Publishing and Other Odds and Ends

Okay...do I remember how to blog?  It really has been a while, but September has been a very busy month.  I know, excuses, excuses.  But in all honesty, since the last time I posted plenty of things have happened: my sister broke her ankle, I went to Portland to visit her, my husband got a new job, and I wriggled my way through the preliminary steps of publishing Ashford, among other things.


Yes, I'm self-publishing.  A controversial move, but much less so than in the past.  At this point it can't do me any harm, and might do me some good.  The manuscript had been edited and re-edited multiple times, by others and myself, and was starting to build a little fan base.  It's time for it to exist in another form, and it's time for me to learn how to market it.


From the back cover:

Seventeen year old Anna is a naive American orphan, delighted to find herself on a tour of Europe in the spring of 1939.  A feeling of camaraderie with all mankind thrills her as she mingles with throngs of foreigners, but her joy is short-lived.  WWII shatters the world.  As fathers and sons, husbands and brothers dive grimly into the trenches, Anna is left stranded in England, disillusioned and afraid.  However, this worldwide catastrophe may be the perfect catalyst to mature Anna into the brave young woman she longs to be.  Even as the world is shadowed with disaster, Anna finds friends in the kindly Bertram family.  In the midst of all that threatens to tear her world apart, will she find a place to truly belong?

My thanks to Megan Andrews for the back cover description.

The golf season is winding down, and I have to say (surprise!) that I'm ready for it to be over.  It's been a good experience over all, but it's not my world.  People look at me when I speak, and it's like they don't understand the language.  In all fairness, I probably look the same when they start talking about golf.  That world and mine are like oil and vinegar (to borrow a phrase from Anthony Trollope).  Not to say that mine is better or theirs worse.  They just don't fit.

Beverages and Costuming

I just realized that it's been a week and a half since my last post.  In my defense, I've been quite busy this week.  Still...flaky.  I don't have much time now, since I'll be rushing off to work soon.  Beverage cart today (meaning I get to drive around the course serving drinks) and the weather looks like it might rain, or might clear off and be gorgeous.  Oh, wait, I think it is starting to rain.  Good thing I like the rain.  But will the golfers?  That is the question.  I can't say I've ever considered the opinions of golfers so much before, at least, not so much as to think of them whenever a good storm came on.


Here is a photo (taken before our recent show) of us in the costumes I created for one of our dances, Clouds Below Your Knees.

More soon!

Bits and Pieces

So I spent the larger part of the last two (beautiful and sunny) days taking an online course to get my alcohol server's permit for my job at the golf course this summer.  Finishing the last module this morning, and of course now it's rather overcast and threatening rain.  However, it's not actually raining yet, so I might have to go for a walk when I'm finished anyway.  More on the golf course once work actually begins.


Said goodbye to my sister yesterday, as she's leaving for Flight Attendant Training in Salt Lake City.  I'm happy for her, but it's sad to see her go.  It's been great having her close by the last two years.  We really haven't spent so much time together since she was in college. Still, fun to see her off on another adventure.


I feel due for a new adventure myself, and I mean larger in scale than a new job at the golf course, though that might tide me over.  I'm thinking something big, like sailing around the world or ballooning to New Zealand, or something enlightening, like a pilgrimage to Byzantium or a trek across Tibet.


On the writing front, I've been thinking more about self-publishing again, mostly thanks to my friend Kathy, who's been considering it herself and has therefore been sending me information and links to a bunch of different sites.  Not to give up on regular publishing by any means, but it does seem like self-publishing is getting to be more respected.  I'm still querying agents, but I'm also considering my options.  I'm confident enough about my manuscript, after passing it around to a number of people (including a local book group) that I feel I could at least break even on whatever I put into it fairly easily, and then go from there.  After all, it shouldn't hurt my chances of getting a traditional publishing deal later if something came along.  In any case, I'm still doing my research.  I hear tipsy golfers generally tip fairly well, so perhaps by the end of the summer I'll have enough saved to float a mad scheme.  More on that later.