Dear Mr. Sun

Last Saturday was Summer Solstice, so I decided to a write a little letter to the sun.  As you can tell, the 105 degree heat in Las Vegas was getting to me.  But, I'm sure the Sun can forgive me. 

Dear Mr. Sun,

     I wrote your brother, the Moon, a letter not so long ago.  I like him better than I like you, by the way.  You aren’t as gentle as he is. 

     We’re always told not to look at you directly.  Why so shy, Mr. Sun?  What have you to hide?  Certainly, you don’t help us hide anything.  No, you point out our faults for all to see, garish and loud.  There’s no mistaking something when you point it out, nothing is lost in the shadows.  You bring full attention to every detail, as if it were your business.  You’re nosier than your brother.  You’re a tattletale!  We can look at the moon without fear.

     You see, the problem with you, Mr. Sun, is that you think that you are the one with all the power.  Sure, you give us warmth, you help the plants grow.  But, without your brother, the one that I like better, you would be useless.  Your brother casts a lighter, gentler glow on everything.  He doesn’t burn his friends, like you do.  His light reveals the same things that your does, but he makes them beautiful whereas you just make them …lit.  He pulls the oceans, he guides us.

     So, Mr. Sun, I’m sure I’ve gotten on your bad side…which is the same as your good side, isn’t it?  I’m not afraid of you, you’ve burned me before and you will again.  You’ve blinded me too.  You’re a pompous jerk. 

Sincerely,

A Moon Fangirl.

Where have I been?

     Hello world!  I'm alive!  I've been absent from my blog a few months wading through life.  My son started kindergarten in fall and he's had a challenging year, which in turn means I've had a challenging year as well.  He will always come first in my life and my writing can sit on the backburner. 

     I have found time to work on my new story though and it's been fun.  Here's a blurb...

The Zookeeper

(Full Length - contemporary single title)

Elizabeth Tanner was raised in a Zoo.  Literally.  But now that Zoo is in danger, not only from falling ticket sales, but also from a mysterious illness afflicting the animals. 

Frank Adams, the newest Animal Care attendant, spent time behind bars himself. 

But, in this Zoo, even the strongest bars can’t hold back the truth. 

And the truth will be set free.

Challenging Yourself

     Life often presents us with choices.  Well, to be honest, every day we are presented with a myriad of choices.  What to have for breakfast, what to wear, etc.  But, I’m talking about the major, life changing choices, or so they seem to be to us at the time.  In reality, they aren’t that dramatic.  Life goes on no matter what choices we make.  The clock keeps ticking, the rooster still crows (might be a different rooster though), and the tides still rise and fall with precision.
    
     So, why are these choices so difficult?  It’s our own fault that we make them difficult.  But, in the end, no one has to live with the choices that you make except for you.  So be gentle with yourself, contemplate, allow yourself to make mistakes, even HUGE mistakes.  In the grand scheme of things, it will all even out.  In the mean time, just breathe. 

Publishing - The Myths and Facts

It seems as if everyone and their mom are publishing books lately.  Wow, there are a lot of authors out there and that’s a good thing.  But, there is some confusion over different types of publishing and what is entailed in each.  I’ll try to be as concise as possible. 

Traditional Publishing –

• A “New York” style publisher (not necessarily based out of New York).  This would be the Harper Collins, the Bantam, the Harlequin, the Random House type giants.  This is the BIG LEAGUE, and is every writer’s dream.  They PAY YOU to edit and publish your book.
• Small press publishers.  These publishers are every bit as legitimate as their big brothers, but they lack the financial strength to publish more than a couple physical books per year (it takes a lot of bucks to print books).  These publishers usually e-publish an author first (much cheaper than printing) to see if there is a market for their work and may print their books later.  They pay their authors royalties on the amount of books sold, and may or may not offer advances. 

E-publishing –

• All this means is that the book/work is available for download to an e-device such as a Kindle or a Nook.  Even big “New York” publishers do this for their authors. 

Self-Publishing –

• Sometimes an author has no luck with traditional publishing because they are unable to find a publisher or an agent that can take their work (regardless if it’s good or not – sometimes the best writing gets rejected over and over again).  OR, they may choose to self-publish for other reasons.  Self-publishing means that the work has not been accepted by a traditional publisher and the author has decided to make a go of publishing it on their own.  There are many free and low-cost ways to do this.

Vanity Publishers –

• Vanity publishers ALWAYS take a fee (usually a substantial one) to publish your book for you.  What do you get?  Depending on how much you pay, you will get copies of your book in print for you to market, sell, distribute, etc.  Some of the vanity presses have editing services (for a fee), marketing services (for a fee), and cover design services (for a fee).  It is rare for an author to be successful when using a Vanity publisher because the initial investment is very high and it's unlikely that they will make a return on their investment. 

 

In conclusion, a Traditional Publisher will NEVER ask you for money.  It is their privilege to publish your book because they believe in you and are willing to take a financial risk on your product.  Self-Publishing is also a viable way of publishing provided you are willing to do the legwork to make sure that your best product is produced, and are ready to make the necessary time/monetary investment to make this possible. 

Ok, I think I covered everything here.  If I made a mistake please let me know.