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Dialogue with my muse |
| I have been carrying on a dialogue for almost a year. During this time we have discussed the progress of my writing, editing, and publishing efforts. Join in to listen to our conversation about my daily writing life and add your comments if you think of anything Calliope and I miss. |
| JOE: Good morning Calliope. CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. How are you today? JOE: The wheels are turning. CALLIOPE: With what results? JOE: Yesterday I continued my final review of Conversations with Calliope: A Year With My Muse. In the back of my mind was a question about how to market it. CALLIOPE: Did something occur to you? JOE: It did. I ran across a reference to something I tried with Navigating Life. CALLIOPE: Don't be coy. Tell me. JOE: I wrote and posted ten reasons to read the book and ten reasons not to. CALLIOPE: I recall. Are you planning a similar adventure for our book? JOE: I am. CALLIOPE: What will you include in the lists? JOE: That's my challenge for today. Want to help? CALLIOPE: I'll get right on it and let you in on any ideas which occur to me. JOE: Much appreciated. Talk with you tomorrow. |
| JOE: Good morning Calliope. CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. Is your company gone yet? JOE: Yes. They left yesterday. Back to normal this morning. CALLIOPE: Where does our book stand? JOE: I thought you might ask. In between visiting and swimming at our friends' pool, I managed to finish the table of contents, index and a few minor revisions. CALLIOPE: So now what? JOE: Next is final review of the text to see if I missed anything. CALLIOPE: And then? JOE: Then is conversion to PDF format and distribution. CALLIOPE: How do you plan to go about it? JOE: I will announce it to my readers who subscribe to my newsletter and also post notices on the websites of communities to which I belong. CALLIOPE: Do you plan to automate distribution of the e-book. JOE: Not at first. I will distribute it as an e-mail attachment to those who are interested. CALLIOPE: What if you have a great response. JOE: Then I will consider automating it. I thought the personal touch might be better if I can keep up with it. CALLIOPE: It's nice that you have the time in this day and age of automation. JOE: I think so too. At least I'll try it. Talk with you tomorrow. |
| JOE: Good afternoon Calliope. CALLIOPE: Good afternoon Joe. Just waking up? JOE: You know better than that. We had overnight guests staying downstairs. I didn't want to disturb them using the computer. CALLIOPE: Did they just wake up? JOE: No again. We had to visit with them and then stop in at their family reunion in Attica. CALLIOPE: I see. Glad we got that straightened out. What news? JOE: I am nearing the end of my work on our book. My reviewing is finished, the table of contents is in order and the index I worked on yesterday is looking good but in need of a few corrections. CALLIOPE: When will it be out? JOE: Possibly next week. I have to give it a final going over and see if there is anything else to tend to first. CALLIOPE: Is this your first e-book. JOE: Two of my other books are available in e-book format through BookLocker but this is the first one I will offer directly. CALLIOPE: There's always something new to experience. JOE: So there is. I don't know where this will lead except to a new adventure. CALLIOPE: Enjoy the ride. JOE: I plan to. Talk with you on Monday. |
| JOE: Good morning Calliope. CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. How are you today? JOE: Sleepy. CALLIOPE: Didn't you go to bed last night? JOE: I did but I kept waking up with new ideas for my writing. CALLIOPE: I had a few ideas I thought I might share with you. JOE: Thanks. I woke up early and wrote them all down before I forgot them. CALLIOPE: I hope they help. JOE: I'm sure they will? CALLIOPE: Where do you plan to start? JOE: I finished reviewing our book, Conversations with Calliope, and I think the text is adequate. CALLIOPE: But? JOE: It could use a little enhancement. CALLIOPE: Such as? JOE: I am going to try adding a cream background instead of white which seems a little boring. I will also rearrange some of the photos and complete an index I started yesterday. I also plan to add to the announcement and publicity ten reasons to read this book and ten reasons not to. I'm anxious to get going again. Talk with you tomorrow. |
| JOE: Good afternoon Calliope. CALLIOPE: A lazy summer day I suppose. JOE: I can't deny it. Getting started today seemed an effort. CALLIOPE: What have you done so far? JOE: My diary is about all the writing I could manage so far. CALLIOPE: What about yesterday? JOE: I finished proofreading about half of our book, Conversations with Calliope, and plan to work on it some more today. CALLIOPE: How are you going about it? JOE: One chapter at a time so I don't lose my concentration. CALLIOPE: Have you recovered from your environmental trauma? JOE: For the most part. I don't think I told you about the article I read on Saturday. CALLIOPE: Tell me. JOE: Clunker poison is a chemical poured into the engine of a car traded in with the new government program. It seizes up the engine irretrievably and the car is demolished even if the rest of it is still usable. CALLIOPE: Leading to more junk on our national trash pile. JOE: Exactly. After reading about ecology and our responsibility for the earth, it threw me for a loop. Talk with you tomorrow. |
JOE: Good morning Calliope. CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. How are you today? JOE: Still meditating on last night. CALLIOPE: On what specifically? JOE: Sunset. I spent the day reading and talking about what we do to the earth and don't even seem to notice our destructive ways. CALLIOPE: And? JOE: Despite it all, the earth favors us with treats such as fantastic sunsets despite all our worst habits. CALLIOPE: An interesting thought. JOE: My question is where it will take me. CALLIOPE: Do you have any ideas? JOE: Not specifically. I realize I can't change everyone's attitude about the earth any more than I can change how people treat each other. CALLIOPE: You're not God. JOE: Exactly. Even God leaves it to us how we treat the earth and each other. Although we have free choice, we also must accept the consequences of our decisions. CALLIOPE: Maybe you should write about the connection. JOE: I have been, but maybe I need to do more of it. Talk with you tomorrow. |
| JOE: Good morning Calliope. CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. How are you today? JOE: Feeling productive. CALLIOPE: What did you produce? JOE: My column for Saturday, My Great Life and The Dream of the Earth. CALLIOPE: Tell me about it. JOE: It's a long story. The highlights are that I read three books connecting my thoughts about stewardship of the earth rather than raping it and leaving a pile of junk in our wake. CALLIOPE: Sounds like a strong statement. JOE: The more I read the more troubled I become about our throw-away society and what we are doing to our environment in the process. CALLIOPE: And you wrote about this in your column? JOE: I did. CALLIOPE: Don't you think you might stir up some controversy? JOE: I hope I do. Sometimes I feel like Chicken Little but the voice of one crying in the wilderness is usually not a popular one. CALLIOPE: Getting people to change never is a comfortable pursuit. JOE: I agree. But I think it's time to speak. Talk with you tomorrow. |
JOE: Good morning Calliope. CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. Are you back to work or still in vacation mode? JOE: Back to work I guess. But I am still working on refreshing myself. CALLIOPE: Such as? JOE: Yesterday I attended Spiritus Christi Church as they celebrated the tenth anniversary of their men's addiction recovery program. CALLIOPE: How did that affect you? JOE: I got to thinking about my granddaughter and her struggle to cope with her alcoholic father while he struggles with himself. CALLIOPE: Where did that lead? JOE: To a great sense of sadness that she has to endure pain, sorrow, and worry about her father. CALLIOPE: Is there any hope for change? JOE: He seems to be nearing bottom and possibly getting serious about some help. CALLIOPE: Good. Anything you can do in the mean time? JOE: I wondered that too. I wrote my granddaughter a letter yesterday telling me of my sadness about her situation and her father's and sharing my prayer for their peace with God and with each other. CALLIOPE: At least you did something. JOE: I wish I could do more, but at least I let her know I understood and cared about her. I guess that's a start. Talk with you tomorrow. |
| JOE: Good afternoon Calliope. CALLIOPE: Good afternoon Joe. Where have you been? JOE: Carol has a vacation this week. I guess the mood is contagious. CALLIOPE: I guess so. We were in mid discussion about Grass Roots and you promised to elaborate. JOE: I did. I was telling you about hearing their song Where Were You When I Needed You on Wednesday night. CALLIOPE: And? JOE: They came out with it in 1966, during my first year out of the monastery. It reminded me of feeling like an alien on earth in a culture which had emerged while I was away. CALLIOPE: Did it bring back memories and feelings about those days? JOE: In a way, but it didn't through me into chaos as Michael McDonald did. CALLIOPE: How did you react? JOE: I quickly moved on to thoughts about all the friends I have developed since then and how much I have learned and grown. CALLIOPE: So it was a good reaction? JOE: It was. CALLIOPE: What's next on your horizon? JOE: The books I am working on as well as a new awareness of my place in the cosmos and my feeling of responsibility to make the most of it. I'll tell you more next week. |
JOE: Good afternoon Calliope. CALLIOPE: Good afternoon, Joe. I missed you this morning. JOE: I was off to a busy start. CALLIOPE: Doing what? JOE: Going for a massage, shopping, and manual labor edging the lawn. CALLIOPE: Are your musical adventures over? JOE: Hardly. CALLIOPE: Tell me. JOE: Last night several of us drove to Finger Lakes Race Track for a concert by the Sky Coasters and then Grass Roots. CALLIOPE: Go on. JOE: I have seen Sky Coasters quite a few times, a band from Rochester which plays quite a variety of songs and I always enjoy them. CALLIOPE: And Grass Roots? JOE: Another story. I must admit I didn't remember them from the old days, at least until they sang, "Where Were You When I Needed You?" CALLIOPE: Did that song have some special significance for you? JOE: It was their first big hit in 1966 the year after I left the monastery and was just getting back into the real world. It brought back memories of those days. I'll tell you more tomorrow. |
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Hope they like snow! 
I just tell them to go get a life...
It's a sunshiny 24 here at the moment; 19 in Buffalo.