, worked their hands at a little bit of everything from carpentry to electrical to installing insulation. I was given jobs that nobody else really wanted, but I did them joyfully because I was serving my Lord. Even the pain and exhaustion at the end of the day left me with a sense of satisfaction for a job well done.

Our group would start each day by getting up at 6 AM, gather for breakfast at 7 AM, and be to the work site by 8 AM where we’d work until lunch, during the lunch we’d have a devotion time and someone would share their testimony, we’d be back to work at 1 PM and stay until 5 PM or so, then back to the campground for dinner.

We weren’t all work and no play. One Saturday, some women got a group together to go shopping in Anchorage for the day. Since I’ve never been big into spending hours shopping, I went along with the other group that had formed to check out the Matanuska Glacier, but that’s another story I’ll be telling later.

One day, I got to go with a husband and wife in the group to check out Happy Trails Kennels, home to Iditarod racer Martin Buser, who kept 75 sled dogs. The place was located just down the road from our campground, so we left work early one day to check it out. That’s another experience to go into more detail about later.

In the end, I didn’t want to leave. I liked Alaska so much I wanted to make it my home. What got me back on the plane was the thought of my family and friends waiting for me back home who were missing me. At the time, I also had a boyfriend I’ve been missing, and a job to return to.