Mary R. Davidsaver's Blog, page 4

Editing and Gardening

 

I’ve done a lot of gardening throughout this spring and early summer. Started out with the usual need to finish clearing out the leftovers of winter. Trimming back the plant stalks I left standing for over-wintering insects. Hopefully for the kinds I want. I wonder sometimes when I see countless numbers of orange beetle-like bugs working at making countless more of their kind just waiting to descend on the uppermost leaves of my milkweed plants. I need those tender leaves for momma Monarchs to lay their eggs on. But I digress.

This year’s gardening tasks took an interesting turn when I was asked to be part of the Grace Lutheran Garden Walk. Really. I never thought of my little corner plot as all that interesting, but what my husband started as a Valentine’s Day gift ten years ago has evolved. Early on I was challenged to think of a theme for my small space and quickly settled on the needs of Monarch butterflies. I once captured a Monarch for a high school science project. That was well before anyone had documented their impressive migration. I chose to turn my little plot into an official Monarch Waystation. You may call it an act of atonement. The website I turned to was:

 https://monarchwatch.org/

To spruce up for the garden walk I got nice edging installed around my corner spot, which, in turn, gave me a little more space to work with. Since the garden walk theme focused on wildflowers and native plants, I could let my milkweed expand without worrying about them standing out so much. Early on I did try to camouflage them. Not an easy thing to do. It’s gratifying that people have come to appreciate my gardening attempts. The same is true of Monarch mommas: they visit, they lay eggs, I collect some to bring inside to ensure that I have adults to release in time for the migration south. My best source of information on raising the numbers for the migration is:

https://monarchbutterflygarden.net/

Gardening, like all things, has its ups and downs. This spring was wet, cold, and stubbornly late. That delayed the arrival of Monarchs for my eastern Iowa area. By early July in 2020 I had released eight adults; in 2021 the count was seven. This year I’ve yet to release any. In fact, I am totally relieved that I have six Monarch caterpillars to feed. I had been dreading the thought of a butterfly-less year. Believe it or not, in my few years of urban gardening I have seen a sharp decrease in butterflies and bees. It’s plain to me that anyone gardening for host plants and/or nectar plants for pollinators is doing a service for all of us.

Back to my title. How does editing relate to gardening?

Okay, I digressed a lot. To be fair, I did stick with an insect theme for four paragraphs. But all the time I spent in the garden planting the new, removing the old, rearranging things to improve the focal points made me think of my recent rounds of editing the written words of manuscripts and short stories. It all comes down to making decisions, choosing the changes that will improve the whole. We humans are good at sculpting our world, bending the real and the imaginary to our wills. You might call it synergy: the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.

We should always try to make the story better—to make our stories better.

 

 

[P.S. I’ve had good luck with Rest Cloud and Vivosun mesh cages for butterfly habitats.]

Favorite Bookmark #8

 

Steve Semken, the publisher of Ice Cube Press, recently celebrated the thirtieth anniversary of his vision for showcasing Iowa and rural America in stories, poetry, and books. I met him at the MWC’s David R. Collins Writers’ Conference one year when he was listening to book pitches. 

Ice Cube Press, North Liberty, Iowa, has supported many regional poets and authors. The poetry of Salvatore Marici is a notable example. Ice Cube Press has published most of Sal’s work, such as: Fermentations and Swish Swirl & Sniff.

Favorite Bookmark #7

 

Susan Furlong is a regional writer of cozy mysteries. Reading her first book in the Georgia Peach Mystery series gave me a taste for peach salsa. Plus, a very practical tip on how to thaw out frozen fruit. All that on top of an interesting mystery set in a small town. I find it always helpful to see how other authors handle the close-knit chumminess of small communities.

Favorite Bookmark #6

 

This bookmark is from a writers’ group that meets in Muscatine. The typewriter makes it a favorite. I used an old Underwood at one time. I recall the stuck keys, the messy ribbons that jammed up and left the fingers ink stained. It was a great invention for its time, but I have moved on.

You can go retro if you want, I’m sticking with the word processor on my computer.

Writers On The Avenue, WOTA, meets on the third Tuesday of the month at the Musser Public Library from 6-8 pm. Find information on Facebook or at:

https://writersontheavenue.org/

An Anniversary Special with some publishing tips:

Dear New Author,

The Midwest Writing Center, MWC, captured my attention sometime around 2008. It was about the time when I started writing for the Galva News. I had a great editor in Doug Boock, but I knew I had a lot to learn if my news items and features were going to get better. Julie Jenson McDonald was a columnist and feature writer for the Argus-Dispatch newspapers. She often wrote about MWC, then located on the third floor of the Bucktown Center in Davenport. The trip from Bishop Hill to Davenport for one day workshops was the best option for me at the time. Out of the usual three offerings, I could count on one or two that would meet my needs.

I was never an attentive English student in school, and I basically had to start from from scratch. So, while I was catching up on what I should have known all along and learning the nuts and bolts of writing, a book about Bishop Hill percolated in the background.

When I thought it was time for me to seriously think about publishing my first book, I naturally looked to MWC Press, an imprint of the Midwest Writing Center. Along with the one-day workshops I’d been attending I splurged and enrolled in a three-month novel writing workshop. From there I gathered the courage to register for the David R. Collin’s Writers’ Conference, an annual event at the end of June. Courage was the correct word here because I began as the shy person in the back of the room afraid to raise my hand, get noticed, or be expected to speak. Breaking away from all that took time, but it did happen.

I presented my first novel, Clouds Over Bishop Hill, a cozy mystery, to a panel at the 2015 Collin’s conference and it was accepted as a MWC Press printing project. After content and line editing, it was published in Aug 2016. All that editing was very valuable for me. I still feel that it gave me a best possible book for that time.

My first foray into self-publishing came in 2017 with a slim volume of short stories. My original goal was to have a few handbound books suitable for Christmas gifts. I ran out of time and decided to use CreateSpace, since MWC Press used it. I did my own formatting and cover. I got something that was adequate.

My second journey into self-publishing came with Shadows Over Bishop Hill, the sequel to COBH. Again, pressed for time because I wanted to have it out for Bishop Hill’s 175th anniversary in 2021, I thought that since I had some experience with formatting, I’d be OK to tackle a bigger project. I was wrong. CreateSpace had turned into KDP, Kindle Direct Publishing, and was much more involved than I expected. My computer literate husband and KDP University helped me get the novel ready to publish, but it was a stressful time for me. That was just me. Others may have more computer skills than I. Just know that the pros do earn their money.

And speaking of pros, I paid professionals for cover designs or both novels. Getting blurbs for the back covers always takes time and it often comes down to politely asking an author you know well for help. Another bonus for attending workshops, conferences, and critique groups.

Marketing is a huge job for any author and doesn’t diminish no matter what kind of publishing one pursues. One of the advantages I got out of presenting to MWC Press at the 2016 DRC Writers’ Conference was their request for a marketing plan. It made me think of my possibilities. Unfortunately, all plans have been put on hold or drastically altered in the past two years of pandemic. I am still trying to cope with that.

My best advice to any new author would be to check out KDP and see if it’s a good fit. Do be aware that using Amazon ISBN numbers, while free, will limit your marketing options. Read the fine print. I created my own press and purchased my own ISBNs. KDP is my printer.

Self-publishing and hybrid publishing opportunities have grown immensely and there are options out there that I don’t know about. As frustrating the last book was to complete I would do it again. My advice would be to do the research and find the best opportunity for your needs.

I hope this has been helpful.

 

Mary D

MWC is a non-profit organization and a great asset for this area with resources for any writer, at any stage of their career. Find information at:

https://www.mwcqc.org/

 

Favorite Bookmarks #5

This is an older bookmark for MWC, the Midwest Writing Center, a vital resource for the Quad City area. I’ve saved it because of prominent directive to Read! Write! 

The flying books are a nice bonus.

Favorite Bookmark #4

 

I remember Misty Urban making her own bookmarks, at least I thought of them as bookmarks. She’d print out a short story, flash fiction really, or a poem on nice paper then glued each one onto card stock. I managed to save few of those before she flew ahead to several versions of a regular type of printed bookmark.

Then she moved on to stylish versions of Victorian calling cards: many, many cards, as if one precious thing was never enough. I supposed the teacher in her could not stay still.

All this effort was for A Lesson in Manners, a collection of short stories that was my first purchase. It won her the Serena McDonald Kennedy Award.  

Of all the promotional pieces from Misty that I’ve saved, I like this bookmark the best because it begins with an “elevator pitch” that’s simple and comes perfectly to the point:

    "A how-to manual for dealing with

 love, lies, loss, and loneliness."

It's valuable lesson unto itself.

Favorite Bookmarks #3

 

I created this bookmark to go along with my first Bishop Hill mystery. The design was based on a postcard created by C. Hope Clark.

I met Clark through the Midwest Writing Center. It was the first year she taught a workshopat MWC’s David R. Collins Writers’ Conference, held annually in late June.

I bought her book and fell in love with the thought of using bookmarks to maybe, somehow, tempt readers to give us struggling authors reviews on Amazon and Goodreads sites. I think it worked better for her than me. But then, she has been quite prolific with writing award-winning mysteries, teaching, hosting award-winning blogs; ever being an inspiration to all of us.

I’m in the process of redesigning my bookmark to promote a new book and adding important new information for both books. The plan is to have it in time for the 

Bishop Hill Book Fair on April 2 at the Creative Commons at 309 Bishop Hill St. from 11-4 pm.

Update and Preview

Should have this bookmark ready for the bookfair.

Photo shows: on the left, my most current Bishop Hill mystery; and, on the right, my first mystery with an updated, and polite, appeal for reviews.

Favorite Bookmarks #2

 

What’s not to like about a Yoda bookmark? 

Nothing!

Originally, this was part of a panel of USPS postage stamps. I used the stamps and saved the decorative sidebar as a bookmark.

I and one of my Bishop Hill neighbors did our best to buy out all the Yoda stamps our tiny Bishop Hill post office had in stock. After going through my bookshelves, I came up with three more of my impromptu bookmarks in various conditions.

Can I say it? 

Yes, the force was with me.

Got a favorite bookmark? Please share.

Favorite Bookmarks #1

 

Years ago, I participated in a panel discussion in Muscatine, IA. It was sponsored by Writer’s on the Avenue. I shared the table with Rob Cline and a couple of his writing buddies. He made his book sound so appealing that I had to buy a copy. We were wrapping up the sale of Murder by the Slice when he offered me a special bookmark. He treated it as something special, like it came from his personal stash, and he was almost loath to part with it.

Why was it so special? Not only did it look like a slice of pepperoni pizza, it SMELLED like one. Seriously, the top pepperoni has a scratch-and-sniff coating that still works after all these years. But then, I have tried to treat it like the gem it is.

It became my all-time favorite bookmark even if it was lacking in a few basic details. Like any printed information about the book, the author, the publisher, the ISBN number, stuff like that. I can accept those deficiencies because I’ve never run across anything like it since. And how often are writers told to use all the senses in their work? Lots. This type of bookmark just might be the perfect reminder to add a little something for the olfactory receptors. Who knows, it might help keep readers engaged … and hungry for more. 

Worked for me.

 

Got a favorite bookmark? Please share.