Writing Again

I have finally begun writing seriously again. I have picked up an unfinished prose work which was formerly untitled and is now published under the title, Comings and Goings; the chapel in the woods. You can read this on BookRix.com under my name. I have a number of other books there as well, including my first foray into children’s books, The Adventures of Chris Mouse, under a new nom de plum, Uncle Wayne. Please read and comment on these and any others posted there.

Some of the books I’ve posted on BookRix are older works, usually “re-worked” for publication. I have included the  and some Advent candle lighting devotionals.

I am still looking for editing and proofreading opportunities – not counting those of my own and those of my peers. I would really like to make, at least, a little money at it. Although I do enjoy doing it!

These posts seem to be few and far-between these days, but having retired, and having expectations of having more time, turned out to be more of the same and much less interesting than I had anticipated. But I do enjoy not having to get up at 5:30 every morning unless for some reason I choose to do so.

Keep your responses  coming and I will try to stay on top of those, too.

Editing … Proofreading … & Writing

I am “celebrating” another afternoon to myself. My wife, MaryJane is lying down – sleeping (?) – so I don’t expect to be disturbed for “a while”. We are finally having “strange” – i.e. Fall – weather here. Fog and rain one day, clear and windy the next, warm and sunny, followed immediately by more rain. They say “we’ll get used to it”. I say, at last, a chance for some distinguishable seasons.

I think I mentioned last time that I will be doing a final proofread before publication for a new client who is putting her book into an eBook format.This should be a little different for me, but also an exciting challenge.

Another friend sent me a link to her new book on BookRix. You can publish your “book” – nearly any size – as an online book with your own copyright and ISBN number. Her book was only about ten or fewer pages long. It was well produced and relatively easy to read once you figured how to enlarge it to a readable size.

I am thinking of putting some shorter things together and posting them there. A least until I get a “feel” for the place and feel that it is all safe and “legit”. Keep watching your eMail about this.

So … with all that being said; If I think I’ll ever get any work done in either the editing or writing areas, I need to do more of that; and less of this. After all: “It’s what you do that defines you; not what you say.”

Here I Sit

After many days I am now able to take – or get – some time to blog a new post. After all, that’s why I “bothered” to begin this blog in the first place.

I have been busy – with one thing or another – since my last post. I don’t have the freedom of posting from work in the middle of the day since I retired in July. I now share the computer with my wife full-time.

I have been doing some reading – currently J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Silmarilion and working at my manuscript; still untitled and still “stuck” in the same spot. Having so much “free time” makes it harder for me to manage how I use it. This also cuts into my time for Bible study and working on related materials.

I am occasionally able to post some HubPages writing, but not as often as when I was writing from work. I guess I really do miss at least that aspect of my eight daily hours; forty hours a week. I guess I just need to be a little more organized. I had hoped for 90 to 120 minutes of “me-time” each day to work on such projects. I just need to “do it” now.

I believe we probably all have similar problems dividing up our days and using them in the best ways possible.

I have a promise from a woman on LinkedIn to be one of her final proofreaders on her current writing project. I’m not sure what stage she is in, but it sounds promising and challenging, both. I will keep everyone apprised of the progress of this and the ups and downs of a professional proofreader. This, of course, will necessitate my budgeting of each day. I need more jobs to keep me on the right track.

Please stay in touch and I will try to post more often.

Blessings <><

A Typescript … At Last!

I spent over two hours Saturday typing from my original MS to create the first typescript – complete with editing notes. I did the latter for the sake of the practice, so I will have this experience for your document.

Hopefully this, and other things I’ve found online, will help me get some jobs and perhaps to have a chance to have my writing published. A friend referred me to a listing on Craig’s List looking for editors/ writers (tele-commute). I also found a Web Page for writers who are prospecting to be published. Perhaps my name will soon be connected with both editing/ proofreading and writing; stories, plays, poetry, even non-fiction. I’ll keep you informed.

The Future of “Tilden Editing Services” & Literature Itself

Tilden Editing Services is still in its infant stages. Without your help this may stay the same. Right now I have some past, one-time clients, a couple promised jobs, and little else.

I have permission to post a “flyer” on the bulletin board of one of the “common rooms” – the library – for Tilden Editing Services. But what I really need is return, repeat clientele – just to get started.

I enjoy what I’m doing, but I think I’d enjoy it more if it had a little more “meat” to it. That is to say, if the “substance was more substantive”. The quiet, relaxed retirement life is really great, but it’s been 2 1/2 months, now, and I’m getting “itchy” to do a little profitable work; both for me personally and to add a little to our overall household expenses.

If you can help, or know someone else who can use these services, put them in touch with me at: tildenediting@hotmail.com

End of commercial.

Good writers – and in turn good editors/ proofreaders – are hard to find. And “print” authors even harder. I was in Barnes and Noble just last week and was pleased to see how many bound copies of books were available. What did bother me, though, was that they were selling eBooks and eReaders at the main entrance and at the customer service counter. So, will it one day be Barnes and Noble Electronics? Please, no!

This is probably nothing to truly worry about, but the future of a book where you can turn the pages, smell the smell of fresh ink, feel the dust from a well-read copy of an old favorite, could be in jeopardy.

Will our children really ever know the pleasure of opening a brand-new book for the first time and feeling the smoothness of the pages and the stiffness of the binding? Will they hold on to a book they’ve read before so they can read it “just one more time”?

Will spell check replace the human editor and proofreader? I pray not! I decided to get into this “business” from reading one of those mass-produced excuses for newspapers that are  thrown somewhere near our driveways by a women cruising by in her car trying to make a little money to support her young teenager who is still sound asleep in bed after being up until 4:00 am on MySpace.

And I really don’t mean to imply that the future of print media is at an end. Many will hold out to the last, hanging on to old favorites and trying to pass them down to their grandchildren. Ah, well. Just one more chapter in the history and future of literature.

 More next time.

Blessings to you all!
          <><