19 April 2013
18 April 2013
Heels Over Head
a real-life adventure
Read Part XXV here.
Now available in ebook format!
I'd never been to Yellowstone during the summer, so the mosquitoes took me by surprise. I always kept bug lotion in my first aid kit for just such seasonal annoyances, but extracting the first aid kit this trip proved challenging. In helping pack the car prior to the trip, one of the kids had inadvertently misplaced the first aid kit.
"Not me!" one shouted. "Not me!" the other one echoed. I rolled my eyes and began sorting through our overgrown and not quite organized three week survival kit on wheels just below Gibbon Falls, growing more and more frustrated as fearless skin terrorists waged war. Finally, someone thought they remembered seeing the white box with the red cross on top in the trunk. Ten minutes later, we were all lathered in Avon's Skin-So-Soft and ready to make our way up the trail to the waterfall.
Problem Number Two arose when I couldn't find the car keys. Luckily, we had not locked the doors yet, and even more fortunate, I always kept a valet key in my camera bag. I was able to drive us back down into Jackson, where we had to hire a locksmith at weekend rates so I could access my trunk, where I hoped my master key was hiding.
About $100 into our Alaska cache later, we were on the road again, hoping to be able to find a room on the other side of Yellowstone, since we wouldn't be able to make it Seattle or even Billings now before I surely would run out of steam.
The mishap kept my mind from dwelling on much of anything during the second leg of our northward trek. Definitely provided the kids with ample material to humorously harass mom about, too.
The unplanned change in schedule allowed us to dally in the town of Wallace, Idaho, where my kids' favorite movie, "Dante's Peak," was filmed. The kids used up every shot in their disposable cameras capturing every single building, tree, bridge and wall they recognized from the movie. We even had to go inside the grocery store so they could buy something from the store that was in the movie. Anything. Candy, jerky, juice. It didn't matter. To them, it was Dante's Peak, even if it said Hostess or Wrigley's on the package.
In hindsight, I think my kids enjoyed this previously unknown and unplanned rest stop more than Yellowstone.
Westbound on I-90 for seemingly endless hours, I realized just outside of Spokane that I was having fun! Driving wasn't a chore. It wasn't scary. My kids were safe, even though I was driving. I hadn't experienced any flashbacks. My kids were happily playing in the backseat. I'd driven nearly 1,000 miles, and we were all still alive! My Ugly Duckling was still an Ugly Duckling, but not because it had war wounds.
I couldn't allow the kids to see the tears streaming down my face. They'd have thought the worst. I couldn't mar what was becoming the vacation of a lifetime.
But I couldn't contain the joy inside, either. I felt as if I'd been caged for more than two years. The entryway to my self-imposed detention center had never been barricaded or locked, but I'd been too afraid to poke my turtle head out of my shell.
But now I was soaring! I was an eagle, and I was flying down the highway at the speed limit, and smiling at the same time. In less than 36 hours, I would be driving an SUV. I would find every road Alaska had to offer, and I would drive!
Welcome back to me!
Table of Contents
Copyright 2013 by Deborah and Brett Atkinson
16 April 2013
Twist and Shout!
I want to shout from the mountain tops: "Extra, Extra, Read All About It!" or "Hot Off The Press!" or "Inked!" But none of those seem appropriate. Exactly what do you shout with glee when you've published your first ebook???
"Heels Over Head" is now officially available in ebook format. This step has been a very long time coming; my goal was February 1! There were a few hurdles to clear and one speed bump I sort of side-stepped because it didn't seem to be leading to the finish line.
But my book is done and published, and the adrenaline rush feels GREAT!
I selected Smashwords from a host of options because they offer free conversion to all the different ebook formats (and free ISBN and free distribution to just about every retail seller on the planet), as long as the author properly formats the original manuscript.
Smashwords founder Mark Coker provides several thorough and informative guides to walk newbies through the hoops of self-publishing. One of his mottos is to keep learning. Never stop learning. I agree. So I read each of his manuals. Cover to cover.
I had a very difficult time keeping a straight face through the step-by-step guide to formatting a Word document in preparation for Smashword's "meatgrinder," which grinds submissions into each of the different formats for all the different electronic reading devices. I extensively format Word documents on a daily basis (often stripping them of all existing formatting and starting over from scratch because the formatting underlying the documents under multi-user review becomes unbelievably corrupt being passed from one computer to the next). I was shocked to learn someone else on this planet has actually been able to navigate and comprehend the maze called Microsoft and write legible and intelligent instructions to teach others from varying backgrounds how Microsoft Word works. Deep down inside, I was a bit jealous. Man, if only I had done that a year or many ago, it could have been my name as author on that spectacular guide!!!
Bottom line: If you plan to self-publish an ebook, make sure to read "The Smashwords Style Guide". Learning how to use Word properly will prevent so many headaches down the road.
Formatting my first book took me all of two nights once I finished reading the formatting guide (which I did on the train while commuting to and from work). Reconfiguring the book cover to meet Smashwords' guidelines took another day and many volunteer eyeballs. I wanted to make sure the cover I designed would be catchy and thought-provoking enough to draw interest even at thumbnail size. I instructed my volunteer testers to study book covers on their favorite book website and to visualize my proposed cover amongst the collection. Would it stand out? Would it make them want to read the book?
Once I had my cover finalized, it took maybe 15 minutes to fill out all the required information and submit the book. Pushing that final button made me feel as if I was on top of a 14er even though I was about 8,000 feet lower in real life. And then when I sold my first book two days later, well, my feet haven't touched the ground since.
I backtracked and upgraded my book description after reading other book descriptions on Smashwords. Sometimes I have to forget the "tight and terse" training I grew up with writing for newspapers. Advertising was never my bag of tea. Marketing is not something I chose willingly to study. But I'm finding I must develop those skills if I want to compete in the vast market of writers out there. My first book description was rather plain jane; after rewriting it, I had to take a deep breath and count to ten. I couldn't believe I'd written something so bold! But I think the revision is much more effective than my initial attempt.
My edits were published and effective immediately. Wow! Made my toes tingle!
The speed bump I encountered along the way was an attempt to copyright the book via the US Copyright Office. Back in the days of Journalism 101, every teacher and professor instructed prospective writers to get everything copyrighted. Period.
I submitted the book and paid the fee, answering all the questions as best I could and documenting everything I could to prove this book is mine. A few weeks later, I received a response from the US Copyright Office explaining I would have to buy a copyright for each segment of my book that has appeared on my blog.
My stomach turned. I don't have that kind of money just lying around. My head spun. Authors serialized books or book segments in newspapers I've worked for, and they didn't have to register each individual segment. I responded as professionally and unemotionally as I could and waited (and waited, and waited) to find out if my investment had been wasted.
Laws have changed and evolved as technology has grown. I didn't know what to do. A wonderful writers support group on Ravelry (yes, writers who knit and crochet; Ravelry has a special interest group for everything you could possibly imagine) encouraged me to proceed with epublishing without the copyright. Just by writing the book, they said, my work is copyrighted. They said a US Copyright Office registration is not necessarily necessary.
If someone does plagiarize an author's work, the official copyright will make a difference in a jury award, in the neighborhood of three to five digits if not officially copyrighted to six digits or more if the author holds that official copyright. I have all the documentation I need to provide beyond a shadow of a doubt in a court of law this work is mine, and that's all I need, according to the experts on Ravelry. Yes, the extra money would be pretty nice, but do I really want to tie up my spare time fighting this kind of thing for what could turn into years?
NO.
I've spent enough time in court with motor vehicle accidents and adoptions. I have no desire to see the inside of a courthouse again. Especially when that time could be tied up with riding or hiking or photographing or writing or crafting or even gardening. And that's that.
So, I may have lost the initial fee to copyright my book. I may have to file again and pay the fee one more time, but that's better than paying the fee 30 times... I must keep learning. I'm learning a lot more about copyright law than I ever thought I'd need. Meanwhile, my book is on the electronic shelves, and that was my goal. So nothing but smiles on this side of the computer right now.
And why, oh, why, you ask, would anyone want to pay 99 cents for a short little ebook that's already freely available, albeit in pieces, on the internet? I'm so glad you asked!
I've included the first chapter of my next book, which I'm now proofreading, at the end of the ebook version of "Heels Over Head." That first chapter is not going to appear here or anywhere else until I epublish the book. After I finish proofing the next book, formatting it for publication as I go, I will conceptualize cover designs. And then another 15 minutes with Smashbooks, and I'll have two titles to my name!
Anyone who has been reading my blog for a while knows I adopted two special needs children at an older age and raised them as a single parent. Words cannot even begin to describe what kind of inspiration adoption of difficult-to-place children provides. My next book is the first of three works of fiction I've composed, a trilogy of sorts, but only in relation to subject matter, not plot or characters. I hope the first chapter of "Heart Strings" will tug at your heart and make you hungry for my next book.
Because then you can stay on my case and nag me until I get it done! And that way, it won't sit on the shelf for eight years or more waiting to see the light of electricity.
15 April 2013
Snowflake Monday
I asked my mom to put my hair up in pony tails on April 15, 1970. Mom wasn't home when I got home from school that day. She was at the hospital with a brand new baby girl.
From that point on, my mom always teased she would never put my hair up in ponytails again because she didn't want to come home with another baby. Of course, as we kids got older and began taking jobs, the joke morphed into the real reason Mom went into labor that day: She had to finish the family taxes before she went to the hospital!
Just like April 1 isn't going to fall on a Snowflake Monday again until 2019, April 15 likely isn't going to see another Snowflake Monday.
I've designed a Snowflake for Shonna, a Snowflake for Janie, a snowflake for my brother, a snowflake for The Lizard's brother and even a snowflake for tiny Jaden, whom I never got to meet. It's about time I designed a snowflake for my little sister, Susan.
I think it was her second Christmas when my dad built me the coolest Barbie doll house I'd ever seen. Everything was built to scale, just like his train layouts. That two-story doll house was the envy of all the girls in my class. One day I was bringing home a gaggle of girls to play with my doll house, and Susie had cheerfully redecorated it for me. With a black permanent marker.
The following year, I got a fiber optic lamp kit for Christmas. I spent hours trimming it, making it just perfect, and my parents let me keep it on all night every night of Christmas break. After Christmas break, I came home from school to find Susie had given my fiber optic lamp a haircut, and she was so proud of herself! "I designed it myself!" she jubilantly cooed. How could I possibly be mad?
She would sneak into my room at night when she had a bad dream. I would walk over to her day care after school to pick her up, and we'd walk home together, stopping on special occasions at Baskin Robbins to spend my babysitting money on sweet treats for both of us. Oh, how she loved grape ice!
While I was a senior in high school, I donated my hair to charity for the first time ever, and when I got home that day, Susie took one gasping look and ran into her room, slamming her door behind her. She swore she'd never speak to me again. (Long hair was the rage back then.) A week later, she stealthily got a haircut to match mine. "See, I can do it too," she smirked, swishing her gorgeous golden locks in front of me.
She was first chair of the flutes in band, and she was captain of the crossing guard.
After I grew up and moved out on my own, I was selected to direct a road show, which featured my little sister and two of my four brothers. I put my sister in charge of choreography, and one of my brothers landed the lead and performed solos. My other brother ran the lights and did some acting, too. All three of my siblings danced and sang. We won medals for best lighting, best music and best choreography. The show brought the house down.
We lost her on February 8, 1991. She was the baby of the family and the knot that tied what we called Our Braided Bunch together (sung to the tune of "The Brady Bunch"). My little sister loved purple, unicorns and heavy metal. She was fun, feisty and musical.
She was about ten years old when I got my very first 35mm camera. I used up a lot of film on her!
I never knew until after she died that my little sister wrote poetry, too, just like me.
You may do whatever you'd like with snowflakes you make from this pattern, but you may not sell or republish the pattern. Thanks, and enjoy!
Finished Size: 7 inches from point to point
Materials: Size 10 crochet thread, size 8 crochet hook, empty pizza box, wax paper or plastic wrap, cellophane tape, water soluble school glue or desired stiffener, water, glitter, small container for glue/water mixture, paintbrush, stick pins that won't be used later for sewing, clear thread or fishing line
A Snowflake for Susan Instructions
Make magic ring.
Round 1: * 2 sc in ring; ch 6; repeat from * 4 times; 2 sc in ring, ch 3, 1 tr in starting sc to form 6th ch 6 loop of round. Pull magic circle tight, but leave opening big enough to allow stitches inside it to lay flat.
Round 2: 4 sc in loop just made, 7 sc in each of next 5 ch 6 loops; 3 sc in starting loop; sl st in starting sc
If you're not reading this pattern on Snowcatcher, you're not reading the designer's blog. Please go here to see the original.
Round 3: 1 sc in same st, * ch 8, sl st in 6th ch from hook, ch 2, 1 sc in middle (4th) sc of next petal; repeat from * around repeat from * 4 times; ch 2, 1 tr in starting sc to form 6th ch 4 space of round; ch 3, 1 tr over body of tr just made to form 6th ch 6 loop of round.
Round 4: Ch 2 (counts as 1 dc), 6 dc in loop, * ch 7, sl st in 6th ch from hook, ch 1, 13 dc in next ch 6 loop; repeat from * around 4 times; ch 7, sl st in 6th ch from hook, ch 1, 6 dc in starting loop; sl st in 2nd ch of starting ch 2.
Round 5: 1 sc in same st, * ch 6, 9 dc in next ch 6 loop, ch 6, 1 sc in middle (7th) dc of next 13 dc petal; repeat from * around 5 times, ch 3, 1 tr in starting sc to form final ch 6 sp of of round.
Round 6: 1 sc over post (body) of tr just worked, *ch 5, sl st in 3rd ch from hook (picot made), ch 3, 1 sc in next ch 6 sp, ch 17, 1 dc in 10th ch from hook, 1 hdc in next ch, 1 sc in next ch, 1 hdc in next ch, 1 dc in next ch, ch 4, 1 sc in next ch 6 sp; repeat from * around 5 times, omitting last sc of final repeat; sl st in starting sc; bind off. Weave in ends.
(For the rock, I did not bind off. I worked another round (instructions follow), then I worked basic mesh rounds of ch 5, 1 sc in next ch sp, substituting dc for sc to bring round low points even with round high points for the first 2 rounds, several times around to fit around the rock, then 1 round of 1 dc in each ch sp around to close the hole, finishing with a sl st and weaving in the end.)
Rock Round (or think of it as the heavy metal round...): 1 sc in same sc as sl st, * ch 5, 1 sl st in next picot, ch 5, 1 sc in next sc, ch 5, 5 dc in next ch 10 sp, [ch 5, 2 dc in same sp] 2 times, ch 5, 5 dc in same sp, ch 5, sk next dc, hdc, sc, hdc and dc, 1 sc in next sc; repeat around 5 times, omitting last ch 5 and last sc of final repeat, ch 2, 1 tr in starting sc to form last ch 5 sp of round.
NOTE: Alternatively, you may work omitted ch 5 and sl st into starting sc, bind off, and have an interesting variation of the snowflake. (The Lizard liked this version before I stretched it around the rock, so eventually I'm going to work one more purple snowflake using the Rock Round as Round 7 and then stiffen and hang. I'll add the photo to this post when it gets done.) (Oh, The Lizard likes this rock, too!)
Finish: Tape wax paper or plastic wrap to top of empty pizza box. Pin snowflake to box on top of wax paper or plastic wrap.
If using glue, mix a few drops of water with a teaspoon of glue in small washable container. Paint snowflake with glue mixture or desired stiffener. Sprinkle lightly with glitter. Wash paintbrush and container thoroughly. Allow snowflake to dry at least 24 hours. Remove pins. Gently peel snowflake from wax paper or plastic wrap. Attach 10-inch clear thread to one spoke, weaving in end. Wrap fishing line around tree branch (or tape to ceiling or any overhead surface) and watch the snowflake twirl freely whenever you walk by! Snowflake also may be taped to window or tied to doorknob or cabinet handle.
12 April 2013
11 April 2013
Heels Over Head
a real-life adventure
Read Part XXIV here.
Now available in ebook format!
I pre-rented an SUV in Anchorage, and I scheduled an extra week to return to Denver on the flip-flop. I studied trail maps and Alaskan history. We checked out books about Denali and read them to each other. We took another practice trip to Moab and fantasized about what four-wheeling in a real four-wheeler would be like. Both of the kids saved every dime of their allowance, not even going to Water World or Elitches in June, even though they had many invites and the pool in our neighborhood was closed for repairs.
We were going to Alaska!
The magical day arrived with a wonderful send-off party thrown by my co-workers. The kids took the bus to my work and arrived just in time for the festivities.
I'd arranged to leave for Seattle directly from my office a few hours before closing time, but work had been extraordinarily busy. My co-workers, well aware of my highway apprehension and cold feet, shooed me on my way by taking over my responsibilities for me.
"Go on! Get out of here!" they'd teased. My kids took their cue and pretended to drag me from the building, much to the amusement of all my co-workers and bosses.
We were off. First stop, Jackson Hole, by nightfall if possible. I could see the skyline of the jagged peaks as we neared Moran Junction. I'd survived the first leg of the adventure primarily by singing with the kids and ignoring every skid mark on the highway, every scuff mark on jersey barriers and every crunched guardrail, mile marker and signpost along the way, of which there were many. Numerous. Abundant. Plentiful. Profuse. Plethora.
I'd never really paid much attention to such roadway scars prior to my accident, even though I spent eight years as a police reporter, documenting the occurrence of such sometimes on a daily basis. In the last few months, other people's nightmares and flashbacks attempted to feed mine and keep them fresh and ready to spring at a moment's notice. Or without notice at all.
The plan was to spend a day in Yellowstone before heading to Seattle. I thought breaking the drive into two days would relieve some of the apprehension while making the trip 100 percent safer. Plus, I'd always been a sucker for interesting, educational and photogenic side trips. Particularly if I could burn up a few rolls of film in the process. We checked into our hotel room and slept well after three hours of Discovery Channel, a real treat to my television-starved children.
Read Part XXVI here.
Table of Contents
Copyright 2013 by Deborah and Brett Atkinson
09 April 2013
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