Writing Wednesday: Interruptions

 

Writing Wednesday:

Interruptions

We all know that pain. We sit down and get moving along, and suddenly, we are interrupted by numerous things. The list is endless, for sure. How do we deal with them, or how can we try to eliminate them is the trick.

I will run down a few of the issues I have and what I do to lessen the impact of those interruptions on me.

One of the biggest is my wife messaging me or merely talking to me. She just wants to say hey or whatever, so this is a pretty easy one to deal with. Since I have a pretty regular writing schedule, she has learned to leave me alone during that time. It did take a couple of days, but she is terrific about respecting my writing time.

Dealing with family members is pretty straight forward; just tell them, leave me alone during this time. Most will do that. Now, friends, on the other hand, they can be a little harder to deal with. Some of them will not get the hint that you need your writing time, and they will keep bugging you. It can be as easy and turning the sound off on your phone or not having a browser open when you write. They will get over you, ignoring them for an hour or two.

This brings up one of the worst interruptions of all social media. This is a significant pain because sometimes we just have to know who is commenting on that picture we just posted or arguing with you about the comment you just made. It would be great is it were just easy to not have the browser window open. Still, we need to look some things up for our story or double-check an essential piece of information.

Many like to listen to music or even the TV when they write. I find it easier to not listen to a radio station when writing. The commercials break the mood, as does the DJ. It is easier to tell my Alexa to play a specific group or style of music. This eliminates the commercials and DJ breaking in. I have tried listening to TV, but I find myself wanting to watch instead of just listening.

I have seen several authors comment in posts on this topic that they have small children at home, and they have to work around their schedule. That one is difficult to offer and advice on. I do seriously feel your pain. I also know many of these authors do a decent job working around their children’s schedules. But, those emergencies will occur.

We would all love to have a soundproof room that can be locked and block all cell phone signals when we write. The more I get myself into a “bunker” state of mind, the more I can block out inevitable distractions.

Here is an odd interruption, but ti actually does get in the way of your mojo at the time, your grammar checking, or writing aid program. I use Grammarly, and while writing it is checking, if I am on a roll, I will ignore the issues/problems I have in my text until I am done. Then go back and fix the issues. None of us are perfect when we type, so there will always be those fixes that need to be made. I have even turned Grammarly off while writing to I do not see the mistakes. This does go a long way in keeping my mojo and keeping me on target to get my thoughts down.

Even pets can cause issues. How many times have we been in a groove and getting just the perfect scene written when the dog needs to go out? Sure we can tell them to wait, but in the back of our mind, we are thinking, are they going to cause a bigger problem if I don’t let them out now?

It is impossible to work up a one size fits all to lessen the impact of interruptions. I shut off my phone and keep my browser closed as much as possible. But, then my mind will wander away from the task at hand. It happens to be the best of us, and it not uncommon. Heck, writing this, I was knocked off track a few times.

So, the moral of the story, do all you can to lessen the impact of interruptions but don’t freak out when they happen. And for me, when all else fails, it is bourbon and pipe time.


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Book Monday: Made to Order

 

Made to Order Bride by Carolyn Faulkner

Blurb:

Can she conform to his way of life? Does she even want to?

Star was raised in a post-apocalyptic, sheltered environment, cherished and educated until she turned eleven. From that day forward, all physical contact ended, and her life changed, but she had no idea why. Until the day she was given a drug to paralyze her temporarily, strapped to a cross, and taken to him.

Tru was a leader among men, created and trained after the demise of the earth to be a fighter and to someday take over the land with his bravery. He ordered her to be his mate many years ago, before she was created. He paid for her to be raised to his specifications and to be educated as he saw fit. And now the time had come for him to reap the rewards. His slave was grown and ready to come to him, to keep house for him, cook his meals, tend to his needs, and most importantly, to bear his children.

But Star soon finds that her life will never be the same. Tru is a strict disciplinarian and he has given her many rules to follow. Can she conform to his way of life? Does she even want to? Planning her escape would be difficult, but she promised herself she would find a way.

Publisher's Note: This futuristic, sci-fi adventure is full of graphic scenes and power exchange. Do not read if this is offensive to you.

 

Purchase: books2read.com/u/b5Zy7l

 

Excerpt

Star remained silent.

"You'll have to be punished, you know, for even thinking about escaping me. And punished harshly."

"Aren't I always?"

Tru considered her carefully. The remark wasn't said sarcastically, but matter of factly. "Yes, you are. It's what you need. It's also what you were built for."

The truth of his statement shone through in his voice, but Star blanched at his statement. "It was not."

His smile was not quite right.

"It was. You were built for me."

Book Monday: New Release Rescuing Raven

 

Rescuing Raven by Isabella Kole

Available at: https://books2read.com/u/4NLkxx

Blurb:

The love story of Princess Raven, banished to the tower by her father at the tender age of three, and Prince Richard, the hottie with a firm hand whose attempt to rescue her results in a feud between their kingdoms, is a modern-day fairy tale cross between Rapunzel and Romeo and Juliet.

The couple finds an unlikely ally in Queen Lydia, the not- so-evil stepmother. But when it comes down to a choice between their respective thrones and the love they've discovered, is the relationship doomed forever?

 

Publisher's Note: This fantasy tale contains graphic scenes and a theme of power exchange.

 

Purchase link: https://books2read.com/u/4NLkxx

 

Excerpt:

“Too late, my princess,” he replied in an even tone. “I’m already angry. All you had to do was tell me, and I would have agreed. It’s the sneaking out the minute my back is turned that I can’t abide.”

“Did…you bring me coffee?” she asked sweetly in an attempt to ease his annoyance with her.

“I did, but do you really deserve a treat now?” he asked as he pointed to a cup of steaming brew and a large cinnamon roll oozing with cream cheese icing. He knew it was one of her favorites.

Her mouth was watering as she looked at the delights he’d brought up from the bakery in the lodge. She started to move toward the desk when a hand reached out and grabbed her wrist. “Not so fast, my errant one.”

“R…Richard…please,” she begged.

“You should have thought of that before you ventured out. Now, you’ll have to be punished for your impulsive actions. We’ve discussed this very matter many times, yet you still insist on defying me. I am responsible for your safety, not to mention how it would crush me if something were to happen to you.”

 




I know it is not Monday, but I was delayed with obligations I would not skip. So, I figured, I would drop this in tonight. 

#bookstagram #IsabellaKole #fantasyromance #romancebooks #newrelease #fairytaleromance #steamyromance #blushingbooks @blushingbooks 

Writing Wednesday: Time

Writing Wednesday

Time

We all have seen the question asked in many different writers groups, “What is your biggest issue with writing? One of the top answers, time.

For me, it a huge issue. Like many others, I work a full-time job. And those who do not work have households to take care of fo and family issues to handle. Let’s face it. Time is one of the most significant issue s we have with just about everything we do.

There is no simple answer on how to best utilize your time to take advantage of it all. I am just as bad as everyone else at managing my time. To be honest, I am bad at it. Work, commute, household work, kids, family time are just a few of the things that get in the way of writing.

One of the biggest things, I hear at work is time management is essential. We typically have multiple projects running at the same time. For me, it is pretty straightforward. I usually work on the same task all day, and when it is finished, I move along to to the next.

But, on a full daily view of all my required projects for life, it gets pretty complicated. I never know from day to day what my wife is going to have me do. We all run into those daily issues that need to be done, and typically those cut into our “free” time.

Since the world went insane this year, I have been working from home, which is a big time-saver for me, no commute. Time management to me on a daily macro level has been far more comfortable to work out, Work, home items, family time, my relaxation time, writing.

I feel lucky that I have set this up and make it work for so long. Even after I return to work in the office, I will have to adjust the actual times period for each of these events, but I can do it.  It did take me a while to get my time set into a workable schedule. And I had to stick to it, now it is a habit.

There is no simple rule for any of us like they tell you in those time management classes. Some people need a list, others can simply organize in their head, others will never work out a plan. To me, I took the importance of my tasks. Work and home commitments were essential Items. Those two also follow one another in chronological order. The only other issue was how much time to a lot into each spot. Again, work and family issues were pretty set in stone. The remainder of my awake time was divided into the last couple of slots. It did take me a while to get it all adjusted, but now things are moving along pretty smoothly. This week, in particular, work did get messed up since I had to go into the office for a couple of days. So, the missing hours with a commute and getting up earlier hurt my schedule, but I will recover.

So, set your priorities. What is most important to you? Then rank those. Look at how your day naturally unfolds and put things in a logical order—set time limits for your different activities. Then adjust as needed. It might take a while, but you can do it. Remember to put the time in for yourself to do “nothing.”


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Navy Experience: Seasick

 

Navy Experience: Seasick

 

When I tell people about being in the Navy, they almost always ask about getting seasick. I am not going to lie; I was worried about this a good deal. While in gas turbine school, several of the instructors talked about getting sick and puking in the engine room.

We had an instructor who had a nickname, “The Green Hornet.” This was because he was known to get sick any time the ship left port. Since I had initially planned to stay in for a career, 20 years, I did not want to have a moniker like that stick.

When I reported to USS Scott, she was in a maintenance period, so for two months, we were tied to a pier at a small shipyard. Every once in a while, the ship would move because of the tide or a large container ship passing. The day came for us to actually leave and head out to sea. That morning I was a nervous wreck. The rest of the engineers were constructive with suggestions. Mostly keep busy and keep a full stomach. Then the most prominent advice, don’t eat the greasy lunch the cooks were making.

Other than some initial movement, it was hard to actually tell that we were moving. Once we made it out of, the harbor things did start to happen, but I was too busy in the engine room to notice much. Also, the engine room is below the waterline, and it does not move much. Later that day, the ship did do some full speed runs with maximum rudder turns. That was rather interesting.

I never did get sick any time we went out. I would feel a little uneasy each time, but the feeling passed, and everything was right with the world. Once I was close to getting sick, but as luck would have it, mid rats were being served. Midrats is a late meal for those on a watch. They had cold cut sandwiches, so nothing heavy. That did the trick, and I was right after that.

Things did get a little interesting on our North Atlantic cruise with rough water. Probably the wildest thing that happened on that deployment was taking my advancement exam while the ship rocked and rolled. We slid around the deck a little in the crew rec room while taking the test. But, I did pass, so that was the important thing. We did hit a bad storm while leaving Norway; pictures below.

Yes, looking back, I can say I was definitely glad I never have an issue. We did have one young engineer who was flown off the ship to the carrier because he was sick. He eventually was flown back to the states. I never did hear what happened to him, but he was no good to us in his rack.

Many years later, on a cruise, I was internally laughing at the people complaining about being seasick on a smooth day. It was amusing to me, but hey, I get, not everyone can hack it.

The storm we went through off Norway Sept 1991. Damage taken because of the storm.

Writing Wednesday: Twitter

Writing Wednesday: Twitter

Last week I spoke about Instagram and how to help is spread your message and expand your platform. This week, Twitter.

Twitter has about 271 million users, compared to 1 billion on Instagram. (I just looked that up). Even with far fewer users, it is still essential to utilize Twitter as a platform to get your platform expanded.

As with Instagram, hashtags are essential. Without those, your post will probably not been seen by your target.
#Books #BookWorm #GreatReads #IndieThursday #MustRead #Novel #Paperbacks #Storytelling #WhatToRead

 
#AskAgen t#AskAuthor #AskEditor #BookMarket #BookMarketing
#GetPublished #IAN(Independent Author Network) #IndiePub
#PromoTip #Publishing #SelfPublishing #WriteTip #WritingTip

#1K1H(write one thousand words in one hour) #AmWriting #AmEditing
#AmRevising #CopyWriting #EditGoal #Editing #IndieAuthor
#MyWANA(writers community created by Kirsten Lamb)
#NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month is held every November)
#RomanceWriter #ScriptChat #WIP #WordCount #WriteChat #WriteGoal

#WriteMotivation #WritersLIfe #WriterWednesday #Writing #WritingBlitz
#WritingPromp t#WritersBlock #WroteToday #WW

#Amazon #eBook #BookBuzzr #eReaders #ePubChat #iPad
#Kindle #KindleBargain #Kobo
#KPD(Kindle Publishing Direct)
#Nook #Pubit #SmashWords #Sony #Webfic

#140Poem #Crime #Comedy #DarkFantasy #Dystopian #Erotica #HistFic
#Historical #FaithLitChat #KidLitChat #Literature #LitFic #MemoirChat
#MGLit(middlegradesliterature)
#Mystery #NonFiction #Paranormal #Poetry
#PoetryMonth(EachAprilintheUSA)
#Romantic #RomanticSuspense #TrueStories #ScienceFiction
#SciFiChat #ShortStory #SteamPunk #Suspense #UrbanFantasy #WomensFiction
#YA #YALit

#99c  (toofferorpickupaneBookargain)
#AuthorRT #BookGiveaway #BookMarketing #FollowFriday #FreebieFriday

#FreeReads #Novelines

 

All of these can also be used on Instagram, so keep track of them. The major drawback with twitter is the length of your post, 280 characters. This includes your hashtags. So, when making posts, remember the hashtags and make sure you plan ahead of time. The limit does not apply to images you want to include.

Lately, when I post on Twitter, I try to include an image, it helps draw attention to your post. Remember, people are visual animals, so adding a picture will improve that your tweet will be seen.

Many other platforms, such as Instagram, and blogs, have an option to also send out a tweet fro your new post. I share my blog posts on Twitter, as well. But, you have to add the hashtags yourself.

There are different tools you can use to schedule your Twitter posts; I have not used any of those yet. https://twittimer.com/ Seems like the one that is used a good deal; it also offers you an option to schedule Facebook posts.

 Twitter can be used on either your computer or your phone. So, the significant benefit there is no third party is needed to use it on your computer like with Instagram.

Please subscribe to my blog. I post content on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I am using this platform to help out other Indie Authors as I move through the self-publishing maze. 

 

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Book Monday Double Shot: Pre-order Notice "My Noble Fight"

 

My Noble Fight

(The Royals Book 3)

C.R. Riley

Preorder Now Available!! Goes Live Oct. 6!!

My Nobel Fight  (The Royals: Book 3) by C. R. Riley

★Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08HSJK5MV

★Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08HSJK5MV 

★Amazon CA: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B08HSJK5MV 

★Amazon AU: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B08HSJK5MV 

★Amazon NL: https://www.amazon.nl/dp/B08HSJK5MV 

Tagline:  When a handsome Prince is determined to make your life worth living, do you trust him?

Blurb:

My life is not perfect; in fact, it is in a considerable state of disrepair. I have no one to blame but myself for that. Well, I should blame the man who dragged me into this muddy life. He certainly helped dirty it up.

It's time for me to start over again and leave that life behind. Get as far away from him as I can. Take my daughter and escape before he ruins us both. She deserves so much better than the life we're trapped in.

But while I wait for the right time to present itself, I find myself distracted by one wonderful Prince. My screwed-up life has no place for this man, who has decided to get his nose dirty. He doesn't even understand how dire my situation is, or the danger he is inserting himself into. And while I might like to see where it all could go if things were different, there is no way I'd risk dragging him down with me. My life has no room for a Prince. We are from two other worlds, and I'd only taint him and his family.

The problem I'm having, however, is the length he's willing to go to prove me wrong. No matter how hard I try to warn him off, he refuses to listen to reason. The only way I see out is to do the unthinkable.

This is my fight, and I'm not about to let him sidetrack me. It's time to do what I have to do. I can only pray he forgives me one day.

***My Noble Fight is a novel that mentions the acts of physical and sexual assault, which I understand may be triggers for some. This romance novel is a work of fiction. It is about the healing of a woman determined to have a better life for herself and her daughter. I do not go into great detail, but do discuss those matters so you can, as a reader, can understand the heroine's strength. Then hopefully, you will be able to celebrate her as a survivor, warrior, and a champion to her daughter. Reader Discretion is advised. 

 

Book Monday: Review Hard To Trust

 

Hard to Trust

(Hard to Love Book 2)

L.M. Ried

People all have a past, and sometimes that past can derail their present or future. That starts to happen to Ashlynn, but she makes a deal to prevent that from happening. Grayson also has a past that he tries to hide from, but makes the decision to move last time.

Ashlynn is in a horrible place in her life, but a man she knows from college class comes to her rescue. He comes to her rescue so she can finish college and attend law school. 10 years later, she is up for a partnership, but her past comes back to rear its ugly head. Again, she must make a deal to save her career. As it turns out, Ashlynn is a powerful woman capable of much.

Grayson is a lawyer in how own practice. He is caring for his mother, who has lost her grasp on reality. Grayson is hiding from his past, but an offer from his brother to take over their father's law firm proves too much for him to stay away.

Along the way, he has an encounter with Ashlynn, and their relationship begins to build. But, with her past of men mistreating her, can Ashlynn trust again?

I did enjoy the book a great deal. The characters were easy to get behind, and the plot was rather unique. The writing style was easy to follow and easy to read. I zoomed right along. Don't forget, emotions will be present, so if you are susceptible, watch out!

I liked it a good deal, and I am sure you will as well. 

Building 837 - Gas Turbine BEQ and A-School

 Building 837

Gas Turbine School

When I finally made it over to Gas Turbine school, I was rather happy, finally about time to get into some serious school. The building we occupied was a new style the Navy was trying out. The first floor was classrooms for A-school. Floors 2,3,4 was for us to live in. The building was a square with an open courtyard.

Each floor had 4 separate companies to keep track of the students. Each company had its own head facility, office, and lounge. We did not have individual rooms; we had open bays that held 4 sailors. Each of us had a rack and two lockers.

It was a reasonably new building when I arrived in July 1990. One each side of the first floor, there were three classrooms, one room for each week of training. There were also lounges for the instructors, a scantron room, vending machines, video games, and a phone bank. We took weeks one through nine in 837. Then we had 3 weeks in a different build, then back to 837 for our final couple weeks. At the time, our school was 14 weeks. Plus, we had another 4 weeks of hands on in the Gas Turbine hot plant. I will talk about that another time.

I am assigned a room and get my items put away. Next, I meet with our company commander and figure I will be told I start my class on Monday. HA! More hold time into my class begins on  July 30, 1990. So, while on hold, we cleaned and pretty much wasted our time not really doing much.

Building 837 was a prototype building, and the base loved it. Except it has a bizarre quirk, the fire alarm had a bad habit of going off at night. Sometimes it would go off 4 or 5 times at night. I have spoken to others who were in 837 4 and 5 years after I was there, and it still was doing the same thing. The building is gone now, replaced by a new building.

Once we finally made it to the first week, we notice something. There were a good many guys who were cross rating, switching jobs. They were called fleet returnees. This was happening because the Navy was decommissioning its older steam-powered ships and commissioning more gas turbines. Our instructor comes in the first day and sets up the class leadership. When we started class, something strange happened, the first three weeks was a rehash of the peewees class.

We then had classes on gas turbine theory and the physics of how the engine works. We also had some thermodynamics and aerodynamics. Then we also had to learn about the main engine and the generator. These were the General Electric LM-2500 and Allison 501 K17 (I think)

As with all Navy, we had to stand watches while in 837. Each company rotated daily, so we had a 4-week rotation. Once every four weeks, we had a full weekend fo duty. This also caused a period called the 8-day skate. Meaning when you were to have duty on Sunday only, the weekend section covered it.

I recall there were a couple fleet guys who were on top of their classes. One particular guy, IC1 Ball was a major brain. He was a smart guy and, at the time, probably had the highest average going through GSE A school. The Electrical and Mechanical guy all went through the first portion of the same school. The electrical guys had extra training.

Yes, I am going to brag here in a minute. I believe when I went through, we had a comp test over three weeks. Everything we had during those three weeks, we had a test over. The engine comp test was the hardest because different sections of the main engine and generator were close in name. Still, different enough, they would mess you up. Each week the instructor would “pick” from 4 possible tests fro that week. The Engine Comp test score was a big competition.

Our weekly test was 50 questions, 2 points each, 75% required to pass. A comp test was 100 questions, still 75% to pass. So, we take the test after a full week of intensive studying. After we took the test and waited for them to be graded, our instructor comes back in to give us the scores. Petty Officer Dodrill was his name.

He rattles off everyone’s scores, several people failed, I scored a 91, which was really good. He begins to berate whose who failed. After having fun with everyone, he tells everyone to add 5 to the score he gave them. So, I get a 96! Yes, and the most challenging test the GSM school had. (At that time anyway.) And nobody did fail. One guy got a 75, so he passed.

News of the scores travels pretty quick in the building. Later that day, I was in the Company Commanders office, and so was IC1 Ball. The company commander already knew what my score was, which at the time was the highest of the year.

So, he asks me, “Fireman Adams, what was your comp test score today.”

Ball askes which week, so I say week 9 (I think is right). Ball goes on to brag how he scored a 94, and he was an electrical guy.

“96,” I say.

“Bull shit, you did not, no way,” Ball says.

The company commander shows him the score sheet, there I was on top, 96! Ball was beside himself; I had beaten him.

There are some more stories about 837 that Ill share as I go on. Remember, if you like my posts, please subscribe; I post on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. 

837 Courtyard

 

 

 

Writing Wednesday: Instagram

Writing Wednesday

Instagram

Following on with last Wednesday's post today, we run down some information on Instagram. Yes, writers use Instagram to promote themselves. There is a whole community of bookstgrammers out there who use it to promote books.

Instagram typically is for picture charing, sort of twitter for photos, but you knew that already. The biggest hurdle with Instagram is the posting platform, your phone. It is hard to write lengthy posts on Instagram using your phone. It is even worse to get all the spelling and grammar correct too. But, lucky for us, there is a tool that helps out much, Facebook Creator Studio.

That tool will allow you to cut a paste long book reviews, cover release info, book release info, or even long blog posts into Instagram from your computer. And you can schedule when those posts are to hit Instagram. So, you can do an entire week posting in an hour or so, set the schedule, and leave it alone.

Not only does it do that with Instagram, but it also does the same with your Facebook pages. So, the Creator can be an excellent tool for saving time. To use this, you must have Instagram set as s business account. Then you link it to your Facebook page through Creator.

Instagram, just like Twitter, needs proper hashtags to get your posts noticed by those who are looking for it.  Here are the most popular hashtags for Instagram.

#bookstagram #books #booklover #book #bookworm #reading #bookstagrammer #bookish #booknerd #bookaddict #bibliophile #instabook #booksofinstagram #bookaholic #bookphotography #read #b #readersofinstagram #booksbooksbooks #booklove #bookshelf #instabooks #bookblogger #igreads #love #bookcommunity #booklovers #bookreview #reader #bhfyp

These are important. What good does it do to post a review or a cover reveal and not let people know it is there? Hashtags are your friend, and there are numerous lists online to help you find them. I have a word file that is just hashtags.

Getting followers is the tricky part. There are so many people out there doing the same thing, but you can get them. Author groups are full of people who will follow you. You can do that o inflate your numbers, but you also need people who will interact, like, and comment. So, be picky about who you might follow from the long lists you see in Facebook Groups. Look for the active people, not just those with massive lists of followers. The drawback, all this takes time. The upside once you start to get followers and people interacting, this leads to more. The moral of the story, if you are writing and plan to publish in the next year, start doing this. Post, book-related memes, post reviews, post cover reveals for your author friends, post book release info for your friends.  

Being a self-published author is a hard thing to do. Even if you want to become represented by a publishing house, you need to put in the work. Nearly publisher asks for your social media contacts. Why? To see if you have a following. These have the potential to be built-in customers. 

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Book Monday: Review of The Reunion at Halfpoint

 

Book Review

of 

The Reunion at Halfpoint

by Celia K Nott

Yes, book Monday’s continue even with the holiday and my own frantic schedule. WE do things like this for different reasons, but mostly because books are important.

Celia K Nott writes about what she knows, small towns with unique characters along with foster-care/adoption themes intertwined in her writings. This is her debut offering and the first novella in the Colorado Sweet Romance series. Now, let me ask this, we all had that one special love at one time in our lives that, for some reason, just never worked out, right? Did you get a shot at rekindling that love? Or did it fade away into a distant memory?

Annie and Hank will get that shot after 20 years. Annie is a mother running her class reunion at her Aunt’s Inn. Hank declines the invite but shows up none the less. Hank shows up, and Annie is thrown for a loop. Hank starts out by making his intentions clear.

For me, it started out a little slow, but it did start moving along and pulled me into the story. A lovely little gem, for me, was the kids. Overall the book was an easy read and did keep me engaged. Emotions play a pivotal part in the book, and you will get your share of those from laughing to some tears. Pick up a copy. You will enjoy it. 

The Reunion at Halfpoint on Amazon

Experience Friday - The Corn Boil

 

Experience Friday

The Corn Boil

One of the most significant events of the summer in my home town was the Annual Corn Boil the Lindenwood Volunteer Fire Department put on. It was a way for the Firemen to give back to the community. Lindenwood is a small town in Northern Illinois of about 500 people. It is surrounded by some of the best farmland in the area. No matter which direction you head, you will have crops on both sides of the road as you drive. I could see corn growing from my own bedroom window.

As a young boy growing up in a simple life, the chance to help out at the fire department was always something I jumped at. My father was an Engineer with the department, and when it was his turn to take care of the trucks, I was always there to help. When it was time to mow the lawn in the summer, I would also be there to help. And when it was time to drive the trucks around, I make sure I was there to ride along. After all, who wouldn't want to ride in a fire truck? Especially when I got to operate the lights and siren.

The corn boil was a simple event, and its focus was sweet corn. It usually took place in mid-August near the end of the sweet corn season in Illinois. On the morning of the event, several of us would meet at the fire department to go with our fathers to pick a truckload of corn. One of the men would clean out the bed of there pick up, so we had plenty of room for corn. The problem was not finding corn since Lindenwood is surrounded by some of the best sweetcorn anywhere.

I was up every morning at 5:00 a.m. since my brother and I delivered the local newspaper around the town. After we were done, we would catch a couple more hours of sleep and then get up for an excellent breakfast before hopping on our bikes are heading down to the station to help. The trucks were outside, and the men were at work cleaning the inside of the station.

The discussion was then where to go get the corn. As mentioned above, that was pretty easy with all the fields around. We would hop into several trucks and head out to a field. In those days, we would ride in the bed of the trucks as we headed out on our task. Soon we stopped, and everyone grabbed a 5 gallon bucket to fill with ears of sweet corn. It took a while to pick enough to fill the entire pick up truck, but we did. Once that truck was full, it was driven back to town to sit in the shade until we were ready to shuck it.

The next target was the tomato farm of Harry Ross. He always let us stop by his fields to pick a dozen buckets of tomatoes. The wives of the firemen would be busy at home, making different side dishes for the corn boil, coleslaw, potato salad, cucumber salad. The morning activities ended at about 10:00 a.m. or so. The trucks were sitting outside, and the station was wide open. The corn sat in the shade of two large trees waiting to be shucked.

The firemen set up the large cauldron to start heating water. It was filled with water and would eventually heat to a raging boil. The corn was placed into a large basket and lowered into the water. Myself and my friends, Brian, Kevin, Scott, Randy, my brother Craig, and his friend Kenny, would shuck the corn and put it into boxes. The husks were then thrown into an empty truck parked next to the one full of corn. Of course, we always were told we did not get the silk off the corn good enough. We did, but we were always told we didn't. My sister Lorri her friend Rachelle would stop by to help, but that didn't last long.

One of the side benefits of shucking corn was we each would receive an ice-cold beer. We would each get one of the small 8oz bottle of beer that one of the firemen had bought earlier in the day. Yeah, we all felt like big shots when we had those. While the corn was being shucked, some other tasks needed to be done. Setting up tables, getting the supplies from the local store, and picking up the other food made around town.

The menu was straightforward, sweet corn, hot dogs, tomatoes, coleslaw, potato salad, and cucumber salad. It never failed that we had lovely weather for the event as well. Of course, before the first townspeople arrived, we had already tested a basket of corn and a grill full of hot dogs. Each basket of hot corn was dumped on one of the serving tables, and people would take it from the pile. One pound blocks of butter were set at the end of the table, and all you had to do was roll the hot corn on it to give it a nice even coat.

It was a great time. We got to sit around, eat as much as we wanted, and enjoy the company. As it grew darker and the number of people dropped off, the ladies around town would get baskets full of corn so they could freeze it for winter. Each basket held more than enough for any household to have enough sweet corn to last the winter. We never bought canned or frozen corn from the supermarket when I was growing up. Sharp knives and freezer boxes were the tools needed that night. This was work for my mom. We would take the boxes when full and put them in the freezer.

Back at the station, the men would have put away the tables and cleaned up the station. The truck full of husks and corn cobs would be driven out to one of the local farms to be given to the hogs. Slowly the firemen would return home as would all the kids. This was one night when being up past 10:00 p.m. was allowed. My brother and I usually would not make it that late since we had to be back up the next morning to deliver the papers.

I always looked forward to the corn boil each year. It was fun to help out and act like a big shot to all the younger kids around town. One year I was given one of the cherished jobs, hot dog griller, now that was fun.

Writing Wednesday - Getting Known

 

Writing Wednesday

Getting Known

Hi, I am James Adams, and I am a writer of somewhat steamy, thriller, military, romances. Wow, OK, now everyone knows me in the writing community, and my name will be spoken of in high regard. That was easy!

Oh, if it were only that easy, I would be in heaven. But, alas, it is not. Getting known in the writing community is complicated. How many new writers are there daily? How many new books get published daily?

I wish I had begun my getting known stage a year ago, but it really never did occur to me that there was a need to do this. It was naive and new to writing that made me wait to finally get “out there.”

How does a person get known? How do you become a person the writing community will look at and pay attention to? Getting them to pay attention to you is pretty hard. There are far better authors for new writers to listen to. Becoming known is a little easier.

Facebook has numerous different groups for authors to mingle with other authors. You can be an active member fo these groups by answering questions or a social butterfly. I personally like smaller niche groups over the larger concentration of writers. And since there are SO many different groups, if one does not feel right, leave and move on. I personally have found two Romance writers groups that are great. People are engaging and they are open to sharing information. (Believe it or not, some people will not.)

One step many probably forget about is the actual name you will use to write under. Are you going to use a pen name, or use your own, and a sort of combo? After that is decided, you can then set up Twitter, Instagram, Goodreads, and buy a domain name. My domain name was difficult since just my name was taken. I wanted something short, but something that tied to me, so jadamsauthor.com. Even if you do not initially plan to use a web page for your marketing, I say, get the name and set up a basic page with your other social media links.

Twitter and Instagram does take a little work since these require posting regularly. They also need the correct hashtags to allow your posts to connect with the right people. I have started a word document with hashtags. It comes in handy when making a lengthy post on Instagram. (I’ll cover how to do that quickly coming up)

What is nice with both of these platforms is your reach if greater. I suggest building your followers slowly and allow them to engage you. You will get recommendations for people to add based on your contacts, which is targeted to who you want your audience to be.

Everything you do, will take time. You will not instantly get thousands of followers. And in reality, you do not want just followers. You want people engaged by your posts. You want likes, loves, and retweets.

Getting your name known is a marathon. I will be sharing some platform-specific tips coming up. 

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