When life gets too stressful, what do you do to break the tension? If the stress is political, I stop listening to and reading the news. But sometimes, you can't escape that easily. So, I've had to make a conscious effort to find my "happy place" and make sure I go there regularly. Where is my place? At my computer, writing and editing my next book. If I didn't love doing those things, whey would I have become an author? The writing and editing are the fun parts for me. I love trying to find just the right word to fit a situation (and get rid of some overused words and phrases). My ProWritingAid program also tells me when I've put in too many unnecessary words. That gives me the challenge of shortening and tightening up my writing. When I reach my target score, I feel successful and pleased with myself.

These days, there are so many ways to publish a book! One can self-publish, hybrid-publish, or get an agent and have a publisher. There are pro's and con's to each choice. If you go with a standard publisher, they will indeed do everything for you, except promote your work. Unless you are in their top 10% best sellers, they will not help you. That means you may get stuck paying for the Book Launch, any travel to do a tour, purchasing copies of the book you may or may not be able to sell (or store). It is also difficult to get an agent. There are a lot of scams out there.

Self-publishing has become very popular. You can send a pdf to Amazon and have your book visible in days. However, if you have not paid a developmental editor (several thousand $), you may not have a well-written book.

Being away from home for 10 weeks did not help my publication schedule! My next book, Life in a Tumble Dryer, should have been available last weekend, but I haven't yet seen the final copy to approve it. Still, it is coming soon, so don't give up hope. Harriet agreed to read it for me (a pre-publication copy) and found it was more serious and more structured than Launching into the Unknown. That's because I refered more closely to the letters I wrote to my parents while I was away. I tried to write each week, and share bits and pieces of what was going on in my life. It's amazing how much I had forgotten. Hopefully, this added information will give you, the reader, a better picture of what life was like. 

After a year of work, Life in a Tumble Dryer, Working in the World's Hottest Capital, has been sent to the publisher. There's more to do before it comes out in July, but those are simpler tasks than completing the manuscript. You may wonder what that process is like. Well, here was my process for this book.

First, I used the relevant stories from my original book, Every Day But Not Some. It was published in 2006. However, when I finished running those stories through ProWritingAid and improving the style, language, and use of commas (my weakest point), I only had 50,000 words. I wanted the book to be 70,000. So, I pulled out the letters that I had written to my parents over those years. I discovered I had forgotten many details. In November, I wrote up new stories and ended up with 40,000 words. Whew! All the editing pared down the word count to 75,000.

The words in Isaiah 30:15 caught my attention a few days ago. It says, "in quietness and confidence is your strength." I don't know about you, but I feel very weak at times, especially when I'm busy. Maybe that's the price I pay for being an introvert. I've been praying for different situations in the world, and I quickly become overwhelmed. These words challenged me, and maybe the poem that came to me will help you if you feel similarly challenged.

Do you like to read? Have you ever wanted to meet the authors of the books you love? Do you want to discover more books of the type you most enjoy? Well, your opportunity is coming up next Saturday, February 24 at the Rose Glen Literary Festival in Sevierville, TN. You can enjoy 

50+ BOOK VENDORS & REGIONAL AUTHORS
FEATURED AUTHOR PRESENTATIONS
WRITER’S WORKSHOPS
POETRY SLAM
BOOK SIGNINGS

February 14 is Valentine's Day. It seems strange that the season of Lent should start on the same day, but that's how it works this year. In case you didn't know, Lent begins on Ash Wednesday and continues for 40 days or six weeks. Sundays don't count as part of the Lenten season because Sunday celebrates the Resurrection! Traditionally, Christians fast from something during this time. I first fasted from chocolate. That was difficult, but it kept me focused on the season I was in. One year, God seemed to want me to play once a week. I failed miserably at that. A few years ago, I wrote a prayer of confession based on Scripture each day. Those prayers can be found in Prayers of Confession for Lent. Each Sunday has a prayer of praise or thanksgiving.

Yesterday, I had cataract surgery. Of course, I don't do anything the easy way. In 1995, I had RK done. That's where the doctor literally uses a very small knife to correct one's vision by cutting the outside of your eyeball. It didn't hurt, and I could instantly see. I've been contact-lense free ever since and never had another dream about running in a thick fog. Nowadays, the procedure is done with lasers and doesn't seem to cause the same problems. My doctor warned me there could be complications, but that if they arose, he would deal with it. When I went in for my checkup today, all I could see with my left eye was the big E. That was not the result the doctor had hoped for.

I've been using some sort of computer since the 1990s. I started with a Sharp that had a 48k bubble for memory. No one would ever need more than that, right? I actually produced my PhD dissertation on that, using back slash commands. Oh yes, and it had an 8 line screen! Thankfully, I've moved up as the opportunities present themselves and am now working with a Macbook Air. I love it. What I'm not loving today is the Internet. 

A young man spent some time in Khartoum in the late 1990s, and he tried to explain the Internet and how sites worked. He might as well have been speaking Chinese. It makes great sense now, but not back then. He asked me, "What question do you want to ask on the Internet?" I couldn't think of a thing. Now, I can't do without it. But today, it has been trying my patience.

Today, I had lunch with some friends, and we stumbled onto the topic of Epiphany. Epiphany starts on January 6 as Three Kings day. However, the season of Epiphany in the church calendar goes from January 6 until Ash Wednesday, which in 2024 will be on February 14. 

So what is the point of Epiphany? It fits in between Christmas and Lent, and is the time to focus on what made Jesus so special. The visit of the wise men, his baptism by John the Baptizer, changing the water into wine at Cana. Throughout this season, we study those times that bring light about why Jesus is the Son of God.

January 2, I saw my eye doctor and complained that I couldn't see well. My cataracts were interfering. As an author, I look at a computer screen a lot, but when the words I've just written look more like Chinese characters than English words, there is a problem! He didn't think they were much worse than they have been for the last two years, but I told him that from behind the eyes, there was definitely a difference! It seems he has a lull in his schedule, and so can fit me in on January 17. 

It has been wonderful spending time with my family over the Christmas holidays. Ben came in from New York and helped me change the batteries in the smoke detectors and the air filter. I had a list of jobs for him. Ben is my "adapted" son from Kenya. He came to stay with me at age 16, and is now 23. It's nice to have a tall person around to reach all those things that I no longer can.

In a few days, we start a new year, 2024. Sometimes I get very depressed thinking of what the future could hold. At other times, I'm excited by the prospects of what can be done. Maybe it is best if we don't know what's coming ahead of time.

I'm writing the second book in the Not How I Planned It series. This book is currently titled: Life in a Tumble Dryer. Here is part of a story about meeting the Shilluk (Cøllø) king.
We learned that the king never looks behind. So, it was with great interest that we watched how he would sit down. He backed up until he was standing on the leopard skin rug in front of his chair. Then someone made sure to position the chair where the king was about to sit. I don’t think the person placing the chair would have had his job for long if he had miscalculated the location of the chair and allowed the king to crash to the ground.

I must be listening to the wrong radio stations as I have yet to hear a Christmas carol or Christmas song! Christian radio stations seem to carry on with the same 10 songs they play all year. I've heard one repeated 3 times in the same day. Secular stations don't seem to have much imagination either and forget talk radio. So, on Tuesday at a women's meeting, I was delighted to be introduced to Howard Thurman's poem, The Work of Christmas begins, set to music. Here is the link on YouTube.

Naked and Exposed

We are naked and exposed

Before a holy God

Who knows our inner thoughts, desires;

Nothing hidden, all things bare.

He will hold us to account.

How can we endure

Such a probing accuracy?

We have hidden, secreted, justified,

Pretended now to no avail. We’re undone –

Guilty on all counts.

A group of ladies met at my house, and as time went on, a few needed to use the powder room. One reported to me that the toilet wouldn’t flush. I went to look, and it was filling extremely slowly. If I’d used a teaspoon, I could have filled it faster.  The last person to use it managed to flush it.

I hate working on plumbing of any sort, but especially toilets. I put it off for 10 days, but then realized another friend was coming to stay and would need it to function correctly. I went to Lowe’s and found the needed replacement part. There were numerous choices, but I finally just picked one.

In writing my memoir, I find my life has been full of good things. There have been a lot of hard things, like working in 100+°F in a house with all the coolers running. But the work itself brought satisfaction, fulfillment, and joy. I was giving people something they really wanted -- to read and write their own language and thus preserve their unique language and culture. Their enthusiasm and commitment humbles me.

Now, as I've retired from that work, I get to write. I love to write, to find just the right way to bring my thoughts to life, to paint a picture for my readers.