Tag Archives: Whatchamacallit? Thingamajig?

A Barking Cat? Men in Shorts? Spring is Here.

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Something About Nothing by Julie Seedorf- Column from the March 31 edition of the Albert Lea Tribune.

I know it is a sure sign of spring when my cat Natasha starts barking.natasha3

Yes, you heard me right, my cat started barking. I didn’t know she had that ability until recently.

Natasha has always been a little on the unusual side. She is part Siamese so that may explain it. My other cat Boris is big, lunky and lovable, too, but he does not have Natasha’s technique. When Boris decides to investigate something or sneak somewhere, it doesn’t usually work out without my knowing about it.

He weighs 15 pounds and is very large and tall. He isn’t overweight, just big. Boris is like a bull in a china shop when he is snooping. He is not graceful. Things fall when Boris investigates.

Natasha on the other hand, lives up to her name as she is named after Natasha in the “Rocky and Bullwinkle” cartoons. She is slinky and graceful and cunning. She slips into a closet or through a cupboard door with grace and quietness. You do not realize the trouble she is in until you look for her. She doesn’t realize she is in trouble because she is having too much fun being in trouble.

However, as I was sitting at the desk in my office the other morning with the inside door open so you could see out the glass door to the outdoors, I started hearing soft barking. I was puzzled. I didn’t have a dog. I thought perhaps it was coming from outside since it was a quiet bark. I decided I needed to investigate. I walked around a filing cabinet to the door and there was Natasha watching a red ribbon blowing in the wind that was on the wreath outside my door. I still had not taken my fake Christmas wreath off of the side of my house.

I was worried that she had swallowed something and was choking, but, no, she was barking. She is very quiet, doesn’t meow or make her presence known by making sounds, but there she was barking. I picked her up, took her outside so she could see the wreath. She promptly started meowing. I took her back inside and set her down by the door. Again she was watching the wreath and barking. Finally I closed the inside door so she would settle down.

It definitely was a strange occurrence. Since she was adopted at a young age perhaps she had puppies or dogs where she was. Maybe she was the only cat so she thought she was a dog and now she was remembering her past. Who knows?

I decided to believe that this was the first time she saw the wreath without it being laden down in snow. Or perhaps she was protesting the fact that the sun was shining, the weather was warmer and I still have a wreath in my house.

I do know since the weather has changed she has more perk to her perkiness and so does my loveable lunky Borris.

We are waking up to the signs of spring. The sun is higher in the sky and it stays light out longer.  Smiles seem to come easier to people with the weather warming up. My grandchildren have taken to their roller skates and their rip sticks. People have started jogging by my house. Golf clubs are being cleaned, fishing poles are ready and spring decorations are showing up on houses and in yards.

Facebook is alive with pictures of birds people are seeing at their feeders and the garden stores are starting to be busy. At our house we are busy planning our summer home improvements. The hope of spring is on people’s minds and hearts. They are ever hopeful that the winter is behind us although there are no leaves on the trees yet and snow is still on the ground in places.

There must be people like me who walk past my flower beds and dream of the moments when I see the first little sprinkles of plants sprouting up through the ground.

I must admit my plants in my house are still a little confused by  the weather. My poinsettia is blooming and blooming. It too is hopeful but I suspect it is hopeful that the winter weather stays since Christmas is long past. It may be longing for the season with the reason.

We put a lot of spin on New Year’s resolutions, but I have heard more resolutions now  being made because hopes of spring are in people’s hearts.

“I am going to walk more.”

“I am going to take time to smell the flowers.”

“I am going to learn to golf.”

“I am going fishing more often.”

These are a few of the comments I have heard.

Yet, I don’t recall hearing the words, “I can’t wait to mow the lawn.” Most of what I hear is the fun stuff that revives us after a long hard winter.

Is it time to find out if my last year’s summer clothes fit me? Is it time to dig out the shorts? Is it time to get out my flip flops and flip flop outside? I have to wait for a sign. That sign usually walks up my sidewalk.

I won’t believe spring is here until I see my letter carrier and my UPS driver in their shorts. For me that is the true sign spring is coming.

When they walk up the steps in their spring and summer attire I will know it’s time, time to wake up from hibernation, get out my flip-flops, think about wearing shorts this summer (I usually don’t) and put my dreams about warmer weather into action. How about you?

“Spring is when you feel like whistling even with a shoe full of slush.” — Doug Larson

It’s Easier To Promote Someone Else!

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It is time to start promoting my new book Granny Skewers A Scoundrel while still promoting my first book in the Fuchsia, Minnesota Series, Granny Hooks A Crook. It is possible that if you  ask any writer they might tell you that promoting themselves is the hardest part of having a book published.

I am a new author so I might be too self conscious about this. Maybe it gets easier as the years go on.

As for me, I like to engage with my readers but I feel funny always talking about me and my books. Here I am again doing just that.

I love to promote causes and people that I believe in. It is easy for me to sing someone’s praises. It is easy for me to get the word out about an event or a cause for someone or something. Recently I was involved with a Food Shelf Fundraiser. I loved visiting the radio station and having a conversation on air about the need for donations in my rural area. Hunger in rural areas is hidden and we may fool ourselves into thinking it doesn’t exist because poverty seems to be more hidden in rural areas.

It is easy to promote my friend that has started a photography group. It is easy to promote the other authors for Cozy Cat Press. It is easy for me to write my newspaper articles about people that fit silently in the background making a difference in people’s lives. It may surprise people for me to  tell you that it is hard for me to promote myself and I hear that from my writer friends too. They want to write and they don’t like to talk about themselves. Writers promote themselves because it is part of the business.

Because I write a weekly column and I have this blog and I have my author Facebook page called Sprinkled Notes, I feel I am yakking about myself all the time. I get tired of it and I am sure my friends do too. It is hard to find the balance to promote books, because as writers we are the creativity in that book so that means we must be front and center too.

I remember in grade school the chatter back and forth between the girls’ in the 50’s when we were jealous of someone else or didn’t like someone else. The words were “You just think you’re so smart.” or “You just think you’re so good.” Thinking back those words hurt if our egos weren’t big enough to handle it. Thinking back to those words I suspect they were also aimed at people who were shy and had a hard time joining a crowd. “Those words were “She’s so stuck up.”

We also do that as grown ups when we see someone in the media all the time, voicing their opinion or hawking their wares or leading a community. We might not hear the words, “They’re so stuck up.” We might hear the words, “Oh, they think they are better than everyone else.” We make that judgment if someone is in the limelight or in a leadership position. We make that judgment if someone has more money than us or appears to have more money than us. We can’t know that it may be hard for them to be where they are. They may have to do the things they do for their job or their families or for whatever reason we do not know. If we feel challenged, jealous, uncomfortable with what the person is doing, we may judge.

What does that have to do with writers and authors? I write a column every week for the Albert Lea Tribune called Something About Nothing. I have been writing this column for seven years. Every week when I sit down at my computer to put words to paper I wonder what I can say that I haven’t said in the seven years. There is a feeling inside of me that my readers must be tired of reading what I must repeat over the years. I feel they must be tired of those words. Having said that, people read my column. That voice inside of me that whispers those words of reader tiredness, may be more about me being tired of me writing about me. So the thought goes that if I am tired of me writing about me, what must they feel like. I don’t know if other columnists feel the same way.

As an author, we have to sell books. Our publishing company promotes us but we also have to promote ourselves. That means we write and talk about our writing so we can get the word out about our books. We try to find creative ways to do this by going on blog tours, having book signings, being a guest on radio shows, handing out business cards, visiting bookstores and encouraging our friends to promote us. That promotion is our survival much the same way as someone has a 9 – 5 job and does what they have to do to keep that job. We want our publishing company to keep publishing our books. In reality, most writers want to spend their time writing, at least that is my perception from the ones I know.

I’d like to hear from other writers on this and even readers.

So, if you are tired of me, talking about me, I understand, I am too. It isn’t because I think I am better than you or that I think too highly of myself. It is because I am now trying to eke out a living in a tough market and to do that I have to promote me and my craft. It is what it is. Even dream jobs have their downside.

My books, Granny Hooks A Crook, Granny Skewers A Scoundrel and Whatchamacallit? Thingamajig? are out there for a little fun and mystery. There are links at the side of this page if you are interested in purchasing. By the way, I make mistakes in my writing when it comes to blogs etc. I have an editor that makes me look good in the paper and in my books, so if my page isn’t perfect it is like me, not better, not smarter than those who read this blog.

Writers mean more than they say and say more than they mean. Mason Cooley

 

 

 

 

The Crazy World of Authors

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It’s a crazy world to keep up with. I am not referring to the violence, the weirdness or whatever your mind thinks when you hear those words, it is a crazy world. I am referring to all the social media that needs taking care of in the life of a writer and an author to keep their name front and center.

Yesterday I spent mostauthor collageedit of the day working on a book trailer for my book “Whatchmacallit? Thingamajig?. It is book I wrote for my grandchildren putting them in adventures of helping their Grandma out of trouble. Along the way they learn a little more about their grandmother when she was young. I will admit it is not my best work but when I first wrote it I was only publishing it to have a hard copy for my grandchildren, but low and behold, it is selling.

I have a Twitter account. Twitter is fun. I have a Pinterest account, so many ideas, so little time. I have a Stumbler Account, a Tumbler Account, a Facebook account, a LInked In Account, a Reddit Account and an Instagram account. I must admit I don’t know what to do with all of them, but they are important to get the word out about my writing. I am sure other authors may feel the same way. Each of these accounts are fun but the time that I spend on these accounts take away from the writing.

Of course, add this blog, add my website julieseedorf.com and it is my crazy world.

Then of course, I am waiting for my second book to be published which is “Granny Skewers A Scoundrel.” Then I will need to add more media for that book. I am also writing my second young reader book called Snicklefritz. Add my newspaper column, “Something About Nothing,” the articles I write for newspapers each week, and the third book I have started in my Fuchsia Minnesota series. Wow, I am tired reading this.

I forgot about Goodreads. I love Goodreads. I love to read. My Kindle is full of books waiting for my sleepy eyes to be fixated on them so I don’t get any sleep at night. I am too intriqued by whatever story I am reading.

I also decided to design cups and apparel to go with my books. I have the accounts set up and have a few things designed. The shop name is Hermiony after my character from the Fuchsia, Minnesota Series.

Let’s not forget about book signings and blog tours. A few of the Cozy Cat Press Authors and I are starting a tour this spring introducing all of you to our unique fictional communities and our characters.

Don’t feel sorry for me. The time I don’t have and the stress of all this is keeping me alive and breathing. Someone said to me recently on an interview on starting her new business, “I
heard a commercial and it said if you love what you doing and you get paid for it, it is called retirement.  This is my retirement.” I agree with her statement. After leaving a career in computers and finally doing something I love, I can breath.

Why am I writing all of this? I want people to know that writing is not an easy career. The authors that you see and hear and read about, aren’t like the ones in the books and movies where the scenery is beautiful and they work in a peaceful place and tap away on their keyboard. Writers have to market their wares and they have to keep writing. It is a job. Interruptions are hard because they break your train of thought. There is also writers block but they keep writing through that block until they find their inspiration again.

To be successful writers have to write. They have to market their books and they are busy people. It might not be the type of busy that those that punch a time clock or work in the corporate world know. How hard is it to sit at a computer and write all day? To those that work in the world it looks easy. Ask a writer and see what they say. It is important if you have a writer friend to  understand that they do have a career and they need the time to work at their career.

We love books, we love inspiration and we love the creativity that is in those books but look past the pretty, the fun, the creativity, and look at the hard work that goes into those words. The blood, sweat and tears of parts of those authors are in their books. Their soul is in their books. Those books are released into the world for all to read and critique. Does that happen in most peoples jobs that the entire world can critique their performance?  Writers are willing to take that chance that the world may  not be kind. The world will love them, hate them, or toss them aside. Writers have courage. They let the world know who they are and they work hard to bare their imagination to that crazy world.

Thank an author today for bringing you writing that challenges you, makes you laugh, helps you understand, moves your heart or makes you mad.  Thank an author today if they took you to a fantasy world that let you leave the real world and all your problems behind for a few moments. They may have changed your life in some way. They will appreciate it.

In case you are interested. http://www.facebook.com/sprinklednotes
Twitter:  julieseedorf@julieseedorf