R. Weir's Blog, page 15
October 3, 2014
Last Day: 99 cent eBook promo "Tracking A Shadow"
HURRY! TODAY IS THE LAST DAY (10/3) OF EBOOK PROMO
PRICED AT 99 Cents on Amazon
TRACKING A SHADOW by R WEIR
Has Jarvis Mann bit off more than he can handle, both as a Private Investigator and in his personal life. One murder turns into two and before you know it Jarvis is a suspect, with the authorities breathing down his neck, a crime kingpin sticking his nose into the investigation. One woman and then a second are vying for his affections, leaving Jarvis torn on the proper path to take. Can he track down the shadow stalking his client and find personal happiness that seems to elude him.
Review: I love a good suspenseful detective/PI novel and this did not disappoint. Jarvis was an incredible character and very charismatic, while also showing the simply-lived struggle of the regular PI, live from case to case, check to check kind of thing. His case turned out to be more than he expected, and I read it from cover to cover in one sitting. The author writes very well and creates remarkable characters. I love a story where you think some detail isn't important and it turns out to pull the whole story together. This had several details like that. I will read this author's work again, nothing like a good book to curl up to so you can close out the world. I recommend this to anyone who loves a good PI book.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MQHVKJA
PRICED AT 99 Cents on Amazon
TRACKING A SHADOW by R WEIR
Has Jarvis Mann bit off more than he can handle, both as a Private Investigator and in his personal life. One murder turns into two and before you know it Jarvis is a suspect, with the authorities breathing down his neck, a crime kingpin sticking his nose into the investigation. One woman and then a second are vying for his affections, leaving Jarvis torn on the proper path to take. Can he track down the shadow stalking his client and find personal happiness that seems to elude him.
Review: I love a good suspenseful detective/PI novel and this did not disappoint. Jarvis was an incredible character and very charismatic, while also showing the simply-lived struggle of the regular PI, live from case to case, check to check kind of thing. His case turned out to be more than he expected, and I read it from cover to cover in one sitting. The author writes very well and creates remarkable characters. I love a story where you think some detail isn't important and it turns out to pull the whole story together. This had several details like that. I will read this author's work again, nothing like a good book to curl up to so you can close out the world. I recommend this to anyone who loves a good PI book.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MQHVKJA
October 1, 2014
KDP: The Next Steps; Details, Details
So you have the novel written and with the proper formatting that will work with Kindle Direct Publishing. Now it's time to log into your KDP account and begin giving Amazon the info needed to publish your eBook.
First you'll need a KDP login. If you have a current Amazon login you can use it for KDP. If not go to the site (https://kdp.amazon.com) and create one. Once logged in since this is your first book you'll need to create it. Under the Bookshelf tab click "Add New Title".
Note: If you are uncertain on any of these choices you can click the "What's This" hyperlink to open a box for more details.
The first option for enrolling into KDP Select. Essentially you have to commit to list your book on Amazon and only Amazon for 90 days. If you have no plans to publish anywhere else, then there are benefits to enrolling. Be sure to read all the guidelines. This is a personal choice that you will need to decide. For my short story and novel I did do this for the first 90 days. After the 90 days is up you are free to publish on other eBook sites or enroll again for another 90 days.
Check the Box: Enroll this book in KDP Select if you want to join Section 1: Book Details
Book Title: Enter the title of your bookSubtitle (Optional): Use this if it's a series to more easily identify your book seriesCheck the Box if it's part of the seriesEdition Number (Optional): Again if it's part of a series, give it a number like Book 1 and so onPublisher (Optional): Leave blank unless you have a publisherDescription: A description (book synopsis) of what your book is about. You have a lot of room here (4000 characters), so use as much of it as you can. Look at other descriptions to see what others have created. You want it to catch the readers eye and is generally the third thing about your book that readers notice after Title and the Cover, so it's very important Much like your book I'd have this written out in advance and run past your beta readers for feedback.Book Contributors: This is crediting you the author and anyone else you want to single out for your work. Click Add Contributors, enter info into all the fields and click Save when doneSection 2: Verify Your Publishing Rights
Either the work is in the Public Domain or you own the rights. Choose one here Section 3: Target Your Book To Customers
Categories: Make sure you select the proper category of your book as you only get two choices. If its Sci-Fi select it and the proper subcategory. Mystery choose that. Again look at books similar to yours to get this correct as it's essential for helping users searching Amazon to find your booksAge Range (Optional): If your book is targeted for Adults or Children set it here. There are minimum and maximum settings. Be careful using this as it may limit your audience unintentionally. Again look at similar books.U.S. Grade Range (Optional): Here you can set the grade level for the reading. There are minimum and maximum settings. Be careful using this as it may limit your audience unintentionally. Again look at similar books.Search keywords (up to 7, optional): This is for the Amazon search engine. Here you can put in 7 keywords or phrases to help users find your book. If it's a Mystery book, enter Mystery. A Cooking book enter Cooking. Use all 7 of these for the best results. Think about these choices carefully. Separate each entry with commasSection 4: Select Your Book Release Option
Two options here. Either I'm ready to release my book now or make my book available for pre-order. Choose oneSection 5: Upload or Create A Book Cover
A critical step here. Make sure you have a quality book cover to upload. I strongly suggest getting a professional to create your cover unless you have graphic skills. It needs to be in JPEG or TIFF format. Use the highest quality file you can. A minimum of 625 pixels on the shortest side and 1000 pixels on the longest side. For best quality, your image would be 2820 pixels on the shortest side and 4500 pixels on the longest side.Click Browse image, find it on your computer and upload it. You will see a preview of it on the screenSection 6: Upload Your Book File
Select a Digital Rights Management (DRM) option: You can apply DRM to your book or leave it open. This is personal choice. For a new author I suggest not using DRM. But it would leave your book open to digital theft, though DRM can be removed with some toolsBook Content File: The most important step, uploading your book content. Click Browse, find the file and upload it. Once it uploads it will convert the file which can take a few minutes. Once it completes you then have the option to view it in the Kindle viewer online. I would suggest spending time looking through each page to make sure the formatting looks correct. If not you'll need to go back to your source file, fix it and then upload again.The final steps on this page are "Save and Continue" or "Save as Draft". I would suggest doing "Save as Draft" for now, as Save and Continue begins the process of submitting the book for approval, which can take 12-24 hours. Wait to select "Save and Continue" when you are sure the book is ready, especially for someone new to the process.
My next blog post will go through the next page of steps in KDP, which is Rights and Pricing.
First you'll need a KDP login. If you have a current Amazon login you can use it for KDP. If not go to the site (https://kdp.amazon.com) and create one. Once logged in since this is your first book you'll need to create it. Under the Bookshelf tab click "Add New Title".
Note: If you are uncertain on any of these choices you can click the "What's This" hyperlink to open a box for more details.
The first option for enrolling into KDP Select. Essentially you have to commit to list your book on Amazon and only Amazon for 90 days. If you have no plans to publish anywhere else, then there are benefits to enrolling. Be sure to read all the guidelines. This is a personal choice that you will need to decide. For my short story and novel I did do this for the first 90 days. After the 90 days is up you are free to publish on other eBook sites or enroll again for another 90 days.
Check the Box: Enroll this book in KDP Select if you want to join Section 1: Book Details
Book Title: Enter the title of your bookSubtitle (Optional): Use this if it's a series to more easily identify your book seriesCheck the Box if it's part of the seriesEdition Number (Optional): Again if it's part of a series, give it a number like Book 1 and so onPublisher (Optional): Leave blank unless you have a publisherDescription: A description (book synopsis) of what your book is about. You have a lot of room here (4000 characters), so use as much of it as you can. Look at other descriptions to see what others have created. You want it to catch the readers eye and is generally the third thing about your book that readers notice after Title and the Cover, so it's very important Much like your book I'd have this written out in advance and run past your beta readers for feedback.Book Contributors: This is crediting you the author and anyone else you want to single out for your work. Click Add Contributors, enter info into all the fields and click Save when doneSection 2: Verify Your Publishing Rights
Either the work is in the Public Domain or you own the rights. Choose one here Section 3: Target Your Book To Customers
Categories: Make sure you select the proper category of your book as you only get two choices. If its Sci-Fi select it and the proper subcategory. Mystery choose that. Again look at books similar to yours to get this correct as it's essential for helping users searching Amazon to find your booksAge Range (Optional): If your book is targeted for Adults or Children set it here. There are minimum and maximum settings. Be careful using this as it may limit your audience unintentionally. Again look at similar books.U.S. Grade Range (Optional): Here you can set the grade level for the reading. There are minimum and maximum settings. Be careful using this as it may limit your audience unintentionally. Again look at similar books.Search keywords (up to 7, optional): This is for the Amazon search engine. Here you can put in 7 keywords or phrases to help users find your book. If it's a Mystery book, enter Mystery. A Cooking book enter Cooking. Use all 7 of these for the best results. Think about these choices carefully. Separate each entry with commasSection 4: Select Your Book Release Option
Two options here. Either I'm ready to release my book now or make my book available for pre-order. Choose oneSection 5: Upload or Create A Book Cover
A critical step here. Make sure you have a quality book cover to upload. I strongly suggest getting a professional to create your cover unless you have graphic skills. It needs to be in JPEG or TIFF format. Use the highest quality file you can. A minimum of 625 pixels on the shortest side and 1000 pixels on the longest side. For best quality, your image would be 2820 pixels on the shortest side and 4500 pixels on the longest side.Click Browse image, find it on your computer and upload it. You will see a preview of it on the screenSection 6: Upload Your Book File
Select a Digital Rights Management (DRM) option: You can apply DRM to your book or leave it open. This is personal choice. For a new author I suggest not using DRM. But it would leave your book open to digital theft, though DRM can be removed with some toolsBook Content File: The most important step, uploading your book content. Click Browse, find the file and upload it. Once it uploads it will convert the file which can take a few minutes. Once it completes you then have the option to view it in the Kindle viewer online. I would suggest spending time looking through each page to make sure the formatting looks correct. If not you'll need to go back to your source file, fix it and then upload again.The final steps on this page are "Save and Continue" or "Save as Draft". I would suggest doing "Save as Draft" for now, as Save and Continue begins the process of submitting the book for approval, which can take 12-24 hours. Wait to select "Save and Continue" when you are sure the book is ready, especially for someone new to the process.
My next blog post will go through the next page of steps in KDP, which is Rights and Pricing.
September 27, 2014
Promo: Tracking A Shadow is 99 Cents from 9-27 thru 10-3
PROMO PRICE 99 Cents on Amazon 9-27 thru 10-3TRACKING A SHADOW by R WEIRIn this unique case for him, Private Detective Jarvis Mann is hired to discover who is stalking his female client Emily White in the Mile Hi City. Eluding danger coming at him from all sides, while balancing the affections of two sexy women, each with their own agenda, Jarvis must track down the stalker that is elusive as a shadow.Pickup this eBook for only 99 cents while you can...
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MQHVKJA
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MQHVKJA
Promo: Tracking A Shadow if 99 Cents from 9-27 thru 10-3
PROMO PRICE 99 Cents on Amazon 9-27 thru 10-3TRACKING A SHADOW by R WEIRIn this unique case for him, Private Detective Jarvis Mann is hired to discover who is stalking his female client Emily White in the Mile Hi City. Eluding danger coming at him from all sides, while balancing the affections of two sexy women, each with their own agenda, Jarvis must track down the stalker that is elusive as a shadow.Pickup this eBook for only 99 cents while you can...
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MQHVKJA
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MQHVKJA
September 19, 2014
My Experience with Kindle Direct Publishing
Love them or hate them, Amazon is a powerful online retailer, selling more electronic books than anyone else,. They have earned this with their powerful online presence and low margins. But they also created programs and tools for Indie authors that are easy to use, with lots of features to make uploading your book to their servers very simple; to a point. I'm going to cover my experience with using their Kindle Direct Publishing model for eBooks.
First you need to get your document formatted correctly. There are many books out there that cover this, and even templates you can purchase or a formatting service that will expensively covert your work. I've found with a couple of tweaks I can do this myself to get the document just right for KDP. I use Word, which works fine, but you need to setup the Styles for the document with certain settings, depending on what part of the book you are working on.
Single spacing should be usedDon't use tabbing to indent paragraphs or it will indent too farEnable Show/Hide Command (Ctrl + *) to see extra spaces, tabbing and other hidden formatting symbols and remove themKeep font size to Times New Roman 12 or something similarCreate and save your own Style pages for Chapter Heading, Main body of text. Title Page and Copy-write page and so on. Format them to what works best.Body of Text Example:
Right click a current Style page from Home Tab and select modify
Give it a name and then change the font and pt size to what you want
Click Format and Paragraph-Set Paragraph settings for Indents and Spacing:
General-Alignment leftIndentation-Special First Line 0.3Spacing-Line Spacing SingleSet Paragraph settings for Lines and Page Breaks:
Remove checkmark on Window/Orphan ControlRemove checkmark on Keep lines togetherYou'll then want to create a Chapter Heading Style, just be sure to choose a large font size, center it with no indentation. Then select the Style page you want to use before typing and it will be automatically formatted. Play with it to find the right one for you.
Once you have your document written, save the file as a Web Page Filtered (HTM/HTML) format. Then you can use the Kindle Previewer program Amazon provides to open the HTML file and see how it will look on the variety of Kindle devices Amazon sells. Be sure you still keep the original DOC or DOCX version for editing.
Depending on the version of Word you have, the steps may vary some. I'm using Word 2007, 2010 and 2013, and they are basically all the same. Pre-Ribbon versions of Word maybe different. It may take some time but once you find the right configuration you can carry it over to your next novel. At least until Amazon throws you a curve and changes their conversion techniques.
The novel is written and formatted, so it's now ready to upload to the KDP site. Next posting I'll run through the steps, as there are many of them, so you can publish your eBook.
First you need to get your document formatted correctly. There are many books out there that cover this, and even templates you can purchase or a formatting service that will expensively covert your work. I've found with a couple of tweaks I can do this myself to get the document just right for KDP. I use Word, which works fine, but you need to setup the Styles for the document with certain settings, depending on what part of the book you are working on.
Single spacing should be usedDon't use tabbing to indent paragraphs or it will indent too farEnable Show/Hide Command (Ctrl + *) to see extra spaces, tabbing and other hidden formatting symbols and remove themKeep font size to Times New Roman 12 or something similarCreate and save your own Style pages for Chapter Heading, Main body of text. Title Page and Copy-write page and so on. Format them to what works best.Body of Text Example:
Right click a current Style page from Home Tab and select modify
Give it a name and then change the font and pt size to what you want
Click Format and Paragraph-Set Paragraph settings for Indents and Spacing:
General-Alignment leftIndentation-Special First Line 0.3Spacing-Line Spacing SingleSet Paragraph settings for Lines and Page Breaks:
Remove checkmark on Window/Orphan ControlRemove checkmark on Keep lines togetherYou'll then want to create a Chapter Heading Style, just be sure to choose a large font size, center it with no indentation. Then select the Style page you want to use before typing and it will be automatically formatted. Play with it to find the right one for you.
Once you have your document written, save the file as a Web Page Filtered (HTM/HTML) format. Then you can use the Kindle Previewer program Amazon provides to open the HTML file and see how it will look on the variety of Kindle devices Amazon sells. Be sure you still keep the original DOC or DOCX version for editing.
Depending on the version of Word you have, the steps may vary some. I'm using Word 2007, 2010 and 2013, and they are basically all the same. Pre-Ribbon versions of Word maybe different. It may take some time but once you find the right configuration you can carry it over to your next novel. At least until Amazon throws you a curve and changes their conversion techniques.
The novel is written and formatted, so it's now ready to upload to the KDP site. Next posting I'll run through the steps, as there are many of them, so you can publish your eBook.
September 17, 2014
Facebook Author Event
I will be participating in this Facebook Author event both Saturday 9-27 (9AM Denver Time) and Sunday 9-28 (12PM Denver Time). This is an event where readers and authors can meet up to talk, check out new books, genres and authors, have the opportunity to win prizes from the donation authors and play lots of silly games in the process. You can ask questions and learn all my deep dark secrets. If you have some time stop in and say hello.
https://www.facebook.com/events/53775...
https://www.facebook.com/events/53775...
September 1, 2014
Becoming Jarvis Mann PI
Of the 5 people who've read my Jarvis Mann PI stories, OK maybe it's little more than 5, they ask me if the character Jarvis Mann is actually me in written form. Well my answer is a definite, Maybe!
The cliche is "You write what you know." In the case of Jarvis that is true. Since my stories about him are in the first person I become Jarvis while writing. I see, hear, feel, speak and react as him. Describing through his eyes all that he is experiencing, his inner most thoughts and emotions.So there are things about him that are similar. Examples are:
Jarvis grew up in Iowa, as did IJarvis now lives in Colorado as do IJarvis likes the finest in fast foods (oxymoron), as do IJarvis is a big Green Bay Packers fan to be revealed in next book. My bio picture tells you I am as wellJarvis has a witty personality. Many comment I have a odd sense of humor, though some in my immediate family don't think so some times!But there are many difference as well:
Jarvis is a Private Investigator. I'm an IT professional full time, Though at one time I wanted to be a police officerJarvis drives 1969 Mustang Boss 302. I drive a slightly less exciting Toyota Corolla and a Honda ForzaJarvis is much more of a ladies man. I was much too quiet and shy in my single days to ever be a ladies manJarvis is in his mid-thirties, while it's been a couple of decades since I was that ageI pull some of my life experiences into my stories, as I'm sure all writers do. I try to use real life locations when it's appropriate. The people in the story are made up, designed to fit the story. Some aspects of my characters may be similar to people I've known through the years, but nobody is a carbon copy. In some ways Jarvis is me, but mostly he isn't. The common denominator between us is, we are flawed, with weaknesses and some bad character traits. While he also has some strengths I wish I had, as I live vicariously through him. I will be exploring more of these strength's and weaknesses in future novels already in the works
Jarvis Mann is not me, and I'm not him. Yet we are one in the same on the printed page.
The cliche is "You write what you know." In the case of Jarvis that is true. Since my stories about him are in the first person I become Jarvis while writing. I see, hear, feel, speak and react as him. Describing through his eyes all that he is experiencing, his inner most thoughts and emotions.So there are things about him that are similar. Examples are:
Jarvis grew up in Iowa, as did IJarvis now lives in Colorado as do IJarvis likes the finest in fast foods (oxymoron), as do IJarvis is a big Green Bay Packers fan to be revealed in next book. My bio picture tells you I am as wellJarvis has a witty personality. Many comment I have a odd sense of humor, though some in my immediate family don't think so some times!But there are many difference as well:
Jarvis is a Private Investigator. I'm an IT professional full time, Though at one time I wanted to be a police officerJarvis drives 1969 Mustang Boss 302. I drive a slightly less exciting Toyota Corolla and a Honda ForzaJarvis is much more of a ladies man. I was much too quiet and shy in my single days to ever be a ladies manJarvis is in his mid-thirties, while it's been a couple of decades since I was that ageI pull some of my life experiences into my stories, as I'm sure all writers do. I try to use real life locations when it's appropriate. The people in the story are made up, designed to fit the story. Some aspects of my characters may be similar to people I've known through the years, but nobody is a carbon copy. In some ways Jarvis is me, but mostly he isn't. The common denominator between us is, we are flawed, with weaknesses and some bad character traits. While he also has some strengths I wish I had, as I live vicariously through him. I will be exploring more of these strength's and weaknesses in future novels already in the works
Jarvis Mann is not me, and I'm not him. Yet we are one in the same on the printed page.
August 23, 2014
The Title of the Story Is...
Coming up with a title is generally for me not all that hard. Not that I've written hundreds of stories through the years, but I always seem to have the title come pretty quickly to me. With my latest novel "Tracking A Shadow" I struggled a little with the title. Next to the cover, the book title is the first thing a potential buyer will see. And I had several ideas for titles come and go for this novel. When the framework was developing in my mind "The Stalker" was the basic title. But it really didn't fit quite or feel right. I then went through many others:
Mind over what mattersBody and No SoulTrack the ShadowShadowsBehind the ShadowBeyond the ShadowThe Game of Distraction
These are the ones I wrote down, but there were many others that rolled through my head. Finding the right theme or the tone was difficult, maybe because of the twists in the plot. I didn't want to give too much away but give an overall feel to what was happening on the pages. The Shadow was really Jarvis being somewhat clueless on what was really going on, while attempting to track down the evidence, bringing it out of the darkness.
I also wanted a title that stood out and wasn't used before. A simple Google search didn't find another story with the same title. I wanted it to be unique to stand out and be first when someone searched it. (No that's not the case as of yet, but close to the top). Hopefully I succeeded in creating an interesting mood of mystery with the title and the cover, which translates when the reader reads the story.
Do others out there struggle with their book titles as well? Is the title as important as the cover when drawing potential readers?
Mind over what mattersBody and No SoulTrack the ShadowShadowsBehind the ShadowBeyond the ShadowThe Game of Distraction
These are the ones I wrote down, but there were many others that rolled through my head. Finding the right theme or the tone was difficult, maybe because of the twists in the plot. I didn't want to give too much away but give an overall feel to what was happening on the pages. The Shadow was really Jarvis being somewhat clueless on what was really going on, while attempting to track down the evidence, bringing it out of the darkness.
I also wanted a title that stood out and wasn't used before. A simple Google search didn't find another story with the same title. I wanted it to be unique to stand out and be first when someone searched it. (No that's not the case as of yet, but close to the top). Hopefully I succeeded in creating an interesting mood of mystery with the title and the cover, which translates when the reader reads the story.
Do others out there struggle with their book titles as well? Is the title as important as the cover when drawing potential readers?
August 17, 2014
Tracking a Shadow-Now Available on Amazon Kindle
Tracking a Shadow, my new novel with Jarvis Mann PI working a stalking case of a Beautiful Woman with many twists and turns. It is available today as an Amazon eBook for $2.99. Stop by and pick it up today at the link below:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MQHVKJA
Never knowing where his next case will come from, Private Detective Jarvis Mann is thrilled when his voicemail is lit up by the sexy tones of a lady looking to hire him. Successful business woman Emily White with girl next door looks, is certain someone is stalking her and wants Jarvis to track down the elusive shadow. Even with three suspects, an ex-husband who lives to play softball, a sexist pig ex-employee and a mystery man who he encounters with painful results, Jarvis believes it’s all in Emily’s head until a killing in her home convinces him otherwise. Further complicating matters a powerful business man and crime boss becomes involved muddying up the case, leaving Jarvis the prime suspect in the brutal beating of one of the possible stalkers, threatening to put his PI career on ice. Navigating through each twist and turn in the case, and the affections of two desirable women both with an agenda, Jarvis uses dogged determination and razor sharp wit in Tracking a Shadow that moves across the Denver landscape with each shift in the sun.
Also available for free for the next several days in my short story "The Case of the Missing Bubble Gum Card", where Jarvis helps a young man track down a missing stolen and valuable Ernie Banks rookie Baseball card. See where Jarvis Mann PI is brought to life. It's available as an Amazon ebook and on Smarshwords in various other formats (Nook,Kobo, iBook and PDF) for free over the next few week.
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view...
Thanks for reading and I hope everyone is having a great day...
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MQHVKJA
Never knowing where his next case will come from, Private Detective Jarvis Mann is thrilled when his voicemail is lit up by the sexy tones of a lady looking to hire him. Successful business woman Emily White with girl next door looks, is certain someone is stalking her and wants Jarvis to track down the elusive shadow. Even with three suspects, an ex-husband who lives to play softball, a sexist pig ex-employee and a mystery man who he encounters with painful results, Jarvis believes it’s all in Emily’s head until a killing in her home convinces him otherwise. Further complicating matters a powerful business man and crime boss becomes involved muddying up the case, leaving Jarvis the prime suspect in the brutal beating of one of the possible stalkers, threatening to put his PI career on ice. Navigating through each twist and turn in the case, and the affections of two desirable women both with an agenda, Jarvis uses dogged determination and razor sharp wit in Tracking a Shadow that moves across the Denver landscape with each shift in the sun.
Also available for free for the next several days in my short story "The Case of the Missing Bubble Gum Card", where Jarvis helps a young man track down a missing stolen and valuable Ernie Banks rookie Baseball card. See where Jarvis Mann PI is brought to life. It's available as an Amazon ebook and on Smarshwords in various other formats (Nook,Kobo, iBook and PDF) for free over the next few week.
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view...
Thanks for reading and I hope everyone is having a great day...
August 2, 2014
A Break: My Trip to Lambeau Field
I took 10 days off with family to take a trip to Green Bay for the Packers Shareholder Meeting. Being a shareholder allows me the privilege of sitting with about twenty thousand of my closet friends in Lambeau Field to learn how successful the previous year was and what the coming year holds for the team. I enjoyed this immensely as I got to see a legendary stadium that was in perfect shape, looking as if it was just built yesterday. It was a trip of a lifetime the wife, daughter and I will never forget.
But more importantly it gave me a chance to get away from work, writing, and stop interacting on the various social networks. It was 10 days completely away from all of it, which was fabulous. Reinvigorated I'm now ready to get back to the work in front of me. It really is important to step away for periods of time from all of these tasks and come back with a clearer head. I've had two large breaks over the last couple of months that I really needed. And I'd suggest strongly to everyone to do the same when feeling run down, short on energy and ideas. Take a break from it all; no 9-5 working, no posting on social networks and no writing. Disconnect from the information highway as much as you can, even if it's just a simple overnight trip to a hotel out of town with a loved one, a day or two in the mountains where cell signals don't exist or just a nice long ride on a bicycle or motorcycle to have a picnic somewhere. You will find a new perspective that will charge up the creative mind to new limits.
So back to the tap, tap on the QWERTY keys picking up where Jarvis Mann left off...
But more importantly it gave me a chance to get away from work, writing, and stop interacting on the various social networks. It was 10 days completely away from all of it, which was fabulous. Reinvigorated I'm now ready to get back to the work in front of me. It really is important to step away for periods of time from all of these tasks and come back with a clearer head. I've had two large breaks over the last couple of months that I really needed. And I'd suggest strongly to everyone to do the same when feeling run down, short on energy and ideas. Take a break from it all; no 9-5 working, no posting on social networks and no writing. Disconnect from the information highway as much as you can, even if it's just a simple overnight trip to a hotel out of town with a loved one, a day or two in the mountains where cell signals don't exist or just a nice long ride on a bicycle or motorcycle to have a picnic somewhere. You will find a new perspective that will charge up the creative mind to new limits.
So back to the tap, tap on the QWERTY keys picking up where Jarvis Mann left off...
