Month: August 2017

Round two of editing on my manuscript starts this week. I planned on working on the edits on Friday using the electronic file and the built in features of Microsoft Word, but soon realized it’s easier for me to print it, make the changes on a clean file and check off each needed change on the printout. I continue to get one step closer to being a published author.

I’ve been in contact with a videographer in Morgan City, Louisiana, these past few weeks. He’s working diligently to find a house to be Bill’s Cajun House of Pleasure and a swamp canal. The book trailer I have in my mind is wonderful. I can’t wait to share it with you. It’s just a teaser right now, as it probably won’t be done until early next year.

History happens tomorrow with the solar eclipse across the United States. I hope you will find a way to experience this phenomenon. Remember to have your eclipse glasses, not sunglasses, with you tomorrow afternoon. When it’s over, please share your experience with me on my Facebook page. After all, history doesn’t write itself.

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What I’m Reading – Many readers I know like to inquire what their favorite author is reading. At the end of each blog post, I’ll let you know what book I have my nose in. I may not be a published author yet, but I hope my choice of reading material inspires you to read. I’m still reading The Prophecy Con by Patrick Weeks but will finish it this week.  I encourage you to read a variety of topics.

 

Critique groups can be amazingly fun. You have to be in the right mindset and not take the feedback personally. The members are there to help you improve your craft. Saturday afternoon I had a very good session, including conversing with a new member. She offered to let peruse some books she has on medieval history. Not only do you receive good feedback from a critique group, you might also get the one bit of information you need to make your writing soar.

I’m a member of two groups, and I enjoy them both. But there is more to writing than just critique groups. There are workshops, conventions, seminars, and retreats. I believe the more you surround yourself with writing events, the better writer you’ll be. It also gives you a leg up on marketing. If you can get your critique group, your workshop peers, and convention goers interested in your book, there’s a better chance they will buy it. Networking is very important to an author. I hope you strive for that in your journey to be a writer.

Finally, a few historical anniversaries to mention for today. Hernando Cortez captures Aztec Emperor Cuauhtemoc Tenochtitlan in 1521, ending the Aztec empire. 90-year-old Florence Nightingale died 107 years ago. In 1941 Ford unveiled a plastic automobile. Twenty years later, the Russians put up a fence around East Berlin. The wall eventually replaced the fence. All these things and more happened today in history. Somebody wrote them down. After all, history doesn’t write itself.

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What I’m Reading – Many readers I know like to inquire what their favorite author is reading. At the end of each blog post, I’ll let you know what book I have my nose in. I may not be a published author yet, but I hope my choice of reading material inspires you to read. I’m reading The Prophecy Con by Patrick Weeks.  I encourage you to read a variety of topics.

 

Well, another week has gone by according to my calendar. School starts soon and hopefully the students will be interested in history. Two historical events happened this week: Thursday was the 525 anniversary of Christopher Columbus setting sail from Spain and today is the 72 anniversary of dropping the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. The anniversary of the Nagasaki bomb drop is this week and end of World War II comes next week. I believe all would agree these are big events in history. However, history doesn’t write itself.

It took Columbus over two months to reach the Bahamas. Can you imagine a two-month cruise in a small wooden boat? Granted the carrack (Santa Maria) and the caravels (Nina and Pinta) were large boats, but compared to today’s cruise lines, they look like a dingy. I saw a replica of one of them in Fort Smith, Arkansas a few years ago and was surprised at how small the ships were. The Santa Maria had a crew of forty. These three ships made an incredible journey that changed the world.

The Enola Gay, a B-29, dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. Taking off from North Field, Tinian, the crew flew six hours before reaching Hiroshima. The bomb dropped at 8:15 in the morning. After dropping the weapon, the Enola Gay stayed in the area but still felt the shockwave from the blast at eleven and a half miles away. Up to 80,000 people died when the explosion occurred. A blast that changed the world.

Many more historical events happened in early August, but I chose these two for you to ponder this week. What will you discover about history this week? It doesn’t write itself, you know.

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What I’m Reading – Many readers I know like to inquire what their favorite author is reading. At the end of each blog post, I’ll let you know what book I have my nose in. I may not be a published author yet, but I hope my choice of reading material inspires you to read. I’m reading The Prophecy Con by Patrick Weeks.  I encourage you to read a variety of topics.