Bart "J.B." Hopkins's Blog, page 38

YOU TWO

“Some things you shouldn’t get too good at…like smiling, crying, and celebrity.” – U2

I’m going to be 37 next month.  Middle age didn’t sneak up on me – it’s been coming for a while.  Some indicators…my oldest daughter is 11 years old and starts 6th grade in August.  I rarely seek out new music – I’m happy with what I’ve been listening to for 20 years.  I enjoy routines more than spontaneity. Too many things to mention.

This all shouldn’t surprise me; sometimes it doesn’t.  But, sometimes it does.

Maybe I’m in this mood because I’m listening to U2 – one of my favorite bands – and having  small bouts with nostalgia.

Listening to tunes from The Joshua Tree album made me think back to the day I bought the cassette tape.  It was 1987 and I was 11 1/2 years old.  A friend of mine and I were dropped off at the local mall by his dad (RIP Galvez Mall – you live on in our hearts).  Times were different then and it was acceptable to be alone at the mall when you were 11.  Maybe it is now, too, although I don’t think so, but it isn’t for me to decide what is good for all families.  Just mine.  And, we haven’t reached that stage in the game with our oldest.

But, back to the story, my buddy and I simply jumped out of the car knowing his dad would be back in a couple of hours for us.  One of our stops that afternoon was the local music store.  My purchase:  The Joshua Tree.

To this day, that is probably one of the best $10 expenditures of my life.  I upgraded to the CD later on, but the exposure was worth much more.  Today I was ripping the CD into MP3s for my iPod…time flies, time flies.

I also converted some Poison, George Strait, Cure, and 311 songs into electrons.  It’s an eclectic mix of music, I know, but I’ve always appreciated a little bit of everything.  I’m the same way with most everything in life.

So, I’ll be 37 in a few weeks, and that’s good and fine.  I’m armed with music in the latest digital formats; I’m ready for it.

Also: my oldest daughter doesn’t know what a cassette tape is.

Publish & Print

Dave and I published our first novel, Fluke, in April.

As you can imagine, it was (is) an amazing experience.  I had a mixed bag of emotions, all of them good.

During the publishing process we reached a point when we could look at virtual, online proof copies of Fluke.  For me – pure joy.  The anticipation of holding a real copy in my hands in the near future was almost too much.  But, we had waited 10 years, so what was a few more days, right?

Some time passed by.  I strolled into the mail room on Ramstein Air Base daily to see if my hands would be graced with a copy of Fluke.  It took a couple of weeks, but the day finally arrived.  Looking through the tiny window, i could see that my mailbox contained the slip of paper that signaled there was a package to pick up.

I got in the package line and waited, ID Card in hand, trying to be patient.  It was a good day – I handed my slip over to the folks in the window after just five minutes.  Seconds later, the package from Createspace was in my hand.  The tough part to believe is that I actually made it back to my car before ripping into the box.

That’s when I held the first printed copy of Fluke.  Wow!

My fellow aspiring authors, I have one nugget of advice.  Even though your sales & marketing may be a mostly digital venture, take the time to get at least one print edition of your book.  There isn’t much in this world that compares to holding the result of dreams in your palms.

Jobs and Metz

I’m a fairly simple-minded creature.  My wife can attest to that.

My unsophisticated ways extend across many spectrums in my world.  I’ll cut to the chase – what I am leading up to is my passion for reading.  Most of the time I read between one and six books in any month.  But, I read them one at a time.  Again – I’m a simple guy – I keep things easy.

The mold has been broken, however, and I find myself immersed in two works right now.  I won’t name the first – it might provoke political feelings and that isn’t the point.  The second book is Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson.  I don’t think I would have chosen it were it not for the close relationship I have with my iPad.  The prominent positioning on the Ramstein library shelf helped, as well.

I don’t want to ruin it for you, but Steve Jobs was a pretty unique guy, and his life was far from normal.  I’m only about a fifth of the way through the book, but I can certainly recommend that first 20%.

Metz is where I’ll be tomorrow.  One of the benefits of military service is being stationed abroad and having the opportunity to see and do some amazing things.  My kids are waking up early to make signs under the supervision of my beautiful wife – then we are off to Metz, France, to watch people pedal by us in the Tour de France!  I’m sure it’s going to be awesome.  So, it’s time for bed.  Good night, and…Go Team USA!

The beginning…

Okay.  Prepare yourself for rambling as I test this site through this post and then post-post review to see the outcome.  I’m a novice when it comes to websites and blogs, but I am very experienced at running my mouth.  If you find yourself on this site, be prepared for these ramblings and rants which, I am guessing, will mostly serve to let me express opinions and ideas that may or may not be relevant.  In other words – subject to my fancy.  Cheers!