The Advantages of An E-Reader

When I retired not so long ago, my cohorts, as a retirement gift, set up a money tree (actually a rose bush which is now flourishing in my garden). My friends gave generously and there was just enough on the tree for me to buy a Kindle. It was the rage at the time so I thought it would be a practical gift to myself. It languished  for awhile as I was fast friends with hard copy books. That is until I redid my floors ... Now what might you ask was the connection there? Well I have at least 10 bookcases in my house and everyone of them was heavy with books - chocked to the hilt with books, books, books! In order to put down the wood floors I had to be able to move those bookcases! So I sat about to box  up all the books and eventually I parted with 16 very stuffed boxes of books! Please don't feel sorry for me as I still had plenty left over and I got  my wood floors too!

I soon found a great use for Kindle books. It was easy to carry! I normally carry a large purse so stuffing it in there wasn't a problem. That way when I sat waiting at the doctor's office or when I was out to eat at a restaurant, I had a book handy all the time. It was certainly easier than hunting down the latest book I was reading and dragging it along every time I went out. And isn't it great that you never lose your place when you open up the e-reader! No more hunting about for a bookmark!

Another positive I found was that I could indulge in books that I wanted to read but knew I wouldn't want to keep the hard copy. So I didn't have the problem of  what to do with all those hard copies. (Not that I still don't have a zillion books in this house!) Oh and all those deals of $.99 and zero dollar books were very tempting to get me to buy fun books that I normally wouldn't explore.

Stay tuned folks as in a future post I will also talk about the disadvantages I find with an e-reader!

Have you an e-reader? What advantages have you noticed? Can't wait to hear your comments!

In My In-Box

When you declare yourself a writer and are nosing about the internet on writer's websites, you invariably end up with an onslaught of emails in your in-box from writer websites. Some of it is not so interesting but others come up with gems that help to get you over the humps. Here is one that I caught today. "Fear of failure/success equals procrastination." (Dave Trotlier) As I have been putting off doing another round of queries,  I realize this is right up my alley. I thought about this and came to the conclusion that failure or success realy wasn't in the cards as this journey has an abundance of learning all along the way. And how can this not be a win-win journey if you are learning things? So it's off to polish the query and the synopsis and try again to send off my Peacock to another group of agents to see if they will have need of such a project.

In my in-box I also found a very funny video contained in a blog by Brian Klems to share with any of you that have ever thought about writing a book. Have fun viewing this hilarious video! Psst ... be sure to leave comments if you liked it!

Seven Things To Do On A HOT Summer Day

I don't know how it is where you live but OMG has it been hot here. So I figured I would check out some things to do on a hot summer's day. I polled several people I met today - like the waitress at Red Lobster and the guy at the gas station - but I also talked to some of my online friends. So here is what I found:

#7 Pack up the family and head for the mountains. In fact while you are there check out the Scottish Games and the Bagpipers. Ah .. nothing like piper music to cool you down.

#6 Grab the kids and run over to the nearest water park. Slip, slide and whoosh! Of course around here make sure you run for cover if there is any whisper of lightening - Central Florida is known as the lightning capital of the world!

#5 Gather a bunch of retired friends and play games like Mexican Train Dominoes or card games - like Hand and Foot at the local air conditioned Senior Center. Always a great way to stay out of hot weather.

#4 If you have the opportunity - go out to your local river and rent a canoe - a relaxing way to spend a hot day. (Of course watch out for those nasty gators!)

#3 Ring your neighbor's bell and ask to play in their pool. Not only is this a great way to cool down, but an excellent way to find out who your neighbors are!

#2 Take an afternoon nap in your nice comfy chair, then when it is dark (not at dusk as the mosquitoes love that time!) sit out in the backyard and observe the stars. I adore doing this. The skies are ever changing and it feels sooo good.

So now for the Number 1 thing to do to cool down on a hot day -

#1 Pick up a friend and proceed to your nearest fast food place and order great big luscious Ice Cream Cones! There is nothing that cools you down better than licking an ice cream cone! (And nothing better than having a friend to share the experience!)

OK so now it is your turn! What do you do to cool down on a hot summer day?

The Waiting Game

Well I continue to wait and hope that some agent will think The Peacock's Tale is a viable piece that can be presented to editors for publication. The waiting is getting to me. In my head I know these poor agents receive hundreds of queries, I just can only hope my colorful peacock hits a chord with one of them.

In the meantime I am reading and reading and reading all sorts of things. I find that I do like getting new books on my Kindle and am even thinking about e-book publication which may be the route for me. But for now I am still hanging in there with more queries. I currently have 9 viable queries still out there. This weekend I may gather up some further possibilities and see about putting out some further queries. I really have nothing to lose at this point so why not?

Looking For More Agents to Query

I think I have sent out a total of ten queries and have had 5 rejections, however the  time limit for actual responses are slowly running out. Some say wait six weeks and others say 8. So I am gathering up a second round of agents to query -- some are new agents and others are ones I skipped over last time because I didn't have a long synopsis, but I have done that now, so I can go back and try another round of agents!

I certainly have plenty of options still so I will keep up the process for awhile and see what happens. Wish me luck! The Peacock still lives!

No News is Good News?

So the count now is 3 rejections and 6 queries still out there in Cyber space. I am taking the time now to catch up on reading and doing some research for a possible new idea to write about! Things are 'fermenting' about in my mind for sure!

It seems that real life certainly gets in the way a lot! Home owner activities - not only my house - but the small HOA that I work as the Secretary-Treasurer seems to take up lots of my time right now. I am hoping that we will get things on the right track soon so I will have more time for writing!

Everyone take care and drop me a line with your thoughts about this blog!

 

First Rejection!

Yes, well, it had to happen right? I mean THE PEACOCK"S TALE can't be everyone's cup of tea? Right? But now that is over with, we move on to the next response... I did get one other response which was a "We got your query - we'll get back to you" response which is better than the "No, not my thing response." I'll keep you all informed! Thanks for all your support! It does make it lots more easy when others are invested in the progress of my book!