So He Thinks He's a Writer

Since January 5, 2015, I've been somewhat inconsistent with "keeping you posted". There's a reason for that and for the most part I've kept quiet regarding the reason, until recently. That reason is, I've been writing what I hope will eventually become known as my "1st book". The manuscript is currently in the hands of a highly experienced and purportedly very good editor who lives in Colorado Springs, Colorado and goes by the name Ron Lee. He goes by that name because, when he was born, his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Lee, thought Ron was a nice name and decided to give it to their new son. Thus, Ron Lee.

Anyway, after Ron and I both did a fare amount of vetting one another, I told 

Ron that if he was agreeable, I'd like to start referring to him as "my editor". Ron agreed, and I assume he now refers to me as his newest "future best selling author". That would be fun, but more likely, he refers to me as some guy from Arkansas who thinks he's a book writer and is paying me to edit and publish his book". But that's OK: first things first! 

For now I'll share that the planned "release" date is September 1. I say "release" because the book is being self-published as apposed to going through a full-line book publisher, so Ron and I have control of when the book actually becomes available, and can change the date at the last minute, should we decide to for any reason.

Since the book is not being marketed through a full-line publisher, the responsibility for getting the word out (that's what marketing is) falls 100% in my lap. My thought is, if the content of the book is in fact worthy of being read by more folks than my Mom, "Ain't" Monie and "Ain't" Dee Dee, then word will eventually spread and book sales will ultimately be inline with the quality of the material, and that's the way it should be in my view. If it turns out that a bunch of people who I don't personally know, want to read the book because they heard through the grapevine that it might be worth a couple hours of their time, then that will be something to celebrate! But, all this remains to be seen.

One thing that doesn't remain to be seen, however, is that on June 1 when I felt the manuscript was complete and ready for professional editing, tears streamed down my face as I realized the personal significance of the moment. The sense of accomplishment and satisfaction I felt after having spent 6 full months of my life, thinking and writing about something that I'd spent nearly 3 decades of my life learning, was overwhelming! Throughout this entire experience, I learned a number of things, one of them being: if you want to find out how you really feel about something, put it in writing and send it out in a form that can't be taken back. When you prepare to do that, it causes you to really think things through, before hitting "save as..." for the last time. 

If Granddad would have lived until the day my book actually shows up, I'm guessing he would have picked up a copy, jumped in his old truck and headed down to the "The Bobber Cafe". He would have probably sat down at his favorite table with a cup of extra hot and extra black coffee, and strategically placed his copy of my book in front of his coffee cup, and waited for someone to notice it. When the first person did notice it and asked about it, he would have probably tugged at his belt, looked over his left then right shoulder, sniffed, cocked his head to the right, and proudly said something very close to, "My grandson wrote that book: he's a writer!" And that's something to think about....  

Note: As it gets closer to September 1st, I'll share all the book related details. In the meantime, thanks for reading "Old and Ridiculous"!