NEW BOOK IS REVIEWED IN ESCAPEES MAGAZINE - JAN/FEB. 2008

Looking Back: Boomers Remember History from the '40s to the Present just received a wonderful review in the latest issue of Escapees Magazine. Since many of the contributors to the book are also Escapees members, and because so many RVers are also boomers whose history the book covers, this magazine was an ideal publication to review the book. As a writer who needs all the publicity the book can garner in order to sell them, I really appreciate their kind words.

For those of you who may not know, Escapees is an organization of RVers that owns several parks around the country and offers discounted camping at hundreds of other RV parks. They produce a magazine that is published every two months and also hold RV rallies called Escapades. The next big one will be in July in Gillette, Wyoming.

Also, copies of both Looking Back and Portable Writing will be on sale at the writer's co-op booth at the upcoming Gypsy Caravan in Casa Grande, Arizona starting Feb. 11, 2008. If you plan to attend, look for them there.

Question: What is the difference between a writer and an author?

A writer is someone who writes with the hope of getting paid for it. An author is someone who gets paid for writing.


PROMOTE YOUR WRITING WITH A BLOG OR WEB SITE

It doesn’t make sense not to start a blog for your book or to promote other writing services and projects that way since they cost nothing but your time. A Website costs very little and some providers even offer free Website hosting.

The difference between a blog and a Website is that a Website stays more or less static, while new messages should be posted on your blog on a regular basis to keep readers interested in coming back. You can promote a book project on either site, and can provide links to purchase your book or get more information from either a blog or a site.

Websites
A list of Website hosts and their rankings are available by googling "Website providers." The first thing to do is compare these providers, then register the domain name you want to use for free. Then register for a site and decide what you want your site to look like, and what information you want to include. I studied the sites of other writers, then sketched out on paper what I wanted to include in mine before I sat down at the computer. You can use software that’s probably already available on your computer, or purchase software to design your Website. Or you can hire someone to design a site for you, but templates in the software make it easy to create a nice site.

Blogs
Blogger (www.blogger.com) offers free blogs, and all you have to do is sign up, then find the layout you like and start posting. You can add your photo, your book’s photo, links to related sites, and information about yourself or your book in a section that stays up permanently. Each post you add is displayed for awhile, although newer posts will be added above it, and eventually they will be pushed off that page. They’ll still be available to readers in the archives. Posts should ideally be 300-600 words, but if you are providing information that requires more words, that's okay, although you might lose some readers who don’t want to take time to read a long post.

I have four blogs currently up and running, two for each book that has been published in the past two years. One is for my newest book, Looking Back: Boomers Remember History from the ‘40s to the Present. That title was too long, especially for those searching the Internet, so one blog is: http://boomersrememberhistory.blogspot.com for those looking for books on the boomer era. The other blog for that book is: http://lookingbackboomersrememberhistory.blogspot.com for those who have heard of the book or read a review and are searching by the title. The book titled: Portable Writing: the Secret to Living Your Dreams with 25 Projects to Fund Your Freedom has one blog titled: http://portablewritingnewsletter.blogspot.com for those who know the title and know that I produce a regular newsletter. The other blog is http://freelancewriter.booklocker.com for Internet users searching for books about freelance writing.

One note about blogs: your blog must include key words that Internet users would look for on search engines. Higher rankings put your blog at the top of the list, but they don’t necessarily keep that same ranking. You need to post regularly to your blog to keep it somewhere near the front of the list so that whenever someone googles a key word in your blog, it pops up near the front of the list.

I believe that my blogs have definitely helped sell books. It’s a way that those who don’t know me can find out a little about me. It is still necessary to publicize my blogs so that people know about them, and know where to look, so each email that goes out includes a signature line that includes my name and the title of my blogs. That way, all of my regular correspondents know about them—and hopefully, help spread the word.

It’s also a good idea to promote your blog and Website on business cards, brochures, and on any other written materials you might regularly hand out to potential clients/customers. Then let the blog and Website do the selling for you.

Blogs and Websites work for you 24-7, promoting your book or writing skills. Make sure you use these cheap and simple tools to further your writing career.

Rock ‘n’ Roll Music Finally Debuts at RV Parks

Finally! RV Park activities directors are scheduling music performances that appeal to the Boomer audience. When we first started RVing, I couldn’t get over the music played regularly at RV park events—the same music that used to entertain my parents. Then I looked around and realized that I was one of the younger RVers on the road then. But as the years passed, I couldn’t help wondering if rock ‘n’ roll music would ever be heard in the parks, or would they continue to hire groups that played ‘30s and ‘40s music until the last WWII survivor played no more. The following tells the good news.

"THE CATSKILLS AREN'T DEAD YET—they just moved to RV Parks in Arizona. The Smother Brothers and many other Sixties headliners like Ricky Skaggs, Tanya Tucker, Frankie Avalon and Brenda Lee, are performing now for the Boomer (and older) RVers. Jacque Lamoree,Valley del Oro's activity director, played a pivotal role in launching the talent sea change for Arizona's RV industry. "Our people just go crazy. And our audiences are just like teenagers again. "See who's playing at
http://www.azcentral.com/community/ahwatukee/articles/1228ev-bignames1229.html."

"Reprinted from "RV Lifestyles" a free ezine featuring tips and resources about the RV lifestyle. Visit http://www.rvhometown.com for subscription information, back issues, and more RV information."

Apparently this small cat feels right at home as our dashboard kitty. Although we've had him checked for a microchip and signs are posted, no one has claimed him yet. Who could not fall for this handsome little guy?

FOUND - ONE SMALL BLACK CAT

This is an unusual notice for this blog, but on the chance that the person who lost a small black male cat at Thousand Trails Verde Valley might be reading this (and I realize the chances are pretty slim), it's now safely in our care.

This little guy has been running around the park for more than a week and was reported to joyously run up and greet anyone walking a dog. He also sauntered up to our neighbors yellow lab and made friends, even though Dixie is many times his size. That's how we finally got possession of him after our neighbor fed him and made friends.

So this is what we know. He must have escaped from his owner's RV, and the owner must have also had one or more dogs. By the time we finally managed to get him into the motorhome, he was quite skinny but appeared otherwise healthy. He's very sweet, and after a few minutes of exploring the motorhome, he headed for the dash and settled in. That makes me think his owner might have driven a motorhome and he was probably a dashboard kitty.

One other thing I know is that he has been declawed. Imagine how scared he must have been as he wandered the park at night trying to stay out of reach of a gray fox, a coyote, and a band of skunks that have been roaming the park recently. He couldn't eat (if he could even find anything, since he obviously didn't have claws to catch his own prey), drink, potty or sleep without constantly watching over his bony little shoulder. He couldn't have defended himself from any type of predator and he couldn't escape up a tree. However, he was healthy looking, his hair was shiny and clean, and other than being a little skittish at sudden noises or movement, he soon settled down to normal.

It's apparent that someone dearly loved this kitty and took great care of him, and somewhere, his family and at least one pooch companion are probably missing him terribly. So if you hear of anyone who has lost a small black cat at the Verde Valley Thousand Trails, please tell them to contact me at portable.writer@yahoo.com and identify the cat's special appearance. Although he has won our hearts, I would love to see him back with his owners again if they want him. And how could they not?

TOO MANY IDEAS? So what’s the problem?

I have a serious problem! Too many ideas. I always have been able to generate more ideas than I have time to pursue. One of this newsletter’s subscribers wrote a while back saying he has the same problem. A lot of writers would love to have this problem, but I suspect there are many more who also suffer from the same malady.

Having too many ideas is a natural extension of being creative. As writers, we spend our lives in a creative world, coming up with characters, scenarios, and original ideas. The same thought processes that provide us with original ways of telling stories also give us unique perspectives and ideas.

So if you suffer from the malady of “too many ideas” here’s how you can conquer the desire to pursue them all.

First of all, write your latest idea down immediately before you forget it. Keep a small notebook handy where you can record every idea that pops into your head. You might head some pages, “Ideas for writing projects” and “Ideas for articles.” Other pages can hold “random thoughts” which might be an idea for a personality trait for one of your characters, or it could be something you witness that you realize would make a good topic for conservation among your characters. Notes could also lead to new ideas for a book or article topic. I could go on and on here, but you can think up new divisions for your notebook based upon your own thoughts and ideas.

When I first started writing, I made up charts on the computer for “article ideas” and would add a topic each time I thought of one. I would list the magazines that I thought would be appropriate for the articles. Since I was writing mostly travel articles, I would list a place we planned to visit and the idea for a story. Often these topics would become obsolete because we never made it to the place I planned to write about, or once I did get there I discovered an entirely new angle for my article. Still, the list was a road map for my future.

Next, when you have a spare minute or two, go through your notebook and choose a project idea. As you read over the ideas you’ve previously written down, you’ll probably find some that seem silly, foolish, or no longer relevant. Cross those off your list immediately. No need to wade through a long list of irrelevant ideas every time.

Having too many ideas can be as crippling as not having any ideas because they can clutter your mind, which can hold you hostage. You must be able to prioritize your time and projects so that you can always keep busy and can move smoothly from one project to the next. You’ll be well on your way to becoming one of writing’s success stories.

NEXT 24-HOUR SHORT STORY CONTEST!

The WritersWeekly.com Winter 2008 24-Hour Short Story Contest is now open for entrants! It is limited to 500 entrants. Contests usually fill up, so don't delay if you want to participate. The contest is tons of fun! You can see the list of 85 prizes (first prize is $300, second is $250 and third is $200 - plus 82 other prizes!), and sign up here: http://www.writersweekly.com/misc/contest.html.

REAL CAMPING!!!

One day while my husband was outside working on something on the motorhome, a young man walked by and started a conversation about RVing. Then as he was walking away he remarked, “We don’t have an RV. We do real camping.”

We had a good laugh over that, because we had at one time also been so-called "real" campers. Too real! But we got over it. We began to reminisce about our early camping experiences.

My first was with my aunt and uncle, and possibly their oldest daughter who would have been about three at the time, my mom, sister, and me. No tent, no amenities of any kind, and the nearest toilet was about a quarter of a mile away. We spread quilts on the ground, and that’s where we slept, lined up side-by-side like toy soldiers.

I was probably about eleven or twelve then and my sister a year younger—that age when we didn’t like each other very much. But we did have one joint concern. Since our mother was all we had, we didn’t want anything to happen to her, so we slept on the outside and made sure she was safely tucked in the middle next to our aunt. Our uncle was on the other end of the lineup. Of course, my sister wiggled her way in next to mother because she was the youngest. I was not happy!

We were in the woods in a State Park, a place where I was certain wild animals roamed, and there I was exposed like raw, fresh bait in a trap, on the edge of the group. I lay awake imagining the humongous bear that would come out of the woods and carry me away. After my sister got to sleep, I tried to climb over her and shove her to the outside edge, but she promptly woke up and screamed her lungs out. Geesh, could she be annoying! That was one long night of sheer terror for me, and one I wouldn’t ever repeat.

Fast forward about ten years and my sister and I are grown and married, and by now we’re also good friends. We decided to go camping at the same State park with our mom in a roomy tent loaned to us by my aunt and uncle. My husband wasn’t with us because he was on duty defending our country against commies, but my sister’s husband was along to carry heavy things and protect us from wild varmints.

We arrived in late afternoon when the temperature was around 100 degrees with humidity to match. The Congo jungle couldn’t have been more unbearable. We unloaded the car and started pitching the tent. Now in that heat and humidity, this was no easy chore and required some liquid refreshment. Actually, lots of it! Neither my mother, sister nor I liked beer, but we were desperate to cool down and finish the task at hand before we could eat and go to sleep, so we drank sodas until we reached sugar overload, then in desperation tried the beer. Pitching the tent took an incredibly long time!

My brother-in-law had been a big, tough Marine, but obviously he was absent the day they taught tent-pitching. We weren’t having much luck getting it up. We each took a corner and tried to get our side to stay up long enough to stake it, but the tent kept tumbling over. We struggled with it, and giddy by this time from too much cold wet stuff, we kept falling into the center, howling with laughter each time it caved in once again. By the time we finally got the tent to stand on its own, it was late and dark. I’m sure our neighbors were as anxious for us to get the tent up and get in it as we were, but rather than offer to help four obviously camping-deficient folks, they had quietly slipped away to another site.

After eating, we all crawled into the tent and realized there was no way we could sleep there. Four of us huddled together inside that high-humidity, sweaty atmosphere was unbearable! So we crawled back out and made beds on the picnic table and benches. Just then, an army of mosquitoes discovered our fresh, tender flesh and mercilessly began dive bombing us.

We had just managed to adjust to them when we heard thunder and spotted lightning. Within seconds a rip-roaring thunderstorm was on top of us, dumping Arkansas River-loads of rain. It didn’t take much discussion before we grabbed everything and threw it into the tent, which to our amazement was still standing. We crawled back inside, soaked to the bone, and tried to make sleeping nests out of the mess. We just about got settled down again when one of us noticed mud oozing under the edge of the tent.

Okay! This was the moment we knew “Someobody Up There” was trying to get our attention. So even though it was by now close to midnight and we were desperate for sleep, we grabbed everything and chucked it into the trunk of the car to make the two-hour drive to my sister’s home.

I vowed never to go camping again, but a Volkswagen bus would convince me that there were easier ways to camp out. A mattress in the back, a fully stocked ice chest, and we were in tall cotton, as they say in Arkansas. Compared to “real camping,” a Volkswagen bus was heaven!

So would I go “real camping” again? Not on your life, or mine! Not even if I was twenty-two again, or even twelve!

Christmas in the RV Park

This Christmas we decided that instead of joining the Christmas rush on the highways to visit friends or family, we would stay in the RV park and enjoy food and festivities with fellow campers. A few days before Christmas it looked as though we might have a very small group on hand for the celebration.

Then a couple of days before Christmas, the rigs started pouring in. The park was nearly full to capacity by the time December 25th rolled around. What could have been a quiet Christmas turned instead into an endless celebration as we met new friends and enjoyed scrumptious meals in the family center.

On Christmas Eve, some of us attended the candlelight service in the park. Then on Christmas day, each family bore a steaming plate of food to the family center, where the park had prepared turkey and ham. So much food, so little time! Everything looked tempting, but we finally settled down to a plate of delicious food followed by delightful delicacies for dessert.

Celebrating didn’t end December 26th. There was New Year’s Eve and a noisy party in the family center with a great band and lots of dancing and reveling. Oh, and I shouldn’t leave out the wonderful food. We shoveled in prime rib and salmon wrapped in pastry plus appetizers, twice-baked potatoes, and again, wonderful desserts. Then on New Year’s Day, we all swarmed back to the family center for a 3-hour breakfast buffet. I mention the time because some people, like hubby, spent the entire 3 hours sampling everything on the buffet line.

In between activities at the family center, we heated up the nights by our fire pit. We have great next-door neighbors in the park with the sweetest, most gorgeous yellow lab we’ve ever seen named Dixie. Our neighbor has been gathering driftwood from down by the river for days, so we placed our fire pit on the grass lawn that separates our rigs, and have so far sat around it twice sharing popcorn and cookies with anyone who wanders by. The last time we had twelve RVers sitting around swapping adventures.

If you’re wondering what will happen when you’re RVing on holidays and can’t make it back home to your family, rest assured that most RV parks offer their own celebrations in the form of wonderful meals and festivities. If they don’t, you can always find some willing fellow campers to share meals and experiences with. There’s never a reason to be alone when you are in your home on the road—no matter how far from “home” you might be.

Writer's Digest Yearbook is on Newsstands Now

If you've never read a copy of Writer's Digest, or even if you have, now is the time to buy the Writer's Yearbook 2008. This is always the best issue of the year with "100 Best Magazine and Book Markets for Writers" plus other useful articles on getting published. It's $5.99 for a copy on most newsstands, or check your library.

Communicating on the Road

We just made another step forward in being able to communicate while on the road in the RV. We purchased a USB720 connection for our Verizon broadband access to the Internet. We already had broadband/nationwide access with a PCMCIA card, but the USB connection allows us to use it with either the laptop or the desktop computer—although not at the same time—and costs the same as the original access. What a giant leap from the modem connection through our cellphone just two short years ago. Talk about slow!

Access to the Internet is even faster than with the PCMCIA card, although we’re still only receiving Nationwide access where we’re parked right now. Still, it’s a little faster and is just one more step towards making it possible to communicate with the world via the Internet from almost any location.

What makes a good writer?

I’m not talking about great! Shakespeare and the classics authors have stood the test of time, so can be fairly judged to fit the term, “great.” I’m discussing contemporary writers here.

Among contemporary writers, what makes their work stand out among their peers?

We each have our favorite writers, whose books we must believe are good or we wouldn’t read them. They string words together well and their writing holds our attention. They’re articulate and they don’t make grammatical errors. However, what specifically distinguishes a good writer from the rest of the crowd?

Here are a few thoughts on the subject.

The writing is engaging. It captures readers’ attention and holds it all the way through the story or book. It probably even leaves readers wanting more.

The writing is grammatically correct. Good writers’ novels are properly punctuated. And outside of dialogue, the language is grammatically correct. If it’s a novel about an illiterate character, then it might be okay to ignore some rules. To be good, the character’s dialogue must be written in the language he or she would use—no matter how fractured their verbal skills might be. If a real person living in the setting the character appears in would commonly use ain’t, then the book’s character should use it.

Good authors can put their thoughts and feelings into words. Some writers are much better at this than others. They can describe ordinary places, people, and objects in words so that you understand exactly what they’re saying. You as a reader can visualize the scene as if you were there. You can feel the subject’s emotions.

Among contemporary writers who can do this, William Least Heat-Moon stands out as one of the best. He can take everyday situations and make you part of the action. When he describes people, his words sing.

Here is a brief quote from his book, Blue Highways that tells you exactly what he sees, but he describes things in words most of us would never think to use to express our thoughts. But they’re perfect. “The waitress wore threads of wrinkles woven like Chantilly lace over her forehead...”

Another wonderful passage describes another waitress, this one young and rude.
“Early in life she had developed the ability to make a customer wish he’d thrown up on himself rather than disturb her.”

Good authors can make their readers either laugh out loud or cry a flood of tears. Sometimes they can do both. Readers feel the emotions of the lead character. The writer makes every scene and circumstance come alive. Sometimes good writers pop up where we least expect them.

Janet Evanovich is a contemporary writer who has created her own best-selling niche that appeals to millions of readers. Her heroine, Stephanie Plum, is a bounty hunter, and as such, is a giant accident waiting to happen. Her antics are in turn hilarious and frightening. And when I grab one to read, I can’t put it down until it’s finished. Some people would categorize her books as chick-lit, but my husband loves them, too!

A good author is popular. I’m not sure this is a fair category because I’ve read some books by popular writers that weren’t all that great. At least I didn’t think so. But if their books consistently make the bestseller lists, then their fans are certainly finding the books interesting and entertaining. But will they stand the test of time?

Good writers are not always the most popular, but their work will remain popular through the decades and even centuries.

John Steinbeck’s works evoke strong emotion and have stood the test of time, so he falls under my description for a “good” writer—maybe even a "great" one. His beautifully descriptive words have caused readers to laugh and cry, feel happy and sad, and his writing evokes great empathy for his characters. It is a very special writer who can challenge the status quo, and inspire people to act for the betterment of those less fortunate.

The question you may be asking yourself is do I (Kay Kennedy) think I’m a good writer? P-l-e-e-e-z-e! I wish! My goal is to someday be a fairly good writer who can entertain readers, inspire people, and give hope to the hopeless, but I’m still a long way from there. But I keep plugging away.

I make grammatical errors sometimes and I am guilty of typos that slip through. My worst problem is writing a sentence that I’m sure won’t make sense to readers, so I re-write it and while erasing the previous sentence, accidentally leave a stray word in from my previous thought. Or I accidentally erase a word that should have been there. And somehow, these mistakes escape notice during proofreading or editing.

Every writer worries about mistakes slipping through, but I try not to focus on them. If I did, I could never put my thoughts and feelings into words. I would never manage to help readers see what I see. I have a feeling this is something good writers don’t worry about either. They leave that until last, after their words are down on paper and already successful at telling the story.

So until I can get every word perfect, make my writing interesting to readers and maybe even inspire them, I’ll never consider myself a “good” writer. And maybe that will never happen, but I love writing and I’ll keep on trying until the day I’m pushing up daisies.

And that’s what I want you to understand. If you like to write—especially if you love it—keep doing it. Everyday! Even if you think you can’t sell a story or article, write for yourself, or your friends and family. Some good writers are never discovered until after they’re gone, just like famous artists. Who knows? You and I may someday be remembered as great writers.

CAMPING AT WALMART

This time I want to talk about something serious. I promise that next time, I’ll resume telling about some of our humorous RVing moments.

I’m sure you’ve seen RVs parked at Wal-Marts and wondered why they’re there. Well, there are probably a couple of reasons why RVers stop overnight courtesy of Wal-Mart.

1. They are trying to save money. If an RVers wishes to stop for a brief nap, they may not think it’s worthwhile to pay $25-$40 plus for a place to park their RV for a few hours when they don’t plan to use any of the park’s amenities.

2. They can’t find an RV park nearby. Maybe they’re exhausted and need to catch a few hours sleep before heading out again, and they really don’t want to leave the Interstate and travel (maybe for miles) searching for an RV park. We’ve found this to be the most common reason RVers stop in Wal-Mart lots.

One time we were traveling the Interstate through Phoenix on a hot 100 degree-plus evening and needed to stock up on groceries and gas, so we pulled into a Wal-Mart & Sam’s hoping to fill both our pantry and gas tank. A security guard rushed over as we pulled off the road and said “you can’t park in this lot.” We told him we really needed groceries and gas, and asked if we couldn’t park on the outskirts of the lot and hike to the store to get groceries? “Oh sure,” he told us, “but then you’ll have to leave. The city doesn’t allow overnight parking in our lot, and cops patrol and ticket RVers.”

Well, we got our groceries, but while we were doing that, the gas pumps closed down for the night. So already low on gas, we had to make our way miles further down the freeway to fill up. If we could have spent the night there, we would have filled the gas tank first thing before we left in the morning. As it was, it took a couple of hours to find a rest area where we could stop. We hadn’t passed a single sign for an RV park along the way.

So, you wanna know, what’s up? You see RVs park in Wal-Mart all the time. There are two reasons that RVers might be turned away.

1. Some RVers set up camp for a few days, and they sometimes leave a mess behind. Those types give all RVers a bad name and destroy parking possibilities for us all.

2. Usually it is because nearby RV park owners raise a commotion about Wal-Mart letting RVers park there, and talk local authorities into forbidding it.

We worked for two RV parks back when we were work-camping that actively tried to prevent local Wal-marts from allowing RVers to stay overnight. In one park, there were two seasons when an available camp site couldn’t be found anywhere within 50 miles, but even then, the owner couldn’t stand to see RVers parking at Wal-Mart.

The other owner was much more militant. He wanted to prevent non-commercial camping anywhere in his state. He was president of his state’s campground owner’s association, and his group was actively lobbying the state legislature to pass a law that would prohibit State and National Parks from having campsites! Wal-Marts were also on their "search and destroy" list. Without competition to keep them honest, our greedy park owner and others could charge as much for rundown, bare-bones facilities as they wished. And that’s exactly what they would have done!

If you decide to park overnight at a Wal-Mart, always check with a manager first. They can tell you if it’s permissible and where it’s best to park. Thank them, and be sure to spend some money in their store. Then be sure to keep your parking site clean, and don’t extend slide-outs or awnings, or set out your lawn chairs and barbeque. And don’t stay more than one night. If you need to stay longer, find a nice RV park where you can spread out and enjoy your visit.

Many Wal-Marts offer excellent parking opportunities for when you are in a hurry and want to stop for a couple of hours or so to rest, or for when you can’t locate a nearby RV park. But RVers should never abuse their generosity by making the parking lot look like a disorderly homeless camp.

Just like in any civilized society, courteous behavior is a requisite if we want to keep emergency parking spots available to all of us. Surely, each of us can do our part to ensure the continued cooperation of Wal-Marts and communities across the country.

FOR THE LOVE OF BOOKS!

One of the greatest gifts we can give to someone we love, especially a child, is the love of reading. Youngsters don’t normally discover books without a guiding hand from a parent, grandparent, or an adult they respect.

I was taught to love books early and remember hungrily scouring the library’s bookshelves as a kid, searching for that special book with which to spend a hot, lazy summer afternoon.

And then one day I realized books have the power to provide a complete education to anyone willing to learn. Want to know how to hunt for wild game, then dress it and prepare it? That information is available in a book. Want to know how to write a computer program? You’ll find that in a book, too. No matter what anyone wants to learn, it’s all there on the bookshelf.

When I wanted to learn how to make a living as a writer, I searched every library within a 100 mile radius, looking for information that would educate me. Stacks of books lay about my feet and I greedily devoured them all, searching for the clues that would make me a successful writer and making notes to keep for later reference.

After almost twenty years of practicing what I learned, I wrote a book about making money from writing titled “Portable Writing: the secret to living your dreams with 25 projects to fund your freedom.” You see, the secret I discovered from books is that writing could fulfill all my dreams. I can live where I want, travel where or when I desire to, and make money while pursuing the pleasures of life. Not a bad way to live.

So to all you aspiring writers out there, I recommend that you read my book to learn how you can live your own fulfilling life and pursue your own dreams on your own terms. And think about others on your shopping list this Christmas who would love to learn from a simple, easy to understand book how they can lead a successful life as a writer. You can order a copy by clicking on http://www.booklocker.com/books/2461.html or at www.Amazon.com.

For those aging boomers on your list who might be interested in recalling the turbulent ‘60s, or the civil rights movement, or any other profound moment that has happened during their lifetimes, why not buy them a copy of “Looking Back: Boomers Remember History from the ‘40s to the Present.” You can buy it at: http://www.booklocker.com/books/3256.html or www.Amazon.com.

Give the gift of books this Christmas! Clothes wear out or go out of fashion, electronics become outdated, and food gets eaten and then is quickly forgotten. Books are the most lasting and meaningful gifts you can give to someone you care about.

Writing’s Dirty Little Secrets

You might think the writer’s strike in Hollywood doesn’t have anything to do with you, other than interrupting your favorite television shows. And it does do that—big time! Generally I’m not a fan of strikes to win concessions in labor disputes because they disrupt the lives of too many people. Strikes like those against grocery chains close down access to food, which we all, even the strikers, need to survive. Strikes by hospital workers can endanger a public in need of vital surgical procedures, or needing a safe, sterile environment in which to recover from a serious illness. Striking seems a little extreme.

Still, even though the writer’s strike might disrupt my TV viewing habits, it’s not going to endanger my life or my welfare. It will hurt those behind-the-scenes people whose livelihoods depend on the television industry for a paycheck, and who are struggling to get by. But maybe this is the only way writers can acquire an equitable share of the enormous income stream their words can generate. A writer works hard on a script, only to see it then be used to create endless income sources for production companies at little or no additional cost to them. Shouldn’t the writer be entitled to a piece of the action?

Here’s what points up the inequities best. If a songwriter writes a song, they get residual payments every time that song is sung anywhere, even if it’s in a private wedding ceremony. How? Songwriters belong to the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, and that organization collects payments from anyplace that is likely to host a musical performance. When you see a piano player in a Nordstrom’s or another retail establishment, the store has to pay a fee to ASCAP to cover the music used. I don’t know, and couldn’t find information on whether someone at each business or venue has to keep a list of all songs played and report them, or if ASCAP simply collects regular fees from these venues based upon an “average” or “estimated” number of songs, then divides it among all songwriters.

We had a friend who was at one time a well-known songwriter and entertainer, and even though he’s no longer alive, his estate will continue to receive residuals from his songs. We knew he received checks every month, but I assumed they were from recording studios as they issued new recordings of his songs, performed by new artists.

For a couple of years we helped out in an RV Park in Mountain View, Arkansas, where music is a vital part of the community and traditions. Our park had a small clubhouse and also a little outdoor shed where pickers and singers could gather to jam. These were usually informal gatherings, in no way sponsored by the park, but still in park facilities. So one day, officials from ASCAP paid our RV Park a visit, demanding a monthly fee because there was an obvious stage in the clubhouse and a sign over the shed that said, “picker’s place.” By the way, Mountain View, the “Folk Music Capital of the World,” focuses on traditional folk and mountain music, so a lot of what is played there is no longer protected by copyright laws, if it ever was. And a lot of non-professional pickers and singers write their own songs. Still, ASCAP was seeking to protect its member’s copyrights.

Photographers and graphic artists generally have their work protected so that they can continue to receive payment if their photos or artwork are used in any other way than that specified in the original contract. Photographers ensure future payments by keeping the negatives of photos they take, even if a client pays them a huge fee to take the pictures thinking they will own their own photos and negatives. Artists and photographer assure their rights by getting a contract signed up front specifying those rights.

It’s not easy to protect writer’s works. Articles, stories, poems, etc. can be copied easily by anyone owning a copy machine, or can be scanned into any computer, making it virtually impossible to protect a writer’s work from illegal use. There is no way to police use of every phrase, poem, story, or larger work.

The other difference between writers and other creative professionals is a strong membership organization or union that supports photographers and artists—and frankly—one difference is tradition. Another is that there are so many writers. Now I didn’t say talented or even good writers, but there are a lot who are more than willing and desperate enough to take any writing job another writer refuses. Until writers unite into one strong organization, such as the Writer’s Guild, and demand fair payment, things will continue as they have always been.

The other dirty little secret

When I first started writing, I read that women writers were often paid less than men, and that fewer writing assignments were available to them. I pooh-poohed the idea since I believed from the start that I could succeed anyplace a man could.

Then I learned the awful truth! I was approached by a magazine publisher to write for their new magazine, and established a pattern of submitting an approximate 1500-word article each month, with photos taken by my husband. In the meantime, a young man assumed the editing position. Then one day my husband decided to write an article about an event he attended. He wrote a good, but brief article with one photo. I edited it and submitted it under his name. When his check arrived, it was 20 percent more than what I had been receiving. I was stunned!

So I discovered firsthand that there sometimes really is a difference in what men and women are paid in the magazine world.

There are a couple of things you can do to prevent being underpaid if you are a woman. I’ve read that some women writers use their initials instead of their first name, and magazines can assume whatever they will. For instance, a name like Barbara Jean Storm becomes B. J. Storm. If you do this, make sure your bank will accept checks made out to you that way. I’ve never tried this, so can’t say whether it works or not, but I don’t see why it shouldn’t.

You can also choose a pen name of the opposite sex. Some men writing romance novels use women’s names as their bylines, and I’m sure there are instances where women writers assume a man’s pen name. Or choose a non-gender specific name like Terry or Jerry.

Pen names are popular choices for writers because they give you a measure of anonymity should you became “famous,” and if your name is difficult to pronounce or spell, a pen name is easier for magazine editors and readers to remember. Since “Kay” is my pen name, when I receive a check made out to Kay Kennedy, I endorse it with that name and then sign my real first name underneath. I’ve never had a problem getting checks cashed or deposited.

Another sneaky way around the problem if you are married is to write the article in both spouses’ names. For instance, the byline would read “By Barbara and John Storm.” I have noticed that a lot of articles appear in various magazines under two names, usually a male and female, and maybe that actually helps sell articles. I can’t say. But that is what I did after realizing my husband’s byline was worth more than mine. I wrote a few more articles for that same prejudiced magazine because they paid promptly, but since my husband always helped with the articles and took pictures, I felt it was perfectly reasonable to use both our names as authors.

Sometimes, a writer’s got to do what a writer’s got to do to make a living in what is apparently, still a biased, sexist society.

And I say to those on strike, Good Luck! We writers may be passionate about what we do, but we have a right to make a living, too.

TIARA WEARING, BEAUTY AND BOOK SHARING PULPWOOD QUEENS

Last year, I discovered one of those pleasant surprises that make us realize that hope is not lost for literacy in America. Sometimes, all it takes is one clever woman who is creative and not above using large doses of humor to get people to pick up a book and read. Kathy Patrick of Jefferson, Texas had a beauty shop and she loved books, so she started what is probably the only beauty/book shop in the country.

But she went much further than that! She formed a book club, called the Pulpwood Queens, whose members read books and discuss them at regularly scheduled meetings. There's a twist to her book club, though. Every participant must wear a tiara! Big hair helps, too - this is Texas, after all.

Kathy's Pulpwood Queens club chapters are spreading across the country now. They place a needed focus on literacy and support hardworking writers who (trust me) don't get a lot of encouragement or support from either publishers or bookstores. I've provided a link to her Web site below.

Kathy is a generous, creative, and caring woman who is not immune to helping those in need. I'll write next time about the project she is pursuing to help the writer of a new book. Meanwhile, check out her Web site.

Current articles

• Gift idea for your friends and family
• Should writers use swear words in their stories and articles?
• RV road trip with a traumatized cat

CHRISTMAS IS RAPIDLY APPROACHING,

and what better gift for your friends and family than a book that offers an emotional stroll down memory lane?

The Book: LOOKING BACK: BOOMERS REMEMBER HISTORY makes a wonderful Christmas gift for those on your list who are reaching “that certain age” when the past begins to look better all the time. Or for your children and grandchildren, who need to know the story of the amazing moments their parents and grandparents lived through.

History is not boring—especially the history of the Boomers! Oh yeah, the way we were taught it in school could positively make me snore. But this history book is different! It is written by those of us who were there—who witnessed it all as it happened.

We watched the amazing drama unfold on the small black and white screens of that new invention, the television. Some of us even participated in various events that made the news back then. What exciting times we had, and how sorrowful some of it was as we wondered if the world would survive until we reached adulthood.

For a personal journey into the past that will bring back memories of assassinations, riots, an unpopular war, and a government that seemed to be coming apart at the seams, Looking Back provides a unique firsthand glimpse at the times. The book also recalls the polio scare that had our parents keeping us at home to avoid becoming one of those children confined to iron lungs or wheelchairs. Fortunately, a remarkable new vaccine was discovered to prevent the disabling and deadly disease, freeing us to once again enjoy childhood activities like going to public swimming pools and Saturday matinees.

Also recalled are drive-in movies—those theaters under the stars where almost all of us went with our families and on dates. Lacking shopping malls then, the drive-in movies were our social scene. And of course, the end of segregation is covered by three of us who attended Central High School during the integration crisis in 1957/58, by one who recalls the sorrow of segregation during those years, and by one Vietnam War veteran who first came face-to-face with integration while serving during the Vietnam War.

Looking Back is receiving great reviews for the way history was treated in the book—not as a dry, boring subject but as many interesting stories interwoven to reveal the emotions behind history. It’s not a book that readers have to read from front to back. Instead, readers can pick and choose the stories they want to read at any one time.

The beautifully designed book is available as paperback for $17.95 plus shipping and handling. It can be ordered online from http://www.booklocker.com/books/3056.html, with delivery within 10 days.

Or order directly from me for $22.00 (covers shipping and handling). Send check to: Kay Kennedy, P. O. Box 4566, Cottonwood, AZ 86326. Delivery should be within 10 days, but I’ll notify you if it might take longer.

My book, PORTABLE WRITING, also makes the perfect gift for the budding writer on your list. Or for the writer you know who claims not to be able to make enough money as a writer. Portable Writing offers detailed instructions for 25 different projects that definitely create a comfortable living for any writer, anywhere! It is based on my experience, so I know the projects make money. This book is also available by ordering from me with a check for $21.00 at the above address, includes shipping and handling.

Or order online for $16.95, plus shipping and handling, by clicking on the book image at top, right of this page.

SHOULD YOU EVER USE SWEAR WORDS IN YOUR WRITING?

A recent article by Morgan Hunt in Writer’s Digest discussed when it was okay to use swear words in your articles or stories. Anyone who watches much television or goes to movies knows that obscene words are proliferating in the media as quickly as mispronunciations of words. (Does anyone else get irritated by newscasters incapable of pronouncing words correctly besides me?)

Anyone who knows me knows that I’m no prude and have been known to, on occasion, slip naughty words into tales that I tell. Actually, more than on occaasion! However, I have my limits, and when it comes to writing, there’s a time and a place for that type of language. And yes, swear words do have their place in stories, articles and books, depending on the circumstances.

Non-fiction

For nonfiction work, why use swear words when emotions can better be expressed with other, more acceptable words unless you’re writing for a publication that regularly features articles laced with that type of language? However, if you are quoting someone else, swear words may best help readers picture that person’s personality. For instance, if you are quoting a well-known person who swears, then it is usually okay to use his or her words exactly as told to you (or use a row of symbols to indicate the word). And especially if you are using well-known quotes from a movie, book, etc., you should include the offensive words. I’ve never faced this decision, but if I was using a quote that employed the “F” word, I would look at the article’s intended audience.

If for a men’s magazine, then it might be okay to go ahead and use the actual word, but if writing for other magazines and they occasionally employ such usage, then I might use ‘f---’ or ‘f---in’, or symbols. Then it would be up to the editor to change it, or the reader to supply the rest of the letters, although most readers familiar with popular culture would know what was intended. Make sure you know your audience!

Fiction

For a fictional story or book, usage of obscene words depends on the characters. What social setting are they in? What era? Is the setting and the character culturally ‘hip’ and where swear words are commonly used? When writing about decades before the ‘60s, swear words would almost never be used unless you are writing about the underbelly of society. Obviously, gangsters and murderers would not be concerned with proper language, and instead would likely spit curse words out to intimidate victims or impress their peers. Young boys might also occasionally use naughty words to look tough that their mothers would frown upon. There are few other occasions to use swear words during earlier eras—but there are always exceptions.

I faced the question of using swear words when I started my new mystery novel. My goal is to write a book that is funny, hip, colorful, and will appeal to young women from every background. So I feel I should refrain from flagrant use of offensive language.

However, the lead character is a 30-ish single young woman who was briefly married to a dimwit redneck whose friends cursed to replace strong emotions, so she definitely has a nodding acquaintance with crude language. She works as a single interior designer working in Houston, a fairly socially conservative region of the country, but with lots of young people living away from home for the first time and struggling with their somewhat conservative roots while trying to fit into the freewheeling lifestyle of a sophisticated, large multinational city.

The lead character’s parents are very conservative, live a typical small town lifestyle, and attend church every week. So she’s caught in a cultural warp—between young, trendy peers who strive for the ‘coolness’ factor—and her parents’ "socially correct” world, which doesn’t tolerate swear words pouring out of the mouth of a woman. This is basically a “deep South” background and tradition where the distinction between the roles of men and women and how they are expected to behave is still clearly defined.

I do want the language to reflect real life, so my main character, who is as "with-it" as any young woman, uses the word ‘dang’ a lot—a currently popular swear word in Texas used by young people who find typical curse words offensive. The characters that swirl around her, though, are not as hesitant about cursing. Some occasionally blurt out mild curse words that express their frustration and anger. I’m still struggling with how to keep the story from being offensive while still staying true to the character of typical young people working in a stressful environment.

So should you use swear words? The line that separates when to use swear words and when not to in writing is not clearly drawn. Clearly, if writing for a religious magazine or newspaper, you would never use one. If writing for pop culture publications where the crude utterings of hip-hop artists and other young entertainers would shock almost anyone over 30, then swear words are almost expected.

Markets for magazine articles require that you understand who their advertisers and readers are and what their tolerance level is. If tough language is the norm, then you can follow suit, but if you fail to find even one minor swear word in any of their back issues, then don’t include a single one if you expect to sell your work to that publication.

ROAD TRIP AND CAT TALES!

Starting with this article, I will be sharing a few amusing tales from our first ventures out into the exciting world of RVing. The first is about our maiden RV road trip with our traumatized cat, Sedona.

We had camped in a Volkswagen bus and slept many times in the back of our various station wagons on camping trips, and I had even slept on a quilt spread on the ground with nothing overhead, and attempted tent camping once. I'll write about those adventures later. But for our first real RV trip, we rented a 24-foot camper to attend a sailing regatta in California.

Since we were traveling that far, we decided to go on to Sedona, Arizona and take our young, big beautiful and colorful Maine Coon cat, Sedona, who was named for the brilliant landscape in the area. Why we thought she would appreciate seeing the inspiration for her name, I’ll never know.

Sedona immediately decided the only safe place in the camper was her litter box, which we had placed in the shower. It was familiar to her. She didn’t eat or drink for two days because she didn’t want to soil her ‘bed’. When we finally arrived at the lake in California and found a campsite in a rustic National Park, you could see the gratitude in her eyes as she made a beeline for her water and food, then scurried back to her box to relieve herself.

It was only then that I decided to take her out for a walk to acquaint her with California nature on a leash with a harness guaranteed by the pet store to keep Houdini from escaping. The pet store employee obviously never met Sedona! She quickly figured out that if she planted her back feet firmly in the pine needles, put her front feet together and shrunk her head to the size of a pinpoint, when I pulled on the leash I would yank the harness over her head. Score one for the cat! She didn't run, though. She just stood there glaring at me triumphantly.

After the regatta, we headed for Sedona (the town) and a campsite just above Oak Creek. It was lovely, and a short walk and plunge into the cool waters of the creek kept the 100-plus temperatures from getting to us. No more walks for Sedona, though—she was relegated to the camper where the air conditioner ran continuously to keep her and us cool. It wasn’t long before we discovered another of her quirks.

Having been born and raised in western Washington where thunderstorms are rarer than hot, sunny days, Sedona had never lived through one. When the first rattling clap of thunder boomed between the bright red cliffs above us, Joe and I were thrilled to sit and watch the show, snapping pictures of the lightning bolts bouncing off the fiery buttes. Sedona was having none of it. She went flying back into her box—not as clean as it had been when we started out.

When the show was finally over, we fished her out and proceeded to bathe her in the shower to make her clean again. Although she was two years old, she had never before had such horrible indignities imposed on her! After suffering through a thunderstorm and a bath, both in the same afternoon, she proceeded to climb up on a pile of our clothes and show us what she thought of our idea of cleanliness. We locked her in the bathroom and headed for the laundromat.

Sedona settled down after that (no more thunderstorms, thank God!) and didn’t seem to mind the long trip back to Washington until we got within 60 miles from home. I don’t know if she sensed that home and sanity were close by or was simply fed up with the drive, but she suddenly set up an ear-splitting yowl that lasted the rest of the trip. We didn't have to carry her from the camper to the house when we arrived at home - she flew down the hill like a furball on fire.

That week-long trip in an RV convinced us that we would definitely be buying a motorhome and Sedona would just have to learn to adjust. As I told her often during our deep, philosophical discussions, she had the same fur to get glad in that she got mad in. Okay, so not glad, but at least agreeable.

She traveled with us until a few months before she would have turned nineteen, and it was only in the last couple of years that she finally learned not to fear thunderstorms or the moving motorhome. We suspect she might have become too old, too sleepy, and maybe a little too deaf to notice the occasional loud booms of thunder or the RV's movement and engine noise. But anytime we finally got parked, she was always eager to run to the doorway to peek out and see where this trip had landed her.

CHECK OUT BLOG FOR "LOOKING BACK: BOOMERS REMEMBER HISTORY"

I'm constantly updating the blogs for "Looking Back" so that readers can gain even more knowledge about the eras that were written about in the book. You can find the blogs at either: http://boomersrememberhistory.blogspot.com or at http://lookingbackboomersrememberhistory.blogspot.com.

The latest blogs are about the integration crisis at Central High School in 1957, which has been in the news a lot lately because this year marks its 50th anniversary. I was a student there, so I've added more personal thoughts about the crisis than appear in the book about that important moment in civil rights history. My sister was one of the "lost" students who found herself without a high school to attend the following year, and received her lessons in front of the television for awhile until a church affiliated school was started in our neighborhood. She attended that school until Central High was reopened in the fall of 1959, and she graduated from Central in 1960.

HOW TO LIVE YOUR DREAMS:
Travel While You Make Money Writing

Hike the Grand Canyon today, explore the coast of California tomorrow, take in an arts festival in a coastal community the next day. Next on your agenda: a cruise to Mexico, or to Alaska, or the Hawaiian Islands. Sound like a dream existence? Well, it's a lifestyle that is available to anyone who wants to create their own business and workstyle. It takes talent, creativity, and a willingness to expect the unexpected, but if those are traits you claim, you can succeed as a traveling writer.

Oh, and it helps if you read a good "how-to" book on the subject; one that gives you step-by-step instructions. One like Portable Writing!

There are many talented writers who travel extensively. Some write as a hobby while others are in the writing business—in other words, they support their mobile lifestyle with their writing skills. I spent several years fine-tuning my writing business and experimenting with various projects to determine how I would find clients, and then keep in touch with them after I hit the highway. Once I had my system up and running, I headed out on my fulltime adventure and never looked back.

Of course, at first I thought I would write travel articles and sell them to magazines, but I soon found out it’s difficult to make a living as a magazine writer. It would take approximately ten published articles per month to support the lifestyle I wanted to live, which was by no means extravagant. That meant churning out an article every three days. Too much like a job, not the freedom I was seeking!

So I decided to supplement my magazine income with business writing. No spending hours researching articles. Instead, business or corporate clients told me what they wanted and I produced it. It didn’t take long to realize I could make way more money writing for businesses!

Corporate and business clients pay well, give me repeat business, and refer me to their peers. As I travel and if I don’t have referrals at the new location, I simply attend business meetings in towns I visit and introduce myself to prospects. I give them a brochure that tells what I can do for small businesses and provide a list of former clients, with their permission, of course.

One of the most profitable types of writing I do is to write articles for corporate executives who want an article in their name to appear in industry newsletters or trade magazines. Most don’t have the time, ability, or inclination to write, but need this type of exposure for their business, or if they’re still climbing the corporate ladder, to impress higher-ups. I'm happy to provide the service for them.

When I started writing twenty years ago I was an interior designer, which gave me inside knowledge about the field of design and architecture, and contacts. It was natural for me to produce copy for design related businesses, including ghostwriting articles for industry magazines. Those jobs led to referrals to people in the same field as well as other types of business owners and professionals. Soon I had a thriving new career.

Business owners need many different types of written materials. Every new business owner needs a press release for the local newspaper. Every seminar, workshop, or conference needs news releases to attract attendees. Also brochures. It’s easy to learn how to write press releases and brochures.

Many business owners like sending newsletters to customers and prospects. They often need ads, flyers, letters, and other written materials.

One of my most successful projects was a series of short advertising columns written for various industries. Consisting of 100 words or less, they can be about anything from pet care, floral design, and travel to interior decorating, real estate, and weddings. Market them to business owners in whatever field you care to focus on. Buyers then use the columns in their local newspapers, which gives them a weekly presence in their community. It appears as a column with their byline and photo, even though it is an advertisement.

There are many more types of materials you can produce for business and corporate clients, including employee manuals, instruction manuals, and joint or co-op newsletters.

Finding clients in areas where you’re staying is simple. Tell prospects you meet, “I help business owners with their marketing needs. Do you know anyone who is new in business or who might need to get more exposure for their business?” You’ll get referrals, or the person you’re talking with will ask for your help.

Learn your trade, hone your skills, and do the best job you possibly can. And don’t be shy about asking for reference letters from clients who are especially happy with the job you have done for them. Those and a few writing samples will land you plenty of new clients.

If you’re shy about promoting your skills to strangers, you can write and publish “print-on-demand” how-to booklets, or create your own subscription newsletters and sell them through the mail or on the Internet. Readers are always interested in new or thoughtful presentations of information relating to their hobbies and interests.

Whatever your writing expertise or field of interest, you CAN make a living from writing while traveling the country. All of the above project types and more are detailed in my book, Portable Writing: the Secret to Living Your Dreams with 25 Projects to Fund Your Freedom.

Any questions about articles appearing here can be directed to me at: kayknndy@yahoo.com.

WHEN IT'S OKAY TO WRITE FOR FREE

As a professional writer you should expect to get paid, but there are times when writing for free can advance your career. Writing articles in your local newspaper can get exposure in your local community, which is especially helpful if you’re seeking clients there. Just be sure that the paper includes a short biography that tells people what you do and gives them a way to reach you. Practice writing a short (2-3 line) promotional piece about your writing business and send it with every article you write—whether you’re getting paid or not. The paper may not use it if they’re paying you, but insist that they do if you’re not getting paid.

For instance, when I lived in one spot, I often wrote feature articles for a business newspaper simply for the exposure. I would include a paragraph that said: “Kay Kennedy is a Tacoma writer who creates newsletters, brochures, and other written materials for business and corporate clients. Contact her at: xxx-xxxx.” As a traveling writer, I give them an e-mail address or direct them to my Web site.

When writing for free, make sure you let readers know who you are, what you do, and how to reach you.

Another reason to write for free is to get your first byline. Also to get your name in front of readers who might like your style of writing and contact you for a project they have in mind. Or to get your name in front of prospective agents, magazine editors, or publishers. I have also written free articles for newsletters of organizations that I belong to, or serve on the board. I consider those as a volunteer service, but the exposure certainly doesn’t hurt my business, either.

As a new writer, you’ll probably want to seek free publicity to help your business grow. As you build your business, you’ll know when it’s no longer profitable to write for free.

PORTABLE WRITING SUBSCRIBER HAS ARTICLE PUBLISHED

I recently read my July/August issue of Escapees and found something by subscriber, Bernie Fuller, who wrote an article titled: Camping with Pets. It offers some good tips, such as having a copy of your pet’s medical records with you in case of it needing emergency treatment, and lists items to have in a basic first-aid kit for your pet. Bernie also has an article appearing in the newest issue of Escapees Magazine titled: The First-aid Kit in the Window, about the versatile and amazing aloe plant.

My article titled Chasing History Along America’s Byways also appears in the current (September/October 2007) Escapees Magazine issue.

Subscribers: I’ll be happy to let other readers know you have been published if you’ll send information to me at portable.writer@yahoo.com. As you can see, I sometimes don’t get around to reading even RVing magazines until long after they come out, and might miss your articles there.

After a twisting ride up to Jerome, then the narrow climb up to the hotel (2-way traffic shares a one-lane road, with blind turns around buildings), there's nothing like a satisifying dinner at the Asylum Restaurant. Of course, then you have to retrace your route back down the mountain! The views up here stretch to the red rocks of Sedona. Photo by H. Harris.

Six friends who have vowed to grow old together. I know I'm holding up the growing old end of my bargain!

From your left to right, S. Miller, K. Kennedy, waitress, J Kennedy, C. & H. Harris and P. Miller.

Just one of the beautiful views we saw from the South rim of the Grand Canyon. This photo was taken by our friend, H. Harris, who had the newest and most sophisticated camera among us.

G-r-r-e-a-t Grand Canyon Trip

As promised, I’m sharing our recent trip to the Grand Canyon by train. A package is available through the Auto Club that includes either 3 days and 2 nights with meals at the historic Grand Canyon Hotel, or there is an RV package so you can spend your nights in your own bed in your RV parked in a park next to the hotel.

I would have preferred my own bed. If you’ve ever slept on a lumpy rock, then you know what the 2 nights were like on the hotel’s mattresses. So okay, I’ve never slept on a rock, but now I don’t need to. The mattress memory will stick with me!

The trip was wonderful. We met four friends (two couples) from California who don’t own RVs, so that’s why we stayed in the hotel. Included in our package were 2 buffet dinners and 2 breakfasts, the train ride to the Grand Canyon and a buffet lunch at the GC plus snacks onboard the train. We took the first class car, so snacks were conveniently located inside our car, as well as nice restrooms.

Following our lunch at the GC after arriving, we boarded a bus for a tour of the South rim. What a wonderful time, and the views were amazing! Our driver took us to some overlooks that had fewer
tourists, so we had mostly unobstructed views to die for.

After leaving the hotel the next day, our friends came to Cottonwood to spend the night, so we decided to have dinner at the Grand Hotel up in Jerome. It’s perched high on the mountainside above Jerome, which is roughly 3000 feet above the valley floor (elevation approximately 6000 feet). The Asylum is a gourmet restaurant that has a limited number of tables inside, so we ate out on their porch. The view was magnificent and the weather was perfect for eating outdoors. It’s a steep climb from the parking lot up to the restaurant, but if you have reservations, you can enter the hotel lobby and have someone take you up on the elevator. That’s an experience not to be missed! The elevator has definitely been around for many, many decades!

The next morning we all met to eat breakfast at a Cottonwood restaurant before our friends left for home. This trip was like all others with our friends in one way—our time together seems to revolve around food. However, this time no one had to cook!

If you already travel by RV, it’s still great to get away from your usual life for a few days, even if your most serious challenge consists of pursuing leisurely escapes on the road. Getting together with old friends is always a great change from the everyday sameness that even RVers sometimes settle into.

So whether you decide to take your RV or take the Grand Canyon hotel package, or create your own with a stay at a more modern Williams motel while sampling local eateries, the train trip is a wonderful, relaxing way to enjoy the view and spend the day. No matter how you get there, the Grand Canyon should not be missed when you travel to Arizona.

NEWS TO USE TODAY!

Short Story writing contest

Angela Hoy at Writers Weekly holds a yearly 24-hour short story writing contest, and I encourage subscribers to submit their stories. The contest happens THIS SATURDAY (22 Sept.) so if you're interested, go immediately to her website and sign up. Cost to enter is $5.00. The contest is limited to 500 entrants and is a very popular contest among writers because of the prize money. It definitelty usually fills up, so sign up right away! There are 85 prizes given (first prize - $300, second prize -$250, third prize - $200 - plus 82 other prizes). Sign up at: http://www.writersweekly.com/misc/contest.html.


ISBN Numbers

Angela Hoy had a letter in her latest newsletter asking if it was legal to resell ISBN numbers. If you're not familiar with ISBN numbers, they're the number that is assigned to each published book, and that belongs only to that book. Books must have this number to be listed for sale through distributors to book shops, and to libraries.

Authors or publishers must buy these numbers from R.R. Bowker company in blocks of ten, and the cost is prohibitive for many self-publishers to buy the entire block. Still, if writers can't afford to buy their own block of numbers, or if they only expect to ever publish one book, it's best to sign up with a "Print on Demand" Publisher like Booklocker to get their book printed: http://www.booklocker.com. Booklocker also helps with marketing and offers tips and suggestions to authors for getting their book publicized. They only sign-up about 10 percent of authors who apply, but it's an honest, legal company that provides a wonderful service to its authors.

Warning! Now it appears that a company is buying up ISBN numbers and advertising them for sale individually, at a profit. Don't be fooled if you run across an ad for individual ISBN numbers! If you buy one, you can never be listed as the publisher under that number. Find information about this problem on R.R. Bowker's Web site: http://www.isbn.org/standards/home/resellers.asp.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

I'm attempting to keep subscribers informed about issues they might need, so I will include the above types of information in blogs and the newsletter as I learn it. Also, you might want to subscribe to Angela Hoy's ezine: http://www.writersweekly.com for lots of great information on writing.


Update on new book:

LOOKING BACK is keeping me busy. Already I have moved 25 books, and am having to order more. This is only my personal activity in less than one week. Booklocker carries them (book's page - http://www.booklocker.com/books/3056.html) , and the trading post here where we're staying is now carrying the book, too. I'm weighing a few other options that have proved beneficial in the past. And the book is available through Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble's Web site and as a special order in their bookstores.

Hopefully contributors have received their autographed copies and are enjoying reading the book and their and other essays by now.

"Looking Back" is now available

My new book, Looking Back: Boomers Remember History from the '40s to the Present, was just released and is now available for sale. You can read an excerpt and order the book at http://www.booklocker.com/books/3056.html.

Writing this book has been a long, but fascinating journey into the past, and I hope readers will enjoy reliving the sometimes terrifying, sometimes amazing, and often unbelievable moments in history that have defined the lives of the Boomers.

Twenty writers (including me) share memories of those times in the book through poignant and emotional stories that bring the past to life. This book was written for all of us alive during those years to help us understand and remember the times, but it has also been written to chronicle history for those too young to have been around then so they can hear the stories firsthand. This is not an impersonal book of facts, dates and names. Instead it is "history as seen through the eyes of those who lived it!" The book brings history to life!

Today's articles:

• Write for magazines
• Never a dull moment as an RVer!
• A book for RVers who want to always stay in touch

Writing for Magazines

Sometimes it seems that my articles are terribly redundant, but I recognize that we have some new readers who might want to know what has been written about earlier. And frankly, I’m not sure I’ve really covered the subject of writing for magazines in detail. So I’ll write this as if you’re just starting your writing career and want to know how to get your articles published.

If you don’t have any experience with magazines, then please go to your local library and read all the back issues of Writer’s Digest and the Writer magazines, as well as any others you might find there. If you can’t locate them anywhere nearby, then I suggest going on the Internet and subscribing to one or both because they provide continually updated information on what editors are looking for, and list current needs of various magazines. They are both full of helpful articles. Read enough of them and you can receive a complete education in the “how-to write” department.

Seek out every magazine you can find that interests you, and slowly browse through them. So many magazines are printed each month and sent to selective audiences that no single book or magazine on writing can list them all. A lot of them are industry related, so are only sent to people in the field they cover. These are excellent magazines to get your byline in if you know something about the subject, or are willing to learn. Check doctor’s offices, hospital waiting rooms, and waiting rooms virtually anyplace you have an appointment and have to spend time waiting. Car dealers, repair shops, the drugstore pharmacy—the places an obscure magazine might turn up are endless.

Browse your local newsstand for magazines. Always copy down any submission information you find in them, including the editor’s name. But do more than browse. Study the ads—they’ll tell you what types of people read the magazine. Read a few articles to see how they’re written. Lots of facts and references telling where you can find more information? All using quotes from noted experts. Lots of general stories based on the author’s experience? These clues will provide you with information on how you should slant your article.

Start writing an article on anything that interests you, then put it away for a week or so and go back and read it. Does it look good enough that it might have appeared in a magazine, or does it lack the polish most published articles display? Magazines have editors, but they will not polish your article to make it appeal to their audience. You have to make sure your article is ready for print and doesn’t include typos, misspelled words, or grammar mistakes. Yeah, you might slip up with one or two minor mistakes, but any more and the editor will simply trash your article.

After you can produce a top-notch article, then it’s time to start thinking seriously about submitting something to a magazine. Hopefully during the time you’ve been practicing, you’ve found a magazine you want to write for, or a subject that you think will appeal to a specific audience. Now you can write your query letter and tightly focus it on the needs of the editor you’re contacting.

The query letter! Your letter should start out with a fabulous quote lifted from your article. This is where writers disagree on the process of writing. Some say don’t write an article until you have an assignment, but if you don’t write something, including an outline of your article, I don’t think you can produce an exciting query letter. And that’s what you’ll need to get the editor’s attention. You’ll need an excellent quote that draws the editor in immediately, then briefly say something about your topic and that you would like to submit an article on the subject, titled “...”. Continue into another paragraph that tells how you will handle the subject (using quotes, humorous, instructional). Write a paragraph telling what experience you offer: (you’ve worked in the field, you know the subject well because..., you will be interviewing experts (name them) for your article, or list your published experience. Close with an optimistic sentence that says you look forward to completing the article for ...magazine and can submit it within ... days (or weeks) after receiving an assignment.

Once you receive an assignment, go ahead and produce the best article possible and submit it. If you’re unsure of the quality of your work, then ask a trusted friend to read it and tell you what they think. Make sure it is a friend who will give an honest appraisal of your work. If you know an experienced writer, then ask them to help you out, or join a writer’s group where you can read your work and get feedback. And for Pete’s sake, use your spellchecker and grammar checker on the piece before it leaves your computer!

NOTE: Some magazines don’t require a query letter and prefer that you send a finished article. These are usually carefully targeted magazines to a specific group of people. For instance, Escapees Magazine will only accept finished articles.

There’s an upside and a downside to pursuing this type of work, known as writing on spec. You’ll spend time researching and writing an article that may not be accepted. If not, you won’t get paid for your time. Or maybe you will! If the magazine you send it to doesn’t accept it, you are free to market to other, similar markets. So you might make a sale to another magazine. Another downside is that oftentimes there’s no way of knowing what a magazine will pay for an article, if anything. To find a listing of what magazines pay, check Writer’s Market for the current year. But be aware that only a small fraction of magazines are listed in this book.

The upside to writing on spec: if you’re a new writer with no credits to your name, an excellent article written on spec might be the easiest way to break into the field.

Remember, grab the editor’s attention with your killer opening. And remember that your article must be top-notch for even these “on spec” magazines to buy it. I have written articles without an assignment, but usually only for magazines that I’ve written for before, so have an idea of whether the editor will buy it, and I know ahead of time about what amount of pay I’ll receive for the article.

Next time: When it’s okay to write and not get paid for it.

Never a dull moment for RVers

When we started RVing, I expected it to be exciting. Or at least never boring. However, there were lots of exciting moments that I could never have contemplated—even in nightmares!

Pipes leaking, the roof leaking, the air conditioner leaking, the toilet leaking? Yes, it seems every darned thing in this motorhome has a seal that shrivels up, or dries out, or falls apart, and hence the dreaded leak. Luckily my husband is handy or this lifestyle would have become too complicated for me a long time ago.

I stepped out of the shower onto a wet spot the other day and thought it was just where the shower door had dripped water. Only it didn’t dry up. Not that day, and not the next! Finally hubby decided to check it out before the wet spot spread. And you guessed it—the seals on the toilet had done their thing with a final gush of water (I hope clean) that soaked a spot on the carpet.

So he bought seals for the toilet. It was too hot to work on it when he brought them home that day, so he took a nap. That always works to make things better. Then today he decided to tackle pulling the toilet, and that’s when he found out he had bought the wrong seals.

That’s where I come into the picture. I’m busy fixing lunch when he informs me that I need to run into town to pick up the correct seal, but first I need to drop him and the toilet off at the dump station so he can clean it thoroughly before reinstalling it. Not before I eat the lunch I’ve prepared, I indignantly inform him!

After my trip into town I pick him up at said dump station and find him dying (not literally) of thirst. Never mind that I had offered him my diet coke before I left him in the hot sun preparing to hoist the 100 lb. toilet around for an hour or so.

Finally we get home and he realizes the carpet needs to be cleaned behind the toilet—a spot we can’t possibly reach when the toilet is in place because of the genius of RV designers and engineers who plan the placement of such things. Thank goodness hubby decides to scrub that area, but there’s still the rest of the carpet (including the big orange spot that spreads from the bathroom into the hall where I dropped and broke a bottle of steak sauce—don’t even ask what I was doing with a bottle of steak sauce there!) We’re having the carpet cleaned thoroughly later this week, but I have to pre-treat the spot (for the third and hopefully last time) before regular cleaning can commence.

Meanwhile, I’ve measured the distance between the motorhome and the campground restroom a couple of times so I’ll know exactly how far I have to sprint in the middle of the night, if necessary. And I’m keeping the BIG spotlight beside the bed so I can snatch it in a hurry and use it to watch out for rattlesnakes, tarantulas and scorpions between here and the restroom. Such is the life of a fulltime RVer!

Now that you’ve heard way more than you ever wanted to know about RV toilets, I’ll try to think of something more positive for next month’s RVing article.

Next time: the Grand Canyon Railway excursion

Subscriber has written book for RVers

Portable Writing Newsletter subscriber Bernie Fuller has written Amateur Radio for RVers: A Primer. It holds information that is definitely important to RVers who may find themselves needing help in a remote area one day where there’s no cell phone transmission. The book provides helpful answers to such questions as:

Are you aware of the communications modes available to you when the cell phone bombs?

What is Amateur Radio? What does it do to help you?

Is the licensing procedure difficult, or can you qualify?

Bernie Fuller is an advocate of complete communications systems to make traveling by RV safer and more enjoyable. His expertise covers all manner of radio communications and he imparts his extensive knowledge of RVing and communications in this book in non-technical terms anyone can understand. Amateur Radio for RVers is available for $14.95. You can get more information by going to his web site: http://www.writeoutdoors32.com.