A self-published author wears two hats. The first and most enjoyable hat is producing the written word that hopefully will be enjoyed by many readers. The second hat doesn’t always feel real comfortable perched on my head because that is the hat referred to as ‘marketing the book’. Last week I and my support staff (my wife Kathie) climbed into our Chevy Cruze and headed to St. Cloud to do a little book marketing. As we were cruising down Interstate…..
I might have already mentioned in a previous blog that when I became a Christian I was not even aware of it. My Mother told me of an incident when we were visiting our neighbors one bright moonlit night. We were standing out in their yard and our neighbor Harold was holding me. I was around two years old at the time. Harold teased me as he announced, “See that moon Mickey” (Yep, that’s what they called me back in…..
Today the reading from Ecclesiastes 3:1 is very meaningful to me. “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens.” This weekend our family came home and harvested our last pumpkin crop and it felt right. Growing pumpkins and marketing their sales along our Highway #27 has reached its twentieth and final year. Another season of my life has ended. I’ve spent some time today reminiscing about some of the other seasons of my…..
Yep, I spent another Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday marketing my new book “The First Advent” along with my other five titles. Kathie and I attended the last county fair of the Minnesota summer in the little town of Madison which resides in the county of Lac qui Parle. I’ve always thought that was an unusual name for a county and assumed it was derived from the native American language but low and behold Google tells me they are French…..
You are all familiar with Alcoholics Anonymous often referred to simply as AA. Well I’m in need of a like organization that would be referred to as PA or Politics Anonymous. I don’t believe one exists though. I’ve been so good for so long and then yesterday I fell off the wagon! You know those political posts on Facebook they can be so cruel and degrading. I’m constantly fighting the urge to write an insult right back at them and…..
Many years ago when our family was traveling to Montana to visit relatives we camped for a night on the edge of the North Dakota Badlands near the frontier town of Medora. We spent part of the day exploring the old town and were reminded that Teddy Roosevelt spent his early years in Medora and that experience left a lasting impression on his life. His life successes can be partially attributed to those years he spent being a cowboy and…..
“You’re teachers pet. You’re teachers pet!” I can remember that was a common accusation that was hurled at I and my fellow classmates from time to time in elementary school those many years ago. Most students probably feared being categorized as a teacher’s pet. Such a nametag was probably one of the first examples of negative peer pressure to exist in our educational system. Nobody wanted to be considered a ‘teacher’s pet’. Nobody but me, that is! I am a…..
I published my first book “Children In The Outdoors”, Vol. I in 1987 and since that time I have spent a considerable amount of time sitting in booths at craft fairs, county fairs, town celebrations, etc. It’s my favorite way to market my books. If my Clinton High School math is correct that means I have had thirty-one years of booth sitting experience. So I’ve decided it’s time to vent a little. After thirty-one years having shoppers pass by my…..
We are in the middle of summer on our little acreage and the battle against nature is in full force. Unless you experience what nature can throw at you you’ll never fully understand what botanist go through attempting to bring plants to maturity. In other words gardening can be a frustrating job. I am reminded of the constant intrusion of nature every morning as I look out our living room window and watch the ‘big bully’ blue jays chase away…..
When my two brothers and sister were small it was exciting to climb into the old 49 Ford and ride into town with our folks as they tended to some business. That excursion happened occasionally during the week but for sure on Saturday night. On Saturday the car not only contained the family of six but also a can of cream and chicken eggs packed and layered in special boxes designed to transport them to the creamery so that they…..
