You are currently browsing the tag archive for the ‘book publishing’ tag.
I just had to share this picture with you…..talk about imprinting…. ______________________________________________________________________________________
On the desk in front of me is a LOTTO 6/49 sweepstakes ticket which just made me think about the news tonight..the news of two men winning 50 million dollars!!!… What does a person do with 50 million dollars!!!!
I will admit that we have occasionally spent our money on a ticket in hopes of winning big….and I do enjoy the fleeting moments of excitement I get before I find out ..each time…that our ticket is not a winner….But…Do I really want to be rich???…Or do I just love the opportunity to think about it???…How about you???…
Oh sure…I suppose it could be nice to just go and buy a car with cash…or give away all my clothes to the thrift shop…only so I can go out and buy a new closet full of clothes…or…how about getting my teeth bleached by the dentist instead of wasting my money on those Crest White strips …those strips that I hope …each time I use them…will “whiten my smile”….but instead…they just make me drool like a little baby…Hmmmm…..Wow…I am not very good at spending money …am I ????….I have not even put a dent into my millions!!!
Here’s a thought…if you do win millions…does that mean that you will never again have that thrill of …wondering if… the next ticket is a winner????….that you will never be able to save …and revel in the anticipation of a special buy????….Will your problems be bigger and your circle of friends smaller???….Something to think about……
I will admit to you….that for over the past fifteen years now… I have received and sent back my Publisher’s Clearing
House Sweepstakes forms….and am still waiting for Dave and his giant check to show up at my door….and when it does….no screaming…or jumping up and down…. like a monkey just released from it’s cage…no no…not me…I will be ready…like the marathon runner who wipes his face and puts on a smile as he proudly runs through the finish line as his picture is taken…so will I…smile nicely to Dave…and politely say….I’ve been waiting for you as the camera takes my picture.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
One last collection piece of someone painted into the background…..
The other evening we had friends for dinner and shortly after they arrived…there was an etiquette question that was raised…which bottle of wine should be opened first…the wine brought by our guests or the wine we had out???? ….The question came up that night and not one of us …well-educated adults…had any idea of the answer…nor did we really care at that moment…The only thing that mattered was ….get those wine glasses filled!!! So then I decided I was going to try and find the answer and so went to the “expert”…the trusty ole internet…and this is what I learned….
If someone brings a bottle of wine to your home ….
-
you should consider it a gift and treat it as such
- if you already have a bottle of wine opened…serve it
- you can consider opening the gifted bottle (if you like) along side the already opened one so there is a choice of wines
- you can save it for you and your spouse…to have at a later date
- if the guest would like to have it opened….open it anytime during the evening
- you can open up the gifted bottle of wine immediately… if the gifter is fine with that
So …what did the ole internet teach me today???….did it clear up the confusion around which bottle to open up first??? Did I learn a new piece of etiquette? …and… Will I know better next time what is the right way and the wrong way to deal with this dilemma??? Not really. What I did learn is… there is really nothing to learn about it all and anything you do is acceptable . Well I suppose I learned …..not to think about it next time.
I must tell you …..my mom would have been proud of me right now…just that I would even consider ..what is right and wrong in a social situation. It seems to me….that any etiquette I have learned…I learned from my mom….It is really only curiosity that makes me wonder about the wine thing…If I were to live my life by social etiquitte…like my Mom…I would always be worrying , like her….whether I was doing things correctly or not.
What I really think is …that I will….Not worry…be happy…and have another glass of wine!!!
And now for another installment of my newest collection….people painted into the backround….have a look…
This weekend my husband and I spent many hours walking….walking and walking some more. Some footsteps took place on a wooden 
boardwalk…some along a lake shore…and some along a lake side path and everywhere I looked there was driftwood.
I had forgotten to bring a camera along …wished I had. As I walked …my plan was to look for stones in the shape of hearts for my collection… however…. I seemed to keep seeing driftwood instead… beautiful driftwood…driftwood that seemed to take on interesting shapes!! It seemed the more I kept trying to look for heart-shaped stones…the more I kept seeing driftwood instead….now that is weird I thought to myself each day I walked. On one morning walk…we stopped and sat on a bench…and there it was again…driftwood…driftwood with knots all over it and I began to
wonder…??? I wondered …. how much …we… people…as we age… are much like the driftwood…yes… “driftwood and we…have much in common with all that wood…” I thought to myself.” …..
Both are well weathered…both become gray….both have traveled to a variety of locations…both have been “tossed around” for years….both have markings from years of living…(we have scars and driftwood has knots and rings)…much of the driftwood pieces have found permanent homes…but some have not yet found a permanent home….and … just like us…both …were once hearty and strong …but will become fragile and worn down with the years.
Yes…driftwood and we …have much in common… if you just think about it.
I never did find a good heart-shaped rock to bring home with me this weekend…except for this teeny-weeny little pebble…oh…and I just loved the little circle…so I brought it home with me too…..
Heart shaped stones are not easy to find…try looking next time you are out on a walk. My collection is a small one and I write on the back of each…where I found them. If you should ever find one and then wonder…what the “Sam heck” am I going to do with it now???…send it my way…I would love it!!!
And now…the beginning of a new collection.. Sculptures have been my most recent theme….a variety of media….then sand….and now….??? I will let you wonder for a few days about what media is being used in the following day’s sculptures. I am amazed by the weird things I can find to share with you…
A floating art sculpture..to the right is a closeup.
Yes…I am now back. …after a week of computer troubles….your trusty blogging friend is back on-line !!!!
Had a bit of a glitch this past week …after a small black out….my computer got fried!! You can be sure that if I am not home or am sleeping or if there is a storm out…this baby will be turned off so this never happens again. How inconvenient. At first I had got a terrible feeling and then…… of …OH NO!!…I hope all of our files are not gone for good…but once I found out that for a price …it was all retrievable I relaxed. Then came that feeling of being disconnected to the world.
This is kind of how I felt when I found out my computer had crashed……
I thought I might have a bit of computer/blog withdrawl…but… low and behold…NOT !! I thought my evenings would feel long without my buddy computer…but….again…NOT. In fact…not having the constant hum of the equipment going was really quite relaxing. I had lots of time to do other things like shop…work on items for the craft show…clean up my craft room…and even clean out some closets and wash windows!!! So now I am thinking …taking regular holidays from the computer world may be a good thing to do. I will have to look at my calendar and do just that…mark out some time.
But here I am…feeling the need to give my computer a bit of attention. I did spend the past two days inputting programs and making sure the system is all in place….but that was like maintanace…a necessity …this is more like giving attention to a good buddy.
Just thinking about yesterday…THE ZOO….we visited the Assiniboine Zoo and what a hoot that was….I am sure it has been a few decades since I have been there and of course my favorites were the monkeys…especially the babies…I could have sat myself right down with a nice drink and watched them for hours as they interact so much and just make everyone laugh. It was fun, nostalgic and a relaxing way to spend a few hours together. If only I had my camera with me. However, below are some pictures of some of the animals we saw….
.
As I have not Robert Munsch quiz for you….I do have this to share….Here are the inside covers of two books I received from ..”Robert Munsch” …one before my book was done and one after…I look at them every once in a while when I need a bit of motivation…My husband thinks that he had an assistant do this for him…but I am going to believe that he did it himself!!!…
- .
I learned something today about selling books on consignment…Many bookstores only sell a certain amount of books at a time on consignment…which I didn’t realize until today…I found out that their “on consignment” book list is reviewed on a regular basis to decide which ones will remain and which ones will be taken off the list…In order for a book to be considered for consignment sales…the author..ME…has to give the store with a copy of the book along with information about it and myself for review.
So I got to thinking…if an author wants their book to be considered for future consignment sales…and the store has many authors wanting the opportunity to sell their creation….how can I make sure that my book stands out from the rest???…What can I do to make sure that my book will look interesting to the powers that be???….What can I do to make sure Sam’s Weird Afternoon will not be passed over????
Well, to begin with…I will be sure … those people who hold Sam’s fate in their hands…will get to meet me in
person…(maybe I shouldn’t assume that will help…What if they don’t like me???)… I will give them a signed book…I will be sure they get a few pages of information about me and my book…I suppose it couldn’t hurt to toss in a pair of shoe laces….a few bookmarks…a CD of the audio …And for sure I will bring my Sam doll and figurine….Maybe that will all help …Sam…stand out from the others???…I will keep you posted .
So now I am wondering…what is it that makes a children’s picture book…good???… The more I read Sam’s adventure to groups of children…the more I am learning from them…It is very interesting to observe different age groups and their reactions ….interesting that the larger the group of children, the more interested they seem to be…that the older the children …8-10 yrs…the more inquisitive they are about the story and about the book writing process.
I have found that …the more places I visit to read…the more fun I am having…the more fun I am having the longer I try to keep the attention of the group …It is an interesting challenge. Some readings go so very well but there are the times when… no matter how hard I try …the story , Sam and I, do not seem to be so well received….
Could it be me and not the children that make the difference???….Could it be that some days I am just not as good at reading????…And if that is so…what is it that makes a good reading …good????….I am beginning to feel …a bit like a performer!!…Before reading I do a few fun things to get the children listening…and once the book is done…I ask the children to help me with a possible new Sam adventure….And then I ask them to sing a song or two for/with me….I am always surprised at how excited they are to share their ideas…If I do decide to do another book… with all of their ideas…I will surely have to dedicate it to all the children in the daycares and elementary schools of Southern Manitoba and thank them for sharing their imaginations with me!!!
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
Here are a few more things made from recycled material…more from my collection…
This building is made completely out of old sinks.
Dresses made from paper and coffee filters.
Here is a bridge made of cardboard tubing.
Ohhh...so that's what a graphic novel is!!!
____________________________________________________
Tonight I just returned from a workshop about writing and illustrating graphic novels. Not knowing exactly what a graphic novel was…I thought it might be interesting and that it was time for me to get out there and hear what other writers had to share…and so I signed up.
The workshop was facilitated by …. Manitoba Book Award nominees JOHN TOONE and GMB CHOMICHUK (Imagination Manifesto). I found a seat and watched as the room filled with a bunch of young guys and girls … all of a sudden I was feeling a bit out of place….and then I found out that graphic novels are comics…..All I could think was…what am I doing here????…..but…having driven for an hour and a half to get there I thought … surely I would be able to learn something.
And I did! ….The two facilitators tonight were quite fun to listen to and extremely motivating in their presentation. The two hours flew by … by the end of the workshop… I had come up with a …slug line…for my next Sam book…. Marketing….they had lots to share about how they market their books…and talked about being versatile in your approach with your work…be open to PR opportunities….and said how people need to hear of you and your work at least 14 times or so if you want to be remembered…Publicity…any publicity is good publicity …is their thinking…which seems to have worked for them.
For an evening in which at first…I felt I had walked into the wrong room…by the end… I was pumped and looking forward to the second half of it …next week…Well worth the drive for sure….and a workshop I for one would recommend to others.
As it is after midnight…I will sign off right here. Till tomorrow…..Sally
____________________________________________________
How is this for an interesting addition to my virtual collection of weird facial hair????
- .
This morning was a bit sad for me…you see…as I was driving to my next Day Care visit…minding my own business…going the speed limit…I noticed a little moving object just ahead of me on the quiet road I was traveling…As I got closer I realized it was a little prairie dog…and all I could think was …Oh No!!..Please don’t move … .
.
If he had not moved..or if I was going faster or slower… I would have passed by him without incidence… just as I had done many times in the past…However today was not that kind of day….and before I knew it he ran across the road.
I closed my eyes for a second…hoping …just hoping that maybe he made it across the road…Afraid to look back…But I did …and there he was….lying still in the road …not moving….Oh No!!….What had I done???…I had taken his little life …I had killed this tiny little creature…but here was nothing I could do …and I felt so sad….It was an accident…Accidents happen…Right????…..What a way to start off a day!!! If there is a prairie dog heaven and you..little one…. are looking down on me right now…..I must say…I am so sorry!!!!!!
Ok…change of topic…Ear Worms…ever hear of them????….I read an article about them today and …maybe like you I thought they were talking about some strange parasite or disease…Yuck…not something I ever want to get!!!….But I was so wrong…Ever get a tune in your head one day that you keep hearing over and over and over again all day..or week????…..For me lately it was…Singing in the Rain….Anyway…those tunes are called by some…Ear Worms….I suppose because you keep hearing them over and over and although they are in your head, not your ears…it is like you are hearing them with your ears…..and so the name.
Funny thing, until I just wrote about my last ear worm…I had forgotten about it…but I have a funny feeling that ….IT’S BACK!!!…Is that all it takes???…the mention of a song???…So…right now are you bringing to mind a song???…and will that song stay with you now because you brought it to mind?…Oh no…what am I doing???….Am I causing an epidemic of ear worms by just bringing it up???…Oh no….not again..I am going to have to say I’m sorry again????……I suppose I should apologize to all of you…my visitors…if I have given you an EW today.
Today at the Miami DayCare …we had fun…reading…clapping…singing and clapping again. My Sam doll was passed around…everyone wanted to hold him for a minute…so they did!! Then I went outside and played in the sand box and water table. Fun time.
_________________________________________
Another photo to add to the latest collection I have to share with you. If you haven’t gotten it yet..it is …Weird Beards and mustaches
Ha, Ha, Ha…..go ahead and giggle……
Another Day Care visit today…Small Endeavors in Swan Lake…and another fun time. We sang , I read about Sam, the kids helped me with ideas for a story I am working on…we did a fun listening/clapping exercise…and I went outside and played catch with about 6 children before I decided it was time to go. Another hand full of books sold as well!!! Thanks to all the staff and children for welcoming me!!!
During my drive today I went past St. Leon…a small rural town with field’s of bright yellow canola…As I drove toward this little town I could see from very far away…tiny little windmills spotting the fields ahead…but as I got closer they turned into lumbering…gigantic… monoliths…There was something very eerie about them as I drove past…they were silent with rotors that were all spinning in unison…in a clockwise direction…looking like a strange crop ..one that a farmer must have seeded in spring along with the bright yellow canola …for as far as the canolla went…so did the windmills!!!.
This got me thinking about when I moved to Morden…about driving by miles of flat farmland and thinking it was so strange…I remember like the fields of canola and windmills…I saw fields covered with large rocks/boulders… thinking how strange…and I asked about them and was told…it was a rock farmer’s field…and I thought how interesting…I didn’t know there was such a thing…..and then l I looked at my husband who was doing his best to hold in his laughter!!! …. How gullible can a girl be???? Rock farmers!!!!
Some days when I drive past those …rock fields….and I see piles of them all over the land….I imagine for just a moment …the rock farmer …planting…fertilizing…and collecting his crop before the winter sets in. Let me see…Santa, the tooth fairy , the Easter Bunny and now the rock farmer!!!
________________________________________________________________________
A drum roll please…*&&(*&^&^%^&&%&% …and now…the start of a new collection….I will keep you guessing for a few days and see if anyone can figure out what this collection is of (although I think it will be quite obvious) ….enjoy……
Today I was …for some weird reason…thnking about tossing stones in water….Everyone remembers being younger…..tossing them and hoping to have them skip over the water …and then land with a PLOP…into the lake…The goal was to see how many times you could make your stone skip…and finding the perfect stone was very important.
We have all noticed what happens when a stone falls into a pool of water….it lands with a splash…and then a small ripple/wave of water
moves out in a circular motion from where the stone landed…and then another and another until there is a concentric circle of ripples that all become bigger as they move away from where they began.
You might remember watching a small leaf, floating on top of the water in the vicinity of the stone’s splash…getting hit by the ripples , …how it affected the leaf…how it moved…the position it moved to…maybe to be tossed and flipped …or maybe the ripple just flowed over it softley….But for sure the leaf was affected by the ripples no matter how big or small either of them may be.
This all made me wonder how much the stone’s ripples and the leaf are like us…and how our lives are affected by energy and movement….and i wondered….Am I the stone or the leaf????….Do I send out ripples …or am I the leaf that is affected by them….Is it possible to be both at the same time????…Can I send out ripples of energy while at the same time being affected by ripples made by others???
Aren’t we are all like the tossed stone …making ripples that move out and whose energy affect others …can we control what kind of energy we send out????….Can we control how our ripples are going to affect others???….And…when someone else’s ripples/energy touches us…can we control how we will be affected by them???….Can we choose to be tossed around or can we choose to have them wash over us softly????
Ever wonder about that????….What kind of ripples you send out???..or…how your ripples affected what ever they touched???…Ever wonder if your ripples have a momentary or long-lasting affect????….and…have you ever wonder how many people they touch????
There you go…my thought for the day.
These people were sure affected by someone !!!
___________________________________________________
Yes…one last odd couple…..New collection starting tomorrow……
I just fell in love with this little guy.
Today was a good…good day…and why you may ask???….I spent the morning at the Winkler Day Care Centre reading to the children…and what a fun time I had. I not only read Sam’s Weird Afternoon but also Sam’s Bubble Trouble and Things that Stink written by me as well ….some time ago. The kids gave me some new ideas for both stories especially ideas of what might happen if they blew a big giant bubble with gum …and now I will have to add them to my stories. What fun it is to read and watch a group of young children when I read…POOF and they disappeared..cause all the wiggling stops …eyes are all on the book …. the room becomes quiet …it is really a special moment.
On my way home from the day care, I picked up the mail …tossed it on the kitchen island…made myself a coffee..and sat down to read it
all…Was I ever thrilled to open a large envelope addressed from Robert Munsch …with a book in it..entitled…No Clean Clothes…. signed and thanking me for my letter!!!…Yes…I wrote to Mr. Munsch after reading a book about his life…and finding out how much our lives reflected each other…and for some reason I just wanted to share that with him. I will bring his book with me and read it to groups of children along with my own stories in future.
Life can be a lot of fun some days…and today was one of them for me. People keep asking me if I am getting tired of all my book related activity…I will admit that there have been moments but then… I read to a new group of children…or …something like this surprise occurs and I become so energized and motivated to work on marketing Sam and working on new fun stories about him and think up new places I can read to children.
Just a reminder…. this Saturday, come and visit me at McNally Robinson’s Bookstore ..Grant Park Mall..Winnipeg.I will be there from 2-4 in the afternoon at a table with my books and if you should bring a child our two , I would love to read my story to them or him or her.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Yes..you guessed it….one more odd couple.
____________________________________________________
I love these bad day photos…some of them sure do make my day look pretty good!!
Stop I said...STOP!!!!!!
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
Busy day today and not much time to spend on this site. So I thought I would share with you just a few more bits of nonsense before I went to bed….
bing....a bed on springs
twurdle....two headed turtle
slairs...stairs with a slide
mubber....melted rubber
Well, there you have it ….a little bit of nonsense for today. I started to wonder if maybe I should make my own Dictionary of Nonsense Words??? I will think about that one.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
I hope you have been enjoying my collection of odd couples…here is a new one….
- Hmm…nonsense you say???
NONSENSE….
Yesterday I got thinking about nonsense words…why are they nonsense…does a nonsense word ever become a real true word…and what does it take????..And then I thought I would try to make up some of my own..
Does that make me a foolish???….Are my efforts trivial???? Well…if so…then bring on the foolishness and the trivialities!!!!
.Here is what I came up with…From some of the pictures I have in my computer….
poots...boots for a pig
dion....a dog clipped like a lion
plouse...a plaid house
wurdle...a turtle on wheels
slops....slippers that are mops
I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living, it’s a way of looking at life through the wrong end of a telescope. Which is what I do, and that enables you to laugh at life’s realities. (Quote by – Theodor Geisel) Dr. Seuss
smagon...a small dragon
trum...a tree with a bum
skaminals...animal skates
The pendulum of the mind oscillates between sense and nonsense, not between right and wrong.
-Jung, Carl
If we had to be silly…if we had to have fun
I bet we’d feel better…when each new day was done
__________________________________________________
Last but not least….today’s odd couple….
.
Last night we attended the opening to the Winnipeg Jazz Festival…a concert by jazz legend…Sonny Rollins: Last of the Mohicans.
I love music …and although….I am not a big jazz aficionado or anything like that… for three years , we have attended a The Winnipeg Jazz Festival….Last night was an amazing concert to watch and listen to …Sonny Rollins….80 years young saxophone player…born in Harlem…played his heart out. In the 50’s he was dubbed “Saxophone Colossus”. In the 60’s and 70’s he took a break from doing concerts and instead … spent up to fifteen hours a day on the Whilliamsburg bridge, serenading New York’s East River.
As I watched I wondered about this man…still doing concerts at his age….exquisite ones at that…and it was hard to imagine how his fingers could move so fast…and how he could still remember all the notes to a ten minute long song…and how he could keep going for 2 hours with just a ten minute break????
He talked a bit …between songs…about life and how short it is…how he still sees himself as a ten-year old boy even though he is decades older….he wondered…where did all that time go?? …and he encouraged us… not to let our life pass us by.
Talk about a motivating…and inspiring evening….I wonder if Sonny realizes what an inspiration he and his music are and have been to
millions???…I wondered if he has any idea of what he gave to his audience at the concert last night???…After the last song there was a standing ovation that lasted and lasted until Sonny and his band poked their heads out and waved one last time to the crowd.
I think some people were a bit disappointed that they did not do one more piece…but all I was thinking was…Ok, Ok now…let’s leave the man alone…at 80 years old I think he gave us more of himself than we could have asked for????
________________________________________________
Wonder what inspired these …how cool!!!!
- We have all carved pumpkins in our day…but how about watermellon???
___________________________________________________
Here is a very unlikely Couple from my newest collection.
Yes, I had a dream…and it was a bit unsettling….My husband had moved us to some small town in Manitoba….he rented us a very old dilapidated house …our new home….and I kept saying….I will get used to it…I will get used to it…and all the time I just wanted to be back home in Morden…..
Where do these thoughts come from???….Was it something I heard or saw the day before…or was it something I ate…maybe the peach I had for my evening snack…who knows…very weird….didn’t like this one at all. I was so happy to wake up in my bed in my wonderful house!!!….dreams…sometimes they are better than reality and other times….I just wish I didn’t remember them__
___________________________________________________________________________________________________
A Best seller is a book, recording, etc. currently outselling most others.
Best seller….I have never really thought much about best sellers…I did read an article once and it was talking about books… and asked the question….are sales boosted if they are on a best seller list or if they win awards??….That same article then went on to ask…name a book that has been on the best seller list this month….or name the last book you read that had won an award and concluded that most people could not. This person’s opinion is that….no…these things do not boost sales.
Well, I just found out that my Sam’s Weird Afternoon is on the Winnipeg McNally Robinson ….best seller list… for children’s books !!!! I am number 5 on a list where Robert Munsch is 1 and 2. In the company of Robert Munsch!!!! I am thrilled.
It may not be the fact that a book is on a best seller list that helps sales….but it sure does give an author and his/her book much more exposure and media time and that can’t be all that bad…and the other bonus is the exhilaration and author gets when your book sales have been going well.
So….does a bet seller list sell more books???….I started thinking about the fact that … finding oneself on such a list …motivates a person to want to try and reach that goal once again….It makes me want to get out there and keep marketing even more…and with that I would hope that an increase in sales might follow….and so…that makes be believe that such lists can…yes…indirectly increse sales.
So if you were to ask me….Sally…do you care if you are on a best seller list or if you win an award for your book??….my answer….would be …without hesitation….yes,yes, yes!!!
Change of subject now….my baby birds…the chipping sparrows…..breaking news….
On Thursday as I went to check on the nest…one teeny weeny little bird flew out into my garden.
On Friday when I looked again only two of the four baby birds were still in the nest.
On Saturday the nest was empty and I could hear peeping coming from my garden as the parents flew back and forth feeding them seeds.
On Sunday one little bird was out on our lawn…skawking away until the parent showed up to feed it. I took a few pictures and then shooed it into the garden where it would me less vulnerable. We heard them crying out all day today as the parents were busily trying to feed them all.
I went to have a look at the nest this afternoon and was so sad to see one baby bird in the nest, it had died. I wonder how many of the four actually will make it to maturity?????
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Number two in my collection of odd couples….
- .
We have, of course, long since ceased to think of Nature as the sympathetic mirror of our moods, or to imagine that she has any concern with the temporal affairs of man.
Richard Le Gallienne
The rain is still coming down …it has been raining for days and days….however yesterday…for one day…the sun..finally had a chance to shine…. before the clouds and the rain returned.
Is the weather a mirror of our moods???…When the clouds have hung around for days on end…a person almost …I said…almost … gets used to the dreariness…But then…when the sun finally does show it’s face……everyone appears to be in a better mood…we smile a bit more…we are friendlier to people we meet….and it seems that what ever load we might be carrying …magically lightens up !!!
So that got me wondering about the sun… the rain…. and how it affects us…or…does it affect us and our moods???
What if…someone lived in a region where the weather is always warm and sunny…where it is never cloudy or rainy…are they ALWAYS in a good mood????….and if someone lived in a place where it rained and was cloudy much of the time…would they NEVER be in a good mood????…..I doubt it… And what about places where it is night for months on end…no sun there.????… Does that affect moods???…How can a person stay in a good mood….when their weather provides little in the way of lightning ones spirit????
| I like these cold, gray winter days. Days like these let you savor a bad mood.” | |
Maybe the weather has nothing to do with our moods…..can it be that we just blame the weather on our moods instead of taking
responsibility for them…our moods… ourselves???….Is it harder to have a sunny disposition when the sun is not out???…or can we be in a good mood… ANYTIME…regardless of the weather???…and…is it easier to have a miserable disposition when the clouds are overhead????…
I’ve come to the frightening conclusioin that I am the decisive element in the classroom. It’s my daily mood that makes the weather. Dr. Haim Ginott
How is the weather in your corner of the world today???
_____________________________
Here is the last of my candle collection……
You know you had a bad day when……
So…. today I think i will change things up a bit…start with the bad and end with the smile.
- Now, this is a bad hair day is ever I saw one !!!
One more book engagement today…with some of the Day Care Directors in the Region…at a meeting they had today. How nice it was to no longer be a Provincial Coordinator …it was relaxing to be able to visit …. I wanted to introduce my book to them..(which they all bought ..thanks to all of you for your support)…..and to talk about… life after retirement from the Child Care world…. I told them all about Sam…the publishing process, how I got where I am now… and how much fun I am having now… …and hopefully with my book in the future. It was a fun morning for sure. I will be spending a good part of July traveling to their Centres and introducing Sam to all the kids in their programs.
On my way home I got to thinking about… how life takes us…. on many roads… many that we never planned on taking…like the one I was on today. If in our life we had made just one …small…different choice/decision…we might be in a very different place today…or…we might be headed in an entirely different direction all together…When it comes to finding our way in life…How conscious are we in recognizing all the possibilities and options we have???…How will we choose our next road to travel????….Can we have even an inkling of where it will lead us to????…Should we even care???…
Like they say…it’s the journey that matters…not the destination.
And now for one more addition to my collection of candles…..
My little birds are doing just fine. Once they are a bit bigger I will have a picture for you…but until then….enjoy this….and smile…..
Oh….and one more bit of nostalgia…..
- Are you grinning…even just a little bit???
Nostalgia can be fun…we have had the good fortune of watching public TV over the past while and were able to watch bios and concerts of such groups as Peter, Paul and Mary….The Moody Blues…James Taylor…The Mamas and the Papas…In most cases the people in their 50’s and 60’s…talking about the old days and singing both now and then. Now…that sure is fun and brings a person back. The amazing thing is to hear these artists singing their old songs with voices that have not changed much at all.
So, today I thought I would focus on nostalgia…well…nostalgia for me. If you are a baby boomer…you will be able to relate to some of what I am about to share with you…so hold tight…and enjoy…..
candy cigarettes...I remember blowing the white stuff out...
Skates with the metal key
little hand clickers.
candy dots on paperRemember the paper dolls??Betty Boop...boop...de...doo!!
And so …there you have it for today. I hope this brought back a few memories…it did for me.
Tomorrow I will share a few more items with you.
_____________________________________
- One more item from mycandle collection …crayons.
______________________________________________________________
If you think you are having a bad day…think again……
I have no idea what these little guys are called...but are they ever cute. Look like little monkeys!
Today I gave …the go ahead, the approval on my audio book..it is now finalized and once the audio approval form is in…the audio will be accessable to all who bought my Sam adventure. I think you will enjoy…the voice of Sam.
It seems there have been many approval forms to sign off on this past year….illustrations, book cover, design, conceptual edits, basic edits, finished book and now the audio. One last item will be the book trailer.
On Sam’s audio book….Sean…the voice of Sam …and I… spent the week working together on it. Well, mostly Sean did
all the work…I just did my regular comment and correction emails…..There was one last little thing that needed to be corrected before I could approve it…. well actually….one NOT so little thing…my name!!!..my name needed to be pronounced correctly! I almost was about to let it go but then I thought to myself ” You will be sorry”. And so the I did my best to be tactful and the emails began to fly.
Sally and Gilchrest were no problem for my audio guy…but …Unrau….seemed to be a bit difficult. I was not surprised…through the years my husband and I have heard our last name pronounced in many strange ways… the worst was at a car rental business…the man called us Mr. and Mrs. Urine!! Now how he got urine out of Unrau we will never know. But this week … Sean the audio staff at Tate …after a number of emails from me…. got it perfect.
First Unrau was pronounced ……Un-row…(.like now)… first syllable correct, second not…..and then it was ….Une( like tune)-ruh…first syllable wrong, second syllable correct….until finally…. I told him…..Un (sounds like bun) rau (sounds like huh,duh) ..and this morning I received an audio that had everything just perfect!!! So with approval form signed, I will fax it off today.
Throughout the publishing of my book …without realizing…in a way….I became an editor, an art and audio critic, a teacher, and more.
Not only did I have to look at my work with a fine tooth comb…I also had to critique it and the work of the staff on my team….yes a team. The team was made up of staff at Tate Publishing …Kurt, Liz, Sean, Amanda, Stacey, Mark, Melissa, Rachael, Lauren, Ashley, Dave, Sara..( I hope I got them all)…So you can see that publishing a book by a traditional publishing house is …for sure…a team effort. I have been fortunate to have a WONDERFUL team to work with.
And so…I am ready to give another green lite…another approval form signed and another publishing step is now over. And so….to market…to market…to buy a fat pig…no…no..no…to sell a kid’s book. Three more book engagements coming up. I think I will have to wait till Sept to visit any local schools as they will be closed in a few weeks and my schedule is as busy as I want it to be right now.
Have you given your approval to or for something today…this week???? .
Ahhh…..the life of a published author….pretty amazing so far.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Here is one more interesting candle in my latest collection….
a giant candle in the shape of leggo.
Do you own something that to you is most valuable…but others would see no value in it at all??? Do you own something that you value very little …although in dollars …the item would be considered very valuable??
Today I got thinking about value as I quietly worked in my craft/writing room. Then I noticed a set of 2 black frames , on the top shelf of the closet in that room and I decided to take them out and use them. They have been used many times in the past for many things…for framing pictures…pretty fabric…an art creation and more. But today I realized that I had finally found something very special, something of real value, to put in those frames, and that , most likely, they would never again be changed.
Things only have the value that we give them. Moliere 1622-1673So…that got me thinking and wondering …What is it that makes something valuable ???? … I am sure there are those who find value in items only if they are very pricey…and there are those who find value in items that belonged to someone they loved and lost…and then…I am sure some people value an item because of how long they have owned it….and I am sure there are those who value items only if they have a use.
I can’t change the fact that my paintings don’t sell. But the time will come when people will recognize that they are worth more than the value of the paints used in the picture. Vincent van GoghWe all find value in things for many different reasons. Well for me …today I was framing something of much value to me…Yes, Yes…I am
going to tell you….it is my first Book Royalty check!!!…The amount on the check could not compare to what the check itself actually represents…my writing…my book…and the wonderful adventure I have been on. I think if I cashed it in, I would soon be sorry I did not keep it . Sometimes value is in really….what an item represents.
Nowadays, people know the price of everything and the value of nothing.
Oscar Wilde
I wonder how many things of value we miss in our daily lives???…Yes…we have become very adept at knowing the price of many things…but are we as knowledgeable about knowing value when we see it????…Well…I feel lucky today that I recognized value before I let it slip through my fingers and into my bank account.
How about you ??? …have you recognized something of value today… before it slipped away????
__________________________________________________________________________________________
I am needing some ideas for new collections and would love any idea you may have. I have done hats and shoes and nails and hearts and toilets . If you have any thoughts …interesting, weird , wacky…all I need is one good idea and I will collect and share .
Thanks for reading!!!
Today I am going to chat a bit about the old…. publishing process.
I am having difficulty inserting photos today…sorry.At the present I am involved in listening to and making comment on my book…in audio!!!!… Very interesting part of the process.
Sean , my audio guy……is about to become the voice of Sam. I wonder if he has any idea how important a position he is in. Do you think that who ever did the voice of Donald Duck for Disney…way back when…could ever had had any idea of what a household voice Donald would one day be??? …Now I am not trying to imply that Sam…my Sam…will ever grow to the magnitude of Donald Duck or that his voice would ever become a voice recognized by millions….however….I do believe that …just as a book cover is a vital part of any kid’s book……. now that audio books are becoming a normal part of it all… voices …are also a variable that can make a book stand out from the rest…or… make it …just another book.
So…yesterday….Sean sent me what he called a dry read. He has a very articulate, very clean clear voice…which is why I chose him.(yes..I had four voices to choose from..) However, in this first audio, Sean had little animation in his voice which gave me reason for concern…I was now concerned…very concerned. Is this what my Sam was going to sound like???…No excitement????…No loud and soft voice…just constant and calm. But Sam is not calm at all in my story…Surely I would have some say in the audio???…Surely there was room for some changes???
I had always wanted Sam to be a fun quirky kid who voiced lots of emotions…at least that is what I was expecting…..that is how I always read the story to the kid…..I wanted to hear more excitement, more concern, more confusion in Sam’s voice. So… how do you tell that to your audio book voice person?????….Well, I decided that instead of beating around the bush, I would just tell him. And so I did…but very nicely of course. I gave my comments and then I asked if he had ever listened to Robert Munsch..I thought he was a good example fo what I was talking about…having fun with your voice…and .he said no…but then he asked if I could email him something with Munsch’s reading voice. And so I did..It took me 4 tries..but .I finally figured out how to get it to him. Sean said he was…”wanting to learn and make my Sam the best he could for me.”
So I wait for tomorrow …hoping to get an email from Sean with another audio read of my book. I look forward to what he will send.
Hopefully tomorrow the problem with photos will be fixed..I don’t like writing without pictures at all !!!!!!!!!!
Sally Gilchrest-Unrau...So You Wanna Be A Writer (quotes, smiles, weird thoughts) 