Aug 23, 2013 |
TGIF
I apologize. This week has zoomed by with such tornado force that I neglected to blog for an entire seven days. Seven days! That’s like… a year at Catford Manor, yah? Maybe not… but it certainly felt like it. I don’t know if you missed reading, but I certainly missed writing.
I’m happy to say the reasons for my Blogosphere Silence are good reasons. Strong reasons. And beautifully foundational reasons. And I (95%) don’t feel guilty about this time otherwise well spent. The other 5% is that control-freak-oh-my-gosh-I’m-gonna-die-if-I-don’t-write-this-out attitude that infiltrates every fiber of my being, every hour of every day.
I know the photos in this post are ones previously viewed on Frankly, My Dear… rest assured this isn’t a rerun. Rather more of an affirmation.
The first is the Theme for this year.
Expand Your Horizons
Boundaries. Some are meant to keep us in. Others are meant to be broadened. Whenever I think of Boundaries, I think of Louis L’Amour and the Wild West. If you’ve been around the Blog for any length of time you’ll understand my grand affinity for Louis and his writings. I even named last year’s nutcracker after him!
Louis & Louis
This is appropriate this week as I have once again picked up the book and have been reading. You would think, as a writer, I would read just as prolifically. While I desire to, I just haven’t made the time. Until recently. And it excites me. Living in some of the areas that he wrote about, still seeing the lavender painted mountains at sunset and still breathing the thousand year old dust in the wind, these things bring to me a sense of belonging and hope and determination. I feel an inner affinity with the Cowboy and his Tales.
I’ve expanded boundaries the last few weeks with New Inklings Press. I’ve determined even more to grow my writing and company and baby step by baby step, it’s coming along. I’ve changed banks to one that’s more friendly to the Little People, while offering Big Business perks. It’s a win-win situation and has been a breath of fresh air.
Monday I was abundantly blessed to spend time with a dear friend I haven’t seen in two years. One of my closest friends, my confidante. The one I can call and cry without words to. Or send a smiley face text to. We have the kind of friendship that time can’t whither, and I’m exceptionally thankful. We needed to see each other again. To look each other in the eye and know we were being honest. To hear what each one had to say. And through our wonderful albeit too short discourse, we reminded each other of the intimate power of prayer. What an absolute treasure to hear him tell me I’m doing things right. That he’s proud of my writings, proud to call me friend. Just as I’m proud to have his trust and friendship.
He gave me a new nudge with my writing. A step out of the shadows. And those boundaries were opened as I took a flying leap into the air, not sure where (or how) I’d land, and I placed The Unemployment Cookbook on sale at Amazon. [It’s on sale for only $12 through Saturday!] Which reminds me: would y’all mind doing me a favor? I need reviews to boost my standing at Amazon. Could you take three minutes out of your time and click here to offer your word gems for such purpose? That’s a fancy way of saying, could ya help with some free word-of-mouth advertising and tell others what you think of the Cookbook? Huge thanks for Janice and Jaye for already jumping on board this fast moving train!
The Unemployment Cookbook, Second Edition
I came to a revelation of why the more I get into a project, the slower it goes. I’m constantly editing! I read, add, edit, then read again. And the more I add, the more there is to read and edit and read again. My newly adopted habit now is to just write. Write at least 1,500 creative words each day, with at least half that for my New Orleans -based story. If I can keep writing, I will. If I need a break, that’s when I can review. Lightly edit. And when I find myself picking a paragraph to its death, it’s time to stop. Once the story is complete and a rough draft is printed, then I (and a few trusted friends) will review. And re-edit. But for now I need to be all about the writing.
As a reminder, I still keep this as my wallpaper on both my iPhone and laptop:
NOLA Inspiration
Yeah. I’m all about the N’Awlins these days. After weeks of calling it “The Untitled Molly Jo NOLA Project” or just “my NOLA story” for short, I’ve realized it’s already named itself. NOLA. It’s absolutely perfect. Here’s a thought from the protagonist:
“I often wondered if my parents knew the hardships they were thrusting upon me when they named me Penny. How much better life may have turned out if they’d instead named me something like “Ruby” or “Goldie”?”
My Darling Dot finally jumped on the YouTube bandwagon. She and her friends have been having fun making videos. She then edits them on her laptop in a manner that makes me jealous. She definitely has an eye for behind-the-lens action. She thinks she wants to be a nurse. I think she should be a photographer. Check out her newest video, making cupcakes for my jewelry party with one of her best friends, Hayley:
I would love to start making videos but I get in my own way. What could I possibly video that y’all would want to watch? Certainly two teenaged girls baking cupcakes is far better than if it were me…
And Frankly, My Dear… that’s all she wrote!
You may also enjoy reading:
TGIF: One
Five Things Friday: Safety in Numbers
My Housing Project: A New Leaf
Word of the Year: 2013
Louis and Max and Me
Why I Write. Every Day.
Dec 30, 2012 |
The TV subscription is cancelled. It’s not my favorite moment, and I’m looking forward to a few months down the road when I can afford to resubscribe. But since I’m having trouble paying even just my regular bills, I can’t see my way around paying for TV and not paying, say, the telephone bill or car insurance.
Instead, we spent yesterday watching DVDs that we haven’t seen for a while. Then I delighted myself with Season 1, Disc 1 of FLASHPOINT. Not just any DVD, either. This one is special. This one came straight from the producers in Toronto. I’m gonna miss this show!
We undecorated nearly all of the Christmas decorations. But I’ve an ear infection or terrible head cold or something, which made balancing (like, just standing up) a true circus act, and even my thinking cap wouldn’t stay on.
This morning I feel a little better. Just enough to have my wits about me and not have to ask my brain to turn down the ringing in my ear. It’s hard to hear myself think with all that raucous going on!
With just two days left in this awful year, today I plan to clean my kitchen, put away the rest of the holiday decor, plan an emergency budget for January, drink tea… and read.
So I guess I could keep writing here… but Pages are calling me.
I’m going to learn how to build a Better Blog. For your benefit, and mine. And I’m gonna share with you each step. So you can boost your Blog, too. It’s a win-win.
But first… I have some Dragons to meet.
And Frankly, My Dear… that’s all she wrote!
May 31, 2012 |
I know, I know… life is most certainly going to get in the way…
But still…it’s nice to have a few things on the To-Do List, right?
Here’s the start of my List for June, 2012:
- Celebrate Dot & Friends’ Graduation.
- Blog every day.
- Write at least an hour every day on the Big Projects.
- Get a job. A good job. A really good, permanent, well-paying, room-for-advancement job.
- Cook each day from The Unemployment Cookbook.
- Order the next print run for The Unemployment Cookbook.
- Write at least three short stories to submit to contests, competitions, and magazines.
- Get caught up on The Bookshelf.
- Deep clean the Master Bathroom and Master Bedroom.
- Make chocolate treats for every day.
- Walk a little, every day.
- Pay off at least one bill. In full.
- Wake up Will Power and get him back into the World at Large.
- Study photography. Really study. Learn tips and tricks with my camera, and go on photo shoots with professionals.
- Get my next assignment submitted to ICL.
- Smile more than I did in May.
- Appreciate every single apple.
And Frankly, My Dear… that’s all she wrote!
Oct 21, 2011 |
by Molly Jo Realy @MollyJoRealy
That’s not a typo… this blog title really is Self slash Public slash ation. Well, the first two parts stand alone. The last? I guess you call that an emphasis, the uniter.
Part One: Self.
I’m stubborn. I love my stability and my structured schedule. I’m set in my ways. I’m okay with change, even if it hasn’t been anticipated… as long as it’s not drastic. I’m old-fashioned, and set in my ways. Yeah, I’m a real catch for a go-with-the-flow kinda crowd. (*please tell me you get the sarcasm, here).
I look for stories everywhere. I write them out; sometimes for me, sometimes for …
Part Two: Public.
That’s “You”. That’s my family, my friends, my peeps. The ones who see me in the world and wonder how they influence me. The strangers who are oblivious to my Big Brother eyes and ears. The readers.
You read books. You go to libraries and bookstores and smell the dust and feel the old pages.
And now, you download the text.
So. Here I am. Old school book reader trying to be a writer who’s inspired by old-fashioned stories like Little Women and Sherlock Holmes and Anne of Green Gables.
And I use technology to search, and re-search, and research my re-search. And I use technology to find what I’m looking for, and to guide me to solutions I didn’t even realize I was researching.
Selfishly, I don’t like e-books and downloads. You can’t bookmark a digital copy. You can’t smell the aroma of gilt-edged pages or feel the texture of dust-embedded sheets. You can’t autograph a computer screen . . . and keep it that way.
But the public likes to take five books out in public when it doesn’t weigh as much as one. You like to computer generate your highlights and type notes in the margins if you can.
I’m in a tug of war between my old-fashioned comfort and the new techno-world. I love the beauty of my old typewriter (thanks, Pam!), but I would be lost without my MacBook.
On one side, I’ve heard the stories that publishers and agents don’t really respect those who publish themselves. It’s like all the flack about the first season of American Idol: the winner didn’t put in her dues, her time and effort. She didn’t come up through the trenches the way other great singers did. Having argued all that, they still know her name, ten years later. Kelly Clarkson’s still singing. With a record deal. That’s worth noting.
On the other side, technology is the way of the world. The internet is everywhere and everyone wants it at their fingertips… their digital, less-than-two pounds, wireless world.
Part Three: (N)ation, where (N) is the (N)-factor. The unknown. The, what-the-heck-am-I-gonna-do puzzle piece.
I want to be published. I want the public to read what I write. I want book signings and recognition and “oh my gosh, you spoke to my heart” fans. I want to be heard. I want to know that I’m making a difference. I want my readers to know that I write for them.
I need to write, like I need to breathe. I need to put into words the world around me, so that my grandchildren will understand, and want to know their history and heritage. I need to write it out, to be peaceful within.
I need a publisher and an agent. I’m ready. I have good-to-go material… with nowhere to go. And I’m all over the place. I have a screenplay, a novel, tons of prose and poems, two songs, a Christian devotional study, and a cookbook. And those are just the finished products; to say nothing of all the other writings still “in progress”.
My pages are all dressed up, and haven’t been invited to the party.
So now I’m thinking of letting them have their own party… I’m thinking of dipping my toe into the self-pub pool. Or even print-on-demand.
It goes against so much in me… but it may be the only way, right now, I can fully let it out.
So. Here’s my question: to self-publish, or not to self-publish? And if self-publishing: print on demand? eBook options? Or bulk for sales? Do I try to get an agent or publisher? If yes, then how? Do I self-publish? If yes, how much? Everything? Or just start with the cookbook? How do I market? Is it more-than-slightly self-serving to post my own product on my own blog? How is that different from regular advertising? What about my street credit? If I self-publish/print-on-demand, how will that stand up later when I need a big printing house/publisher to pay attention? Will they dismiss me, or say I’ve got the drive?
What options are the best options; not just for now, but for the long-term?
You’ve been so great at reading. Now it’s my turn. These are legitimate questions, and I’m looking for your answers. What do you think about publishing and self-publishing? What about agents and big companies and little presses? Are you a writer with advice, or a reader with inspirations? Whatcha got? I’m in need of a lot of honest feedback before I make up my mind. So spill. Share. And suggest.
I’m listening… and taking notes.
