Light in the Tunnel

We've made it another day, but what a few weeks it's been. I've been more or less crippled by hip pain for more the last three weeks. I'm not sure why it suddenly flared up so much. I've been having problems in my lower back for months and didn't know what was triggering it but now I suspect it is actually my hips. I'm sure there are also some pinched nerves in my lower back, but that's been secondary this time around.

For two of three weekends I've needed a cane to walk when I got up in the mornings. I've missed going to the gym because I feared I'd make the problem worse, but to my surprise, working with the weight machines made it better. I stayed home the last 4 days. The pain was just too much.

Today, in the late afternoon, I realized it felt better. I've thrown everything at it: medicines, both topical and pills, heat pads, hot showers. Nothing seemed to help but the acetaminophen, which probably helped the inflammation. I'm not supposed to take it because of the risk to my liver. I can only say that taking it is the lesser evil. Today, I hope, is a turning point.

Since I felt better, I went to the writer's meeting and knocked out 1412 words. I've been attending the Shut Up & Write meeting on Monday nights for three weeks. It feels so good to write again. So far, I've written just over 3000 words at the meetings. I've avoided trying to write at home this last 3 weeks because I wasn't feeling well anyway and thought trying to make myself write would only lead to further stress and more blocks.

I've met several new people at the meetings, too. We use the last hour to chat and get acquainted. That's a bonus for me since I don't get to socialize much these days. 

I can't get too optimistic but it feels like there is light at the end of the tunnel. If I can keep going, I might get something accomplished.

If you're a writer, looking to connect and write with other writers in person, I encourage you to look up Shut Up & Write to see if there is a group in your area. If you're in S. Indiana, look up our group.

Twiddling My Thumbs

This is one writer who is just all messed up. I tell myself I should just throw in my keyboard and give up. I write a bit here and a bit there. The little voice in my head says time is running out and I'm just twiddling my thumbs. I don't know if that's true. But the nagging isn't helping me.

👈  I woke up at noon to this kind of day. The temperature is rather nice but the lack of sun is ominous. Winters in S. Indiana are quite gloomy, and someone with problems retaining vitamin D doesn't need gloomy skies. We need sun.

I'm exhausted. Possibly I've been sitting up too late watching funny videos. Because I live alone, have no place to go or am too ill to go, and I have no visitors, I've become more depressed. There is nothing I can do about it. I already take a pill for fibromyalgia that is an antidepressant. They told me I can't take anything else. So, medication is out.

Sitting up late watching Poldark is also not helpful. The story is so intense and the villain so insanely persistent that I have to watch until I reach a resolution to the current problem they're facing. So far, that's each season finale! A few nights ago I stopped at the end of the show just before it shows one of my favorite characters dying! I couldn't handle it. Depression and sad stories don't mix.

I've even tried reading, which usually helps me. I'm reading a book called Cold Water by Debbie Herbert. This is a very good book, and the story is intense. The antagonist is maddening but so is the protagonist. My problem is that the one is so wicked while the other is too passive and doing stupid things. In theory, I know this will workout and the crime solved but I've felt so under stress reading it. NO! I don't know why. It's just a book and I've read books far more disturbing that this one. It has taken weeks and I'm only halfway through. For me, that's insane. When I take this long to read a book, it's usually because it's terrible but I stick it out as a challenge. This one, I can't handle the way the action plays out. I know who did it so reading the ending won't help. 

As for writing. Pfft. I know I've written some but I've stopped paying attention to how much. Right now, I want to go to sleep and I didn't get out of bed till noon! 

Tomorrow I take my sister to have eye surgery. I must sleep tonight, no sitting up. She'll be staying with me for several days until she's able to see how to drive. That'll give me some company for a few days. My sisters are good company.

Now that I've bored even myself to tears, I'll stop here. I need to do a couple of things before sis gets here. I hope you have a productive writing day.

The Cost of Doing Business

I was going to share this meme on my Facebook page, but it reminded me of when I actually bought books for $4.99 or less.

In the late 60's I was around 13 and I remember getting a cash gift from my grandparents. It was an embarrassing amount, and I spent it on a pile of gothic novels in the bookstore! I was so excited. They sold for 79 cents each! I had at least $40.

I was a member of the Weekly Reader Book Club around the same time. Mama let me get new books every month. I can still name some of them!

In the 70's and 80's I was a member of the Doubleday Book Club and getting a real bargain every month on half dozen books. Over the years, I was a member of several book clubs but Doubleday was my favorite. You could buy a hardback book for less than $10. In hindsight, that's astounding. Now they're closer to $30, although book clubs might be lower.

Over the years, I've owned thousands of books. When we moved to Germany in 1977, I had to leave behind about 800 books. When I moved back to the states two years later, I left behind another 700 books. I used the base library, too. Over the years, I've collected many times that and with every move, my husband threatened to divorce me. One day I was going to have a room devoted to books.

When I started college at in 1988 at 31, I was in heaven. I had to buy lots of books. I read lots of books. I even researched lots of books and spent hours pouring over historical books in the library. I had books on Russian, European, Latin American, and American history. I had books on dinosaurs, psychology, anthropology, archeology, and communications. That was only for school and didn't include my pleasure reading.

By this time book clubs were almost a thing of the past so my book purchases were at the store price. I frequented second-hand shops and a couple of local used bookstores. I was still a sap for Book-a-Million, Waldenbooks, B. Dalton, and Barne's and Nobel. You could always find good stuff on sale, too.

These days I dare you to find a book by an author you love for $4.99 outside a discount store or second-hand shop. I also dare you to find Waldenbooks or B. Dalton in a mall. You won't. In fact, you won't find a lot of bookstores anymore. The meme made me remember all the books I owned and how much I'd spent over 40 years on books. Despite all the books I bought over the years, if it wasn't for the library, I'd not read more than a few books year. I suspect this is a factor in why books sales have declined. Many people can't afford to buy many new books because of the price. Believe it or not, a lot of people don't own a Kindle.

I bought two series of 6 books each for my granddaughter this past Christmas. They're paperback books. Those two 6-book series (only the first two installments in a much, much longer series) cost me over $70. I bought three more books from the series that didn't come in a boxed set. These cost me around $40. That's a lot of money on books. She had already read the third boxed set at school and is in love with the series. Can you see where this is going? I could spend $1000 on this series for her. I won't. Her dad and stepmom bought three more of these books. I told you it is a huge series by author Erin Hunter. The total spent on 18 books is about $150. Hunter should love us.

Don't get me wrong, I understand how hard it is to write a book. I am a writer. But I also am a reader who is on a limited budget and books are not the priority. They are a much-loved luxury that I have to plan for. I do buy books but only when I can afford it. I use Kindle a whole lot but I prefer to buy paper books of those I want to collect. I just ordered a new release from my favorite author and it cost me $15... for a paperback. I wouldn't have done that for anyone I didn't know or who wasn't an author I was sure was excellent.

So, yeah, I wish I could buy books for $4.99. I've read 22 books since January 1. My kindle has about 600 books on it, in a wide variety of genre. I will tell you that most were giveaways. There are a lot of public domain books because I love classic literature. There are about two dozen reference books on it. Most of the time I have a couple of library books on it. I obtained a lot of novels from authors giving away sets of their older novels to generate interest.

I can't tell you how many of my Kindle books were free new author books. As a result of these, I discovered some great new authors to add to my collection. The vast majority of these (free) books are not worth $4.99. In fact, it would embarrass me to give away some of them if I were the author. I've deleted many free books from both my Kindle and my Amazon account after I'd read a few chapters. Yes, they were that bad.

It is important for writers to remember that readers want quality, and readers are willing to pay for it. Yet, I'm not willing to pay for mediocrity or plain rotten writing. The author is not always the best judge of quality and it shows in many of the novels turned out by indie authors. Some books are not worth a plug nickel. I'm sorry if that hurts, but it is true. Of course, a lot of authors think their writing is horrible but I can tell you, not enough of them think that.

Writers need to get used to people complaining about the price you ask for your book. It is a fact of life, whether the books are worth it or not, most especially if it is not. The best way to ensure that they buy more than the first one is to make sure it the very best work you can do. Edit, rewrite, edit, and revise as many times as it takes. Find a good editor, someone who will get tough with you. Ask people you don't know to read it and tell you the truth. Accept that truth with graciousness and view it as an education in writing.

If someone is editing for you, their suggestions are to help you make that story better. They're not an insult to your character. I love editing but telling a stubborn writer to fix their grammar, rewrite paragraphs, or change sentence structure is daunting. Don't be that writer. If you're not willing to make changes, you're not ready to publish it.

Once you've got a well-written book, you won't have trouble selling it. They'll still complain about the cost. That's called the cost of doing business. Incidentally, I don't by that $5 specialty coffee either. I make my own flavored coffee at home, and my coffee is good curled up with a good book.