One of the things I have enjoyed this summer is reading.
I have read a number of good books, and several bad ones as well. The one that sticks out is The Old Man & The Monkey by George Polley. It is about an unusual friendship. It demonstrates how well animals can bond with humans and detect and share their feelings. When I was done, I actually mourned that the story was over. That is a sign of a powerful book! I know it is available on Kindle.
As far as the books I was disappointed in, they all had similar problems and could have easily been good books. Indie publishers are getting a bad name because of a few simple things that aren't being done.
1. Use your spell-checker.
2. If writing non-fiction, make sure that your information doesn't contradict itself. It would also be nice if it was actually correct as well.
3. You MUST have a proof-reader, preferably one that speaks English and knows at least some basic grammar and punctuation rules.
I get so frustrated when I have this urge to get out my "red pen" and correct the book and send it back to the author. It is even more frustrating when the errors are so bad that I can't even figure out what is trying to be said. I like doing puzzles, but not when I just want to loose myself in a good story.
There is a lot of good technology that makes writing easier, but nothing can take the place of a pair of human eyes! There are things that a computer just can't pick up because it doesn't get the meaning or tone of the story.
It doesn't matter how good of a writer you are. There are mistakes you will never see because you ARE the author. It is just a fact of writing. A good proof-reader will help you take a good story and make it great. Proof-reading may even take a bad story and make it great. Read the acknowledgements of any book and you will realize that writing is actually a "team sport."
The moral is: Before publishing, proof-reading is a MUST!
Thank you to those authors (and their teams) who helped make my summer enjoyable by writing good books.
Monday, September 17, 2012
Thursday, September 13, 2012
Discovering Your World Through Animals
You can learn or notice all kinds of things by watching pets, especially new ones.
Early in the summer, we brought my brother's corgi to live with my parents. The corgi couldn't do the stairs at my brother's house anymore.
The corgi had always lived in areas with numerous lawns. We stopped in New Mexico for the night. Corgi got out of the car and looked up at me like, "Where's the grass?". I pointed to a weed and told him that was his option. After looking at the weed, he looked up at me like, "You have GOT to be kidding!" He has since adjusted to Arizona and using a weed no longer bothers him. It had never occurred to me how our lack of vegetation might seem unusual.
There are some great authors who write from the perspective of an animal. C.A. Goody is one of these. Charlie and the Rodent Queen is a prime example of the world from animals views. In this book, you get to see a hamster from a cat's view and a cat from a hamster's view. You even get to see what is happening from the dog's view. Unfortunately, she is busy doing her own thing and doesn't even realize this discovery is happening. She is like most of us. How often do we miss what is going on around us because we are busy doing our own thing?
If you are up to a challenge, put yourself in the place of an animal and at least think about something from the animal's perspective.
I have found that this exercise has provided me insight to my world. It has also calmed me down when I was furious at a cat for doing something he shouldn't. "But, Mommy, I was just trying to help. You said your plants needed watered."
Early in the summer, we brought my brother's corgi to live with my parents. The corgi couldn't do the stairs at my brother's house anymore.
The corgi had always lived in areas with numerous lawns. We stopped in New Mexico for the night. Corgi got out of the car and looked up at me like, "Where's the grass?". I pointed to a weed and told him that was his option. After looking at the weed, he looked up at me like, "You have GOT to be kidding!" He has since adjusted to Arizona and using a weed no longer bothers him. It had never occurred to me how our lack of vegetation might seem unusual.
There are some great authors who write from the perspective of an animal. C.A. Goody is one of these. Charlie and the Rodent Queen is a prime example of the world from animals views. In this book, you get to see a hamster from a cat's view and a cat from a hamster's view. You even get to see what is happening from the dog's view. Unfortunately, she is busy doing her own thing and doesn't even realize this discovery is happening. She is like most of us. How often do we miss what is going on around us because we are busy doing our own thing?
If you are up to a challenge, put yourself in the place of an animal and at least think about something from the animal's perspective.
I have found that this exercise has provided me insight to my world. It has also calmed me down when I was furious at a cat for doing something he shouldn't. "But, Mommy, I was just trying to help. You said your plants needed watered."
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
9/11 - Emergency Preparedness Day
We are all likely to have some kind of an emergency in our life and we all need to be prepared for the small emergencies that are likely to hit us. I am talking about the kind that won't make the evening news. Identity theft, house fire or break-in, computer crash, auto accident, or a health emergency are just a few of the emergencies that happen every day.
Are you prepared for an emergency? Today is a good day to do some simple things to help protect you and your loved ones over the next year.
Home First Aid Kit: Replace any items you have used. Remove and replace expired or damaged items.
Auto First Aid Kit: Replace items you have used. Remove and replace expired or damaged items. Check for items that were damaged by the summer heat or the winter cold.
Pet First Aid Kit: Replace any used items. Remove and replace expired or damaged items.
Home Safety: Check flashlight and spare batteries. Check fire alarms, entry alarms, carbon dioxide alarms. Clean the keys on the key pad on your entry alarm. Is it time to change the locks (who has keys)? Are your escape routes and meeting points still good (do you remember them)?
Auto Safety Kit: Replace items that need it. Check that duct tape and those flash light batteries. They don't do well in our Arizona heat.
Credit Card Safety: Check your credit reports and make sure they are accurate. Check your aluminum foil in your wallet that surround both sides of your cards. (Aluminum foil keeps the cards from being scanned without your knowledge. Both sides of the card have to be protected. This is VITAL if you carry only one card like when you go to the gym.) Do you have contact information to cancel the cards if they get lost or stolen?
Computer Safety: Change internet passwords. Update your virus protection software and do a virus scan. Back up any data you don't want to loose. If possible, store that back-up away from home.
Personal Documents: Does anything need updated? Will? Insurances (life)? Power of Attorney? Driver's License (get that SS# removed)? Passport? Medical Records (that list that you are supposed to carry with you)? Does your family know where to find this information and anything else they may need if something happens to you? Do you know where this information is for your family members?
Telephone/Cell Phones: Are your cells ICEd? Do you have emergency numbers current? Poison control? Non-emergency police? Doctors?
Physically: Any doctors or tests you need to schedule?
This is really a basic list of things to do. These will help you be prepared or protect you from more common emergencies.
If you need information on any of the above items, there is all kinds of help on the web. Just do a search. If you are interested in being prepared for larger emergencies, there is all kinds of help for that as well.
I hope you don't use any of these preparations, but if you end up needing them, you will be glad you did!
Are you prepared for an emergency? Today is a good day to do some simple things to help protect you and your loved ones over the next year.
Home First Aid Kit: Replace any items you have used. Remove and replace expired or damaged items.
Auto First Aid Kit: Replace items you have used. Remove and replace expired or damaged items. Check for items that were damaged by the summer heat or the winter cold.
Pet First Aid Kit: Replace any used items. Remove and replace expired or damaged items.
Home Safety: Check flashlight and spare batteries. Check fire alarms, entry alarms, carbon dioxide alarms. Clean the keys on the key pad on your entry alarm. Is it time to change the locks (who has keys)? Are your escape routes and meeting points still good (do you remember them)?
Auto Safety Kit: Replace items that need it. Check that duct tape and those flash light batteries. They don't do well in our Arizona heat.
Credit Card Safety: Check your credit reports and make sure they are accurate. Check your aluminum foil in your wallet that surround both sides of your cards. (Aluminum foil keeps the cards from being scanned without your knowledge. Both sides of the card have to be protected. This is VITAL if you carry only one card like when you go to the gym.) Do you have contact information to cancel the cards if they get lost or stolen?
Computer Safety: Change internet passwords. Update your virus protection software and do a virus scan. Back up any data you don't want to loose. If possible, store that back-up away from home.
Personal Documents: Does anything need updated? Will? Insurances (life)? Power of Attorney? Driver's License (get that SS# removed)? Passport? Medical Records (that list that you are supposed to carry with you)? Does your family know where to find this information and anything else they may need if something happens to you? Do you know where this information is for your family members?
Telephone/Cell Phones: Are your cells ICEd? Do you have emergency numbers current? Poison control? Non-emergency police? Doctors?
Physically: Any doctors or tests you need to schedule?
This is really a basic list of things to do. These will help you be prepared or protect you from more common emergencies.
If you need information on any of the above items, there is all kinds of help on the web. Just do a search. If you are interested in being prepared for larger emergencies, there is all kinds of help for that as well.
I hope you don't use any of these preparations, but if you end up needing them, you will be glad you did!
Monday, September 10, 2012
People are Reading and It's HOT!!
To be honest, part of the reason I hadn't posted was because I didn't think anybody was reading this blog. I also haven't been very inspired recently. What can I say? It's hard to be inspired when it is so wickedly hot outside. I have received a couple of e-mails from concerned readers. To those who are reading, thank you.
I decided that laughing about this heat may be a good blog topic. For those of you who don't live in Central Arizona, these things really have happened! Please note: ALL temperatures are in degrees Fahrenheit.
You know you are "enjoying" an Arizona summer when...
...you blister the bottoms of your feet - through your shoes.
...when crossing the street, the bottoms of your tennis shoes melt.
...when you go to bed, at 11:00 PM, the temperature is still over 100.
...when you get up, at 3:30 AM, the temperature is over 100.
...you comment about how humid it feels and the humidity is only at 7%.
...you aren't the least bit surprised that there is no rain with the thunder and lightening.
...when you go over a bridge, you are shocked that there is water in the wash.
...when the doctor asks you if you are having "excessive sweating" or "trouble sleeping", you look at him like he is an idiot. After all, it's 118 degrees outside and it hasn't dropped to below 90 in over a week!
...the type of dust storm that passed through occurs only in two other places in the world - the Middle East and the Sahara Desert.
...you can't charge your cell phone in the car because the over-heating circuit engages.
...the weatherman (correctly) exclaims that it is going to be chilly. The high is only going to be 103!
...you decided you "wanted some green out front" so you spray painted the rocks.
...even the weeds have a burnt look.
...you take a hot shower but only turn on the cold water side
...you haven't even had a cold shower since March.
...you have no clue how hot it is in the car because the LCD display on the thermometer fried and the other doesn't go that high.
...you know how hot it is in your car because you have an analog oven thermometer in your car. The digital oven thermometer had the LCD display fried.
...you have had money try to burn a hole through your pocket and your skin after picking up a lost coin in a parking lot.
...you do much of your cooking outside in a solar oven.
...the one day the clouds moved in and cooled everything off to 85 degrees, you wore a sweater.
...you left a CD laying on the seat of your car and it warped.
...when it starts to rain, you run outside to stand in it.
...you could hear rain hitting the roof and awning, but it evaporated before it got to your head.
I hope everyone's summer has been enjoyable.
...you take a hot shower but only turn on the cold water side
...you haven't even had a cold shower since March.
...you have no clue how hot it is in the car because the LCD display on the thermometer fried and the other doesn't go that high.
...you know how hot it is in your car because you have an analog oven thermometer in your car. The digital oven thermometer had the LCD display fried.
...you have had money try to burn a hole through your pocket and your skin after picking up a lost coin in a parking lot.
...you do much of your cooking outside in a solar oven.
...the one day the clouds moved in and cooled everything off to 85 degrees, you wore a sweater.
...you left a CD laying on the seat of your car and it warped.
...when it starts to rain, you run outside to stand in it.
...you could hear rain hitting the roof and awning, but it evaporated before it got to your head.
I hope everyone's summer has been enjoyable.
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