CHAPTER FOUR: Wind and rain

Was thinking about things I love, and how to look at something and explain it in different ways. One of the ways to make a book or a story come alive is to think about something like the rain.

Rain and the sound it makes as it hits the ground, the smell and the way it feels as the that of the day is forced away. I like to breathe in deep and it reminds me of my Grandfathers house where every morning it would smell like that. Fresh and clean no matter what was going on or who you were the rain does not care but falls the same. If you close your eyes and let the droplets touch your face, let them land on your tongue, taste them and breathe in the breath and sweetness of our creator. Does it get any better then a summer rain? I am not sure but I tend to think not, how can something so soft and wonderful fill my soul and when it is gone it leaves behind a bow of color.

Anyway, I love the rain, do you?

CHAPTER FOUR: Okay then!

So I sit here re-writing this post about five times wondering how to say this and then saying to myself there is no need and it will do no good anyway. This is not a place to fight and if you want a fight lets do it somewhere else.

We (Karissa and I and some other authors) are in the middle of a Moppet Tog sale. This is a huge children's clothing and other stuff sale. Lots of moms and potential readers. Karissa is doing a Scentsy booth and we have a table for StoneHouse. I promptly lost my voice and so I am standing there not able to talk above a horse whisper. Bummer. But it is going OK, not great lets call the papers! But OK.

We have this booth tomorrow and Saturday. I hope the other authors sell lots of books and that this helps them out. It is amazing how many women go to this thing. The line to get in was down the sidewalk and the line to check out was a one hour wait or more. Crazy!

The writing tip for the day is this: Find your voice. Who are you and what do you want to say? How do you want to say it and how can you say it better.

Wishing all of you a happy day and good writing. If you never fail then you never tried anything!

CHAPTER FOUR: Here it is!

First off, if you don't like my church or someone else s church... KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT!!! You say you are loving and kind and are not judgmental yet you are the one who bashes on other churches and go on about all the terrible things they do or believe. Last I checked this is still a free country so think what you want but don't go all I am holy and loving and stick other Christians in the back as you say the words!

The church nursery is for your kids so they do not make noise in the service. They are for your kids, yes your precious little ones that will end up being influenced by all the other church kids. Guess what, you can't stop it, teach them to deal with others so they learn how too. If you keep them out of everything when they grow a brain they will hit the bar so fast it will make your head spin.

Second thing is how do you justify keeping others from getting what they need because of your kids and better yet you and your stubborn heart? Do you like knowing that the five rows all around you cannot concentrate because your kid makes noise and goes on and on as you sit there as if nothing is happening? What is a person misses out on the alter call... or fails to make that decision all because of you and your kids. God may have a few things to say about that and I am sure that is not what you want. Please for your children and for the rest of the people in the church put your little angels in the nursery. We have a name for what you are doing called the back row nursery... come on, figure it out or set up chairs in the foyer so we can all listen without you and your family. We all like you and all that but this is getting ridiculous!

And to top off the night we have a service dog. This dog is not allowed to bark, run without a adult, play, or do anything ten feet from the master. It cannot do anything but is learning to get the phone and the newspaper. How is this a service dog? Just saying.

Love ya!

I do write without much grace but this is the raw feelings without anything else. I am a patient guy and take a lot to get to a point where I will act and try to use good judgment. But sometimes things need to be said and if this offends you I am sorry, I am here to brighten a day and to connect with people by showing that we all feel the same way at times. If it was not for people there wouldn't be many problems and we wouldn't have a job. I find writing about it in this here open journal helps to put it all in perspective. Sometimes I look at it and say... you dummy and other times I say... you should have said that sooner. I have done many things in my life and one of them was not saying something and to this day I regret it. I will not do that again and when it or whatever it is may hurt someone and I can stop it I will. You only get one shot at this life and we should all make the best of it.

In all my biggest wish is that people will wake up and think! I mean so many things that are stupid are because people do not think. I get it, you want to raise your kids right... but look at the cost of this one soap box. You may hurt others... I understand you are hurt and the church that you thought was your friend did something real or imagined and you want to get back... but again look at what it is doing to you, you cut and kill everyone around you when we all still love you and are glad you are in a church you love.

Now the service dog... I don't get that. If I ever need one it better get me a soda and tuck me in at night...

CHAPTER FOUR: Bah!

It is amazing how fast a cold can hit you. I was feeling fine yesterday and this morning... well we have all had the bug at one point in our lives so I need not go into the details. Thus Kayden and myself stayed home and got all sick on each other and I managed to get some rest. Not much but some.

So as I sit here not feeling all that spunky I find myself wondering if a good rant will do it or if I should bow out. The problem with a rant is that I have a few this week to pick from.

Tell you what, you make the call and tomorrow I will tell you about it.

Rant one is about a service dog, one who does not do anything but beg me with her eyes to be let free... and bringing the dog into Famous Dave's!

Rant two is the back-row nursery. Yes we have a name for it because it is there every Sunday. Should this person be talked to? You know... you might be distracting someone who needs help cuz you won't let your perfect kids in the nursery?

Or we could talk about the way some people charge for a library of congress number to unsuspecting authors when the darn thing is free!

Let me know...

CHAPTER FOUR: You know you are getting old when...

When you start getting misty watching Astro Boy...

When you groan when it is 9 am...

When you hurt after going to the mall...

When you think 10 pm is late...

When you don't care who you fart in front of....

When you go to Wal Mart in your sweats...

When you say things like... when I was a boy...

When reading in bed is not only fun but cool...

When you look at drink your breakfast instead of eating it...

When you tell everyone how you feel...

When you read a ling post on old people...

When you keep reading even though you know it is over...

When you are reading but forgot why...

You are old! Ha!

CHAPTER FOUR: Lions, tigers and... E-Books?

So you might be asking yourself about this E-book thing everyone including yours truly is talking about. What is a E-book and why are some scared and some excited?

Here is the good old down low or shall we say new down low. A E-book is a book that you can download to a Kindle or a Ipad or even to your PC (Mac) or phone and read without buying the paperback or hardback copy. These electronic books are cheaper because they do not need to be printed, housed, shipped, handled and returned. For a publisher this can be good or bad depending on how you look at it.

If you are one of the Big guys and sell books in the hard form you may look at this as a threat. You want to sell books and many people depend on you to do this. Editors want the work, printers, paper guys (The office... Sorry Michael) and the shipping people, big distributors and so on. This huge world has been created to publish and the E-book could tear it all down around their ears. If people start to buy the E-book instead of the paperback this chain goes from the listed above to this:

Cover art guy is okay, editor, layout guy and a new guy gets a job, the E-book converter. He takes a word doc or a pdf and converts it to a E format. Now we just cut out the bookstore, distributor, the paper and so on. We go direct to the reader and sell them a book.

See where this is going?

This kingdom is about to be overtaken by the deal, remember a little company called Apple? Remember how before you had to buy a CD and get all the 12 songs for 12.99? Remember when they wanted to sell one song for .99? Remember how people thought they were crazy? Who is crazy now?

The E-book is the single download for books that Apple is to ITunes. These books are already out selling hard copies and it will grow every year. I as a author and a publisher and a small one at that look at this and a big sloppy grin comes across my face. I say to myself in a creepy outlandish voice. "Aaron, I bet if you sell E-books for a good price say under 2 bucks you just might sell a lot of books."

Here are the facts and some ideas thrown in too.

Sell a lot of E-books make 1-3 dollars per book. No shipping, storage ect... Print a book make 1-2 dollars per book and pain anguish and the thing can be returned.

Reach more people make more fans.

Make more fans and sell more books.

Sell more books and make more money.

Hmmmmm...

This is great for young authors because they can build a fan base faster then ever before and good for well established ones because they can make new fans and sell more books which leads the fans to their other books. I know that this is scary for the Big publishers and that your model of paying out advances and giving the author the leftovers and moving this poor book through all the hands is going to put some out of business, but this is coming and if you do don't figure out what you are there will come a day when the author does not need you. They will go direct to the reader and sell the book cutting you and all your pals out of the loop.

I for one want to be in the loop and be the one creating the loop and the new model for publishing and making the author and the publisher friends with one goal. Sell books and by doing this the author can write one book a year and have good sales and make a living. This is not so with the old broken model.

My Dad used to say, "If it is not broke, don't fix it." Well peeps... this is broke and we are going to fix it if we can. No, some authors will not like to see us coming because we will make their advance go away, and the publishers will hate us because we under cut them and yes we will change the way publishing is done in the future but in the end this is all about sales and getting a product to the people who want it at a great price.

Welcome to the future... go Apple and may you drive Amazon to lower fees and together we will create a .99 world!

CHAPTER FOUR: Ha!

SoIhavebeensobusythatIhavenotpostedonheremuch.Wehavechurcheverynightthisweekthroughwed.soimaynotpostforafewdays,thisismenotposting.Gotmeetingsalldaytomorrowandgotsomewritingdoneovertheweekend,thatmademefeelbetter.Iamstillwaitingonmyreedittocomebackandthatismakingmemoody,andIwillbesogladwhenitisalldoneandoutofmyhairforgood,isthatgoodorbad?Anyway,gladthesunwasouttodayandwonderingifIcangeteverythingdonethatIneedtobeforetheupcomingbookshows.Gotalotplannedthissummer,shouldbeagreatyear,andabusyone.Later.

CHAPTER FOUR: MOWER FOR SALE... I will pay you to take it!!!

So what did I do all last year? What great thing needs to be done each week that should be fun but instead was hell on earth? What grows and by use of this supposed machine make your life easier?

That is right, the mower. I got this %#$@#^$ from someone who shall remain nameless, and was told that it was the "Top of the line blah, blah,... mower" Commercial grade blah, blah and so on. It does all this cool stuff like make coffee, plays music and gives you a back rub as you walk behind it in a lap of air conditioned comfort. Only one problem... it won't start.

Yeah... it was free... one guess why. The thing will go over and over and nothing. Last year it decided to start maybe half the time and the other half I had to borrow or have some guy mow my lawn and what I paid him all year I could have bought a brand new REAL mower that would at least start! Yeah... I got it out this year... same thing different year.

I think I shall sell the thing for 20 bucks or put free on it and dump it out on the freeway. I hear a craftsman are good and I had a cheap junk one before and guess what? It started every time.

It matters little what the thing is worth if it will not start. And yeah I did the check the filter thing and the spark plug thing and the... the... the... the... yes. I want a mower that runs not one I have to pet and babysit just for it to do its job. You feel me?

So if you have a Honda like me and the beautiful thing is crap... well walk with me down to Wal-Mart and we will get a good mower. Honda, stick to making cars... you do a much better job!

CHAPTER FOUR:

Wow, time slipped away from me. I have been busy with working on four books that are going to print and just life in general. Excited to get my Airel book back from my Creative editor and begin working on it once again. I have been looking into some fiction writing classes at BSU as well as online. I want to try a few and see if I can learn at my old age...

This week has left me in a funk, my brain and emotions are all mixed up. One part of me wants to spit on the world and do what I think might work and the other part wants to stop everything and hide out in a hole. I think the balance is somewhere in the middle, the question is can I do it?

I also feel somewhat off because it has been a week or more with no writing of my own. I need to take a day and just put some words down and I think that will bring the little guy on my shoulder down a couple of notches.

CHAPTER FOUR: Weird Day

Woke up at nine and church starts at 9:15. Soleil was coughing and so I stayed home with her. Kale was in a funk and the afternoon flew by and this is how it went. Sometimes I feel off as if the world is spinning all around me and I am standing still or maybe even going backward. Today was like that...

Finished "The Time Machine." Not a bad book, kind of weird writing style, no dialogue and a lot of missing information. I had to read in between the lines and kind of guess in parts but overall a good read... fast.

Rented the movie which was much more exciting, they added a lot that was not there and made it movie like. Oh well, Hollywood never gets it right anyway...

CHAPTER FOUR: Date Weekend

Got to go with Karissa on a group date that the Young Marrieds put on last night. We had great food and played some fun games. I took Soleil out on a little date this morning after a great workout at the gym. We got a coffee and a hot chocolate for her, and went to a local bookstore to pick up "The Time Machine" By Wells.

I am getting excited about Airel my teen novel as I am starting to get some feedback from a bunch of people who are helping out with the creative process. Good stuff and the more info I get the better I think the end result will be.

CHAPTER FOUR: I could kill someone!

Ever thought that? Well as a writer I think about different ways to do just that. Kill off a hero or a bad guy and you don't want to do it the same old way. So with this in mind I have a book I will be working on, a fun book to fill in the writing gaps and one that will let me go off on that which is not in a fun way.

The book will be called "How I became a contract killer!" It will be about Aaron Patterson, a writer, father and a guy who never got into trouble but wrote about crazy groups like the WJA and murderers so he thought about getting some first hand info. How does one get into the business and can you choose to only kill the bad guys? Maybe a craigslist add will do the trick... one saying: "Exterminator for hire... will get rid of anything!"

Anyway... should be fun, and you will ask yourself how I know... or did I know already?

CHAPTER FOUR: Crazy days and long nights...

Went to Montana this last weekend and the road trip with three kids was shall we say... fun. Klayton didn't want to go to sleep and the other two did and then he woke them up which made them more grumpy and so on...

We stayed with Karissa's sister and her husband and their three kids. I managed to tick them off a few times but what are family for? I am not able to be good all the time and as I get older the more I care less and less about walking on eggshells... guess that is why they call them grumpy old men.

The ride home was longer and we made more stops but I did come up with a great book idea in the process... more to come on that!

CHAPTER FOUR: Little bed big boy!

So we made the drive to Montana to visit the old in laws. Not old in age... well some of them are but old as in time... or age, whatever you like. Anyway, we are staying with B&R at their house in which we have the little ones bed which I think must be a single or smaller. Long story short we broke it... don't ask.

So this morning we took it off the frame and even with the bed on the floor we were afraid the thing would fall through and we would end up in the living room. The house is old and has lots of fun little things like that.

The weather has been less then nice, snow and cold most of the time, I hope the weather in Boise is just as bad... hee hee.

The fun of writing and helping to publish some others work is work but most of it is fun work. Working on book covers, getting everything online for E-books and the like. I am finding the E-book market to be the best so far, broke the 1400 mark this last month, I wonder where the top is?

Easter is tomorrow so I want to wish you all a happy Easter and remember why we enjoy it, Jesus is alive and the dumb bunny that clucks like a chicken was the best anyone could come up with to combat the resurrection... better luck next time world.

CHAPTER FOUR: Wow...

This is the fourth month of this here blog. Who da thunk it?

I know, whatever. I am in Montana sitting in a coffee shop trying to get some work done. It is going well but by butt is getting sore. I hope to get some editing done or re-writing done on my teen book this week.

I got photo-shop from Ebay and got a heck of a deal and when it arrived the key didn't work. The Adobe guy on the phone was all mad that i didn't pay 999.99 for it and said it was a scam. The guy I bought it from sent me a new key and I am up and RUNNING...take that adobe!