A letter to my cat

Dear Frodo,

I'm jotting you this note in the interests of protecting our relationship.  We've been together seven or eight years, and I have reached the conclusion that I am doing the things necessary to maintain our relationship, but you are not doing your part.  I feed you, keep you inside when it is cold outside, and take you to the vet when you need a rabies shot.  (I know you don't care for that, but it's important.)  I pet you every day, even when you dig your claws into my leg.  On the rare occasions when I leave town, I make sure that there is someone to look after you and feed you.

I don't ask much from you.  Most of what I do ask, you handle just fine.  I asked you not to throw up on the pillow in the spare room - like our old cat did - and you've complied.  I ask you to do your business either outside, or in the kitty box, and you do that just fine.  I don't think you've had an accident. 

But I need more.  Your job is to protect the house, and the yard, and the moles are getting out of hand.  There are at least three of them that need your attention.  Our old dog helped with that, and I think you should be able to do the same.  You outweigh them by a factor of eight or ten, and you have claws and some rather sharp teeth.

So, that's your assignment.  Save me from having to go dig in the dirt with the four mole traps that are rusting on the shelf in the garage.  Go to it.  By the way, there is something in it for you.  I have my eye on some catnip, and if you can accomplish this simple task, I'll arrange for it to find it's way to your bed.

Thanks,

Bill

Good news!

My pen has been busy, and I have some good news.
o I sold two articles last week to Family Chronicle, a genealogy magazine.
o I placed a third article with the AICPA - American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. 
o And it appears that I will soon place a fourth with American Digger Magazine (a treasure hunter's magazine.)

Persistence is the key.  Fellow writers, hang in there, and write about things you care about.  Write for yourself, not for others. 

Meanwhile, my novel pushes forward.  I am on rewrites...

Writing about Family History - and Teaching Family History at Good Shepherd Community Church

On March 2, 2014 I taught a class called Introduction to Family History at Good Shepherd Community Church, as part of a continuing program called Heritage of Hope.  It was a special day in several ways.  I shared the microphone with my friend Stu Weber, and it was also my anniversary.  Twenty-nine years ago today, Stu married Kristi and I.  Happy 29th, Kristi

I'll be teaching a similar class at Cornerstone Community Church in May. 

Click on this link to access the slides from today's presentation at Good Shepherd. 

 https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1SUxOKLmrEwitWYbX7rwjtmWnF6T2o0nqS6SG8UkkIV8/pub?start=false&loop=false&delayms=3000

As many of you may know, I've had some success in writing for family history magazines, including Family Chronicle and Discovering Family History.  Good news - I sold two articles to Family Chronicle yesterday!  Watch this space and I'll keep you informed of when the magazine comes out, and I'll eventually post the articles here.  One article is called "What's a Family Heirloom, and Where can I Get One."  The other is called "Handling Sensitive Information - and What to do About the Black Sheep in your Family Tree."

Writing, vs. Working. Hmmm

I recently picked up a nice small business consulting engagement that brings some revenue our way at a good time.  It's the kind of work that I am qualified to handle, and I'm looking forward to it.  And I resent the interruption of my writing that it represents. 

Partly, this is a strategic decision - short-term goals vs. long-term goals.  The consulting consulting deal will take a few weeks, perhaps less, and provide almost immediate rewards.  The writing of a novel is more strategic, a process that began more than ten years ago, and may reach fruition a few months.    Maybe.

It's also a strictly financial decision.  This allows us to push a little more money into retirement accounts, which is important.  

There's also the basic challenge for writers:  Do we write, which we love.  Or work, which we must do so that we can write. Less than 2 percent of writers make their living doing just writing.  For almost all writers, some other job pays the bills.

I placed an article with the Journal of Accounting yesterday.  No cash (ouch, it hurts to say that) but it continues to build my professional platform, and it gets my name out there.

Keep on writing!

Robert Heinlein's Rules for Writers

Robert Heinlein, sometimes called the Dean of science fiction, had five rules for writers.  For those of us who see ourselves as writers, they have stood up pretty well to the test of time.

Heinlein’s Original Rules:
1. You must write.
That's not hard.  I constantly turn to writing for fun.  It means that I read less than I used to read, but I love to write. 

2. You must finish what you write.
A little harder for me.  I have a number of unfinished pieces.  I am torn between writing what I like, and writing what I can sell.  At the moment, I have six pieces in various stages of development, but that's not all bad.  Sometimes pieces need to perk, or need to find a home (an interested magazine) before they can be completed.  But I hope that number doesn't increase.

3. You must refrain from rewriting, except to editorial order.
Hard.  When does "writing" become "rewriting?"  Every piece gets revised along the way.  At least, mine do.

4. You must put the work on the market.
I think he means "sell it."  I have not found  that to be a problem.  I've been very fortunate in finding a home for most of what I have written.


5. You must keep the work on the market until it is sold.
Not quite sure what he means, except "keep selling."  That's curious, coming from him, because with one or two exceptions when he was starting out, Heinlein sold everything he wrote  

Malevil, by Robert Merle. I'd rate it 8.5 out of 10

Malevil is a 1972 French novel about a man who restores a medieval castle in rural France as a tourist attraction.  He and some friends and employees are in a vault deep int he castle bottling wine when a nuclear holocaust hits the region, and therefore survive.  The novel starts out slow, but picks up pace nicely after the bomb drops.  Nice character development, and this work doesn't suffer for being translated from French, although it feels a bit dated today.  It was made into a movie in 1981, which wasn't released in the U.S., although it may be available on DVD.  I'd rate it an 8.5 out of 10, which is pretty high for me.

The book is hard to find, and relatively expensive when you do find it. 

Robert Merle also wrote The Day of the Dolphin, which was made into a movie, I think with George C. Scott.

How to teach your kids to love books.

Some years ago, one of my kids won a reading contest at school.  My kid's teacher came to me and asked for advice on how to get her kid interested in reading.  Here's the conversation that followed:

Me: Do you have books in the house?

Teacher:  Sure.  We have a bookcase.

Me:  We have four thousand books in our house.  My son probably has a thousand books of his own.

Teacher:  Oh my gosh.

Me:  Do you read to her?

Teacher:  Well, I did, when she was little.

Me:  I still read to my son.  He can read on his own, and doesn't need my help, but we both enjoy being together with a good book.  It's a special time for us.   We often read together just before lights out.  Does your kid have a tv in her room?

Teacher:  Well, yes.

Me:  Not my son.  We help him manage his tv, and video games, too.  It leaves a lot more time for reading.

End of story.   My daughter loves reading every bit as much as my son.  Both are adults now, and they manage their own time.  They find time to read dozens of books every year.  Most adults haven't read a single book since they left high school.

It's not hard.  If you want your kids to read, fill your house with books.  Let your kids see you reading.  And tell your kids to turn the tv off.