Thursday, August 8, 2013

book availability

In addition to amazon.com and kindle, 
Liquidating Life is available at these locations
in Tallahassee, FL:


Downtown Marketplace
http://www.downtownmarket.com/
Park Avenue & US 27 (Monroe Street)
September through November


The Gathering Place
https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Gathering-Place-Tallahassee/513423962047599
3655 N. Monroe Street


My Favorite Books
in Market Square



Sweet Patina
2030-5 Thomasville Road

book signing

Barnes & Noble Tallahassee
 local author book signing event
July 12, 2013

with my mother and "roadie"
Jonnie

Friday, June 28, 2013

sometimes you have to do the hard thing

Sometimes you have to do the hard thing.  The thing you don't want to.  Even if you know you need to or have to.

A week ago, I noticed my lawnmower was not running smoothly.  It would skip, ride rough, but got the job done.

Yesterday, it ran smoothly; like new again.  When I finished the yard, I parked the mower near the water spigot to spray it off and clean the underside because the grass was still a bit damp and clingy.  The battery wouldn't turn over when it came time to put the mower away, even though it had run smoothly up until then.  I checked to make sure I had every lever in the correct place but it just wouldn't start.  

I called my father to get his opinion on battery life.  We didn't think it should be dead yet, and he suggested I jump it off with my car.  
I really didn't want to do this because I've never done it before.  Fifty years old and never jumped a car.  I have jumper cables in my trunk; have seen it done a million times.

Having not run the weed-eater or blown off the  clippings, I told him I'd figure out something later; I needed to finish the rest of the yard before the sun got too high.

I am good at arguing with myself and running through every scenario possible to find a solution to problems.  I tried pushing the mower into the carport but it got stuck against the driveway and wouldn't go forward.  Time was also running out because I needed to run errands and didn't want to leave the mower sitting in the yard.

The only answer was to jump off the battery.  I pulled the car next to the mower, got the cables from the trunk, and read the directions of which cable to put on first, second, and so on.  Sure, I was nervous and afraid I'd shock myself or worse, blow up something.  When I tried to attach the last cable clamp, it wouldn't stay.  Then I noticed the nut and bolt holding the battery cable to the mower battery was very loose.  

Again I called my father to make sure if I tightened the nut, it wouldn't shock me.  I couldn't get a good grip on it and used one of my favorite tools, a socket, to tighten the nut, and ta-da, the mower cranked right up.

The battery wasn't dead after all.  The cable was loose., which meant  I didn't have to jump it off with the car either.  But if I hadn't done the hard thing and TRIED to jump it with the cables, I wouldn't have found the loose bolt and the easy answer to the problem.

Not all answers in life are easy or easily solved.  But if we don't attempt the hard things, we may never know how easy it could be.

     

Monday, June 10, 2013

Book Launch Party

The book launch party for "Liquidating Life" was held Friday, June 7, 2013 at Dorothy B. Oven Park in Tallahassee.  This is a picture of the main room.

 

In May, I ordered 100 books to sell and give away.  I have only about a dozen left and re-ordered more yesterday.  A few weeks ago, I spoke to a writing group about the publishing process with createspace.  A retirement facility is hosting a local author round-table event later in June and I've signed up to participate.  

"Liquidating Life" is on kindle now, but the pictures didn't transfer.  It is what it is and I've sold a half dozen.
  
Many people have emailed me their "John memories" and it has been great reading them.  The book launch got people thinking about him and I appreciate their memories.  

There are 5 reader reviews on amazon.  The book's ranking fluctuates from 55,000 to 800,000 depending on how much traffic/sales/comments/activity is on the amazon page.  

This is the link to the book review in the Tallahassee Democrat:


Wednesday, May 8, 2013

It's a book!

They're here!  100 copies of "Liquidating Life", the book I put together from this blog and emails by John and me over the time of his illness.  In another entry, I'll tell some of the trek into publishing.  The book is available on amazon.com and also on kindle.



Monday, February 18, 2013

John's 51st Birthday

Today is John's second heavenly birthday.  He would have been 51.  I took the day off, and will tomorrow, too.  His mom ordered flowers to be put at his headstone.



I went through the drive-thru at Whataburger, John's favorite place to eat.



And got a birthday cake pop at Starbucks.   







Thursday, January 3, 2013

holiday happenings

Made it through the second holiday season.  It started back in November when I purchased an ornament for the Walk for Life Christmas tree downtown.  You could write/draw on a purple ball and hang it on the tree as a fund raiser for the group.  I brought mine home this week.  It was still hanging and not too worse for wear after being outside for two months.

Thanksgiving was with my sister's in-law family again and it was enjoyable.

Christmas Eve day was with them also, then I spent the night with my sister's family.  Later Christmas day we went to my parents' and spent the night.  Fun and relaxing.  

Worked on my book a lot over the holiday break.  Had a cute teacher story in the paper today.  I'm now the leader of our local writers group.  It's been a busy writing time for me lately.