November/December Memo
First day of winter is December 21st you say? Not in Lumby. Winter hit with 2 inches of snow November 1st. It was quite the surprise because just the night before, we stood in our backyard and watched as the Lumby Fire Department set off the annual Halloween fireworks. It was a very impressive display.
In the little town where I was raised we had fireworks at the end of the three day “Virgil Stampede.” Except those fireworks were a little boring because you had to wait between each blast of color. Not so in Lumby: the displays came in rapid secession. Unfortunately I was busy trying to take pictures of the beautiful displays and missed most of the action, next year I’ll just watch.
However, the snow soon melted and we were back to fall weather. Good thing too, it felt much too early for winter and the leaves were still on the weeping willow next door for crying out loud.
The 9th of November was a night I’d been looking forward to for some time. This was the night Folk Singer/Song writer Valdy was going to be playing with Gary Fjellgaard at our local high school.
Karen, the mother of my number one fan, Bronson, and I have become friends and because both our birthdays are in November we decided to make a night of it. We so enjoyed our evening that later we decided we’re going to make this outing an annual event, as Valdy plays yearly in Lumby.
We had a wonderful time listening to both Valdy and Garry, what wonderful entertainers they are. Both are very down to earth and we found them easy to talk to during the intermission. Now, I can hardly wait for next year!
For some time now my hair has been driving me crazy. I’m not sure if it’s just because I’ve been very busy lately and couldn’t be bothered fussing with it, or the fact that my shoulders are getting old. You see holding the hair dryer up to dry my hair has become a bit of a chore. The middle of November I solved my dilemma – I had my hair cut very short! Now it takes no time at all to dry and it still looks nice, at least I think so.
By the 24th the snow we had earlier in the month had melted and was now being replaced with a fresh supply. That wouldn’t have been a bad thing except we needed to go into town the following day, and Mom does not like to travel when the roads are bad. If the roads had indeed been bad we wouldn’t have gone, seeing as you can’t always trust other drivers. So the day before my birthday, with clear roads we headed to Kelowna for our appointments.
On the way home we decided to stop at Boston Pizza in Vernon for our traditional “birthday wings and chocolate cake” treat. This would be the second year without our dear Grandma Phyllis, but we didn’t forget her. With our forks loaded with the first magnificent taste of that long awaited pure chocolate delight, we toasted Grandma Phyllis! We will always remember her and the many good times we shared.
The next day when I opened my e mail I found an unexpected gift, although I don’t think it was meant as a gift. Several months ago I joined a writer’s group on the web. Looking back I should have checked them out more thoroughly before getting involved. It has been my experience there are many absolutely wonderful, honest and caring people to meet through the Internet Now don’t get me wrong, most of the people who are a part of this group are wonderful people.
I’m not going to go into detail, mainly because they aren’t important. The message I’m trying to get across is to be careful who you get involved with over the Internet. We’ve all heard the horror stories, but until they actually hit home it’s easy to sit back and say, “That won’t happen to me.” Since people can hide behind their e mails you can never be sure who you’re dealing with. Take the time to investigate the group you’re considering joining. And if nothing else sit back for a good long time before you give too much. Another thing I learned is to ask specific questions, that’s not to say just because you may get the answers you want, that the other person is actually going to live up to their promises.
This little experience of mine only cost me a lot of time and effort, but thankfully I did not lose financially. I was going to say wasted time, but as I think about it, time is never wasted if you’ve learned something from an experience. I’d volunteered to do some work for this group only to find out latter, I was being used!
You might be asking yourself what the unexpected gift was. Well, the gift was revealed in an e mail that clearly showed me I was being used. I sent my own e mail – resigning from my post! The gift? Gaining the time, I would’ve spent doing things for this group.
Since then, I read a book I’ve been meaning to read for quite awhile. If you’re looking for a good read, may I suggest “Fire by Night” by Lynn Austin. I’ve written a short review and posted it for you.
Speaking of the Internet, regular readers of my memos will know I met Ed, my editor, through Randy, a good friend who I also met through the Internet. Well Ed and I’ve worked closely for a long time getting my books really to publish. And we have done it all via e mail – we have never spoken on the phone, well, that is, until now. Yes that’s right, Ed is helping me with a new project and he e mailed me one day saying, “We need to have a conversation. When can I phone you?”
Well, I didn’t expect that and I felt a little funny about talking to him in person, so to speak. It’s one thing to communicate with someone using the little smiley icons and other e mail short cuts, but now to speak with him?
I had no idea what to expect but when he called the evening of December 1st I found him just as easy to talk as I had to e mail with. It was nice to hear him laugh instead of seeing the icons or LOL. In the hour we talked, we got more accomplished then we had in months of e mails. There is something to be said for old fashion communication.
For some time I’ve been
talking about revamping the cover of our book,
“Too
Much for One Lifetime.” Well, I’m thrilled to announce it is done!! So
what do you think of it? It’s all thanks to Bob Rosenburgh, who by the way I met
through Ed. One good thing just keeps leading to another! I’m also thrilled to
announce Bob will be doing the cover for the follow up book to “Too Much for One
Lifetime” which is entitled “Too Many Speed Bumps: A Journey of Healing” due out
in 2005.
You can learn more about Bob on the “About Us” page of this Web site. Welcome to our team Bob!!
So, as I sit here writing this memo it is snowing, but that’s okay because we have no place to go in the next few days.
Well, I guess that’s it for this memo as well as this year. It seems we just started the year and now it’ll soon be over. All in all it has been a good year. We’ve learned a lot and had many wonderful experiences in this publishing business. We look forward to whatever 2005 holds for us. One thing you can be sure of, is we’ll be right here to share each and every step of the way with you!
Take care, play safe and we’ll see you in 2005!
So, until then, read much and be well! J
Contact Us. info@shorthandpubishing.com