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In a gardening blog my wife follows she learned about the month long plastic challenge.  The challenge is to save all the plastic – all types for a month and at end of the month dump out the bag to learn what types and quantity of plastics you are using.

The image at the top of the page is our plastic use for October.  I am willing to assume that October is like any other month.  I guessed that most of our plastic consumption was in food containers and household cleaners.

As the picture shows I was only partially right.  By size the food containers for vegetables was large followed by cleaners and then liquid food such as milk and V-8.  The surprise was the number and volume of plastic bags that we use.  Nearly all of the plastic bags came from the grocery store.

I will take credit for re-using a lot of plastic bags to collect and dispose of cat litter.  All the others end up in the recycle stream.

This exercise has changed how we store food.  We’ve purchased a variety of glass containers with seal tops to store food rather than plastic bags.  When possible we don’t put store vegetables in a plastic bag and haven’t been challenged yet.  We are also much more conscious about buying vegetables in plastic containers although it limits choice.

A project like this is great in self-awareness to demonstrate how, just by daily living, a person contributes to the pollution of oceans, lakes and rivers.
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Why don’t you try it?   

In Ireland the tradition, varied from our current version, hails back to the 16th century.  In America the tradition began in the 1920’s and had periods of violence when gangs ravaged property owners in areas of major cities like New York and Boston.

I remember growing up in a small Midwestern town when it was still safe to roam up and down my block filling a pillow case with candy.  My parents made me dump out my catch on the living room carpet and then they would dole out a piece a day.  By the end of November most of the candy was thrown out.
I recall being embarrassed because my Dad refused to give out candy.  We would go to the local market and buy several bushels of apples and Dad & Mom gave apples to all the trick or treaters.  Looking back, I am extremely proud of my parents being ahead of their time.

On October 31, 2017 I received a treat of a lifetime.  On October 31, 2017 I met Kira Herschel at the Madison eastside PaneraBread for lunch.  I signed a traditional publishing contract for my third novel in the Irish Troubles Series, Dead Reckoning.  I felt it was “right” to sign the contract on All Hallows Eve.
In the year since Dead Reckoning was launched April and I’ve attended ten author events to make presentations and sell books from the entire series.  I also signed contracts in January 2018 to re-issue the first two novels – Murphy’s Troubles and Dead Reckoning.  Henschel House developed new book covers and re-formatted the books so that they now “look” like a series.

For me, Halloween will always mean the realization of my dream to be traditionally published which for me means that my writing is valued and confirmation that I do have some “writing chops’.
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Halloween Treat!!!
    

I am often asked how much money I make from publishing books.  My typical response is:  unless you’re only goal is to write commercial fiction and make money – it is a ridiculous question.

I do not write and publish novels with the intent of making money.  I am fortunate that in my third act I don’t need to rely on income from book sales.
The truth is, since I published my first book in 2014, I have lost money.  So here is how the money works out.  I purchase books from my publisher at a 50% discount – I pay $8.48 per book and sell them at $16.95 for revenue of $8.47 per book.  That is true only when the publisher delivers the books.  If I pay shipping add $2.08 per book to my cost then the revenue is $6.39 per book.
Why do authors have to pay for books they’ve written you ask?  I don’t know.  It’s the way it is.

The revenue from 50 books would be $319.50.  Selling 50 books at any event would be spectacular but let’s use it as an example.  To sell that many books means attending a two day event meaning a hotel stay of $125.00 per night.  There would be at least four meals at an average of $15.00 per meal for a total of $60.00. Next there is mileage.  In Wisconsin most round trips are about 200 miles for a cost of $107 (federal tax basis).  The final cost is what the event charges typically a table fee or percentage of sales.  At the Milwaukee Irish Fest the fee was 10% of sales or $31.95.
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So – here’s the math:        $319.50  revenue

• $125.00 hotel
•     60.00 meals
•   107.00 mileage
•     31.95 selling fees

                                               4.45 Net Loss
 
I suppose I could sleep in my car and take baloney or peanut butter sandwiches to eat to save $185.00.  That would make a profit of $180.55 or $3.61 per book.  Really?
 
So, write for your heart and soul – not for your pocket book.

Since my third novel, Dead Reckoning, launched in April it hasn’t exactly blasted off.  In fact, it’s barely off the ground. 

The novel’s launch date was April 24th and since then I’ve participated in 10 events in and selling books at each.  The Milwaukee Irish Fest was my most successful event, selling out of the books I brought to the event by 2:00 pm Sunday afternoon.

The advantage of in person events is that you get to meet readers and strike up a conversation with them.  As a writer it is also a great opportunity to observe some of the oddest behavior you will ever see.

A few of my favorite observations:  When a reader asks if your book is on Amazon –of course it is – but you don’t desire a signed copy?  Oh – I’ll just take your business card.  Why do they take a business card – my bet is it gets tossed in the next convenient trash.  The best – oh, I’m not buying today – just browsing – then they buy a book from the author next to me.  So why lie to my face?  I would rather a person say, I’m not interested in historical fiction.
The in person events are grueling on mind, body and soul.  I attended the LaCrosse Irish Fest and the Milwaukee Irish Fest back to back in 90 degree heat and so humid my book covers curled.

I have had a medical turn for the worse brought on mostly by stress that I’m working on reversing both with drugs and lifestyle changes.

Now is the time for a turning point.  I’m going to concentrate on social media promotions.  I’m running a promotion now on Books Go Social that runs through the end of December.  I’m worked with my marketing guru to explore BookBub, Amazon ads and Facebook ads.  I plan on utilizing all of them in 2019.  That will leave me time to begin my fourth novel.  The 4th novel will also be a turning point for me.  I’ll still write historical fiction but the story will be about brave women during the depression in America and how they provided for their families.
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When did you last have a turning point?         
 

​Author Rex Owens gives us a superbly written, emotional story of a man wrestling with his demons and regrets after surviving years of harrowing turmoil. Although this isn’t classified as a suspense novel, I devoured the pages to see what would become of Ian Murphy. Witnessing his transformation as he found hope for his future created a satisfying resonance after this reader finished the novel. The novel is written with wit and achingly honest insights that explore the emotions of those who have experienced war, violence, addictions, or disappointments and regrets in life. The wisdom and tone—including much humor—in Dead Reckoning place it solidly on the shelf with popular novels such as Plainsong by Kent Haruf, A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman, and the entire Mitford series starring Father Tim and written by Jan Karon. I highly recommend Dead Reckoning.
 
~ Christine DeSmet, writing coach/University of Wisconsin-Madison, and author, Fudge Shop Mystery Series and Mischief in Moonstone Mystery Series.

At the WWA Conference in Brookfield on 9/22 one of the presenters was my friend, mentor, teacher Christine DeSmet.  Several years ago Christine developed a session called “Write in a ‘Cinematic’ Way”.  When inviting Christine to present I asked her if she had a version that could be presented in an hour.  She promised to work on it and thought if she limited her examples to just two that it would be possible.

A few days later Christine wrote an email and suggested she may use my third novel Dead Reckoning as one of the examples.  I was both honored and terrified.  I have taken many classes from Christine and give her credit for shaping my writing to the point that I could publish three novels in a five year period.

Later she sent me an email to ask what the age of my protagonist, Ian Murphy, was in the third book.  He’s 54, had his best friend die of a massive heart attack, is newly married and is given the task of mentoring a 22 year old in graduate school and University College Cork.

At the close of the conference I was talking with Christine and she gave me a copy of the handout she used.  “I think you’ll be interested in this” she said packing her display and leaving the hotel.  I didn’t get a chance to review the handout until the conference wrapped up and I was relaxing in the hotel lobby.
It was a six page handout back-to-back.  She had used only two examples – one from John Smolens, Cold.  The other from the first three pages of Dead Reckoning.

Christine transformed those pages into a screenplay to demonstrate how the writing was “cinematic”.  I stopped breathing and felt giddy.  I couldn’t trust myself to believe what I read.  I had flashbacks to Christine’s writing classes when I furiously took notes and then after class practiced, practiced, practiced.
I had to sit down, catch my breath, and let me heart resume a normal beat.  I felt warmth surge through my body. 

“I have arrived.”  As a writer to be used as an example by your long time teacher and mentor –

This is as good as it gets. 
 

Fall cleaning.  No, it’s not a typo.  It is not Spring cleaning.  Anyone can follow the convention of spring clean, which I admit, has some inherent attraction, but it isn’t for me.

It has been a busy summer with many author events plus planning the annual Wisconsin Writers Association Conference.  Last Saturday we polished off an exceptional that only 35% of the members bothered to attend.  An annual conference takes a ton of work and is outrage sly expensive.  We lost money on the conference and there isn’t a nonprofit organization that can sustain that approach to serving members.

I digress –this post is about cleaning.  Over the summer my home office looked like the picture above.  To regain normalcy I decided to begin a cleaning project on Monday.  I call it “cleaning out the cobwebs”.  My mind needs to be cleared and aired out.  Physically cleaning my office is a metaphor for cleaning my mind.

The latest rage is having a device to stand while working on your laptop.  I often spend six hours a day sitting at my computer and there is strong evidence that it is a killer.  Monday morning I went to Office Depot and purchased a small stand up desk for just $100.  I’ve ordered an anti-fatigue matt that should arrive by tomorrow.  So far, I like standing.

Perhaps fall cleaning is another change that comes with age.  I like it.
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When do you clean?
 

This Saturday, September 22, begins autumn.  When I was younger my favorite season of the year was spring.  Spring represented new beginnings, hope and a crescendo of energy.  It may have had something to do with having a spring birthday.

As I reach my late sixties with the seventies not far off in the distance my favorite season has become autumn.  In Wisconsin autumn brings a rainbow of color in dense forests, frosty mornings and the harvest.  I have found that autumn is a reflective time of year as nature and I get ready for winter.
Looking back over this year I pause to wonder if I made the right choices.  Looking backward to help determine how to move forward makes sense to me now.  It didn’t when I was thirty.

I have a nasty habit of over committing and this year in particular I plunged headlong into events without considering the consequences first.  The result, I’m tired.  I have already made major commitments for the future but now I am aware to not add any more.

Accepting and understanding your limits is a part of letting the sum of your life experience affect your path now.  I appreciate having a little time to reflect, gather myself up and face tomorrow with assurance and self-confidence.
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What is your favorite season – and why?

I published my first two books through Amazon Create Space.  At the time I praised Amazon for providing an easy to use tool to self-publish, provide print on demand books and help with marketing.  At the time Amazon was hailed as democratizing publishing and providing an opportunity for the “little guys” to participate in the publishing world.

Circumstances change, now I have a traditional publishing contract with Henschell HAUS Publishing, a regional publisher in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.   Initially my contract was for my third book.  Several months later the publisher suggested I market the books as a series and offered a contract on the first and second book.  The covers were re-designed and improved, book size changed and now I have the Ian Murphy-Irish Troubles Series.

When the new series was published I received a notice from Amazon with a request to prove that publishing rights were given to HHP.  I complied and actually felt protected from Amazon.  Several weeks later I noticed that Amazon still had the original books and the new series.  This was confusing.  I learned that I had to send a request to Amazon to “retire” my titles in Create Space.  I assumed that meant the Create Space titles would disappear.  Wrong!!!
I received a long lawyer like response from Amazon that retiring a title doesn’t mean it is removed it only means I will not be able to order print on demand copies.  The Create Space titles remain on Amazon FOR ETERNITY. 

So, there will be confusion in Amazon world for the rest of time.  I can’t do anything about it. 

Once again Amazon is the 600 pound gorilla in the room. 
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Share your Amazon experiences with me.