Unearthing THE book, Silent Witness and giving it another shot.

I just unearthed a stack of papers six inches high that included one complete typed copy of the book I wrote in '02 that had been corrected and two other versions that had been edited and proofed by my friend Cecilia and my husband Bob who double checked it. I was as Cecilia said, "at a different place" in my life at the time.

I had gone to Colorado after being fired from my job as a graphic artist due to mental illness. I had a lawsuit underway against the paper and I needed a break. In a funny aside, I remember the day that I had my talk with the publisher of the paper and picking up my final paycheck. I told the receptionist afterward when she asked, "so what are you going to do?", I told her, "I'm going to Colorado." "Is your husband coming too?" "No." By the time I got to a friend's house in Donnellson from Keokuk, she had heard that I was moving to Colorado and leaving my husband! I was taking a month and a half break out at my mom's house.

That is where I wrote the book. It was spring in Loveland, Colorado, 25 miles from Estes Park in the Rockies. I spent a lot of time laying out in the sun, writing, listening to my mom's soap opera through the screen of her sliding glass door. We spent a lot of time together. I would write in long hand and later in the day type it up on her computer, save it to a disk and later when I got home transfered it using simple text to my mac. My mac died and I have this stack of papers that I am preparing to re-write in first person instead of third. Twenty six chapters and each one needs work. But, and here is where the financial part comes in, Bob has mentioned to me different times that what we really need is for me to actually publish one of my books in order to make money on it.

So. There it is. The story takes place beginning in 1980. It has sat on my shelf too long. Time to giterdone!

I have an aunt who occasionally reads this blog who has always been encouraging me to "finish" it. So Helen, if you are reading, I'm working on it.

I think if I type one chapter per day I'll be doing good. I could probably type up two or three of the smaller chapters in a day, but I will give myself that pace and see how I do.

I also have illustrations that need to be finalized for my book, The Visitors of Pompadour, so I plan to work on one illustration every other day to set that as my goal. At the same time...I need to keep looking for jobs. I haven't heard from the newspaper but there is need of a graphic artist at a factory in Arthur. I am going to get more information about their plant and what exactly the programs needed are.

So those are my attempts at "work" and earning extra money. I have kept my driving to short distances by myself. The cost of going to Wisconsin was really not that bad considering the distance. We're doing okay.

And that's all I have to say about that.