When I left my position as full professor at the med school in 2002, I was looking forward to a life of retirement. But God decided that it was too soon for me to retire, and I wrote a dozen novels and eight novellas of romantic medical suspense. Along the way, I decreased my blogging to twice a week--"stuff" on Tuesday each week, and a writing related post every Friday. I thought I was through with writing, but earlier this year I published my latest (and possibly last) novella, Medical Mystery. And now, once again, I'm going into wind-down mode.
Blogs are no longer as important as they once were. I've managed to keep up with blogging, but have avoided getting into podcasts and some of the latest social media outlets--this old dog is getting too many years on him to learn some of those new tricks. I will blog when/if I have something to say. For those who will miss some of my early wisdom, I suggest the publication of some of my earliest blogs, First Lessons.
For now, I plan to sit around and stare at the walls. If the spirit moves me, I'll post something on my blog from time to time. Otherwise, it's been fun (mostly). Talk among yourselves. See you.
When you have written your book (personally, I mark the end with ###) and it's accepted, you might think your work is done. And, I guess, it's done if your goal is to produce a written book. But there's one more format for your book to be published in. If you have a publisher, they'll probably do this for you, but if you've cast your lot with those who publish the work independently, this is up to you. More and more people prefer to hear, rather than read, their books. And if your book isn't in audio format, say good-bye to those sales.
For all my novellas, including this latest one, I went through ACX to publish an audio format of them. I won't go through all the steps--you can read about them on the ACX website--but one of the last (and most important) steps will require you to visit the book just one more time. You should listen to it. Listen for errors in pronunciation, as well as other errors that might have slipped by you. You just thought you were through.
I had hoped to tell you that Medical Error is now available in audio format, and it may be by the time this post is up. And that is my final book. (But I've said that before, haven't I?) Well, stay tuned.
March 15--the "ides of March"--used to be the date when our income taxes were due. That has changed, but most of us (including me) like to have our material to our accountant well before the current due date of April 15. Interesting thought occurred to me as I gathered the information. Since I started my solo practice of medicine more than half a century ago, I have gone through five accountants! It's not that I'm a difficult client. I just literally wore out that many. That should tell me (and anyone else paying attention) that I'm too old for this foolishness. Unfortunately, the IRS doesn't agree.
Things have been sort of hectic around our place. We've had both the "grand-dogs" develop problems that required them to be put down. Fortunately, there was a puppy (another "rescue" dog) waiting between number one and two's departure. I suspect that there will be another one soon, and the quota of dogs at the home of two of my granddaughters will be filled once more. But for now, there are some tears.
Other than that, not much is new. Well, I am pondering something that I may be ready to share with you. Come back Friday and we'll see if it jells by then.
What do writers do with their time? The majority of authors have "jobs," of whatever kind--housewife, teacher, clerk, lawyer, whatever--and they squeeze in writing because they want to, not because of other obligations. They write because they have something to say, so they do it when they can.
Even those authors who have "retired" have full lives. Writing demands concentration, and sometimes there just isn't time to fit it into the schedule. That's what I'm experiencing right now. Nothing bad--just the everyday things that we all have to do. And, since I'm retired, may wife and I are sometimes called upon to help. The difference, I suppose, lies in our ability to put family before almost anything else--even writing, or blogging, or any other activity.
Whatever is facing you, your writing may have to take a back seat for a short time, but that's okay. It's not a contest, and they don't shoot the losers. Take some time away from your writing if you need to. In the long run, it's worth it.
If you were expecting to read words of wisdom this morning, please accept my apologies. We've all heard the phrase, "life got in the way." Well, that's just what happened. Writers, just like all of us, have other obligations and things come up. I'll try to post something writing-related on Friday. Meanwhile, talk among yourselves.
I dare you to look carefully at the next half-dozen books you read and find one without an error--either a minor one, like a punctuation mark that should be changed, or a really big goof such as referring to a character as Herbert in one place and Hubert in another.
Every manuscript undergoes a proofreading--actually, it is proofread many times, and by more than one pair of eyes. But no matter how rigorous the process, errors slip through. It doesn't matter whether the book is put out by a well-known publisher or is independently published, errors will end up on the printed page (or the electronic version).
When I began writing, I received lots of advice. But one bit of advice really stuck with me. It was that mistakes happen, and if the mistake doesn't contribute to the story line, let it go. In my latest novella, despite my best efforts, some mistakes have turned up. The average reader will let them slip by. Some people will call them to my attention. And that's okay. But unless they are major errors, the book is not going to be reprinted. Sorry about that.
Do you think that more errors turn up on an e-book as opposed to a printed copy? What has been your experience? And if they're relatively minor, do you want them corrected? I'd like to know.
Ever been surprised because something has crept up on you? Just today, my wife asked if we had put the trash containers out, because a big truck was going down our alley and we hadn't put out our trash and recycle containers. Fortunately (or unfortunately) her question was followed by the sound of a jack-hammer, and a look at the garage door confirmed that the truck had stopped down the alley where our neighbor was having some repair work done on his pool. But that led me to think that, although it wasn't the day for putting our trash out for pickup, it was also time for me to write one of my blogs for the week. So, although I got out of one chore today, I found this one staring me in the face.
It was easy enough to write my blogs when I was getting ready to publish my last novella (and thanks for the nice words about it, by the way). I was ready to take things easy for a while afterward--not keep up my blogging. But like death and taxes, it's a certainty that this obligation has to be met.
By now, you've sort of grasped the idea that I have nothing in particular to write. I guess it's your turn. Anything you'd like to know about the "real, live author" behind this blog?
