Topic 10 Images

Greetings.
Summertime offers us so many opportunities to experience the wonderful outdoor festivals and events communities across the country have to offer. During your free time this summer, relax and enjoy what's going on about you. Appreciate the abundance of creative talent in our midst. There are painters, sculptures, potters, jewelry designers, metal artists, photographers, musicians, writers, and so much more.

This past week I spent two extremely hot days selling my books on Main St. as part of the small hometown festival held every year in Pine River, Minnesota. On early Friday morning most of the people milling about were just stopping by at the local bakery on their way to work. Too busy to be customers, I hailed them with a good-morning anyway as they headed back to their cars. The greeting caused them to glance at me and what I had to offer, planting a tiny seed hopefully. The benefits I received from them were two-fold: a courteous smile and possible description of a new character.

Saturday afternoon at the festival brought with it an assortment of people: young, old, crippled and wheel-chaired bound. They all had one thing in common when the clock struck 2. It was time to watch the hometown parade. If you're a writer or photographer, you'll never have a better opportunity to see such an outpouring of people--how they dress, expressions on their faces, the way they converse. Seeing the excitement of little kids as each new car or truck passes by and candy is tossed to them. People on floats waving to their loved ones standing on the curb. Loved ones shouting to draw their attention. The emotions conveyed by all when the VFW and American Legion men and women proudly march by bearing the flag of our country. Big and little alike jiving to the music of the band marching by. Of course, for those of you who love motorcycles and classic cars there are always plenty of those along the parade route too.

The hush of the crowd as they departed was almost contemplative in nature. Is it because they wanted to savor the light-heartedness for a few more moments? Again, this would be the perfect time to jot down descriptions of people as they moved away from the parade. What were they thinking as they carried the memory of the parade home with them? Perhaps you could weave a short story from your day spent at a parade or festival this summer.

As always, I'd love to receive your comments concerning this blog or previous ones.

Until Next Time
This Is Marlene Chabot

Topic 9 The Writer versus the Reader

                                                      Greetings,

Well, I'm officially off to the races for the summer season, not literally but figuratively speaking. Although I wouldn't mind taking in a great horse or dog race along the way. The excitement in the air gets everyone's blood boiling, including the racer.


Spectators on the sidelines become extremely engaged. Their heart rates go up and palms sweat profusely. One finds themselves yelling and scrambling from this spot to that to get a better view. In the end, you're jumping for joy or are disillusioned by the sport. Perhaps you even forked out too much on the horse who lost.

The emotions of an author selling their novels at a festival or other event are similar to a racer at a sporting event. There are highs and lows as each day progresses. Excitement if you reach your sales goal and disappointment if you didn't even sell one book. Sweaty palms when meeting each new customer/reader. The important thing to remember as an author is that everyone has their good days and bad days, including a jockey, and the good generally out weighs the bad. No matter how bad a sales day I have, I continue to remind myself  how many wonderful people I've met in that particular community. New ideas are generated by the one to one contacts I've  made for the day, no matter the sales involved.

You, dear readers, are the spectators. Your emotions are tied to the meeting of a new author and his or her novels. If the author's friendly and respectful to you, a genuine bond is formed, But will it last? When you have a great book in your hand, mystery or whatever, you react to the tale and characters accordingly: weeping, laughing, angry, happy. If the author's book truly engaged you, you'll return to gobble up  more of their writings or even chase them down at another event just to chat. You might Like them on Facebook or comment about their book on Goodreads. But if you're dissatisfied, you won't return for another look no matter what.

This summer plan to support your favorite author in some small way when they're visiting your hometown. They'll be pleased to see you and will gladly fill you in on what they've been up to. It'll be a win win for both of you.


***Here's a chance for author or reader to enter a writing contest, called "Fated Paradox" that just came across my desk the other day. I checked out the website and it sounds interesting :
http://inkitt.com/fatedparadox

 Until Next Time
This is Marlene Chabot

Topic 8 Balance

Greetings,

It seems like everyone these days is trying to balance a zillion things at once, and the stress can be destructive to our health. How do we slow down and balance things out? It's not easy.

When I worked full time, I also volunteered at school, church and for other projects. In order to get chores done at home and meals on the table on time, I decided to wash clothes on Wednesdays and Thursdays before work. Clean the house on Friday evenings or Saturday mornings. Make extra meals to freeze and bake in the evenings. I honestly don't remember where ironing fit in, Maybe Sunday night after kids were in bed. That left Saturday evening and Sunday for the family.

Now that I belong to the retired community, most people think I goof off all day. Not true. It's crazier than ever especially since we've been trying to sell our log home for sometime and have to have the house in mint condition at all times for prospective buyers. Today, I washed 17 windows and screens for the lower level, washed curtains, biked to a neighbors to pick up something and washed dishes. It's almost three p.m. and I'm finally getting to this blog that I hoped to keep up with every two weeks. But I still haven't had time to finish my fifth novel that I hoped to send it off to be published this year.

Some things you just have to let go of in order to maintain balance. It's all about prioritizing. As a working Mom, I realized I didn't have to vacuum and dust every week, but the dishes and clothes needed to be washed. In the present moment, with the house up for sale I've cut back my book events for the summer. But since I want to continue being a freelance writer and novelist, I've decided maybe the short story I wanted to enter in an anthology this fall will have to be forgotten. That's all right. There'll will be more book events and anthologies for me.

Taking a short walk, bike ride, visiting or talking to a friend, or even watching the birds at the feeders is something I squeeze into my busy schedule. It helps relieve stress and even balance out the day.

Look at what you can do in your busy life to help you have better balance in it. Maybe it will be sitting in a quiet little nook somewhere drafting a poem or short story.

Until Next Time
This is Marlene Chabot
Mystery Novelist