D.G. Kaye's Blog, page 156

Writers are not lazy | A.S. Winchester

Every once in awhile I come across a post that really touches home with me as a writer.

 

The post I’m reblogging today is entitled, Writers are not lazy, by A.S. Winchester.

This article was written by the author in response to the aforementioned remark she’d overheard while visiting a book store.

 

“I was in Barnes & Noble this weekend perusing through books and the three of you were there, in the middle of the aisle, talking to each other.

 

First off… if you’re going to stand and talk… please do so in a place that doesn’t block half the books in the aisle. If you ARE going to stand and talk in the aisle, don’t get pissed off at me when I say “excuse me” so I can look at the possible book I might buy next.

 

The three of you were very pretty high school aged girls with far too much make-up on, fake nails, and clothes far too skimpy for the cold weather we’re having. You’re growing up too fast and that bothers me with the younger generations these days, but I digress.

 

As I stood absorbing all of the magic around me, I could not help overhearing the very loud conversation you were having.

 

“Writers are so lazy!” one of you said with clear distaste in your voice. “They just sit around all day and do nothing, but sit on a computer.”

 

It took everything–and I mean EVERYTHING–in me not to turn around and chew the three of you out right there as all of you agreed on the concept. So let me say it here…”  Continue reading her wonderful reply here. 

 

 

Source: Writers are not lazy | A.S. Winchester 

 

DGKaye©2016

Book Review – Self Publisher’s Legal Handbook – Helen Sedwick

 

Self Publisher’s Legal Handbook

 

A few years ago, I made the acquaintance of author and business attorney, Helen Sedwick.

 

I began following Helen’s blog through various articles that were republished by The Bookdesigner in his weekly newsletter I subscribe to that is always full of great up-to-date information shared by other authors and social media experts.

 

Helen published her Legal Handbook 2 years ago, and happened to be running a KDP promo one day, but I somehow wasn’t able to download it. I contacted Helen to ask her if she had any other readers having the same issue. She was very kind and not only apologetic, but she asked for my mailing address and sent me each a signed print copy of that book and a copy of her highly rated, IndieBrag Medallion Honoree historical novel, Coyote Winds. I was touched by her kindness.

 

Fast forward to over a year later, I finally got to read Helen’s Legal Handbook and was elated with the amount of useful tips and information in that book.

My Review:

 

This is a book I’d highly recommend for every writer, published or not, to keep handy at your desk as a reference guide to legal issues which can arise simply by having an online presence. As part of the book making process, this book has detailed chapters on things like: setting up your author business, marketing and distribution, business tax preparation, reading the fine print in contracts, copyright laws, and much more.

 

Bloggers and writers alike will learn the legal ramifications of knowing your rights regarding infringement issues, legalese terms, practical advice to learn about marketing scammers, and other things such as why it’s important for authors to purchase and own their own ISBN numbers.

 

There is also bonus material at the end of the book. Lots of resources and links for self publishers from copyright and helpful government websites, to recommended blogs to follow for ongoing information on the publishing world. This book should be considered an important writer’s tool.

 

DGKaye©2016

Test Yourself – How Professional are You Publishing? Part 1 | Savvy Book Writers

I came across this interesting article from Savvy Bookwriters about the importance of building an author platform. I subscribe to their blog posts and newsletter, as they are always full of great information for writers on the topic of self publishing.

 

Below is a snippet of the article on building an author platform. It’s a quiz for you to take with a checklist of important things to do to give your author platform visibility.

“Are You Ready to Answer these Questions?

… and add up your “YES” answers at the end of this little test. Don’t worry, no one is seeing your answers, and how favourable you compare. The test needs to be split in two parts as there are so many test questions.  Today’s questions are regarding your author platform, and the next one will be about the publishing process and your sales efforts.  I think it’s a great way to see what you have already achieved – and where there is room for improvement. Ready? Here it goes: . . .”  CONTINUE

Source: Test Yourself – How Professional are You Publishing? Part 1 | Savvy Book Writers 

DGKaye©2016

Have you danced today? | Daily Echo

Often in life we get so inundated with our ‘to do’ list and with problems that creep up which can sometimes steal our joy.

 

Sometimes we need a subtle reminder to dance with life and remember to breathe and laugh. So when I came across Sue Vincent’s post I wanted to share it here.

 

“I came across the Nietzsche quote on Sirena’s Tales, remembering that I first read it years ago in his Zarathrusta, a book much in fashion in my youth. I was struck even then, armed with too few years and too little experience of life to really understand the book, by the way the man encapsulated snippets of wisdom in what would today be classed as soundbites.”

 

“The quote here is incomplete… and the second part puts it into greater context for me:

 

“We should consider every day lost on which we have not danced at least once. And we should call every truth false which was not accompanied by at least one laugh.” . . .Continue Reading

Source: Have you danced today? | Daily Echo 

 

DGKaye©2016

Note: I will be taking a break for the remainder of the week, so please enjoy your week and know that I’ll be doing my best to catch up when I can. 

After returning from our winter vacation, it’s been one thing after another, and being sick takes priority. I’m still on the mend, but unfortunately, I’ve had to take my husband to hospital this past weekend due to his inability to recover fully and some new  issues that crept up due to his low resistance. I must focus on my husband’s healing and bringing him back home again, hopefully by midweek. 

And thank you all for your well wishes from my post about the Arizona Flu.

#Kindle Spell Check and Preview Your Book While in the Publishing Stage – Diane Tibert

Lately there has been quite a bit of chatter about the possibility of Amazon flagging books for spelling errors. Friend and author/editor, Diane Tibert, has written a great article on the importance of using the Kindle Previewer before downloading your book to self publish.

 

In her article, you will note that all ‘misspelled’ words are not always misspelled. You may, for example, be writing in British English, or perhaps using a new made up word for your fiction book which Amazon may not recognize. These types of ‘typo’ flags can be ignored.

 

Have a look at Diane’s article below for some detailed help on downloading your book and viewing it in the Kindle Previewer.

 

“ Last week—while discussing Amazon’s warning about spelling mistakes and bad formatting for eBooks published on their site—I realised not everyone is completing all the steps necessary to upload and publish a book.

 

Book title, author’s name, tags, description and the other items on the Kindle publishing page are important, but the two check points before you hit “Publish” are equally important.

 

These check points are Kindle Spell Check and Preview Your Book. . .” Continue Reading

 

Source: Kindle Spell Check and Preview Your Book While in the Publishing Stage – Diane Tibert 

 

DGKaye©2016

The After Bite — The Arizona #Flu

I’m naming it the Arizona flu because while I was there I watched the news every day. Apparently, the state of Arizona had more cases of influenza than the rest of the United States combined. As a certified germ freak, I was very careful about my surroundings and where my hands had been before they ever entered anywhere near my facial orifices. 

Approximately 2 days after our return, I felt my throat feeling a bit scratchy and developed an aggravating constant dry cough. I figured as per usual, I was catching a cold from the airplane no doubt. Why won’t I learn to wear that darned mask on an airplane? WRONG! That would have turned out to be wishful thinking.

 

Racing the Clock for Chicken Soup 

By the time Friday night approached, and I had been doing quite a good job of catching up on blogs by then, my body began to feel weird. I went to bed that night and had a restless night. When I woke the next morning, I went to my computer to catch up on mail and blogs and began to feel very lethargic, something I’m not used to. In what felt a race against time, I quickly ran to the freezer to defrost a chicken and get it into the pot as soon as it would allow in preparation for an oncoming cold or maybe worse? By the time I had that soup simmering, I was completely out of steam.

 

Whammo! Down for the Count!

 

By Saturday evening all the wind had left my sails, sitting up was impossible, my legs felt like lead, the room was spinning, I was burning up and freezing. I’d like to say that was the worst of it but it wasn’t.

 

What I thought was the oncoming of a cold turned out to be an evil dose of influenza. I had to google this flu and its symptoms and sadly, I wasn’t missing one of them. The dry cough I thought was the start to a cold, turned into something evil living in my respiratory system. I began coughing incessantly as though my diaphragm and lungs had been turned inside out which made me feel as though my ribs were broken. Certainly this was akin to whooping cough. Four days later it hasn’t subsided.

 

As if the broken rib feeling wasn’t enough, I was delirious with fever and nausea. Wrapped in blankets from bed to couch and back, I shivered at the same time I was soaked in a pool of sweat. Even sipping water was nauseating, so thank goodness for the handy stock of ginger ale I keep handy in the back fridge as that was my sustenance for 2 days. But the best part was how every bone and joint in my body, right down to my toes, felt as though they were whipped with a tire iron and to top it off, I felt like after the whipping, someone had thrown me down a few flights of stairs. Even my skin hurt when I touched it. This is the only way I can describe what I felt for 4 days.

 

This Girl Doesn’t Do Flu Shots!

 

It was a good thing I always keep my holistic medicine for flus and colds at hand, but this monster became a task too big for my arsenal. The only relief I had was sleep from the Gravol I took to keep the nausea at bay,which gratefully, kept me sleeping.

 

To be honest, I hadn’t had a flu in 10 years, but I can honestly say, I never, ever experienced anything as gargantuan as this brutal force that overtook my body. I had a new understanding of just how easily some people can die from such a flu.

 

And Then there were Two

 

My husband trailed me by one day as he too became a victim. I can’t even say that it hit him harder than me because of his 20 years my senior. Nope. Symptom for symptom we looked and felt pretty much the same, with exact punishing symptoms. We were like the blind leading the blind because we could no longer help one another. Neither of us had the strength to walk, talk or complain. We were both prisoners to our own bodies.

 

A Glimmer of Light

 

It’s late at night now, going into Day 5. I’ve actually been able to have a shower, stomach some soup and sit up and be on the computer. The high fever has broken, I’m no longer freezing. The pain in my body has subsided to half of what it was. I’m still walking slowly and still dizzy when I stand, but the nausea has passed. The wicked coughing isn’t gone but comes in less frequent intervals, so I’m thinking I’m actually on the mend.

 

What I’ve Learned

 

I’m not invincible 


The Flu is a very scary illness


I will be wearing that ugly mask next time I travel in Flu season


This is not a recommended diet to take off the few pounds that found me in Arizona 

 

My Advice

 

Always be prepared for colds and flus, especially at this time of year, with unpredictable weather changes. Have some canned chicken soup stocked on the shelf, gingerale, Gravol, Advil for pain, some form of natural antiviral remedies such as Oil of Oregano and Elderberry tonic. I could also tell you to listen to the signs that your body is telling you, but with this brute of a flu, you would be sure to discover the signs.

 

DISCLAIMER NOTE:  I am not licensed to practice medicine, nor to prescribe. I’m merely sharing the products I take for years for my own illness. Besides the fact that I try to avoid taking pharmaceuticals as best I can, the flu is a virus, therefore, antibiotics won’t help the flu, although they may have a place in extenuating situations, such as an accompanied respiratory illness. For my own reasons, I choose to use Oil of Oregano when I’m ill because it’s nature’s antibiotic, having both antibacterial and antiviral properties. It’s always best to check with your doctor and/or naturopath.

 

Stay warm. Stay healthy.

 

DGKaye©2016

 

 

Book Review – The Luck of The Weissensteiners by Christoph Fischer

Ever since I read one of Christoph Fischer’s books, I’ve been hooked on his writing. We all have quite a lengthy TBR list and great intentions of moving up a book in line from time to time.

Between the ‘must reads’, ‘want to reads’ and the shortage of time, sometimes I just say to myself, “I feel like reading a book of which the subject matter fascinates me” and I just move up the book. That’s what I did with Christoph’s book, The Luck of The Weissensteiners while I had to time to read at the pool on my winter vacation. This book which is much longer than the average page count I prefer to read, captivated my attention through every page. Here’s my review below:

 

In The Luck of the Weissensteiners, Fischer weaves a story of humanity, compassion and anticipation with historical facts. I was engrossed in his ability to draw us in to his believable characters.

 

With the advent of WW11 in the town Bratislava, the Weissensteiners, headed by the patriarch, Jonah, a hardworking man running a successful weaving business with the aid of his daughters and several employees, is faced with the dilemma of first believing if this new Aryan dominance could actually be true and if it would be affecting his and his family’s life eventually. Being a non- practicing Jew, and keeping a low profile, Jonah believes he might be safe.

 

As the story unfolds and new characters come into the life of the Weissensteiners, mainly by Jonah’s daughter Greta meeting and falling in love with a Protestant boy, the complications begin to ensue with the mixed marriage of Greta and Wilhelm at a time where religion was becoming a time of persecution and the Germans and Russians would soon be invading this little town on the Czech border.

 

Fischer captures our anticipations and emotions with the decisions made by the families as their complications in life ensue. First there are conflicting decisions to flee, where to flee, then will they be discovered?

 

The characters are well developed and the history is well researched as we’re taken through the journey of the Weissensteiners, we’re drawn into the history of the war and its effect on human life, psyche and degradation.

 

This book was a page turner. From the beginning I was taken in by the likeable characters and then by my anticipation to follow them in worry for their safety in escaping the horrors of being captured or killed in a conflicting war of race and religion, and for being Jewish in a wrong time of the world.

 

You can find Christoph on social media and his other wonderful books at the links below:

 

Website: http://www.christophfischerbooks.com/

Blog: https://writerchristophfischer.wordpress.com/

Goodreads:https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6590171.Christoph_Fischer

Amazon: http://ow.ly/BtveY

Twitter: https://twitter.com/CFFBooks

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/christophffisch/

Google +: https://plus.google.com/u/0/106213860775307052243

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=241333846

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/WriterChristophFischer?ref=hl

 

DGKaye©2016

#Traveling with #Angels – I’m Back!

Well, that’s it! The dream is over and I’m back to the nitty- gritty of real life.

 

Goodbye Arizona

I know, and appreciate that many of you have been following me on my journey in Arizona, here and on Facebook where I’ve posted quite a bit about my adventures. And I had to laugh as a few of you made comment to me on Facebook (you know who you are), about wanting to know about my travel day home and if it would become a new adventure I may have to write a new travel book about, lol.

 

Those comments were in reference to my last book, Have Bags, Will Travel, where I share quite a few of my travel escapes and my returns home going through Canada Customs with ongoing issues with overweight luggage. So, although I don’t think I’m going to write another book yet about this trip, I’m going to describe the dreaded travel day home here, and how I made it home safely.

 

You all know that I’m a huge believer in the universe and angels, so the first thing I do before traveling, is surround my thoughts with pink light for safety, and push away any scary thoughts of bad things that could happen while traveling. Besides this, I’m always armed with angels. Besides the fact that I know they are always surrounding me (I feel them), I have angel pins, dolls, and coins that I keep with me at all times, especially when traveling.

Taken in front of the Angel store

 

My most recent purchase while away at the angel store I found was a new pin called, ‘Angel on my shoulder’, which I pinned, naturally, to the top I was wearing, and an angel watching over me coin I bought at The Chapel of the Holy Cross in Sedona, which I keep in my wallet. I truly believe I need all the help I can get while traveling.

 

So alas, it was nearing the time to leave. I did my airport checkin the night before we left, checked the weather back home (no precipitation expected), finished my two day venture of packing, and went out for our last dinner in Scottsdale with our friends.

 

The next morning we got up early. Our flight was to leave at 1:45 PM, but we first had to return the rental car to a different area near the airport, and we wanted to leave plenty of time for getting lost and taking wrong exits, which of course happened.

 

We hired a bellboy from the next door hotel to take our many bags down the narrow 2 flights of stairs from our condo – a brilliant idea my husband came up with after we nearly put our backs out when we first came, lifting 4 – 50 pound bags plus 2 overweight carryons and a computer bag up them upon our arrival. We were also relieved that the new suitcase we’d purchased on the trip was already filled to capacity and sent home earlier with my step-daughter to save us a fifth bag to lug, and extra baggage fees.

 

After losing half an hour due to taking wrong exits again at the airport, we proceeded to drop off the car. We then unloaded the car onto 2 carry carts, strolled through to the elevators as we struggled to get them into and off the elevators to the shuttle bus which would take us back to the terminal.

 

Yes, of course the bags had to come off the carts again and get loaded and unloaded on and off the shuttle bus, back onto new carts for checkin. Thankfully for a couple of tips both ways, the bus driver did the loading and unloading in the already hot desert sun.

 

We proceeded to checkin, only to find out that our flight was delayed 3 hours due to mechanical errors with the plane. I wanted to kick myself for not checking online for delays before we left, but we weren’t about to leave and start the procedure over again, so we checked in.

 

While the Westjet agent was telling me about the delay and offering us each food vouchers because of the delay, my husband was eagerly putting the bags on the luggage weigh scale to speed up the process. Gratefully, I didn’t pay attention to the conversation going on between him and the agent weighing the luggage, or I would have been mortified to find that 2 of our bags were almost 10 pounds over weight, thanks to my trusted portable scale I always travel with that decided to read off bizarre numbers and malfunction when I wanted to make sure we were within the limits before leaving and I just threw up my hands in surrender and said, ‘It will be what it will be”.

 

The agent had mercy on us and didn’t charge us extra. I guess he figured we had enough to contend with on viewing our cart full of carryon luggage we had to tow with us for the next 5 hours.

 

Our carryon stuff after luggage was checked.

 

We were lucky that security let us keep the cart holding all of our carryon things after being radiated and body searched once again and having to practically redress ourselves and get everything off the security belt and back on the cart.

 

As we waited and loaded up with food and water with our vouchers, it seemed Westjet had a few other delays in the gates next to us, and inevitably a totally cancelled flight for some of those waiting for their delayed plane. We were grateful that our plane finally came in and took us home after waiting another half an hour to take off, some frightening turbulence we experienced for more than half the flight home, then another half an hour wait on the tarmac once we landed in Toronto, before they’d let us off.

 

We were originally to land home about 7:30PM, and by the time we walked what seemed about 2 1/2 miles from the airplane to customs with our bags in tow, it was half hour to midnight. I still can’t understand why every single time I return FROM ANYWHERE, be it, Arizona, Florida, Las Vegas, on Air Canada or Westjet, we are always the furthest gate from customs.

 

Now my anxiety was heightened. Being that it was late, there were hardly any other people in customs other than our plane load. The customs agents would either be hungry for interrogations, or merciful because of how late it was and knowing we came from a delayed flight. I scanned the booths for potential agents I may choose to stand in their line to pass. There were too many women agents working that night, and that scared me. Women agents, for some reason could sense my shopping addiction.

 

Someone directed us to the customs kiosk where we electronically enter our declaration forms and passports. I’m usually scared of those things because you wait in line for a free kiosk, still have to pass through a customs agent and hand him the printout, and then I’m usually sent on to another agent at the booth lineup anyway for further questioning.

 

I handed him our declaration, he took it, looked me up and down, didn’t utter one word, and told me to go ahead.

 

As I continued to walk in hopes of not being stopped again on my path to the baggage pickup, I thanked my angels for getting me home safe and asked them to just please let all my bags be there, and get me the heck out of the airport without being stopped.

 

As I approached the baggage belt, I did a mental count of all of our carryon items, and a sick feeling of nausea came over me when I discovered that my computer bag was missing. My computer bag with my newest laptop that just finished being paid for on a payment plan, with the journal of the second half of MY HAND WRITTEN newest book I’m writing, NOT YET ENTERED INTO THE COMPUTER was missing! I almost choked.

 

There was no time to reprimand my husband for leaving the bag on the plane. And I knew I had to be the one to find this bag. First I panicked not knowing how to go about getting this bag and freaking out that it was lost forever.

 

I began running back to customs with intentions of doing an Olympic run back through the 2 1/2 mile journey to the airplane. Once I arrived back at the custom gate, an officer stopped me and asked what the problem was. I told her my dilemma, and she rerouted me over to the Westjet booth back in the baggage area. The 3 minutes I waited until the woman finished dealing with another customer felt like an eternity. I wondered if the plane had left, the plane was being cleaned and my computer would be kept by some dishonest person, or if it was even noticed still in the overhead.

 

Finally, it was my turn. I explained my situation to the kind woman who immediately calmed my nerves, picked up the phone and called the plane. Before she could even ask about the bag, someone was telling her that a computer bag had been left there. She got off the phone and told me to go back to waiting for my bags and it would be brought down in a few minutes.

 

Not 10 minutes had passed and the woman found me at the baggage carousel and brought me my computer bag all in tact. I told her she was an angel and hugged her.

 

Within minutes ALL of our bags had arrived safely down the luggage chute and we once again loaded a cart with all of our belongings. After the day I had, I prayed the angels just let us pass through the final exit point when handing in our customs card, and we did.

 

We waited our turn in line for a limo van, yes, I said van because of all of our luggage. The air was cold and biting, but my skin still retained the desert sun in my tanned body and kept me warm.

 

We finally arrived home in what felt like a very strange environment, like a place where I used to live. But my bed felt very familiar.

 

DGKaye©2016

#Indie Authors: Where Do You Get Your Industry News?

I came across this interesting blog post at DigitalPubbing.com and I thought it was important to share it here, ‘Where Do You Get Your Industry News/’

 

This post offers a comprehensive list of great sites to check out by clicking the links and having a look around to see if you may want to subscribe and/or follow their publications for up to date information for self publishers. Many of these sites I’ve been following for the past 4 years and I’ve learned a lot from some of these pioneers in the business.

 

Many bloggers who are just journeying into the world of self publishing often feel overwhelmed with the amount of information shared around the blogosphere, some left wondering what to do first. Eventually we all find our way through, but it’s helpful to have some of the best advice from some of these wonderful and reliable resources.

 

Sites I’d highly recommend from there in particular are: The Bookdesigner, The Creative Penn, Chris McMullen, Jane Friedman, The Passive Voice, and my own added recommendation – The Blog of Anne R. Allen.

 

Please have a look at the article below from digitalpubbing.com then click on ‘Continue’ to read the rest.

 

‘As an indie authorpreneur, it’s important to stay on top of the latest trends, not only in self-publishing, but in the publishing industry as a whole. Here are some sites and blogs that I rea…‘ CONTINUE READING 

Source: Indie Authors: Where Do You Get Your Industry News? 

 

DGKaye©2016

Leaving Beautiful #Arizona

 

There’s an old saying, ‘It’s better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all’. Every time I think of leaving beautiful Scottsdale, Arizona, I feel the sadness ooze through me. I ask myself it it would have been less painful to never have come to this place we don’t want to leave so we wouldn’t feel the unbearable sadness of having to leave the desert and mountains and our friends behind.

Of course deep in the core of me I believe it’s better to have loved and lost than to never have loved, just as I know, a taste of living in Arizona this winter was better than feeling the continual hunger to come back here. But we all know we can’t just eat one chip.

I’ve been to many places in my life, had fantastic times, felt sad to leave, but once at home it was good to be back in my own bed. But from the first time I visited this state, for only one week, I felt the pull; a pull that tugged so tightly at my soul when leaving, I didn’t want to go home.

Since the first time I left Arizona, not one day had ever passed that I didn’t imagine myself there or wish that I was there. Now that I’ve had 2 glorious months here, it is infinitely harder for me to leave.

I’m a firm believer in the ways of the universe, and what you focus on is what comes to you. I don’t know how or when, but I know nothing is more at the forefront of my desires than to live here. So I’ll have to believe when the divine timing is right, Scottsdale, Arizona is where I’ll be laying down my cowgirl hat.

 

DGKaye©2016