Remember Me? An Update

 Do you remember me? Bob Nailor. That author dude from NW Ohio.

Life has tossed me several curves in the last almost four years since my last blog. First was that nasty COVID virus. I was able to avoid it when it first appeared, but then, it got me. I was rushed to ER in Bryan, then transported to Ft Wayne where they didn't think I would make it through the night.

Ha. Ha. Showed them. Two weeks later I was transported back to Bryan to a nursing home where I spent another two weeks habilitating to join society. Talk about therapy!! I had to learn to walk, go up/down steps, etc. Yeah, even throw a ball.

That was Spring. During the Summer I seemed to be doing fine and things were going along; well, almost too well. In September my doctor decided I was retaining too much water and put me on a diet and double Lasix pills. No exercise, per se, but walking (aka running) to the toilet helped to lose weight. I lost 70 pounds.

Then the falling kicked in. Between December 1 and April 15 of the next year (2022) I fell 21 (TWENTY-ONE) times. It took them that long to figure out why I was falling. Seems I had what is called "Diabetic Amyotrophy" which attacks the muscles of the legs to a point of uselessness. That's right; I couldn't support myself and I never knew when the legs would give out. People told me to use a walker for support. When my legs gave out, it was a drop, like a crumbled cookie. I had a walker, but I was down before I could even get my arms to support me.  We had to let the disease run its course.

Yup, back to therapy again. I was almost to the point where I could walk on my own, my heart decided to go into a-fib. So, a pacemaker was 'installed' to give me a bionic aspect. Things seemed to be back on track. YAY! WRONG. I kept going into a-fib and the doctor couldn't 'shock' me out of it. Back to Fort Wayne and an oblation on the heart in an attempt to fix the a-fib. That did the trick, but I needed to again get more therapy. Almost back to walking on my own when my nephrologist realized my weight gain was due to water retention and any attempt to pressure the kidneys to work harder would ruin them even more. 

I was put on dialysis. A port was put into my upper chest (opposite side of my pacemaker) and now I attend dialysis treatments 3X per week for 3.5 hours per session. It would have been nice to be able to do it in my own community, but there is a 2+ year waiting list to get in there; so I go to Defiance which is about a 35-40 minute drive from my home; each way. Talk about a shot day.

All during this time I have attempted to write, my Amish fan base is screaming for the next book. I wrote "The Secret Voice" as a stand-alone book. Wrong. Fans wanted to know what happened next. I wrote "The New York Voice" in hopes of satisfying my fans and calling it quits. Nope. Hence book 3, "The Amish Voice" came into existence. I had my wife read the final copy before publishing. What was her first words when she finished the book? What Happens Next? That's right, I'm now working on book 4, "The Vietnam Voice" and have outlined/wrote a little on the LAST two books: "The Family Voice" and "The Englische Voice" which definitely ends "The Amish Singer Series" - at least, in my mind. If my fans are wanting more, I will need to consider a new series.

I also wrote two Barry Hargove detective/mystery books: "The Case of Eternal Blood" and "The Babbling Sphinx" Yes, I'm working on book 3; "Dragon Feast" which I hope will be a fun read for those who like mystery/detective stories.

And, I'm also working on book 2 of my "Shiyula" series - "The Topaz" which is coming close to being done, IF I ever finish "The Vietnam Voice." LOL. Yes, I have outlines for another few books in this series, too. "The Ruby," "The Sapphire," "The Pearl," and "The Diamond." My heroine, Jewyl, will have her hands full as she attempts to regain her grandfather's kingdom.

Rumor has it I'm also working on a book of Christian meditation... AND a sequel to my best-seller on AMazon "52 Weeks of Writing Tips" entitled "Another 52 Weeks of Writing Tips." I know, so original!

Notice in the above line I said best-seller on Amazon. My big, BIG seller is my Amish series, but it's via me at fairs, book clubs, craft shows and other events.

Which brings me to a moment of realization. With dialysis happening 3X per week, I did an event in southern Indiana - The Covered Bridge - which lasted 10 days. I won't be able to do that anymore. I even question my ability to do the 4 day Pemberville Free Fair event which I really enjoy.

Yes, my life has/is changing. I can travel but I must set up dialysis sessions along the way. I was told I could even go on a 10 days cruise. Hm? I can get a cruise for $800/person, but the dialysis (5 or 6 times) at about $1K per session... WOW! For 2 people, the cruise will be less than $2K, but the dialysis for me during that time, like $6K. And guess what!? I have to pay. Insurance won't cover it because if you can afford a cruise, you can afford your dialysis.

Okay, if you stuck with me this far; thanks. I hope to return to blogging.

Until next I ramble on...

Fair Fare

Sorry for the delay in posting. I was at the fair. No, I didn't go to a fair, I was part of the fair. I was a vendor at a street fair in Pemberville, Ohio.

It is a free street fair that starts on a Wednesday evening and ends on Saturday night. Three days and four  nights of activities for the whole family. This event has been going on for 65 years. Imagine that?!

Now, exactly how was I involved? Four authors - I was one of them - shared a 10 ft X 10 ft "booth" area to hawk our books in the vendors' tent.

We thought we could "man" the booth in turns so nobody would get burned out but quickly discovered being absent meant "no sales" since most of the people wanted to talk to the author about this or that particular book. Plus, if they bought the book, and the author was absent, who would sign the copy? Hence, I found myself behind the table from ...

Wed: 6pm to 9pm
Thu: 12pm to 9pm
Fri: 9am to 9pm
Sat: 9am to 9pm

The only time I escaped was to get something to eat or drink, even though I brought water along each day, with the 80+ temperatures and inside a canvas tent, it was very warm. There was some wind, but it usually came with rain which meant the sides were pulled down to keep us, and our wares, dry. Oh, and the other time of escape was to find a facility to get rid of the excess water that didn't sweat out. LOL. (Note: That's when I would check out what I could of the fair, seeing where I might want to eat next time!)

Now, my wife went with me to this event since it was a two-hour drive away and we took our RV to have a temporary residence. She camped, I worked. But, she attended the fair a couple of days. She played bingo, watched the pony and tractor pulls and even went to see exactly what a "chicken drop" might be. Imagine her surprise. to discover people laying down money on numbers to match the numbers in a fenced area. When all "bets" were done, a chicken was placed in the fenced area and when and where it "dropped" a load in a numbered square, that person won.

Rides were plenty, some for lovers, some for kids, some for adults, and some, well, just too twisty turny for my body to not react in a violent manner. I've learned NOT to ride them.

Food? So much food. Everything from a simple hot dog to an elaborate pork loin sandwich. There was the ever present cotton candy, caramel or candy apples, popcorn - both plain, flavored and standard caramel, blooming onions, floats, pop, nachos, corn dogs, and as I stated, that pork loin fritter which was deep fried, tri-folded on the bun and then smothered in anything you wanted to put on it.

But I was there to sell books, as were my fellow authors. We started with four, then had only three and finally, for the last 5 hours, it was just the two of us. One author got sick Thursday morning and didn't attend the rest of the event. Another author had a family emergency and had to be absent a whole day on Friday and called it early on Saturday. He did very well on sales for his limited time in attendance.

Now, I and Terry James were there practically the whole time. He sold well and even had a fan come up and gush over him. She couldn't believe her luck in meeting one of her favorite authors. Personally, I think he was a little bashful about the whole incident.

I did quite well, selling books and greeting/meeting people. I had two library people approach me to see if I would be interested in a meet/greet event to talk about and sign copies of my book(s) over the next year. I just hope I didn't scare them off with my eagerness to jump at the chance!!

Another gentleman bought a copy of "The Secret Voice" which is the 1st book in my Amish Singer series. He wanted to read it and thought maybe his wife might be interested in it. To my surprise, she was back to my booth in about ten minutes asking me if I'd be interested in a possible book club opportunity. Remember, this is all, at minimum, two hours away from my home. I said yes, I'd love to do a book club if they were interested. Imagine my surprise!! The woman and her book club are only a mere 10 miles from my residence. They were visiting friends in Pemberville. Such an opportunity to fall into my lap. I couldn't believe my luck. Now, I hope the others are excited enough to buy into the book for the club.

Overall, it was a great fair. I sold many, many books, including my latest Barry Hargove and The Case of Eternal Blood.

Now I need to get my butt in the chair and finish the sequel to The Secret Voice. It should be an easy hustle next year in Pemberville.

Until next I ramble on...

The Sanitized Monster

Vampire.

Take a second. Exactly what did you visualize when you read that word? Did you see a pale, young man or woman whose skin reminded you of sparkling marble? Or perhaps your mind wandered into the sensual with a virile man or sexy woman who dredged up the secret passions of your loins?

Did anyone imagine a male or female who had no other desire than to suck all the blood out of your body before casting you aside like an empty plastic water bottle? One of the reviews of my co-written vampire novel - Ancient Blood The Amazon - stated "The book is an excellent read filled with the psycho-sexual depredations of vampires in their more traditional incarnation, but with a modern twist that keeps the reader engaged rather than bored.

Zombie.

Again, what did you imagine? Was the creature slow and mindless? Lumbering with a goal? Faster than you? Conniving? Comic relief?

In today's society we have sanitized our monsters to where they are our friends, or worse, a joke. Today's vampires don't want to drain you of your life essence. No, they want to be your friend and live a normal life within society. The same holds true for werewolves, zombies, mummies and a plethora of other monsters.

Mermaids. Those lovely creatures of the water. We all agree they are beautiful, sensual, and desirable. Yet, originally, these minions of the sea were vicious and their only desire was to see your vessel destroyed, and most likely, you become food, or die, sinking into the depths of their watery world.

Dragons. Are they fire-breathing behemoths flying through the air, destroying mankind, demanding virgin sacrifices, and squatting on the collected gold? Or, are they peaceful beasts who share their life with virtuous men, fighting evil? They've been redesigned into wyverns, worms, and other mythological creatures with and without magical powers. Are they good? Bad?

Orcs? Demons? Succubi? Werewolves? Mummies? Are they your nightmare or your buddy?

Let's go another route...

Fairies. Are they good or bad? Really? Fairies are light, beings of the fantastic. Do we approach them like Glinda, the good witch of the south, who would ask? Are you a good fairy? Or a bad fairy? 

On that note - how about witches and warlocks? Are they good? Or are they bad?

Originally, witches were hags who brewed their cauldrons for only one thing, a curse. I believe L. Frank Baum created the first "good" witch. I may be wrong, correct me, if so. Still, Halloween was filled with flying broomsticks operated by witches with their feline sidekicks. The movie, Hocus Pocus, gave us the evil witch, but threw in comical relief to make it a "family" movie. Considering the theme of the movie - stealing and sucking the life force out of children - if not for the comedy, could have been a very dark and scary movie... definitely an "R" rating.

Warlocks were their counterpart. Again, their magic was created to subsidize the dark. But, over time, they were sanitized into good beings who lead or helped epic adventures or managed schools.

Leprechauns are another group of creatures who have been through the mill, so to speak. Originally they were little people who, if caught, would possibly give up their pot of gold for their freedom. An example - Darby O'Gill and the Little People. Years later, enter "Leprechaun" (the horror movies) where the poor creature will resort to mayhem and bloodshed to retain its pot of gold. If these creatures were real, I'm sure many of them would be in therapy trying to find their identity.

Are monsters good? Bad? Indifferent?

Should we sanitize these creatures to imbue them as "fun" people? Or, should we resort back to the original design? Variety is the spice of life. Yes, but do we want a variety or do we want to strip these creatures of the magical qualities to scare the bejesus out of us?

I see nothing wrong with good and bad. What I see wrong is the going astray to sanitize them, stripping away the horror that made them what they are. I have no problem with a vampire that rips the throat out after finishing a bloody meal. I have no issue with a vampire who wants to assist the cops on the night force as a hematologist. But, I do call "foul" when the vampire is forced to drink bottled animal or synthetic blood so s/he can be around humans and control the blood lust within them.

And don't get me started on aliens. My aspect? If aliens come to Earth, they come to conquer and strip the planet. Why else would one want to leave their planet? They aren't coming because they like our flowers. They need our resources - and one of those resources might just be us!

Until next I ramble on...

Trying Something New

I've been writing this blog for several years, always trying to "capture" an essence of what I wanted to say, but always failing in the completion.  Okay, not a total failure, but I've always felt my blogs were somewhat lackluster. Yes, occasionally I would have one that stood out, glistening in the sunlight, but more often than not, most of the posts were either drab, boring updates or some rant. Again, maybe more rants than updates.

Today I want to try something different. In addition to my usual mundane update and/or rant, I want to add personal items about me.

Why, you ask? Because I want you to know me, the guy who puts this all together. Sure, everyone knows I write and I cook and I have a wife, kids and grandkids. But... do you really know me?

First, my updates. I've been busy the last few weeks doing edits for my writing clients. I really enjoy doing them because I get to be on the cutting edge of what is new coming out. Plus, I feel I am giving back to the writing community, teaching others how to improve their skills as writers.

If all goes well, once more I'll be teaching a class at Terra State Community College in Fremont, OH. This one will be a shorter class, about three weeks. It is about using dialog for characterization. I'm hoping the students find it useful and helpful.

My garden is coming to harvest.  I have nine (9) tomato plants with a couple of plants of several different varieties. I tried something different this year rather than the same old types as I have grown in the past.  The most unusual one was the Jersey Devil, a 'Roma-type' tomato. Here's a picture of them growing and another with my hand around one still growing to ripeness.

Notice their length? And inside is basically all meat with just a few seeds.  Great for salsa, stewed tomatoes and purees.

This is my wife's first batch of salsa for 2017. There wasn't quite enough to make 8 pints so Yours Truly got to do a little QC that night.  And I wiped out what was left of the tortilla chips.  My wife went to the store and bought two big bags so I won't run out. She has since canned 6 qts of stewed tomatoes, another 11 pts of salsa and 8 pts of tomato juice. She looked at the garden and made the following comment. "[heavy sigh] And this is only the start of the season."

I should mention she also canned 9 qts of dill pickles, 8 pts of banana peppers and I have a couple heads of cabbage - to which I will make a lot of egg rolls for the freezer. There is a bevy of green peppers and I'll be making my infamous freezer green pepper casseroles for the winter.

In addition to all this canning, we're also camping. I finally got the RV toilet repaired. It became a fiasco with always something to stymie me as I attempted the project. Let's just say, after several months (this started the fall of 2016) we were finally able to go camping, and camping we did. Almost a month of camping. A week with friends, a week alone, a week with granddaughters and another week alone. Sure, it was only for a few days each week... being honest, the first week was five nights, the week alone was four nights, the one with the granddaughters was three nights since we had other activities planned and the last week was another four nighter.  We prefer to camp during the week to avoid the weekend chaos and cramped camping.  With school just around the corner, camping is going to be mostly seniors until the nights get too cold. Me? I enjoy those brisk nights, sitting around the campfire, enjoying the fall in all its glorious colors. Having been involved with Scouting since I was 10 yrs old, I have no issue camping when the snow flies and have done it several times - in a tent, no less!

Oh, before I forget. I actually got back to writing my own stuff again. Last night I was able to put just a hair over 1000 words to my followup Amish novel - The New York Voice.  It will still need some heavy-handed editing, but I'm thrilled to be writing, again.

Now, for the new stuff.  Here goes...

My favorite color ever since I was a little kid, let's say at least a half century ago... plus a tad more, was red. I love red. But, I've matured a lot since I was a grade school kid and my colors have changed. Not really. I still love red but it is so brash. I've learned I also love green, especially the deep forest greens. And I enjoy a good shade of blue. My wife has taught me to embrace shades of purple, more so the violet shades she enjoys.

One of my granddaughters wanted to make me something special for my birthday and asked my favorite color. I tried to explain my hesitancy to blurt out the color red, instead telling her I liked all the colors of the rainbow.  She made me key chain fob. It was very colorful with red being the main color, but she did a great job blending in all the other colors and not make it look like a rainbow but have almost every color of the rainbow in it.

As with my choice in colors, my music choices are even more eclectic. One cannot point at me and say 'There goes a rock and roll man' or 'He's really into classical music.' Me? I roll with the waves of the ocean and my music is about as varied as the waves of the seas. To get you started, here's one of my favorite music groups, Brulé performing 'Spirit Horses.'

No, I am not Native American, but, even as a young lad playing "Cowboy and Indians" - yes, I'm THAT old - my younger brother always had to be the cowboy with the guns which left me the Indian. As I got older I was drawn to the American Indian mystique and enjoyed doing beading and recreating Indian headdresses. I even learned, at the "ripe" age of 15 some words of the Indians who lived in the NW Ohio area - the Delaware aka the Lenni Lenape or just plain, Lenape. 

Anyway, to give you a little more insight to me, here's another piece of music I enjoy.

Now, so you totally understand what I mean by the words "I enjoy" or "love" this music. I have these songs on my computer and have had them on my computer for decades for some of them. I listen to them repeatedly - and I do mean repeatedly. I may play a song over and over - as many as a dozen or more times - before moving on to the next song. Some of my music has transferred across as many as ten different computers and laptops over time. Probably more. I kept my music list on all - and I mean ALL - my computers... even at work. My play list is now about four (4) hours long and I keep adding to it as new songs come along or I find a digital copy of an old song I just have to have.

If you have a favorite piece of music, share it with me. Maybe we'll find a common ground.

In future blogs we'll discuss my favorite foods, share some recipes, more music, what I enjoy reading and whatever I feel is necessary for you to know me, Bob Nailor - the guy, the husband, the father, the grandfather and great-grandfather, the writer, the traveler, the gardener, and more.

Until next I ramble on...

A Writing Dilemma

Now exactly what could be so horrific to cause a writer to panic?

I'm 70+ years old and have several novels published, both traditionally and self-published. Not to mention several articles and posts that have offered internationally. Still, I, like so many other authors, remain unknown.

I'm considering not to continue my supposed writing career. At my age, I should be rocking away on the front porch, enjoying life as it passes by.

REALLY?

Enjoy life as it PASSES BY?  NO!  NO!  NO!

I had a few days this week when I actually considered dropping from the authorial world and just enjoy life, playing with the grandkids and great-grandkids, gardening, reading, and traveling. I almost had myself convinced to just sit back.

Then I decided I would step back from writing and just finish up those few novels I'd written and either never finished or needed to clean up to publish.  That sounded like a better idea. It could be something I do while we are traveling and camping... or sitting on the front porch. LOL.

I figured a one-year sabbatical - two years at the most - would be sufficient.

So, I made a list of those novels I needed to work on... uh, all 26 (the count so far) of them. That's correct!  I have 26 novels in different stages of completion. I actually may have more if I scrounge around on my laptop and backup files. This number does not include the myriad of short stories I have written.

Needless to say, I don't want to peek into the sub-directory named "Future Plots" or the other one named "Ideas" for fear of what I may find there.

Therefore, with the idea of not writing anymore now entrenched in my mind, I have decided that perhaps I should reconsider another avenue.

I won't write any more NEW books until I have the ones already on my laptop finished.

Exactly what does this mean?

It means I won't be participating in any future NaNoWriMos (that is National Novel Writing Month which happens in November) or seeing a wild-flung idea/plot from some obscure news article or tidbit discovered while surfing the internet.  Also, I might have to control my imagination when watching certain TV shows - like Aliens on the History channel or of that ilk. National Geographic and History channel can be great idea generators.  I can't give up Giorgio Tsoukalos, Erich von Daniken, David Childress, Peter Fiebag, Robert Bauval and Luc Burgin. Nor can I give up the SyFy channel.  I'll just have to control (aka lock down) my imagination.

I figure if I can finish, edit and publish at least two (2) books a year - it will take me a mere thirteen (13) years to finish all those I have lurking (aka languishing) on my laptop.  Even IF I were to be able to push myself to 3 books a year; it would still take over 8 years to finish them all. Exactly WHERE did I think one or two years would be sufficient?

Can I control my imagination to not... repeat, NOT want to write something new for the next ten years?

At the current time, I am open to any and all suggestions of how to complete the task at hand.

Uh, so you have a "basic" understanding of what I've got stuffed in my laptop --

5 Amish novels, one is a horror, the rest Christian and sort of a series
5 vampire novels (a series)
4 fantasy novels (a series)
2 action adventure novels (1 is a sequel to a published book)
3 epic fantasy novels
1 Native American werewolf vampire detective story
1 Native American fantasy
1 mainstream fiction
1 historical fiction
1 military fantasy
1 SF novel
1 fairy fantasy

As you can see, a very eclectic selection of stories. Oh, and the short stories are a collage of SF, horror, and fantasy... and we have NO count on those.

Is this the time I should mention, I have one "screenplay" I also have in the works and not part of the counts above?

HELP ME!

Until next I ramble on...

False Hope

Just returned from an author's event.  You know the type - somebody organizes the event by getting a bunch of author's together to hawk their book(s) and allows them to meet/greet the public. It's just like a book signing, except in a larger scale.

There is a lot of work getting prepared for one of these. It isn't just a matter of slapping the book on the table, sitting back and raking in the do-re-mi as buyer after buyer throws cash in your face.

Okay, I do stand corrected. There was one gentleman who came to the affair, had a whole table to himself - an eight-foot-long table.  He had ONE book title, three copies spread out in a small arc in the middle of the table.  He sat back in his chair, feet up on the table, and rested for the remainder of the event. At the end, he picked up his 3 books, put them in a satchel and left. Done.

Others, like me, put up a display with books tastefully displayed, colorful announcements, handy business cards, and 'gimmicks' to draw the attendees to the table.  I normally use candy but am thinking of something else... maybe I'll discuss that further on.

Here's a picture of one of my events just a few weeks ago at the Findlay Author's Fair.

You can't see them, but there are about 100 small LED lights under the white cloth.  I used battery operated ones, not knowing if there would be an electrical outlet handy.  Do you see the white-on-white conduit against the wall?  Yes, I would have been the only one with electricity in the room.  Since then, I take along the electric LED lights that can change to any color of my choice, and/or rotate colors and/or flash, too.  No electricity most of the time, but they don't weigh that much.

As stated, the Findlay event was almost a month ago and there have been two other events since. 

The attendees come through, browse the books, talk and talk and really seem intrigued and very interested in the books.  You'd be amazed how many "gush" about how they just love a good Amish story to read.  Uh, but no purchases.  No, but they do ask if it is available online. They want to purchase the electronic version.

Of course, it is online!  Well, DOH!!  No, I don't say it that way to their faces but smile and give them the link(s) to the book(s) for them to check out at a later date.

Okay, not a book purchase at the show, but a potential purchase via Amazon or elsewhere online. It doesn't matter, it's called royalty and it all counts.  I'll take electronic purchases.

I keep checking my online stats for my books - both those I published and those of my publishers. I'm a hybrid author, having some books via several different publishers and some books I have self-published on Kindle/Create Space and at Smashwords.

Need I say?  Yes, the numbers continue to plummet into the abyss.  No online purchases.

Ah-ha!!  Call it the lightbulb going on above my head... OR getting hit by lightning.

It is a ruse by the potential customer.  By stating they want it online, they're not caught in the dilemma of telling me no to my face.  They can give me false hope of a sale and continue on their merry way without feeling terrible.  Maybe they will buy a copy online, but more likely, they won't.

I'm open to suggestions of how to get an event attendee to commit to a purchase.  I've offered beautiful metal bookmarks,  I even had some crocheted bookmarks.  I've offered buy one, get another one at half price. And, I attempted to lure them with candy. Oh, yeah, and I smile a lot.

About the candy.  Someone suggested gum cigars, similar to those the proud dads buy at the birth of a new baby.  They can be purchased, specialized with events or other words to denote, let's say, a book.  Of course, one could buy specially marked M & M candies.  

What else could be given away?  My friend offered a free book drawing. She would give away a copy of her latest book to one of the attendees.  She got four people to sign up.  Not what would I call a real good return on the investment since she didn't sell any copies, either.

Short of knocking the attendee to the floor, ripping the purse open or pulling the wallet from the hip pocket and digging out the money for the book ... any suggestions to help with sales?

My Amazon ratings continue to plummet.

False hope sucks.

Until next I ramble on...

Eggs! And More...

To paraphrase Scotty from Star Trek IV The Voyage Home:  Admiral, there be eggs here!

Finally, after several months of watching my chicks grow and mature, I proceeded to the chicken coop to feed and water - my daily routine - and was surprised to discover an egg scurried in the corner on the floor.

Uh, that was about 2 to 3 weeks earlier than I'd been told to expect eggs.  Almost everyone had told me not to expect any eggs until sometime in July. Well...

WRONG!!

It was the cutest little egg.  All brown and smooth.  But, oh, so small.  About 1/2 the size of a normal egg.  Still, one of my 18 chickens decided to give me an egg.  I proudly carried it into the house and presented it to my wife.  She was ecstatic.

Now, one must remember, she was the one who wanted to have chickens.  I wanted to raise about 25 for butchering and stocking the freezer.  She wanted eggs.  I have been the one who goes out every day to feed and water the hens.  Uh, not her.  Also, I don't eat eggs because they make me sulfuric and you don't want me like that - trust me, but that's another story.

Since the first egg's discovery, my wife is more involved with the chickens.  Well, sort of. Okay, she only goes out (about 2 or 3 times a day) to check for more eggs.  I'm the guy who still has to feed and water the chickens... oh, and clean out the coop, etc.

With the egg discovery, my #1 son made us 4 nesting boxes.  I've put some straw in them.  The hens use the boxes for roosting at night, throw out the straw, and continue to lay their eggs on the floor AND NOW, even outside on the ground.  I am going to paint some plastic eggs tan and put them in the boxes to see if that helps.  If not, I will lock them in the coop temporarily in an attempt to get them to lay the eggs inside, at least. Hopefully, at some point, they'll realize they have nests.

It looks so lonely, all by itself on the counter for the picture.

This is what it appears in size against a regular-sized egg.

Also, so you know it, there have been more eggs laid since the first one appeared.  We have a total of nine eggs now.  My wife, in her modest brainstorm, has been saving all the used egg cartons for this adventure - much to my surprise.  In fact, I think she has all the kids saving them, too.  She has a huge stack of empty egg cartons.  But, here is what the eggs in a carton look like...

The darker ones are from the Red Cross hens, the two lighter ones are from the ISA Brown hens. As the hens mature and continue laying eggs, they will get larger. I'm told all the lighter eggs will get darker with time and size.

There are 18 hens.  Egg production should increase with time, as well as size.  Right now, we're getting about 1 or 2 eggs per day.  As stated, I don't eat eggs but do look forward to a lot more angel food cakes to munch on.

In other news, my garden is coming along well.  The peas have really done well and the vines are loaded with pea pods.  My wife figures she will have to consider ambling out to harvest them.  I can't believe we only have about 2 cups of frozen peas left from last year.  I'll probably use them in the next week or two.  By that time, I would say the new peas should be coming in.  Mmm.  Fresh peas in a cream sauce over new baby potatoes.  YUM!

My tomato plants are doing well, growing strong in their wire cages.  Can't wait to make this year's salsa.  I only have 1 qt of salsa left.  My garlic and onions are coming along.  Two days ago I put up the lines for the pole beans to grow on.  Amazing how fast they latched onto the lines and started growing up them.  I'm sort of excited to see how the fish line trellis works this year.  I've always used the tee pee pole method and my loving wife wanted something a little easier to deal with.  We'll see.

The flowers I started are coming along beautifully.  The orange petunias aren't quite the exciting, electric shade as shown in the magazine.  Still, they are pretty, but not so much orange right now, as more coral-colored.  They look good against the white petunias, purple sweet alyssum and lime-green sweet potato vines.

Has anyone ever attempted to grow that large foliage plant, Elephant Ears? See picture.

I've got 3 bulbs that I've planted. It has been 3 weeks now and so far, nada.  Last year I bought a package of 5, planted them in a moist, but not soggy, area, with shade and sun.  My granddaughters, 4 of them, helped and there was one for each of them, plus mine.  None of them grew.  I figured it was something I'd done wrong... or the ground wasn't good.  This time I bought another 5, gave 2 away, and planted the 3 in huge pots, hoping for a fabulous tropical look.  So far, I'm disappointed.  I planted them as shown on the instructions - uh, all the dirt basically washed away in the first rain, leaving the tops exposed.  I figured that was what it was supposed to do.  I'm probably wrong. HELP!

To finish up, a little health update.  My dietitian has me on an 1800 calorie diet with 40-60 carbs per meal and 15-30 carbs per snack.  I gained weight.  NOT GOOD.  She wanted me to have an intake, at minimum, 165 carbs, preferably closer to the high end at 270.  Yeah, I gained weight.  Went to the doctor and explained the circumstances and he agreed, I should go back to my diet, lose the weight and see if we can get me off a lot of these diabetic medicines.  So, I'm now eating small meals, about 4 a day, cutting out carbs but not completely, and, of course, exercising.  I've cut out the biggie carb monsters: rice and potatoes; plus I've given up pop.  Okay, I cheat. I have ONE diet pop at night along with a bowl of popcorn.  Sorry, but I was born in Iowa, the corn state, and I love my corn, especially popcorn.  I use a dribble of oil in a microwave popcorn popper just so the small amount of salt I put on - stays on. LOL.  Of course, I'm consuming more veggies, fresh and raw veggies, not from cans.  Plus, now that fruit is once again in season, I'm checking those out.  My sugar was up a tad when I went to the doctor, but with the new meds (got rid of Januvia, now on Victoza) and new diet, I'm seeing the numbers come back down and that's what I want to see. Yes, I know. Victoza is an injection and I fought to avoid this, but it is NOT insulin. The doctor assured me if I can get my weight down, more than likely the sugar will also come down and I can stop Victoza. It better!

Finally, I'm writing again.  Back to my sequel for "The Secret Voice."  I now have Daniel Yoder, my Amish character, in New York City.  He is following a dream, testing Rumshpringe.  I can't believe the trouble he has found himself in, plus I know a few little secrets that should keep him off-balance and the reader turning pages.  More about "The New York Voice" as time passes.

Until next I ramble on...

Go Fly A Kite

March. The month when the wind comes in with a fury. Perfect for kite flying. But, if truth be told, a kite just strings you along. Then, in one last leap of desperation, it plummets to the earth in a crash… uh, usually into trees, telephone/electrical lines or some other obscure location.

Rather than being strung along, may I suggest a book instead? Right now my novel “Three Steps: The Journeys of Ayrold” is on sale at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005MZS89I/ for only $2.99 – that is in honor of the Leprechauns. After all, in addition to flying kites, we celebrate St Patrick’s Day and the wearing of the green. My book takes place in Ireland (also Washington, DC and Sherwood, OH) with the leprechauns prepping for battle against the dwarves. Strange thing, tho, dwarves can be leprechauns, leprechauns can be giants or, wait a minute, even elves? Well, read the book to find out all these mysteries since nothing appears as it would seem to be. Blink your eyes and they’re gone. Save some green ($2.00) and simply take Three Steps… to a tale of wonder.

Continuing on the kite theme - my health.  I'm about to fly a kite and let it crash but I'm going to stick it out.  I've been having all kinds of problems getting my sugar controlled this month.  One day it is 85 first thing in the morning, the next day it is 199. The doctor wants me to go on insulin, and I'm fighting the option... it seems so final. I have until 3/18 to get this under control.

I visited with the nephrologist. Very interesting. Of course, it also plays back on my diabetes with my kidney issues. Basically, the meds. Get my blood sugar under control and maybe the other issues will correct themselves - sort of.

Something tells me I need to watch my diet very closely. What I think is "safe" to eat, may not be. I found a "diabetic" recipe which included rice. Okay, it used brown rice and I didn't have any, so I used white rice. Needless to say, my blood-sugar sky-rocketed. I will try it again, but with the brown rice. Also, I think quantity is playing a major role here, too. I need to learn to cut back my portion sizes on some things. I can have as much celery, cabbage, lettuce, cauliflower, broccoli, and some beans. Carrots (I love carrots!) are limited. The good thing, I like broccoli and cauliflower, so I don't mind eating them. In fact, I've learned to switch out cauliflower "rice" for white rice in many recipes... and it is good.

The one thing the nephrologist told me that plunged a knife into my heart - no soy sauce. I have to watch my intake of sodium and soy sauce is OUT. She did say I could "maybe" cheat once or twice a month with a sprinkle of soy sauce on my Oriental meals when I go out to eat. Guess I should mention I enjoy stir fry immensely. I mean, I cook - did you catch that? - I cook at least one, if not two stir fry meals every week. I've learned to cut out or back the sugar on many of the sauces but now, soy sauce, too? {staggers back in mock heart attack} 

On the farmer front - imagine my surprise when I walked out into the utility room the other day to see one of the baby chicks sitting on the aquarium tank's edge. Fortunately, it was still pondering the idea of flying (tumbling?) from that height to the floor where our pet dog, a Shih Tzu, waited anxiously to play with it. I grabbed it, put it back into the aquarium and found a makeshift wire cover for the top. I don't believe my boys will get the new coop built in time since it is snowing outside right now. So, I will go to the store for 4x8 sheets of plywood to create a roomy space for them to grow. Each chick needs approximately 3-4 square feet of space when fully grown. I have 8 chicks. So that means 32 square feet. Wow!  4x8=32. Great! 4 sheets of plywood should give me a mini-coop 4 ft wide by 8 ft long by 4 ft high. Plenty of space for them. Oh, and it will have a wire roof.  When I put the wire on top of the aquarium, you could see the little chicks looking up at the new "sky" - they were already plotting their next escape... I'm sure.

Until next I ramble on...

Book Covers - Your Chance to Vote or Have A Say

I'm not sure exactly what is the worst part of being a writer.

1. Writing the story
2. Editing the story
3. Getting a book cover
4. Publishing the book
5. Marketing the book

Actually, I think the easiest part is writing the book.  From that point on, it is all downhill and complete and utter stress for any author.  Sure, if you get a contract with a major - or minor - book publisher, the cover is usually handled by the publisher, as is publishing the book.  Marketing is still a lot on the author but there is some marketing by the publisher.

But, what about us Indie authors?  We have to do it all.  I'm basically an Indie author.

So, I'm putting together a collection of short stories I've written over the years, some of which have been published in various venues: magazines and anthology collections.

After some major re-adjusting of the titles and heavy thought, I finally found a shred of a theme thread to which I could move forward with my book cover. A cover should indicate in some manner what is inside. I attempted a cover of my own but was told to get a professional cover if I wanted to present a professional image.

I contacted my last cover designer, a gentleman in Germany, whose name is Karl Müller.  He has offered me two possibilities - for starters. (Edit update) He sent me a third possibility.

Option 1: Doors w/ shadowed skull

Option 2: Skull w/ doors shadowed within skull

Option 3: Skulls w/ doors and a single D for the words

Now, my dilemma.  Which do I choose ... or do I ask for another possibility?

Actually, I was thinking Option 2 but have the font changed to that used on Option 1, and keep it as "A Short Story Collection."  I don't know if it just me, but it seems the letters are clearer on the first option.  Maybe it won't be the same on option 2. (Edit update) With the new addition, I think I like #3 the best now.

By the way, if you haven't figured it out by now, the theme I found in my short stories was "death" but in many faceted ways.  Some were outright deaths, others involved vampires or paranormal type characters, while other stories were a mental twist.  Sorry I can't be more precise than that, but if I did, I'd be ruining a few of the stories.  Let's just say it is a "form" of death.

I'm terrible in making decisions. Help me.  Vote for the one you think is a better choice.  Your possibilities are:

1. Option 1 - as is.
2. Option 2 - as is.
3. Option 3 - as is.
4. Option 1 - different font
5. Option 2 - different font
6. Option 3 - different font done as a single D
7. Something totally different - and please give a suggestion.

As to why I'm asking for suggestions.  Karl is just starting to make book covers and he tries to give the author what they want via their suggestions.  I told Karl it was an anthology about death and how there are many doors to different kinds of deaths.  So, if you think a different cover would be better, please give me an idea of what to tell him.  Thanks.

I look forward to your input...

Until next I ramble on...

Year End Round-Up

What did 2015 do for you?  It is the end of another year and, as always, we tend to get a little whispy-eyed with memories of the last 12 months.

This year had it ups and downs.  There were good things and there were bad things.  Of course, we all remember those incidences which just happened... like my mother-in-law passing just prior to Christmas.  That was definitely a down thing but you can spin it as an up thing: She was 103 and had lived a very full life.  Her health had been failing, along with her memory - and that hurt, especially my wife who visited her several times a week.  It's hard when your mother doesn't remember who you are - but, she knows you, just not your name.

Of course, there was my doctor visit in November which wasn't all that great.  My blood sugar was averaging 246 for the last six months and he basically told me, fix it or die.  Again, to spin a good thing to it, I have since lost 18 pounds and my sugar has been hovering around the 100-120 mark.  That is a very good thing.  I'll be going back in January for another blood draw to see what the new results will be.  I'm hoping to lose another few pounds in the meantime.

While on the subject of weight, I'll go clear back to the beginning of the year when I was making resolutions.  What were they?  Lose 25 pounds. Publish 3 books.  So let's see what I did.

Back in June I got so sick I could barely swallow.  I lost weight - a lot of weight.  I lost a total of over 30 pounds.  Then I got well.  I found them.  I didn't have to go that far to search, either.  They were ever so quick to return - and return they did.  Okay, I didn't get them ALL back.  I was able to let some free to roam and find another home.  About 10 pounds were left on the range.  So with the doctor's colorful health report, I've lost almost another 20 pounds, so, in total, I've lost almost 30 pounds this year.  THAT I call a success.  I reached my goal of 25 pounds.  Oh, for you readers, if you find these stray pounds, their yours to keep - call it my gift, if you will.  I don't want them back so they're free for the keeping.  I'm sure they'll be good to keep you warm - not healthy, but good.

Now, to the publishing.  In April I published "The Secret Voice" which has been a great seller.  I have had to order it twice from Amazon to keep it in stock.  I even sold a copy to the young lady who helped me at WalMart when I created my new poster of the cover.  My one classmate also works there and she's been telling everyone about and well, do you have any idea what it is like to have a clerk ask if she can buy a copy?  If you go to Amazon, it doesn't look like it is selling because all the copies I sell don't reflect... and I've sold a LOT of copies.

Anyway, I published that book and was able to finally get my 2nd book published yesterday and should be available now.  "CRACKED! The Writing Mystique" is a short how-to about handling the different aspects (mystiques) of writing including character detail, active/passive voice, writing sex and so much more.  As always, I made sure to include examples so it could be easily understood.

Did I publish three books?  No.  I really feel ashamed.  I could have done so easily but I didn't and there absolutely no excuse.  Of course, I've been working on the sequel to "The Secret Voice" and, as many writers will understand, my mind has been attacked by several other plots and stories that are screaming for attention. I was just busy with other things - like family and life, I guess.

Of course, this year, my wife and I tried to do a little more camping.  Of course, with her mother's health, we didn't want to travel too far away.  Most of the time we went to the local state park just a few miles up the road and would camp there for the week, skipping out Friday morning before it got too crowded.  We did do a trip up into Michigan with our middle granddaughters (ages 13 and 9) where we got in some great fishing.  That was about 5 hours from home... not too far, but away.

My garden.  It was a good garden.  I even was able to grow some sweet corn and it was delicious. My wife canned some tomatoes, making stewed, diced, juice and even several jars of salsa which I have pretty well decimated already.  She agrees - more salsa next year.  Yes, I have already received what I call the best fiction mags of the year - the garden seed catalogs.  And, yes, I already have delusions, uh, I mean, dreams of things I want to attempt to grow this coming year.  Since I was so busy doing mulch to certain areas, I am going to have to be a little more selective in what I want to grow in containers.  I have plans for a couple of tubs.  Of course, my two hanging deck boxes I have to allocate some nice draping plants.  And the step planters, those big 24-inch pots will need some color, too.  In just a few short months I'll be starting my garden seeds likes tomatoes, peppers and just not sure what else as of now.

Also, this coming year, I want to attempt raising some chickens - about 50 for slaughter and another 5 or 6 for eggs during the summer and fall.  Of course, if winter next year is anything like it has been so far this year, those chickens might make it through the winter.  Oh, and I'd like to also raise about 2, maybe 3 turkeys.  Living in the countryside does have its perks but then again, it also has the critters that like chickens and turkeys, especially the young ones... oh, and eggs, too!

So, as you can see, I'm already getting around to my New Years Resolutions for 2016.  I'll keep it simple.  Lose another 25 pounds.  Publish at least 2 books.  Raise some chickens and turkeys.  Grow a garden.  Travel, camp and fish more.  Oh, and spend more time with my wife, kids, grandkids, great grandkids, family and friends.

Until next I ramble on...

I'm Back.

I know I've been remiss in doing my weekly blog but I had to take care of a few things and to be quite honest, I just didn't feel I could be fair to my readership.  Here's a little of what has happened in the interim...

1) NaNoWriMo.  Yes, I attempted and succeeded once again with this program.  This year I couldn't decide if I wanted to slap-write my 2nd Amish novel or do the writing book that was buzzing around in my head.  A friend suggested both.  That's what I did.  I accomplished over 52k words by the end of the month, completing my writing book and actually accomplishing quite a bit on my Amish novel.  So, hang in there, I've got some books coming out soon.  More later...

2) Health.  Remember my New Year's resolutions to lose some weight - okay, at least 25 pounds?  I actually accomplished that back in June, losing almost 30.  I got so sick, I couldn't eat and basically was on a liquid diet.  Yeah, I lost weight.  But to be honest, it just lingered around the corner and when I wasn't looking, most of it jumped back on board.  Not good.  I went to my doctor back in November and well, he tried to sugar-coat the results of my latest blood test.  "Get your diabetes under control or die."  WOW!  He said he couldn't sugar coat it because I'm a diabetic, which is true for the last 15 years.  Seems my A1C went from a not-so-great 7.3 to a Holy Crap! 10.4.  For those not in the know, an A1C in the range of 4.5 to 5.9 is consider good.  My diabetes was totally out of control with high blood results averaging 243 for the past 6 months.  I have since taken active steps to correct the situation.  He had changed my meds - I had him put me back on the old meds which were working.  Since then, my sugar has dropped drastically into more acceptable numbers.  I'm watching my food intake and exercising more.  My doctor said if I can get my sugar under 130 on a regular basis, he will be happy (and surprised!)  Last night, before supper, my sugar was 126.  I'm eating my healthier right now and from what I could tell - I went to the Medical Center with my wife and stopped at my doctor to get weighed in - my weight is down 6 pounds in one week.  I will allow a little variance since it wasn't the same scale, but still, those scales are checked often throughout the year - so there shouldn't be too much change.  But, we'll keep tabs on it.

3) I mentioned publishing a book back in item #1.  That's right, hopefully, sometime this coming week, I will release "CRACKED! The Writing Mystique" which is a book to help a new writer understand some of the secrets of good writing and aide those seasoned writers with their writing.  I figure the e-book will be released at $.99 - at least for a few days.  There will be the paperback but I'm unsure exactly how much it will be since I need to have CreateSpace calculate all the expenses. My New Year's resolution goal was to publish 3 books - I got two books out with this one.  Hmm?  Last year I wanted to publish 4 books and only got out 3, so this year I decided on 3 and only got out 2 books.  Maybe next year I should consider 11 books and publish 10.  Whoo-hoo!!

4) On the home front, I was able to get a lot of landscaping done before the winter chills came in. We had this home built in 2006 and now, finally, after almost 10 years, I have a sidewalk to be somewhat proud of.  Prior, it was some mud, grass, a couple of rubber mats and a short length of carpet remnant.  Now it is an attractive angled walk of bricks with an edging of mulch.  In fact, there is matching mulch in front of the low brick wall and a large expanse of ground (heavy clay) that wouldn't even grow weeds. Oh, and the angled ground which had irises and day lilies, it is now a lovely stretch of mulch.  I will be guarding it against weeds with a self-made concoction of weed-killer including dish soap and vinegar plus some other stuff.  It's not as harsh as RoundUp and therefore will take quite a few hits to finally exhaust the plant's growth and kill it.  Still, if it gets on my good plants, it won't kill them and I can spray with water to rinse it off.  Not so with RoundUp.

5) Hoarding. We've all seen those shows were people hoard and hoard. My wife and I have started to hoard, too.  Slightly different.  The local grocery had 8 weeks of specials where you could get certain items at a very low price in limited quantities.  We also had a couple of friends who got those mailers and didn't want the items.  Guess who got them?  Then they decided to also have a 10 for $10 sale and other amounts.  Imagine - 10 1 pound packages of Butterball turkey bacon for $10.  Around here, that stuff usually sells for the cheap side at $3.99/pkg.  Need I say we bulked up?  They had 80/20 hamburger for $1.99/lb.  Yup!  We bought in 3+ lb packages and re-packaged into 1 lb bags and put it in the freezer.  They had all sorts of stuff on sale and we bought and bought to stock up.  Our big freezer is packed and the smaller one is also full.  We did a lot of canning and freezing of our garden goodies, too.  I kid you not, we can eat very well for the next 2 or 3 months and not leave the house except for milk which we don't drink that much of, anyway.  Oh, I forgot to mention, my grandson hunts and has gotten 2 deer so far this year.  He can only get one more.  The 2nd deer is still being processed and I have NO idea where we will put it.  What's nice, I can take a little venison and some of that 80/20 hamburger and get a very lean mixture which is even better for me.

6) Weather-wise - I'm not going to complain one bit.  I'm basically still running around outside in shorts and t-shirts in NW Ohio.  Okay, when I go into town, I put on bluejeans and sometimes a light jacket.  There has been only a couple of days that I've actually had to put on my leather jacket because it was so cold.  My wife, on the other hand, thinks it is chilly - but then again, I'm the guy who runs around in shorts all winter in the house, putting on a shirt when company comes. LOL.  I can handle extremes of heat and cold.  I'll be honest, I prefer 70 for a temperature year round but we keep our house a little warmer if we use air-conditioning - meaning it is too hot outside with no breeze and the windows can't be open.  In the winter, we keep it a little cooler, about 68.  Just had a thought!  Maybe that's why we don't get a lot of company. LOL.  Just kidding, this house should have a revolving door for the way people come and go here with 4 sons and 10 grandchildren, 4 of which are on their own, some with families.  It's a mob when the family gathers here.

Hopefully things will get better in my life.  I intend to get my blog out in a timely manner each week and, once again, I apologize for my absence.

Until next I ramble on...
















2.

Ego-surfing

There is an old, old song by Carly Simon which has the phrase: You're so vain, you thought this song was about you. Sometimes it is necessary for one to actually be somewhat vain. Of course, I mean that in only the nicest of ways.

BTW, here's a link to a remake of Carly's song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ly2TiqbkT7Y

Years ago, while I was in the service, at a duty station, one of the secretaries told my buddy he was vain to which he replied: That can't be. Vanity is a fault and I have none.

Nonetheless, give it a try, be a little vain — in other words do some egosurfing, auto-googling, egosearching, a vanitysearch ... whatever you want to call it.

Using your favorite browser — Google, Internet Explorer, Safari, etc.  Type in your name, hit "Enter" and see where your name appears. You might be surprised!

On a whim, I did this the other day and discovered I was all over the Internet.  A pleasant surprise — okay, I'll admit, my head did swell just a tiny, tiny amount, if you're comparing it to Jupiter.  I'm amazed I didn't soar with the other hot-air balloons in the area that day.

Discovering your name at this website or that website can make a person rather proud. Of course, what is even more exciting, to find your name at a site you didn't know your name was going to show. Imagine my surprise, years ago when I did this to find one of my "paintings" at a website to honor John Carter. I'm a big fan of Edgar Rice Burroughs and his writings, including the John Carter of Mars series. I'd created a 3-D image, rather bland in shades of reds, blues and lavenders. With the soft plateaus and hazy plains, I envisioned it as Mars. I need to have that website updated, too. LOL.

http://www.erbzine.com/mag9/0989.html

But, I digress. When I did the search the other day, being coerced by PCH (Publishing Clearing House) to use their search engine to enter the drawing, I entered "Bob Nailor" to see what would display.

To quote Gomer Pyle: Surprise! Surprise! Surprise!

I discovered on one of MY personal web pages, the data was a tad out of date, by about three (3) years!!  Of course, I was able to immediately go into my domain and correct the offending page(s) as needed with more updated information.

I also discovered that my information was out of date at several other web pages including Google+, Good Reads, Amazon and, color me red, too many other places that I had some control over but had not kept updated.

Therefore, don't feel it is vanity to search for your name. Do so and find out if you are inadvertently being publicized on a page you'd rather not have your name plastered on, or discover, as I did, that your data is out of date — which could be worse!

Did you catch that?  On a page you'd rather not be on? Imagine finding yourself on a web page, which in and of itself can be considered an honor, but it's a website that you'd rather not have your name associated with.  For instance, a raunchy romance web page with an image of your book cover and your name.

I found my latest book cover, The Secret Voice which is an Christian Amish novel on a gay site with the following blurb: One hot dude. I sent a letter to the web owner with a simple request, either post a review of the book or remove the cover since I was quite sure the original photographer would be upset.  I had no issue with it being on a gay website but I didn't want it the cover to be used as sensual endeavor.  I can't control who reads my books or who reviews them or how they review. The web owner was very nice and explained that other people could post to his page and he would take it down since the object of the page was to invoke sexual responses.  Not all website owners will be as nice, but if you approach them nicely and professionally, most will respond politely.

The bottom line to this ego trip is simple. Find out where your name is listed.  Is it correct? If not, can you correct it or have it corrected?

Go forth, my friends, and EgoSurf.

Until next I ramble on...

What Am I Missing?

Before you get your hackles up, let me say this - the following article is written to those who have one or two books out AND they are not a series.

I just don't get it.  My mind can't wrap around the concept.

"It was a fantastic promo. We gave away over 25,000 copies of "XYZ Book Title" and garnered almost 50 reviews.  The book is being noticed.

"Thank you, everyone. Almost 11,000 books given away in 24 hours. Made #1 in free XYZcategory. Hoping for reviews."

What am I missing? Even if the person sold the book for $.99 with a $.35 royalty.  Let me do some calculation...

11,000 X $.35 = $3,500.00   OR  25,000 X $.35 =  $8,750.00

Somebody is thrilled and overjoyed at NOT making any money!! Especially when they could have made $8,750 or even just $3,500.

Go ahead, tell me they now have more readers - more fan base - more... well, anything!

WRONG!

They gave away all those books to a lot of people who may or may NOT read their book. IF they read it, maybe - but, more likely, there will be no review. Notice, I said "IF" they read it.

So what did they gain?

I'll be honest and you're all going to hate me for what I'm about to admit...

When I got my first taste of the Kindle reader app, I bought a couple of books and then discovered the free ones.  Yes, I got myself onto so many sites that offered free books.  I was voracious.  I grabbed everything and anything that even remotely interested me.  Why?  It was free.  I must have downloaded upwards of 700 books.  Yes, my Kindle app was loaded and I could have read for the next few years non-stop.

Now for the truth!

Of all those books I've downloaded, I've only read maybe 10-15 of them to completion.  Oh, sure, I checked out a few more, maybe another 30-40 books but gave up on them shortly after starting due one or more issues: bad formatting, bad writing, bad story, bad... bad... bad.

It was then I realized something I didn't want to accept - free equals bad. You get what you pay for.

There is a reason gold is expensive and poop is basically free for the taking.  Of course, like gold, there is always fool's gold and the unsuspecting reader is going to discover a bad book they paid good money for.

I'm not saying all free books for crap but, a few years back, that was indeed the case.  Not so, too much today.  It is always the caveat - Buyer Beware.

So, if you've spent a lot of time writing your book, editing your work, having it beta-read and even got a professional cover.  Whether or not you invested a few dollars or several dollars...

WHY ARE YOU GIVING IT AWAY FREE?

You're a writer.  Are you writing for the love of it?  In other words, you don't want to make money? Be honest, you want to make money.  If you continue to give away books, you're never going to make money.  Sure you may have umpteen thousand "fans" but if they don't BUY your books, they're not really fans.  Think of it this way - they got the first couple of books for free.  If they hang in there, you'll give this one away, too.  This will sound terrible - they are leeches sucking your creative juices out of you. They're just looking for the next free meal ticket.

IF they really, REALLY like your work, they will buy it.  Think this over.  If you're given a car, sure, you will baby it, but not for long. If it gets a ding, it will hurt for a bit but the next scratch you won't even raise an eyebrow. BUT, if you buy that car, I don't care how many times it gets dinged or scratched, you'll be out there hovering over your baby with a tear in the eye. You might even kiss the boo-boo to make it all better.  Now take that concept to your book.  You gave it away.  The reader owes you nothing since it cost them nothing.  If they read it, fine, if not, no loss to them since they have absolutely NO investment in the book.

The trend today is to give away the book and when not free, offer it for $.99.

IS THAT WHAT YOU THINK OF YOUR WORK?

Is it worthless or available for a few coins?  If you work full time, tell your boss that you'll come and work for free every Tuesday and Thursday and for a mere $1.99 the other days.  Notice I didn't even mention minimum wage?  $.99 a book isn't even minimum wage for a writer, new or veteran.

You're ready to price your book or do a promo...

THINK ABOUT THAT PRICE and what you are doing... You're setting a precedent!  Readers now think that they can get most books for free - if they hang in there long enough.  I bought a book $4,99 and about two months after I finished it, the author had it for free.  I was a bit miffed.  I was going to buy the next 3 books in the series, but I decided to wait.  Yes, the author listed the next 3 books for free the day the 5th book came available.  Personally, I think that is poor marketing on behalf of the author.  Give away the 1st book, and then establish an escalating price - $.99, $.1.99, and  $2.99 for the next 3 and finally $4.99 for the new book.  I see no issue with giving away the first book in a series to snare the reader, but to give all the books away for free.  Why?  You've already established the precedent that the latest book will be free with the release of the next book.

Think about it.  You've done the work - why give it away?

Until next I ramble on...

Stunted Stigma

I wrote a couple of writing tips about sex and how to include sexual scenes in your writing.  I was asked in a personal email if I wrote any porn.

My response was from my teen-age years.  I think it was my sophomore or junior year in high school when I mentioned to my dad that I was considering a life as an author... or a writing career.  He sat me down and gave me his fatherly advice.  His words, more or less:

Being a writer is a good trade but they don't make a lot of money. Sure there are some who make a real good living at it but, for more, it usually takes writing smut and porn, to make any type of living. If you want to write, my only request is - write what you would want or allow your mother to read.

WOW!  Talk about stunting creativity.  My days of being a porn writer were crushed. So long, big bucks and wild times.

Sure I continued to dabble in writing over the next 30+ years.  My first submission to Children's Highlights was rejected.  That was my junior year in high school and the stigma lasted for well over 30 years.  I never really submitted anything again.  Okay, I did submit a poem/story - after a lot of persuasion from friends - to a local rag in Washington, DC.  It was accepted and I saw my name in print - or rather my nom de plume.  I couldn't even bring myself to use my real name.  It was a stupid poetic story about a boy who gets pigeon crap on his head and considers himself special until the his mother forces him to wash his hair.

Anyway, would I write porn or smut?  No.  Could I?  Sure.  Would it be good?  Let's get real here. Like 98% of all porn flicks - is there really any plot or acting?  Sure, the story would be good, but then again, the story might be more plot driven than sex driven.  Would it really be porn anymore?

Why am I even considering this?  I am not about to branch out into the erotica market.  In fact, I can honestly claim that I haven't really read any hot-n-heavy erotica since my Navy days.  And I read the classy stuff - Sexus, Nexus and Plexus by Henry Miller - all banned and, of course, a few of the more colorful books the other guys had brought into the barracks and/or on-board the ship.

No, I'm still creeping along under that stigma - Can my mother read this? And will I be proud of it? So I don't write in that genre.

Until my mother's death, she had read almost everything I had written, especially the last few books which she thought to be extremely weird.  She never understood  my love of science fiction, fantasy or horror.  I do believe she would have really enjoyed my latest release: The Secret Voice. It is an Amish Christian novel.  In fact, I think she would have enjoyed Pangaea, Eden Lost - a clumsy Indiana Jones type adventure.

Well, so much for writing porn and smut.  Not my genre and I believe it will survive without me.

A little other updates.  The garden.  My tomatoes are looking great and with luck, I should be placing them into the garden in the next few days.  My peas are breaking ground finally.  Not sure why it took them almost 3 weeks to come up, but they are showing now.  I have been "conditioning" the two bales of straw and another few days and they will be ready.  So, in preparation of that, I hope to start the vine plants (cukes, zukes, melons) tomorrow in peat pots.  Also plan to put out the corn, carrots, beets, beans and whatever other seeds my wife bought that she thinks we want to grow.  My square foot gardening really pushes the limits.

We won't be going anywhere with the RV this week but will be prepping it for the following week. We plan to go out for a four day stay at the state park and make sure it can handle the rigors of a trip, just in case we decide we want to travel.  Actually, I think we'll spend more time day-dreaming about the renovations we want to do - a complete revamp of the inside.

With the weekend being Mother's Day, we had all of the four boys show up to honor my wife, their mom.  Four boys, four wives, 10 grandchildren and a couple of hopefully soon-to-be members.  Plus my one granddaughter graduated, getting her Phlebotomy degree.  A very active weekend.

Until next I ramble on...

Spring Is Here...

This week has been an interesting with many different events, some intriguing, some fun.

I started the week with a visit to my cardiologist for a fancy Cardiolite Stress Test.  Most of the stress was in the preparation and being told by others who had had the test, what I should expect.  The doctor was not going to allow me to walk on the treadmill - it would be the chemical test. I remember my mother stating that when she had it done, she was short of breath, got terrible headaches and for the most part, thought she was going to die.  My sister-in-law stated it gave her heart a weird feeling and she got a little light-headed.  A couple of other people detailed their horror stories.  To be honest, I was pretty worked up.

I went in, got injected, went back out to the waiting room for 45 minutes.  Came in, got on the table and had about 15 minutes of pictures taken.  Rather dull. Then I was taken over to the other lab and injected.  Now I had to wait about an hour.

An hour later, back in, an injection and I'm sitting there on the gurney, waiting.  I figure at some point this is all going to start and I'll have to lie down.  Nada.  Finally I ask if I'm supposed to lie down. "Are you light-headed?"  "No."  "Do you want to lie down?"  "No. I just figured when you start this thing I will have to be on my back."  Silence.  "Uh, Mr. Nailor, you're over half-way done. In fact, you just finished 4 minutes of the 6 minutes stress test."

HUH?

They had my heart racing and I felt nothing. Absolutely nothing.  No dizziness.  No flutters.  No headaches.  I mean, the most excitement at that time was me getting up onto the gurney.  Ten minutes later I'm back in the photo area being re-photographed.  Fifteen minutes later - I'm headed out.  Done.

It took two days for the doctor to get back to me with the results.  I had negative results.  That had me shaken until it was explained, that was good.  Nothing showed up.  My heart was working perfectly.

What did that mean?  Simple.  I'm out of shape - REAL BAD.  Contrary to popular belief, I guess having a thought, any thought, is NOT exercise.  I need to build up my strength and stamina.  I've vegetated too much during the winter and allowed others to do for me when I should be doing it for myself.  Yes, I need to lose that weight.  So far, I haven't.

So, later that day I had to drive my wife back up to my #4 son's place since they put his wife back in the hospital.  Yes, the one who had the twins.  During her weekly checkup it was decided her blood pressure was too high and her liver enzymes were elevated.  So,mama's in the hospital, the twins are at the house and daddy has to go to work.  Yup.  Grandma to the rescue and grandpa is alone with the dog.

On the bright side, it has allowed me to get my butt outside and do some work.  I worked on the garden and have my peas planted.  I re-transplanted my tomato plants into bigger 5" pots.  They were in 3" one.  I could have probably moved them to the garden but the thought of trying to cover them if we get a late frost just seemed like so much work.  I now have moved my mini-greenhouse to the side deck and the plants are doing well outside.  I've opened the ventilation and they are hardening off.

Today (Sunday) I bought two bales of straw to start rotting so I can grow veggies in them this year.  Trying new stuff constantly.  My raised garden will have corn this year - a very small area of about 4ft X 6ft, about 50-60 plants.  Yes, intense gardening and I have super great soil.  The bales will have my vining crops - cukes, zukes and cantelopes.  Can't wait to plant the rest of the garden - pole beans, carrots, beets and of course, the tomatoes.  Did I mention that my garlic from last year which I thought had died, came up and I've now got about 20 plants growing?  Well, I do.

My novel, "The Secret Voice" is doing well and I got a great 5-star review on Amazon.  Hoping to get more as time passes.  Now working on next book - Another 52 Weeks of Writing Tips.  Yes, on the heels of last year's super-seller, I'm putting out another one.  This will be my second book to be published this year.  I'm hoping to have it finalized either later this month or definitely by next month.

The RV has languished beside the house with my wife being up north helping to care for the twins.  But that should all be a thing of the past as we prep for weekday camping expeditions and get away to the local state park during the week.  Imagine!  For $50, we can camp for four days and be away from the hubbub of country living.  I know it doesn't make sense, but it reality, it does.  It feels good to be camping, away from the house and everything.  No TV, no house phone, no internet (OMG!) - just relaxing, watching the lake, enjoying the campfire and well, for me, writing which I find relaxing.

Summer is coming... need to take grandkids camping. LOL.

Until next I ramble on...

Proud Moment

Strange how that feeling sneaks up on you.  PROUD.  It just slides in and embraces you and that warm, fuzzy feeling overwhelms. It's like when your child is born.  Each book is like a child.

Why do I call it strange?  It isn't my first time.  No, I'm not a virgin to this fabulous, emotional moment.  I'll be honest.  I've had this feeling many times.  Okay, not THAT many times, but still, several and you'd think I'd be over it.

I'm not. Four books. Four sons. Eight grandchildren. Fifteen anthologies or co-authored.

I just released another book.  My fifth book and YES, book one of my hopefully three to get published this year has finally hit the presses and is now available at Amazon...

THE SECRET VOICE

Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00VW3BCA6/
Paperback: http://www.amazon.com/dp/161877154X

Above is the cover and I'm really excited about it.  I feel the photographer was able to catch the essence of my fictional character, Daniel, an Amish lad, perfectly. I'm hoping it will catch the reader's eye to make them pick the book up. A little tidbit about the photo - it was taken in Shipshewana, IN at the horse auction several years ago. The lad was deep in thought and the photographer snapped a perfect moment.

This is the back of the paper version.  Hopefully it will intrigue enough to get the reader to purchase the book.

I've released books of my own and been in several anthologies. I've had children and grandchildren. And yet, with each, the emotional embrace is unbelievable.  I love that moment.

Now, for a secret.  Later this week, I get to experience that feeling all over again.  How?  My youngest son's wife will be delivering twins on Thursday, if not before. Books and children!

So, go buy my latest book - you won't be sorry and await next week's blog when I brag about the new twins.

Until next I ramble on...