The fourth proof arrived this afternoon and it's perfect! Finally! Quest: A Guide to Backpacking With Teens will go live online at Amazon.com tomorrow night!
From November 2008 to November 2017, I wrote and deleted hundreds of thousands of words, interviewed a couple hundred people, and researched numerous subjects. I've written, rewritten, revised, rearranged, reorganized, reviewed and revealed. I made thousands of lists, recorded daily word counts, ruthlessly edited content and recurring words, proofread a zillion times. My writers group has critiqued, analyzed, advised, counseled, comforted, encouraged and praised. I've counted words, commas, of, the, that, then, with.
When I thought I had finished in January 2016, the text was 136,000 words. Research said it had to be 100,000. So, I went back to the computer and cut 26,000 words.
I went through ten thousand backpacking photographs multiple times. I culled, edited, chose and arranged. I wish the photos could have been in color, but i just couldn't justify the added cost for the book. The photo quality is lacking, too. But, I had to reconcile to that and recognize that it's the stories that matter most.
Tomorrow night, I should see my book listed on Amazon. There's lots more to do now to prepare for the launch party, promote the book and program and recover.
I'm feeling very excited, satisfied, proud, exhilarated , grateful and tired. More tomorrow.
Wednesday, November 15, 2017
Wednesday, November 8, 2017
Day 1867: Proof number 4
For thirteen days I waited for proof number 3 to arrive. As each day passed, I grew more anxious about the time line for release. On Monday, I realized that if I held the party on Dec. 1, I would not have time to get 200 books printed and delivered. So, on Tuesday I moved the party date to Monday, Dec. 11. It would make it possible to get books there on time, IF, the third proof was correct.
It's not. When it arrived today, I was frustrated, irritated, exasperated. For some reason, the printer wrapped the back cover image over the spine and 1/8 inch onto the front. The color is a bit washed out, but at least the white was truly white and not pink. Also, the hikers are in proportion and positioned correctly on the page. So, I called the publisher. He put together another cover that is the original image, positioned correctly with a bright green frame around the title. If the printer just replicates the design accurately, we'll be all set. The green is more lime than I wanted, but so be it.
Now, I have to wait 10-12 days again. I hope it comes before we go to NYC for Thanksgiving. If it's ok, the book will go live on Amazon within 24 hours. If a person who has Amazon Prime orders the book, they will get it in 2 days. That's faster than I can get copies.
My next big question is when to send the invitations to the launch party. I should probably wait till I see the proof, but that depends on when it arrives. This part of the process is so stressful, but I must persevere. I wanted to be done by Dec. 1, so I could spend the month resting and focusing on family. Oh, well.
Tomorrow, we'll be speaking with the 8th graders about Quest after school. The student leaders will be there to share their stories and I'll show the new promo video. The next few weeks are packed with student meetings and then parent meetings just after Thanksgiving.
Over the weekend, I sat and read a novel straight through. It felt great and I liked the book until the very end. It will be an interesting discussion at book club tomorrow night.
It's not. When it arrived today, I was frustrated, irritated, exasperated. For some reason, the printer wrapped the back cover image over the spine and 1/8 inch onto the front. The color is a bit washed out, but at least the white was truly white and not pink. Also, the hikers are in proportion and positioned correctly on the page. So, I called the publisher. He put together another cover that is the original image, positioned correctly with a bright green frame around the title. If the printer just replicates the design accurately, we'll be all set. The green is more lime than I wanted, but so be it.
Now, I have to wait 10-12 days again. I hope it comes before we go to NYC for Thanksgiving. If it's ok, the book will go live on Amazon within 24 hours. If a person who has Amazon Prime orders the book, they will get it in 2 days. That's faster than I can get copies.
My next big question is when to send the invitations to the launch party. I should probably wait till I see the proof, but that depends on when it arrives. This part of the process is so stressful, but I must persevere. I wanted to be done by Dec. 1, so I could spend the month resting and focusing on family. Oh, well.
Tomorrow, we'll be speaking with the 8th graders about Quest after school. The student leaders will be there to share their stories and I'll show the new promo video. The next few weeks are packed with student meetings and then parent meetings just after Thanksgiving.
Over the weekend, I sat and read a novel straight through. It felt great and I liked the book until the very end. It will be an interesting discussion at book club tomorrow night.
Saturday, October 28, 2017
Day 1866: Transitions
What a sad, difficult week. On Tuesday, we found out that another of our former student leaders had lost her father to suicide. It was such a tragic loss to a beautiful, loving family and the entire community. Yesterday, in the eulogy, the victim's best friend spoke of demons that had seized control of his friend. He told stories of happier times and chose to remember his friend in better times. His children, wife, parents, friends were absolutely devastated. I'm afraid they will be forever haunted by this terrible, violent death.
Last evening we went to a party for Julius, Steve's best friend, who retired as director of county emergency services yesterday. He is an extraordinarily selfless and self-effacing man who has spent his entire life in service to others. He always deflects complements and turns the praise toward his team. An inspiration to everyone who knows him, he is enduring about a half dozen parties and ceremonies in his honor and that's really difficult for him. So, it was a bittersweet night as we joked and told stories about our friend and said goodbye to the "boss."
Then, during the evening we found out that our friend who is suffering from cancer has had more bad news. All in all, the week has made us both feel helpless and sad. How can we help our friends face these painful challenges?
On the other hand, the book work is going well. I insisted on another proof of the book since the cover images were distorted and the color inconsistent. Now, I must wait a week for the new proofs. I got lots of the small tasks done in preparation for the Tradition Fest on Saturday, designed the new business cards and secured a new email address.
The best part of the week was speaking with the eighth graders on Tuesday. It's a small class, only about a hundred kids, but there was some enthusiasm and lots of questions. The after school meeting will be on November 9, so we'll have a better sense of the level of interest that day. I also finished the Quest promo video which I absolutely love. It should make a strong impression on the kids and their parents.
Another surprising and exciting moment came when I got a message from a former backpacker who is now teaching in Colorado. It seems she wants to start a backpacking club and she asked for advice! Plus, next week we're meeting with an instructor from the Audubon Society who wants to create a backpacking program. Great things are happening!
Thankfully, the week was gorgeous and we were able to hike in Arkwright and around the village. The steelhead are still running, but the water level is so low they've had to stay in the deeper pools. Steady rain today and during the upcoming week will permit them leap over the falls to reach further upstream. Hiking is one of the best therapies. The quiet soothes my soul and calms my racing mind.
Last evening we went to a party for Julius, Steve's best friend, who retired as director of county emergency services yesterday. He is an extraordinarily selfless and self-effacing man who has spent his entire life in service to others. He always deflects complements and turns the praise toward his team. An inspiration to everyone who knows him, he is enduring about a half dozen parties and ceremonies in his honor and that's really difficult for him. So, it was a bittersweet night as we joked and told stories about our friend and said goodbye to the "boss."
Then, during the evening we found out that our friend who is suffering from cancer has had more bad news. All in all, the week has made us both feel helpless and sad. How can we help our friends face these painful challenges?
On the other hand, the book work is going well. I insisted on another proof of the book since the cover images were distorted and the color inconsistent. Now, I must wait a week for the new proofs. I got lots of the small tasks done in preparation for the Tradition Fest on Saturday, designed the new business cards and secured a new email address.
The best part of the week was speaking with the eighth graders on Tuesday. It's a small class, only about a hundred kids, but there was some enthusiasm and lots of questions. The after school meeting will be on November 9, so we'll have a better sense of the level of interest that day. I also finished the Quest promo video which I absolutely love. It should make a strong impression on the kids and their parents.
Another surprising and exciting moment came when I got a message from a former backpacker who is now teaching in Colorado. It seems she wants to start a backpacking club and she asked for advice! Plus, next week we're meeting with an instructor from the Audubon Society who wants to create a backpacking program. Great things are happening!
Thankfully, the week was gorgeous and we were able to hike in Arkwright and around the village. The steelhead are still running, but the water level is so low they've had to stay in the deeper pools. Steady rain today and during the upcoming week will permit them leap over the falls to reach further upstream. Hiking is one of the best therapies. The quiet soothes my soul and calms my racing mind.
Julius and Melodee at the retirement party
His honey do list.
All the past and present fire coordinators
Sunday, October 22, 2017
Day 1865: Approaching the Goal
I just noticed that it's been two months since I've been able to write. Although the book took eight years to write, the months since February have been very intense. Getting published presented a whole new set of challenges that I had largely ignored.
So far, I've done 14 mock ups and two sets of proofs. The last mock up was sent out the Friday before we departed for our trip to NYC and Berlin. When we arrived home, there was the first hard copy of my book! What an incredible thrill! I was so excited, Steve took my photo holding it and then I sent messages off to my kids and sisters.
The excitement was countered by terrible worry about Paddy, however. He suffered terribly while we were gone. He could barely walk and dragged himself out from under the back deck. The sitter had left him outside most of the week without any water. I don't think he ate anything. We rushed him to the vet who did some tests. He had lost two pounds, was dehydrated and had an infection. His eyes were running and bloody. The vet did blood tests and found a high level of calcium which is an indicator of cancer. He thinks it's probably in the stomach and the only way to know for sure is to do a biopsy. NOT going to do that to my beloved 14 year old cat. We brought him home thinking he had only two or three months left. The vet did not understand the power of intensive mothering. In the last month, I have babied him. We have fed him six to eight times a day and he has regained his strength and interest in roaming the yard. It doesn't change the cancer diagnosis, but he's much better equipped to deal with the sickness. For weeks he barely left my side. Now, he is venturing out more often.
After the first proof arrived, I asked my friend and mentor Margaret Ruckman to do a close reading looking specifically for punctuation errors. It needed fresh eyes. My writer's group and I had read it so many times that there was no way I could identify any of the minor errors that I was certain were in there. She read it in a day and then we met.
Sweet, diligent Margaret saved me 35 bits of embarrassment. Not bad for 413 pages. There were two dangling participles that I would never have found, even though I recognized them once she pointed them out. Three noun verb agreement errors occurred in long complex sentences. I was most worried about the dialogue and she found two capitalization errors and one misplaced comma. She questioned the use of the word "till." but we looked it up and it's acceptable. On money, I had included the cents, like $40.00. She found that cumbersome, so I went through and dropped all the cents.
I also discovered several photos missing and a few others that were too fuzzy. I resubmitted all of those too. Most important, the cover was too dark. The image as a bit gray and the color around the title was dark olive rather than a cheerful grassy green. Finally, when I was satisfied, I resubmitted the 14th mock up.
On Thursday 10/19, the new proofs arrived. I've reviewed it and found one extra s on a verb, one extra e on a name and two extra commas. I am not demanding a new proof to fix those small items. On the other hand, four out of five proofs had a slight pink cast to the white letters. That is the last major issue to address.
In addition to perfecting the book, I've been wild planning the launch and the promotion. Every single step takes research so I've spent so many hours pouring over ideas for the launch party, how to create a website, invitations, business cards, a Facebook profile, speeches, photographer, a sound system, food for the party. Yikes! I also agreed to do a presentation on Nov. 4 at the Dunkirk Tradition Fest where I'll have photos and equipment on display.
I also bought a new computer with a terabyte of storage so I could finally start working on the Quest video and remake the promotional video. Today, I finished the promo video because I need it for the Tradition Fest. The Quest video is about three quarters done.
So, where am I going with all this? I had hoped to launch on November 10, but now I am aiming for December 1. It was just impossible to get everything done by Nov. 10. This week, I'll check in with the MS principal to book the MS or HS Library for the party. I gave him one of the early proofs so he would know what's coming. He's already agreed that the MS is the place to celebrate a book about our MS backpacking program.
Tomorrow, I'll be back at it with the publisher about the cover and whether I can get 300 copies printed by Dec. 1. And there's a long list of other jobs to tackle as well.
I'm so excited I can barely contain myself. It's almost here! I'll be back now for a the next six weeks or so till after the launch.
So far, I've done 14 mock ups and two sets of proofs. The last mock up was sent out the Friday before we departed for our trip to NYC and Berlin. When we arrived home, there was the first hard copy of my book! What an incredible thrill! I was so excited, Steve took my photo holding it and then I sent messages off to my kids and sisters.
The excitement was countered by terrible worry about Paddy, however. He suffered terribly while we were gone. He could barely walk and dragged himself out from under the back deck. The sitter had left him outside most of the week without any water. I don't think he ate anything. We rushed him to the vet who did some tests. He had lost two pounds, was dehydrated and had an infection. His eyes were running and bloody. The vet did blood tests and found a high level of calcium which is an indicator of cancer. He thinks it's probably in the stomach and the only way to know for sure is to do a biopsy. NOT going to do that to my beloved 14 year old cat. We brought him home thinking he had only two or three months left. The vet did not understand the power of intensive mothering. In the last month, I have babied him. We have fed him six to eight times a day and he has regained his strength and interest in roaming the yard. It doesn't change the cancer diagnosis, but he's much better equipped to deal with the sickness. For weeks he barely left my side. Now, he is venturing out more often.
After the first proof arrived, I asked my friend and mentor Margaret Ruckman to do a close reading looking specifically for punctuation errors. It needed fresh eyes. My writer's group and I had read it so many times that there was no way I could identify any of the minor errors that I was certain were in there. She read it in a day and then we met.
Sweet, diligent Margaret saved me 35 bits of embarrassment. Not bad for 413 pages. There were two dangling participles that I would never have found, even though I recognized them once she pointed them out. Three noun verb agreement errors occurred in long complex sentences. I was most worried about the dialogue and she found two capitalization errors and one misplaced comma. She questioned the use of the word "till." but we looked it up and it's acceptable. On money, I had included the cents, like $40.00. She found that cumbersome, so I went through and dropped all the cents.
I also discovered several photos missing and a few others that were too fuzzy. I resubmitted all of those too. Most important, the cover was too dark. The image as a bit gray and the color around the title was dark olive rather than a cheerful grassy green. Finally, when I was satisfied, I resubmitted the 14th mock up.
On Thursday 10/19, the new proofs arrived. I've reviewed it and found one extra s on a verb, one extra e on a name and two extra commas. I am not demanding a new proof to fix those small items. On the other hand, four out of five proofs had a slight pink cast to the white letters. That is the last major issue to address.
In addition to perfecting the book, I've been wild planning the launch and the promotion. Every single step takes research so I've spent so many hours pouring over ideas for the launch party, how to create a website, invitations, business cards, a Facebook profile, speeches, photographer, a sound system, food for the party. Yikes! I also agreed to do a presentation on Nov. 4 at the Dunkirk Tradition Fest where I'll have photos and equipment on display.
I also bought a new computer with a terabyte of storage so I could finally start working on the Quest video and remake the promotional video. Today, I finished the promo video because I need it for the Tradition Fest. The Quest video is about three quarters done.
So, where am I going with all this? I had hoped to launch on November 10, but now I am aiming for December 1. It was just impossible to get everything done by Nov. 10. This week, I'll check in with the MS principal to book the MS or HS Library for the party. I gave him one of the early proofs so he would know what's coming. He's already agreed that the MS is the place to celebrate a book about our MS backpacking program.
Tomorrow, I'll be back at it with the publisher about the cover and whether I can get 300 copies printed by Dec. 1. And there's a long list of other jobs to tackle as well.
I'm so excited I can barely contain myself. It's almost here! I'll be back now for a the next six weeks or so till after the launch.
Russian WWII Memorial
Street art in East Berlin
Our reflections in the Reichstag building
Holocaust Memorial
Scenes on the Berlin Wall
Just a bit of German ice cream
Holding the first proof when we arrived home on Sept. 25.
The second proof arrived on Oct. 19. It's supposed to look like the one on the left.
And I just noticed the placement of the title is too low!
Rats!
Friday, August 25, 2017
Day 1864: Disasters Brewing
Category 4 Hurricane Harvey just hit the Texas coastline near Corpus Christi. Predictions are for over 36 inches of rain and a storm surge of 12 feet. It's the most catastrophic storm to hit the US in over a generation. The governor of Texas has already declared a state of emergency in 30 counties.
So while the country is riveted by the news of this impending disaster, what is 45 doing?
Pardoning Sheriff Arpaio, the racist sheriff from Arizona who used racial profiling, put prisoners out in the desert and was convicted of contempt of court. Disgusting, but expected from the racist monster we have in the White House. He is the most divisive, harmful president ever in history.
This comes after a Nazi rally in Charlottesville, VA last week where one woman was killed and nineteen were injured when a white supremacist drove his car through a crowd of counter protesters. Trump equivocated and said there were good people among the crazed white crowd supremacist crowd and placed equal blame for the violence on the counter protesters. Can't believe the KKK, Nazis and militia were marching through the streets chanting, "Jews will not replace us" and "Blood and Soil."
Sick, sick, sick times. Unprecedented, dangerous and terrifying.
Too much has happened in the past three weeks to write about. Now that I've let the daily entries go, I have lost the discipline to keep going with this blog. It will end sometime in October when the book is published.
Yes, it will be released in October, after just nearly nine years of work. On Monday, I submitted the edits for mock up number 8! This weekend, I'll do more work on the cover and back cover text.
On Monday, August 21, we celebrated our 46th anniversary. I probably already wrote about how momentous August 21 is. On that day in 1970, I finished college and got my first teaching position. In 1971, we got married. In 2000, my mom died. This year, there was a solar full eclipse and we got tickets for Hamilton! Yep! On June 1, 2018, we'll be seeing the most acclaimed musical ever!
As for swimming, I am at 72 miles, far behind last year's tally. That's life. I can't do any more this year with all the other things I'm juggling.
So, more to come in the next few weeks and then, the blog will end.
So while the country is riveted by the news of this impending disaster, what is 45 doing?
Pardoning Sheriff Arpaio, the racist sheriff from Arizona who used racial profiling, put prisoners out in the desert and was convicted of contempt of court. Disgusting, but expected from the racist monster we have in the White House. He is the most divisive, harmful president ever in history.
This comes after a Nazi rally in Charlottesville, VA last week where one woman was killed and nineteen were injured when a white supremacist drove his car through a crowd of counter protesters. Trump equivocated and said there were good people among the crazed white crowd supremacist crowd and placed equal blame for the violence on the counter protesters. Can't believe the KKK, Nazis and militia were marching through the streets chanting, "Jews will not replace us" and "Blood and Soil."
Sick, sick, sick times. Unprecedented, dangerous and terrifying.
Too much has happened in the past three weeks to write about. Now that I've let the daily entries go, I have lost the discipline to keep going with this blog. It will end sometime in October when the book is published.
Yes, it will be released in October, after just nearly nine years of work. On Monday, I submitted the edits for mock up number 8! This weekend, I'll do more work on the cover and back cover text.
On Monday, August 21, we celebrated our 46th anniversary. I probably already wrote about how momentous August 21 is. On that day in 1970, I finished college and got my first teaching position. In 1971, we got married. In 2000, my mom died. This year, there was a solar full eclipse and we got tickets for Hamilton! Yep! On June 1, 2018, we'll be seeing the most acclaimed musical ever!
As for swimming, I am at 72 miles, far behind last year's tally. That's life. I can't do any more this year with all the other things I'm juggling.
So, more to come in the next few weeks and then, the blog will end.
Sunday, August 6, 2017
Day 1863: New boiler
A friend took this photo of Steve when he was working a fire in Dunkirk.
It's the only one we've ever had that wasn't of his back.
Moving the new boiler into the basement.
It was about 300 pounds!
And the new water tank was a bit lighter.
Both now installed and operating efficiently and quietly.
The Fat Lady Sings
This was the first blossom and I'm so glad I photographed it because the deer ate the rest of the blossoms.
Book progress: Finished writing the Amazon blurb and back cover.
Swimming: 57.75 miles.
Pool dropped from 88 degrees on Friday morning to 78 degrees today due to a cold front that moved through our area and dropped cold rain.
Our nieces arrived today from Wisconsin and we will be busy with them over the next three days. Then, my family reunion will be held later this week. Brad arrives first tomorrow, then my sisters and Sarah arrive on Wednesday. Caitlin and Jason are driving up on Thursday. Evan is flying in on Friday and my cousin Kathy will come on Saturday. Wild and crazy week ahead!
Sunday, July 30, 2017
Day 1862: Goal Oriented
My husband says I'm obsessed, but I think a better phrase to describe me is goal-oriented. My two summer goals have kept me from doing lots of my regular summer activities. I've barely touched the camera and my new lenses. We've not been into Buffalo or gone out to see a movie. I haven't shopped, which is no big loss. And I've let my political action lapse. Just another month of intensity and life should return to a normal pace.
In swimming, if I want to hit 100 miles this summer, I had to reach 50 miles by the end of July. Today, I met the goal. 50.2 miles and I have one more day to spare.
Thats not bad considering I didn't swim four days last week due to the reunion and my fall injuries.
The big question is whether my elbow will hold out from the strain.
And the book. Tonight I sent off edits on the seventh mock up. Just three pages this time and all of them were very tiny items. I think there will be two more line by line close readings after this. So, maybe two to three weeks more on editing.
Justin worked a bit on the cover image and submitted four possibilities today. However, I don't like any of them.
My next task is to write the blurb for the back cover and the Amazon entry.
The monstrosity that is our president committed a few more atrocities this week. He declared in a tweet that transgender people can no longer serve in any capacity in any branch of the military. Estimates range from 2000 to 15,000 members of the military, both active and reserve, who are transgender. Their lives, careers and families were thrown into chaos with his irresponsible tweet.
Plus, he spoke to the Boy Scouts of America at their Jamboree and said many highly politicized and inappropriate things. The BSA had to apologize for his comments. Then he spoke to a police department and encouraged them to harm those arrested. Police agencies all over the country decried his remarks. Then today, he went after China because they have solved the North Korea problem.
Fortunately, thanks to Senators Collins, Murkowski and McCain, the health care repeal was stopped.
For now.
In swimming, if I want to hit 100 miles this summer, I had to reach 50 miles by the end of July. Today, I met the goal. 50.2 miles and I have one more day to spare.
Thats not bad considering I didn't swim four days last week due to the reunion and my fall injuries.
The big question is whether my elbow will hold out from the strain.
And the book. Tonight I sent off edits on the seventh mock up. Just three pages this time and all of them were very tiny items. I think there will be two more line by line close readings after this. So, maybe two to three weeks more on editing.
Justin worked a bit on the cover image and submitted four possibilities today. However, I don't like any of them.
My next task is to write the blurb for the back cover and the Amazon entry.
The monstrosity that is our president committed a few more atrocities this week. He declared in a tweet that transgender people can no longer serve in any capacity in any branch of the military. Estimates range from 2000 to 15,000 members of the military, both active and reserve, who are transgender. Their lives, careers and families were thrown into chaos with his irresponsible tweet.
Plus, he spoke to the Boy Scouts of America at their Jamboree and said many highly politicized and inappropriate things. The BSA had to apologize for his comments. Then he spoke to a police department and encouraged them to harm those arrested. Police agencies all over the country decried his remarks. Then today, he went after China because they have solved the North Korea problem.
Fortunately, thanks to Senators Collins, Murkowski and McCain, the health care repeal was stopped.
For now.
Friends for more than fifty years, reunited once more.
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