Monday, February 13, 2017

The Sweet Life

I’ve spent the first couple of months of 2017 doing what matters, and asking myself—why is it that anything that matters to me is so much work?

You’d never guess it by the number—or rather the lack—of blogs I’ve posted, but I’ve spent the last month on writing projects.  I can tell because my clothes fit snugger.  I can’t write without chocolate and coffee. 

The projects I’ve been working on pertain to cancer awareness and nuclear literacy.  One day soon I hope to share them, but until then here’s a look behind the scenes at the sweet life of a writer and some of its technical aspects. (The reasons I need coffee and chocolate.)

The author’s desk:                                            Coffee table where I really work:














 Reality:                                                                         Author Pic: 



        

                                                         

Since relocating from North Carolina to Tennessee via a detour in Alabama, I have neglected certain aspects of my writing career. 

2017 Goals:



I spent last year transferring my website to a new server. Living off-the-grid without an internet connection in Tennessee does not make these projects easy, or my Verizon bill cheap. 

In 2001, when Tickles Tabitha’s Cancer-tankerous Mommy was first launched, Kindle, Publish on Demand (POD) and social media as we know it did not exist. It wasn’t until 2014 that Amazon invited authors to publish children’s picture books on Kindle.

I may have learned a thing or two since my first book was published. I’m pretty sure the guy I hired to help update and format the Tickles Tabitha book wishes I were still clueless.  I feel as if I’ve nitpicked him to death.

My real goal is to have it all automated, so I can concentrate on other things. Like watching the contractors working on the house… in case I have to dial 911. 








Seriously, working on the side of a mountain is not for wussies.  Our Tennessee home is finished, but the outdoors is a work-in-progress. 






 It ain’t easy gazing into a computer screen when I could be looking at this: