Why your book should be offered as an e-book
A lot of people ask me, why would anyone buy an e-book (or ebook)? Of course, most of those who ask have plenty of storage space for books. Or, they simply like the idea of holding a book in their hands and flipping through the pages. For those of you unfamiliar with the term e-book, it simply means an electronic copy of a book.
I’ll admit that I’m fond of old-fashioned reading, but as an RVer who likes to have plenty of reading material with me when I travel, I can’t carry that many books. So the ones that I read, then don’t care to read again, I leave at RV parks, usually in the laundry room, for the next reader. I’ve also picked up some of the best books I’ve read there—you know the out-of-print titles that you can’t find at bookstores anymore, and they’ve been removed from library shelves. There were several years during my adult life where I simply didn’t have time to read, and now I’m trying to catch up on some of the good books I missed.
Electronic books are quickly gaining favor as the new way to purchase and read books. Once you find what you like at an online bookstore, you can download it immediately, usually for a lower price than a bound copy, and there’s no wait for the book to arrive in the mail and no shipping fees.
This is perfect for RVers, who can download e-books to the computer and read them on screen, or they can be downloaded onto electronic readers and carried to read while waiting in the doctor’s office or for car repairs, etc. These little readers are still quite expensive, but they usually hold multiple books. And prices will surely come down as more and more buyers seek them out. Think of the space they will save—six books in an electronic gizmo smaller than a paperback.
E-books can also be saved on a CD, which stores in way less space than a book, and you can squeeze several e-books onto each shiny disk.
E-books seem to have found a place in today’s society, but I still enjoying having hard copies of anything I’m going to read over and over because I like to highlight special passages. I suppose I could do the same on a computer copy of a book, but there’s just something about being able to manually flip to a page and read it again.
POD publishers like Booklocker have found, after several years of offering books this way, that more non-fiction books sell as e-books. And I’ve found it’s true for my books. Portable Writing has sold many more copies as e-books than as hard copies. It remains to be seen which way will win the most sales of Looking Back. So far, it has sold more as hard copies, but I suspect that a lot of buyers have been shopping for gifts for their friends and family. One buyer even wrote to tell me she bought 12 copies for Christmas gifts. Fiction books still sell better in hard copy for some reason.
And what's to keep your work from being stolen off the Internet? There’s always the chance that someone will purchase and download a copy of a book, then illegally copy and distribute it themselves. That violates copyright laws, and violators almost always get caught since it is so easy to type in a book title and search the Web, where you’ll discover all the places that your book is offered—legal or not.
For those who are thinking about getting their first book published, e-books can be self-published very easily. Just format yours as a PDF file and offer it for sale on your own Web site or blog. If you want to write a family memoir, this may be the perfect way to distribute it since there are no printing or mailing costs involved. E-books are definitely here to stay.
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
How to Avoid Procrastination and Stay on Track
I would love to say that I never procrastinate, but that would be absolutely untrue. I can put things off as easily as anyone. But I have found a way to avoid procrastination, and it’s called a schedule. Yes, you read that right. A schedule—in the form of a to-do list. There’s the long-term goal list, and from it I make a daily to-do list.
I sit down the night before and make out the to-do list so I can start right in on it the next morning. I list the major tasks I want to complete the next day, then I assign a time allotment to each task. Say I need to do a particular type of marketing, such as getting on the Internet and locating newspapers to contact with press releases. And I also want to work on an article for a particular publication, or write something for one of my blogs. I put all the things I feel are necessary to get done right away on my to-do list.
Next morning when I wake up, I don’t have to sit down and try to figure out what should be done first. It’s written down in black and white. I find it is so much easier to follow a script for the day than try to figure it out after breakfast, when it might be tempting to just goof off.
I could never have written three books, scores of articles, and worked for businesses without some sort of schedule to keep me on track, so my daily to-do list is an absolute necessity.
Then there are those days when I don’t really want to avoid procrastination. Sometimes it is simply too tempting to ignore the schedule and go play. For instance, the weather is beautiful and I don’t have a looming deadline, so I take the day off and do whatever I want. But when I seriously need to achieve certain goals and meet a deadline, I can look at my to-do list and begin checking off the items, one-by-one, as I finish them.
By the way, you can make up “To-Do” forms on your computer and store them there, or print them out and fill them in each night. I like a printed form that I can hold in my hand, so I can clip completed forms together and save them. Then, at the end of a year, I can look back and see how much has been accomplished. There’s something really rewarding and inspiring about seeing a stack of to-do lists with every item on them checked off.
Succeeding at writing and avoiding procrastination isn’t rocket science. It simply involves deciding what you want to achieve, then scheduling the steps necessary to reach your goals. Or as I was taught many years ago: “plan your work, then work your plan.” It really is that easy.
I would love to say that I never procrastinate, but that would be absolutely untrue. I can put things off as easily as anyone. But I have found a way to avoid procrastination, and it’s called a schedule. Yes, you read that right. A schedule—in the form of a to-do list. There’s the long-term goal list, and from it I make a daily to-do list.
I sit down the night before and make out the to-do list so I can start right in on it the next morning. I list the major tasks I want to complete the next day, then I assign a time allotment to each task. Say I need to do a particular type of marketing, such as getting on the Internet and locating newspapers to contact with press releases. And I also want to work on an article for a particular publication, or write something for one of my blogs. I put all the things I feel are necessary to get done right away on my to-do list.
Next morning when I wake up, I don’t have to sit down and try to figure out what should be done first. It’s written down in black and white. I find it is so much easier to follow a script for the day than try to figure it out after breakfast, when it might be tempting to just goof off.
I could never have written three books, scores of articles, and worked for businesses without some sort of schedule to keep me on track, so my daily to-do list is an absolute necessity.
Then there are those days when I don’t really want to avoid procrastination. Sometimes it is simply too tempting to ignore the schedule and go play. For instance, the weather is beautiful and I don’t have a looming deadline, so I take the day off and do whatever I want. But when I seriously need to achieve certain goals and meet a deadline, I can look at my to-do list and begin checking off the items, one-by-one, as I finish them.
By the way, you can make up “To-Do” forms on your computer and store them there, or print them out and fill them in each night. I like a printed form that I can hold in my hand, so I can clip completed forms together and save them. Then, at the end of a year, I can look back and see how much has been accomplished. There’s something really rewarding and inspiring about seeing a stack of to-do lists with every item on them checked off.
Succeeding at writing and avoiding procrastination isn’t rocket science. It simply involves deciding what you want to achieve, then scheduling the steps necessary to reach your goals. Or as I was taught many years ago: “plan your work, then work your plan.” It really is that easy.
The "Precious Moments" Crisis
Since we were going to be near Carthage, Missouri and I knew my sister loved Precious Moments figurines, we decided to pay the chapel and home of the precious little dust catchers a visit. They basically make me gag, but for her, I would make the supreme sacrifice! Besides, I needed an appropriate gift for a young friend just graduating from nursing school, and I thought I might find something there.
Well, as hubby started to turn into the parking lot, I pointed out in my nicest voice that the big rigs seemed to be parking across the street. My most pleasant voice wasn’t heard above the testosterone drumming in his loins as he sensed a challenge. So he turned into the vehicle lot. Then I spotted some RVs at the left end of the parking lot and suggested that he go that way. But again, he no can hear wife’s sweet suggestion. So he plowed straight down the middle row of the lot, thinking he could turn at the other end and get to the outer edge of the lot.
He was wrong! We got to the end of the row before he realized it was a dead-end. Not only that, the engine died at just that moment. No amount of cranking could get it started again, so he decided to unhook the car and have me park it while he continued trying to crank the motorhome. He hoped to be able to get it started and back it out of the parking lot, with his darling little spouse directing, of course.
After a couple more futile attempts to start the engine, I finally hiked into the gift shop to find a pay phone to call our emergency road service. As I came out, a security guard came rushing up frantically signaling hubby to get that giant boxcar out of his parking lot. I explained that we couldn’t possibly move it until someone got there to start it again, and that meantime, I could direct anyone around us whose way we might be blocking.
The guard was seemingly on the verge of a mental breakdown or cardiac arrest, and he wanted us to move, NOW! I tried to calm him down while I explained the facts. A horrific picture of myself having to direct traffic while also giving him CPR (which I had recently learned, but failed the certification test) wound through my brain. Things did not look good for the security guard! Still, there was nothing we could do except wait to be rescued.
Long story short: the road service truck showed up, they took a look under the hood and discovered the problem—a ruptured gas line—and within a few minutes we were ready to roll again. Not one single motorist had needed to be directed around the motorhome during that time. I guess they were all still inside, catatonic and frozen in place after gaping at thousands of creepy little figurines.
I can’t say how the security guy survived the catastrophe. When we left he was still pacing up and down, wiping his brow and wringing his hands. He was so distressed, he was absolutely no help to us, nor could he have been to anyone else who might need help. In fact, he appeared not to notice that our motorhome was no longer blocking the lane.
Hubby finally got the rig parked and I ran into the shop and grabbed a couple of precious little memory makers off the shelf, paid for them, and thought how the last thing I wanted to do was to spend money on the little dust catchers. I didn’t even bother to check out the Chapel, which is the showcase of the place. I just wanted out of there—and let’s just say we’ve never been back. And my memories of the place are not so precious!
We would have many more mishaps before we managed to get this RVing thing right.
Since we were going to be near Carthage, Missouri and I knew my sister loved Precious Moments figurines, we decided to pay the chapel and home of the precious little dust catchers a visit. They basically make me gag, but for her, I would make the supreme sacrifice! Besides, I needed an appropriate gift for a young friend just graduating from nursing school, and I thought I might find something there.
Well, as hubby started to turn into the parking lot, I pointed out in my nicest voice that the big rigs seemed to be parking across the street. My most pleasant voice wasn’t heard above the testosterone drumming in his loins as he sensed a challenge. So he turned into the vehicle lot. Then I spotted some RVs at the left end of the parking lot and suggested that he go that way. But again, he no can hear wife’s sweet suggestion. So he plowed straight down the middle row of the lot, thinking he could turn at the other end and get to the outer edge of the lot.
He was wrong! We got to the end of the row before he realized it was a dead-end. Not only that, the engine died at just that moment. No amount of cranking could get it started again, so he decided to unhook the car and have me park it while he continued trying to crank the motorhome. He hoped to be able to get it started and back it out of the parking lot, with his darling little spouse directing, of course.
After a couple more futile attempts to start the engine, I finally hiked into the gift shop to find a pay phone to call our emergency road service. As I came out, a security guard came rushing up frantically signaling hubby to get that giant boxcar out of his parking lot. I explained that we couldn’t possibly move it until someone got there to start it again, and that meantime, I could direct anyone around us whose way we might be blocking.
The guard was seemingly on the verge of a mental breakdown or cardiac arrest, and he wanted us to move, NOW! I tried to calm him down while I explained the facts. A horrific picture of myself having to direct traffic while also giving him CPR (which I had recently learned, but failed the certification test) wound through my brain. Things did not look good for the security guard! Still, there was nothing we could do except wait to be rescued.
Long story short: the road service truck showed up, they took a look under the hood and discovered the problem—a ruptured gas line—and within a few minutes we were ready to roll again. Not one single motorist had needed to be directed around the motorhome during that time. I guess they were all still inside, catatonic and frozen in place after gaping at thousands of creepy little figurines.
I can’t say how the security guy survived the catastrophe. When we left he was still pacing up and down, wiping his brow and wringing his hands. He was so distressed, he was absolutely no help to us, nor could he have been to anyone else who might need help. In fact, he appeared not to notice that our motorhome was no longer blocking the lane.
Hubby finally got the rig parked and I ran into the shop and grabbed a couple of precious little memory makers off the shelf, paid for them, and thought how the last thing I wanted to do was to spend money on the little dust catchers. I didn’t even bother to check out the Chapel, which is the showcase of the place. I just wanted out of there—and let’s just say we’ve never been back. And my memories of the place are not so precious!
We would have many more mishaps before we managed to get this RVing thing right.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Live Your Dreams as a Writer
If I could do it, you can too!
To write: that was my dream. To make enough money to travel: that was my goal.
So what are your dreams and goals? Are you a writer who doesn’t earn enough income support the family? Or, do you wish you could become a writer but don’t know how to start? Maybe you’re already writing for a living and make plenty of money, but you’d just like some new ideas to stimulate you and provide excitement to your career.
I wrote the book, Portable Writing, as an answer to all of the above dilemmas. I once was that person dreaming of writing. And for awhile, I was that writer not making enough income from churning out articles for magazines and newspapers. Yeah, I was seeing my name in print, but that doesn’t necessarily put food on the table.
Then an old friend called and asked if I could write some promotional materials for her business. Another asked if I could write an article about her business for the newspaper. Step by step and brick by brick, my business grew as more and more clients asked for my help writing effective business correspondence.
Soon, I was asked to not only write, but to create newsletters and brochures. So I bought a computer with graphics capabilities and desktop publishing software, and began spending my spare time learning to use them. I applied the same methods to mastering those skills as I did to learning to write. I read everything I could find on the subject and asked advice from everyone who knew anything about the field. Once I began providing both writing and DTP services, my business exploded.
My message to you is that you can do everything I did, and probably better than I ever could. None of what I’ve done requires any special talent or education. I grew up believing that I could succeed at anything I put my mind to – and that anyone else can, too. Of course, that didn’t mean I could become a Nobel prize-winning scientist or mathematician. But if I had been even remotely interested in either, I have no doubt that I could have at least done okay.
If you want to be a successful writer, if you want to make lots of money creating words that people will read, you can do it if you really try. You might be one of those lucky people who has a book idea, writes it, gets a publishing contract paying a huge advance, and hits the best seller list immediately. You might, but the odds are against you. That is why you need a few other ideas in your writing arsenal to keep you afloat.
Learn your craft, work hard and read Portable Writing to discover 25 projects that will propel you towards your goal. It took me twenty years to learn what I know, but you can do it much faster – within weeks – if you put into practice everything I’ve shared in Portable Writing. Go for it! I wish you good luck and blessings for your chosen career.
If I could do it, you can too!
To write: that was my dream. To make enough money to travel: that was my goal.
So what are your dreams and goals? Are you a writer who doesn’t earn enough income support the family? Or, do you wish you could become a writer but don’t know how to start? Maybe you’re already writing for a living and make plenty of money, but you’d just like some new ideas to stimulate you and provide excitement to your career.
I wrote the book, Portable Writing, as an answer to all of the above dilemmas. I once was that person dreaming of writing. And for awhile, I was that writer not making enough income from churning out articles for magazines and newspapers. Yeah, I was seeing my name in print, but that doesn’t necessarily put food on the table.
Then an old friend called and asked if I could write some promotional materials for her business. Another asked if I could write an article about her business for the newspaper. Step by step and brick by brick, my business grew as more and more clients asked for my help writing effective business correspondence.
Soon, I was asked to not only write, but to create newsletters and brochures. So I bought a computer with graphics capabilities and desktop publishing software, and began spending my spare time learning to use them. I applied the same methods to mastering those skills as I did to learning to write. I read everything I could find on the subject and asked advice from everyone who knew anything about the field. Once I began providing both writing and DTP services, my business exploded.
My message to you is that you can do everything I did, and probably better than I ever could. None of what I’ve done requires any special talent or education. I grew up believing that I could succeed at anything I put my mind to – and that anyone else can, too. Of course, that didn’t mean I could become a Nobel prize-winning scientist or mathematician. But if I had been even remotely interested in either, I have no doubt that I could have at least done okay.
If you want to be a successful writer, if you want to make lots of money creating words that people will read, you can do it if you really try. You might be one of those lucky people who has a book idea, writes it, gets a publishing contract paying a huge advance, and hits the best seller list immediately. You might, but the odds are against you. That is why you need a few other ideas in your writing arsenal to keep you afloat.
Learn your craft, work hard and read Portable Writing to discover 25 projects that will propel you towards your goal. It took me twenty years to learn what I know, but you can do it much faster – within weeks – if you put into practice everything I’ve shared in Portable Writing. Go for it! I wish you good luck and blessings for your chosen career.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
PORTABLE WRITING A BEST-SELLER
My book, Portable Writing: the Secret to Living Your Dreams with 25 Projects to Fund Your Freedom, is on Writer's Weekly best-seller list this week. Check it out at www.writersweekly.com.
My book, Portable Writing: the Secret to Living Your Dreams with 25 Projects to Fund Your Freedom, is on Writer's Weekly best-seller list this week. Check it out at www.writersweekly.com.
Thursday, April 03, 2008
New Writers - An Easy Way to Get Published Right Away
Beginning writers tend to stress out over all the different things they’ve been taught about writing for publication. How do I even begin to write a query letter? Who do I send it to? Do I even need one? How can I sell my article idea in a query letter when I haven’t written it yet? And what about clips? What in heaven’s name are they? I don’t have any, so what do I do? By this point, most beginners are tearing their hair out—and for good reason.
There is one way you can begin earning money as a published writer right away and you won’t need to write a query letter to do it. Lots of magazines need fillers—short articles, jokes, quizzes, etc,—and greeting card companies need short verses and clever sayings to fill their cards and warm consumers’ hearts. You can get paid to write them, plus you’ll have clips to send out in the future to other magazines as evidence of having been published.
Which magazines need fillers? Well, Reader’s Digest is a leading publication that pays from $100 to $300 for funny true stories. They’re used in "Life in these United States," "All in a Day’s Work" and "Humor in Uniform." They also use jokes, quotes, and other material in "Laughter, the Best Medicine," "Quotable Quotes," and elsewhere in the magazine. And some of these fillers don’t even have to be original. You can send funny items from other published sources.
Go to www.rd.com/joke to submit original material, and check the magazine for how to send items clipped from other sources. You might find a really funny short piece in your local newspaper that would be suitable for Reader’s Digest. And flip through other popular magazines to see what types of fillers they use, and then submit your own.
By the way, this opportunity isn’t open only to beginning writers. Experienced writers can, and do, regularly earn easy, extra income by writing fillers.
Beginning writers tend to stress out over all the different things they’ve been taught about writing for publication. How do I even begin to write a query letter? Who do I send it to? Do I even need one? How can I sell my article idea in a query letter when I haven’t written it yet? And what about clips? What in heaven’s name are they? I don’t have any, so what do I do? By this point, most beginners are tearing their hair out—and for good reason.
There is one way you can begin earning money as a published writer right away and you won’t need to write a query letter to do it. Lots of magazines need fillers—short articles, jokes, quizzes, etc,—and greeting card companies need short verses and clever sayings to fill their cards and warm consumers’ hearts. You can get paid to write them, plus you’ll have clips to send out in the future to other magazines as evidence of having been published.
Which magazines need fillers? Well, Reader’s Digest is a leading publication that pays from $100 to $300 for funny true stories. They’re used in "Life in these United States," "All in a Day’s Work" and "Humor in Uniform." They also use jokes, quotes, and other material in "Laughter, the Best Medicine," "Quotable Quotes," and elsewhere in the magazine. And some of these fillers don’t even have to be original. You can send funny items from other published sources.
Go to www.rd.com/joke to submit original material, and check the magazine for how to send items clipped from other sources. You might find a really funny short piece in your local newspaper that would be suitable for Reader’s Digest. And flip through other popular magazines to see what types of fillers they use, and then submit your own.
By the way, this opportunity isn’t open only to beginning writers. Experienced writers can, and do, regularly earn easy, extra income by writing fillers.
RACING MOTORHOMES? OH YEAH!
During the writer’s strike we discovered some new favorite shows, and one of them is a BBC (British) auto show called “Top Gear.” Now I’m not even a car fan—as long as it runs and doesn’t look too gross, it’s okay with me—but this show is hilarious. On every show, the three men who are regulars find every imaginative way possible to race or have a contest between a variety of vehicles, often built or modified by them.
They’ve taken ordinary cars and extended them to four or five times longer, then raced to reach an award show in downtown London on time, with a celebrity in tow, never mind that some of the extended vehicles couldn’t maneuver the street turns. They’ve taken ordinary used cars (not 4-wheel drive) and raced them across the interior of Africa. Funny? You bet, as they discarded everything that weighted their car down, and eventually stopped to break out the windows, then fought off flies, mosquitoes, and dust as they tried to be first to reach the border over non-existent roads.
They also competed in a race from London to Heathrow Airport. One took a fast boat down the river, one rode a bicycle through traffic, one took public transportation, and one drove a car. Guess which one came in last. The race ended at the airport with the three regulars bemoaning the fact that they were on an auto show that promoted driving, but the car arrived 15 minutes after all the others. The bicycle came in first.
Recently the regulars decided to race several motorhomes around an oval track. Who else would think of anything so ridiculous? There was everything from Class A, to Class C, to one Toyota Class B van with a raised soft top to extend head room. Rules were that the rigs couldn’t touch each other during the race.
Most of the drivers discarded the extra weight the afternoon before the race, but one of the regulars spent his time cooking a gourmet meal in his galley instead, so when the race started, dishes flew out of the cabinets, creating noisy havoc and a dangerous diversion as he tried to concentrate on racing. The other motorhomes didn’t fare much better. Another of the regulars ended the race with only his truck frame and and front end with driver’s seat intact. Everything else was littered along the track, where it had fallen off as his coach bumped into others in his eagerness to win.
Bumping wasn’t necessarily intentional. The big rigs leaned and lurched into each other in the turns, often knocking off and shredding the walls of the units. One made a turn with the left wheels riding up on a curb. The Class-B Toyota plowed between the other motorhomes, sometimes getting frighteningly squeezed and finally losing its top somewhere along the race route. The sight of these behemoths racing and rattling around the track had us in hysterics.
So if you enjoy seeing the newest cars tested (they do try out the newest, latest, most expensive, as well as regular cars like most of us drive), and love a good laugh, you might want to catch this show. Check your guide for day and time. See the motorhome race, click here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gourYCpaJLU&eurl=http://rvvideos.blogspot.com/2008_04_01_archive.html.
During the writer’s strike we discovered some new favorite shows, and one of them is a BBC (British) auto show called “Top Gear.” Now I’m not even a car fan—as long as it runs and doesn’t look too gross, it’s okay with me—but this show is hilarious. On every show, the three men who are regulars find every imaginative way possible to race or have a contest between a variety of vehicles, often built or modified by them.
They’ve taken ordinary cars and extended them to four or five times longer, then raced to reach an award show in downtown London on time, with a celebrity in tow, never mind that some of the extended vehicles couldn’t maneuver the street turns. They’ve taken ordinary used cars (not 4-wheel drive) and raced them across the interior of Africa. Funny? You bet, as they discarded everything that weighted their car down, and eventually stopped to break out the windows, then fought off flies, mosquitoes, and dust as they tried to be first to reach the border over non-existent roads.
They also competed in a race from London to Heathrow Airport. One took a fast boat down the river, one rode a bicycle through traffic, one took public transportation, and one drove a car. Guess which one came in last. The race ended at the airport with the three regulars bemoaning the fact that they were on an auto show that promoted driving, but the car arrived 15 minutes after all the others. The bicycle came in first.
Recently the regulars decided to race several motorhomes around an oval track. Who else would think of anything so ridiculous? There was everything from Class A, to Class C, to one Toyota Class B van with a raised soft top to extend head room. Rules were that the rigs couldn’t touch each other during the race.
Most of the drivers discarded the extra weight the afternoon before the race, but one of the regulars spent his time cooking a gourmet meal in his galley instead, so when the race started, dishes flew out of the cabinets, creating noisy havoc and a dangerous diversion as he tried to concentrate on racing. The other motorhomes didn’t fare much better. Another of the regulars ended the race with only his truck frame and and front end with driver’s seat intact. Everything else was littered along the track, where it had fallen off as his coach bumped into others in his eagerness to win.
Bumping wasn’t necessarily intentional. The big rigs leaned and lurched into each other in the turns, often knocking off and shredding the walls of the units. One made a turn with the left wheels riding up on a curb. The Class-B Toyota plowed between the other motorhomes, sometimes getting frighteningly squeezed and finally losing its top somewhere along the race route. The sight of these behemoths racing and rattling around the track had us in hysterics.
So if you enjoy seeing the newest cars tested (they do try out the newest, latest, most expensive, as well as regular cars like most of us drive), and love a good laugh, you might want to catch this show. Check your guide for day and time. See the motorhome race, click here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gourYCpaJLU&eurl=http://rvvideos.blogspot.com/2008_04_01_archive.html.
Upgrading Your RV’s InteriorA 20" flatscreen TV was installed on the pantry wall (right), which is directly behind the slideout when it is retracted. Other accessories personalize the interior, including a dash kitty (left) and a table lamp that holds magazines.
As much as new RVs cost, you would think that manufacturers would hire professional, experienced designers and space planners to create their RV interiors, but many don’t! A lot of them use the “talents” of the owners’ wife, who might have a “flair for decorating.” Believe me, a flair doesn’t translate into being able to efficiently plan space and select appropriate materials for an RV’s interior. And those manufacturers that do use qualified designers sometimes hire recent graduates who don’t understand the needs of RVers. Sometimes, it appears that they don’t even understand how kitchens and bathrooms are used.
A common complaint in new RVs is the amount of wasted space beneath and behind things. Another is that few have backsplashes in the kitchens and bathrooms. And one other is that many manufacturers put carpeting in the kitchen and bathroom. It’s obvious that no space planning has taken place, and that the person who designed the interior has had no experience whatsoever as either a designer, an RVer, or as a person who cooks and cleans. So it becomes necessary to upgrade certain things in an RV to make it comfortable and easy to care for, and to suit your own, individual lifestyle.
Wasted space is one of my pet peeves. We have now owned three motorhomes, and every one of them has had lots of wasted space. Finding space can be a bit sticky, since there are weight considerations for RVs. Most don’t have much extra weight allowance beyond what is absolutely necessary. Every item in an RV must have a use and be properly placed. Usually, passengers and their luggage are about all that can be added to a fully furnished unit without overstressing the RV.
However, every RVer on the planet has to carry extra paper supplies, extra blankets and pillows, etc., so what’s the problem with making room for them? Our hallway has two big cubbyholes that are inaccessible, but by taking the wood panels out and replacing them with doors, they’re big enough to store toilet paper, paper towels, and other lightweight, bulky items. I can guarantee you that cupboards and closets in any RV are on the smallish side, so we’ve lacked space for these bulky paper items in all three RVs!
Another problem is storage areas with doors that fold down, so you have to crawl across the door to access the area. Two small doors that open back to the side would be so much more efficient!
Most RVs lack a backsplash around the sinks, but that is easily remedied by buying plexiglass, cut to size, then fastening it to the wall, or purchasing some other lightweight, waterproof material to use as a backsplash. While tiles are lovely and stylish, they add unnecessary weight to the RV!
There are lots of small, lightweight accessories you can add to your RV’s interior to make it more enjoyable and useful, and more homelike.
You can also subtract furnishings that you don’t use. We removed the table and chairs from our latest motorhome because the table was usually piled high with mail, etc. that needed putting away. The chairs were very heavy, and I got tired of lifting them each time I had to vacuum, or even to pull them up to the table. They were useless weight that I was overjoyed to remove.
Now we have a wide-open living area to which we have added an occasional chair, a 2-drawer file cabinet, and computer space. We attached the flat panel monitor to the wall and it swings out for viewing. Another problem we originally had was with the tiny 13” TV that sat at ceiling level in a cabinet built for it. From across the room, it was like watching ants parade across the screen.
Since we have a slide-out that holds the sofa, there was about 6 inches between the pantry wall and the slide-out when it was retracted. We measured the space and decided a flat-screen 20” TV would fit into the space if its speakers were at the bottom of the screen, instead of on the sides. We bolted it through the pantry wall and added metal supports to the bottom as an extra measure of safety. Now characters on the screen are visible and recognizable, no matter where we sit in the living area.
The kitchen has vinyl flooring, but then carpeting has been installed down the hall and in the bathroom. Pale colored carpeting! Needless to say, there’s a shaded wear pattern down the center of the hall, plus since my food storage pantry is located there, I managed to drop and break a bottle of orange-colored steak sauce that created a permanent stain. Nothing has cleaned it! So we discussed using wood flooring throughout, but decided the glue-down installation might crack when we bounced across rough roads, and the snap-together type might pop up. We may be wrong, but we are also concerned with the added weight. And forget about tile, which I would love, because of the same weight concern.
So we will look for a cushioned tile-patterned vinyl floor that looks nice, unlike the kitchen vinyl we now have which has a distinct “bathroom” design. And we will pull up the carpeting in the hallway and bathroom and replace it with the same vinyl flooring.
Don’t stress if you need to change a few things in your RV. Add colorful cushions, personal photos or favorite artwork, and perhaps, your own choice of window treatments. The sailboat above the TV was a model of the boat hubby owned and was carved by a dear California friend, Pat Miller. A few simple steps and a little ingenuity can easily customize your RV to fit your lifestyle
A common complaint in new RVs is the amount of wasted space beneath and behind things. Another is that few have backsplashes in the kitchens and bathrooms. And one other is that many manufacturers put carpeting in the kitchen and bathroom. It’s obvious that no space planning has taken place, and that the person who designed the interior has had no experience whatsoever as either a designer, an RVer, or as a person who cooks and cleans. So it becomes necessary to upgrade certain things in an RV to make it comfortable and easy to care for, and to suit your own, individual lifestyle.
Wasted space is one of my pet peeves. We have now owned three motorhomes, and every one of them has had lots of wasted space. Finding space can be a bit sticky, since there are weight considerations for RVs. Most don’t have much extra weight allowance beyond what is absolutely necessary. Every item in an RV must have a use and be properly placed. Usually, passengers and their luggage are about all that can be added to a fully furnished unit without overstressing the RV.
However, every RVer on the planet has to carry extra paper supplies, extra blankets and pillows, etc., so what’s the problem with making room for them? Our hallway has two big cubbyholes that are inaccessible, but by taking the wood panels out and replacing them with doors, they’re big enough to store toilet paper, paper towels, and other lightweight, bulky items. I can guarantee you that cupboards and closets in any RV are on the smallish side, so we’ve lacked space for these bulky paper items in all three RVs!
Another problem is storage areas with doors that fold down, so you have to crawl across the door to access the area. Two small doors that open back to the side would be so much more efficient!
Most RVs lack a backsplash around the sinks, but that is easily remedied by buying plexiglass, cut to size, then fastening it to the wall, or purchasing some other lightweight, waterproof material to use as a backsplash. While tiles are lovely and stylish, they add unnecessary weight to the RV!
There are lots of small, lightweight accessories you can add to your RV’s interior to make it more enjoyable and useful, and more homelike.
You can also subtract furnishings that you don’t use. We removed the table and chairs from our latest motorhome because the table was usually piled high with mail, etc. that needed putting away. The chairs were very heavy, and I got tired of lifting them each time I had to vacuum, or even to pull them up to the table. They were useless weight that I was overjoyed to remove.
Now we have a wide-open living area to which we have added an occasional chair, a 2-drawer file cabinet, and computer space. We attached the flat panel monitor to the wall and it swings out for viewing. Another problem we originally had was with the tiny 13” TV that sat at ceiling level in a cabinet built for it. From across the room, it was like watching ants parade across the screen.
Since we have a slide-out that holds the sofa, there was about 6 inches between the pantry wall and the slide-out when it was retracted. We measured the space and decided a flat-screen 20” TV would fit into the space if its speakers were at the bottom of the screen, instead of on the sides. We bolted it through the pantry wall and added metal supports to the bottom as an extra measure of safety. Now characters on the screen are visible and recognizable, no matter where we sit in the living area.
The kitchen has vinyl flooring, but then carpeting has been installed down the hall and in the bathroom. Pale colored carpeting! Needless to say, there’s a shaded wear pattern down the center of the hall, plus since my food storage pantry is located there, I managed to drop and break a bottle of orange-colored steak sauce that created a permanent stain. Nothing has cleaned it! So we discussed using wood flooring throughout, but decided the glue-down installation might crack when we bounced across rough roads, and the snap-together type might pop up. We may be wrong, but we are also concerned with the added weight. And forget about tile, which I would love, because of the same weight concern.
So we will look for a cushioned tile-patterned vinyl floor that looks nice, unlike the kitchen vinyl we now have which has a distinct “bathroom” design. And we will pull up the carpeting in the hallway and bathroom and replace it with the same vinyl flooring.
Don’t stress if you need to change a few things in your RV. Add colorful cushions, personal photos or favorite artwork, and perhaps, your own choice of window treatments. The sailboat above the TV was a model of the boat hubby owned and was carved by a dear California friend, Pat Miller. A few simple steps and a little ingenuity can easily customize your RV to fit your lifestyle
A Blog of Interest
If you’re interested in a site that is well-written and inspirational, you really should check out http://onewordsmith.blogspot.com. Barbara Kaufmann’s writing is professional, sensitive, thoughtful, and inspiring.
I became acquainted with Barbara through her writing when she submitted an essay and some poems for inclusion in my book, Looking Back: Boomers Remember History from the ‘40s to the Present. To say I was impressed would be an understatement, as I found her words touched the deepest part of my soul. She has that special talent for putting into words, emotions that most of us react with or to, but don’t really understand in any depth. Certainly, few can match her talent for expressing her thoughts.
Barbara grew up as a baby boomer under the constant fear of Cold War, and of possible nuclear annihilation if something wasn’t done to end the stand-off between the United States and the Soviet Union. Her essay in Looking Back is titled “When I Am a Grownup I Will Do Something,” and recalls her efforts to improve the world. Her two poems are touching memories of a visit to the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington D.C. to find the name of a former schoolmate, and of seeing a missile silo in North Dakota that held the warheads that could ignite a nuclear disaster.
She still seeks to make the world a better home for all living things, and she’s searching for others who want to “create a new and improved humanity.” Be sure to check out her blog.
If you’re interested in a site that is well-written and inspirational, you really should check out http://onewordsmith.blogspot.com. Barbara Kaufmann’s writing is professional, sensitive, thoughtful, and inspiring.
I became acquainted with Barbara through her writing when she submitted an essay and some poems for inclusion in my book, Looking Back: Boomers Remember History from the ‘40s to the Present. To say I was impressed would be an understatement, as I found her words touched the deepest part of my soul. She has that special talent for putting into words, emotions that most of us react with or to, but don’t really understand in any depth. Certainly, few can match her talent for expressing her thoughts.
Barbara grew up as a baby boomer under the constant fear of Cold War, and of possible nuclear annihilation if something wasn’t done to end the stand-off between the United States and the Soviet Union. Her essay in Looking Back is titled “When I Am a Grownup I Will Do Something,” and recalls her efforts to improve the world. Her two poems are touching memories of a visit to the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington D.C. to find the name of a former schoolmate, and of seeing a missile silo in North Dakota that held the warheads that could ignite a nuclear disaster.
She still seeks to make the world a better home for all living things, and she’s searching for others who want to “create a new and improved humanity.” Be sure to check out her blog.
RVing - Mom and the Bordello Museum
A few years after our Canadian trip, we decided one day to take Mom on a drive over to Idaho and maybe Western Montana. We had no idea where we would go when we got there, or what we would see, but we knew it would be an adventure. It always is!
You may have figured out some things about Mom from the previous story, but when I tell you she doesn’t get out much, trust me. She’s a devoutly religious woman who was raised in the "civilized" East, but moved out west to be near her youngest daughter. And let’s just say she is as clueless as mothers come, especially for the mother of a baby boomer daughter.
On this particular trip, we ended up in Wallace, Idaho, which was once home to a huge silver mining operation. Our first stop was at a mining museum. One thing about Mom, she must have been raised in a household where they had one of everything. As we toured the museum, she would comment “We used to have one of those.” Okay, so there were some pots and pans, and assorted paraphernalia that could be found in most homes, but I sure wasn’t familiar with most of that stuff. Then again, if it was used in a kitchen, I don't have a clue, anyway.
After the museum tour we headed for the railroad depot, which was the town’s information center. We browsed the brochures, heard the history of the depot, and then walked outside to enjoy the sunshine.
Hubby spotted the Bordello Museum across the street and decided to investigate. A few minutes later, Mom asked, “Where did Son go?” I pointed to the building he had entered. “Well, let’s go in there too,” Mom said. “Are you sure you want to go in there?” I asked her, knowing she was too much of a prude to have any patience with a former bordello. “Sure,” she said and took off across the street.
I figured she could read and knew where she was going, so I followed her in the back entrance and we started checking the displays to our left. As we looked at the various items, I noticed she didn’t say “We used to have one of those,” as often as in the previous museum, but she was interested and commented on some of the fans, sequined purses, dresses, etc. We looked at displays all across the back wall, all the way up the long side wall, and then across the front of the building.
And that’s when it happened. She suddenly spotted the stairway going up and the price list posted beside it. She shrieked in a horrified voice that would have emptied the place of any remaining ghosts, “We’re in a bawdy house!” I said, “Well yes, didn’t you know that?” She turned to me and screamed accusingly, “You brought me to a bawdy house!”
I brought her? If I remembered correctly, this was her idea.
After the people working in the museum recovered from their initial hearing loss after her hysterical screech, they rushed up to try and tell her it was no longer a bawdy house, it was now a museum. She was having none of it. She indignantly stomped back through the museum to the back door and out on the street, accusing me of leading her astray. I reminded her that it was her idea to go in, not mine, but she was too furious to listen. She said she had no idea what the word “bordello” meant, and I should have known she wouldn’t know.
But that was nothing to what she had to say to her son when he finally wandered out. I guess he stood around inside for awhile trying to pretend SHE was not with HIM before he finally came out. Exiting the building was a bad idea anyway with his Mom snorting and pawing the dirt outside like a bull that’s spotted a waving red cape.
We took her antique shopping afterwards to calm her down and get her mind off the indecent experience she had been subjected to by us. She’s 91 now and will still go places with us in the car, but I’m betting she carries a dictionary in her purse to check out any unfamiliar words on buildings we try to take her in. She’s become extremely cautious.
We have offered from time to time to take her to the buffet at the Indian Casino near where she lives, but she won’t hear of it because people gamble there. She won’t even go to the senior center because people play cards there. We’ve explained that the casino buffet is next to the entrance, and we’ll lead her in so she can close her eyes and won’t have to see all the sin and corruption going on. However, even though she’s never met a buffet she doesn’t absolutely adore, she still refuses to go when we visit her. I’m afraid we’ve led her astray one time too many, even though that was unintentional.
She’ll never be convinced that we aren’t trying to corrupt her in her old age. And I’ve vowed to hubby never to let her know about the time she unintentionally let alcohol touch her lips. Her favorite saying: "Lips that touch liquor will never touch mine." Still, she ate beef cooked in burgundy at the Blue Bayou Restaurant in Disneyland without knowing it (everything was cooked in wine, and she didn't know what the words meant), and rolls at my house made with beer instead of yeast (which I didn’t think about until after I served them). She loved them and scarffed down a couple while I was still putting food on the table. Oops, too late to save her from that horrible sin. Well, no need to bring it up now!
Next time, some of our goof-ups on the road that make good campfire stories now that they’re in the past.
A few years after our Canadian trip, we decided one day to take Mom on a drive over to Idaho and maybe Western Montana. We had no idea where we would go when we got there, or what we would see, but we knew it would be an adventure. It always is!
You may have figured out some things about Mom from the previous story, but when I tell you she doesn’t get out much, trust me. She’s a devoutly religious woman who was raised in the "civilized" East, but moved out west to be near her youngest daughter. And let’s just say she is as clueless as mothers come, especially for the mother of a baby boomer daughter.
On this particular trip, we ended up in Wallace, Idaho, which was once home to a huge silver mining operation. Our first stop was at a mining museum. One thing about Mom, she must have been raised in a household where they had one of everything. As we toured the museum, she would comment “We used to have one of those.” Okay, so there were some pots and pans, and assorted paraphernalia that could be found in most homes, but I sure wasn’t familiar with most of that stuff. Then again, if it was used in a kitchen, I don't have a clue, anyway.
After the museum tour we headed for the railroad depot, which was the town’s information center. We browsed the brochures, heard the history of the depot, and then walked outside to enjoy the sunshine.
Hubby spotted the Bordello Museum across the street and decided to investigate. A few minutes later, Mom asked, “Where did Son go?” I pointed to the building he had entered. “Well, let’s go in there too,” Mom said. “Are you sure you want to go in there?” I asked her, knowing she was too much of a prude to have any patience with a former bordello. “Sure,” she said and took off across the street.
I figured she could read and knew where she was going, so I followed her in the back entrance and we started checking the displays to our left. As we looked at the various items, I noticed she didn’t say “We used to have one of those,” as often as in the previous museum, but she was interested and commented on some of the fans, sequined purses, dresses, etc. We looked at displays all across the back wall, all the way up the long side wall, and then across the front of the building.
And that’s when it happened. She suddenly spotted the stairway going up and the price list posted beside it. She shrieked in a horrified voice that would have emptied the place of any remaining ghosts, “We’re in a bawdy house!” I said, “Well yes, didn’t you know that?” She turned to me and screamed accusingly, “You brought me to a bawdy house!”
I brought her? If I remembered correctly, this was her idea.
After the people working in the museum recovered from their initial hearing loss after her hysterical screech, they rushed up to try and tell her it was no longer a bawdy house, it was now a museum. She was having none of it. She indignantly stomped back through the museum to the back door and out on the street, accusing me of leading her astray. I reminded her that it was her idea to go in, not mine, but she was too furious to listen. She said she had no idea what the word “bordello” meant, and I should have known she wouldn’t know.
But that was nothing to what she had to say to her son when he finally wandered out. I guess he stood around inside for awhile trying to pretend SHE was not with HIM before he finally came out. Exiting the building was a bad idea anyway with his Mom snorting and pawing the dirt outside like a bull that’s spotted a waving red cape.
We took her antique shopping afterwards to calm her down and get her mind off the indecent experience she had been subjected to by us. She’s 91 now and will still go places with us in the car, but I’m betting she carries a dictionary in her purse to check out any unfamiliar words on buildings we try to take her in. She’s become extremely cautious.
We have offered from time to time to take her to the buffet at the Indian Casino near where she lives, but she won’t hear of it because people gamble there. She won’t even go to the senior center because people play cards there. We’ve explained that the casino buffet is next to the entrance, and we’ll lead her in so she can close her eyes and won’t have to see all the sin and corruption going on. However, even though she’s never met a buffet she doesn’t absolutely adore, she still refuses to go when we visit her. I’m afraid we’ve led her astray one time too many, even though that was unintentional.
She’ll never be convinced that we aren’t trying to corrupt her in her old age. And I’ve vowed to hubby never to let her know about the time she unintentionally let alcohol touch her lips. Her favorite saying: "Lips that touch liquor will never touch mine." Still, she ate beef cooked in burgundy at the Blue Bayou Restaurant in Disneyland without knowing it (everything was cooked in wine, and she didn't know what the words meant), and rolls at my house made with beer instead of yeast (which I didn’t think about until after I served them). She loved them and scarffed down a couple while I was still putting food on the table. Oops, too late to save her from that horrible sin. Well, no need to bring it up now!
Next time, some of our goof-ups on the road that make good campfire stories now that they’re in the past.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
