Welcome to the First of what I intend to be a new series on this blog.
I am planning a series of Essays based on the phrase "Time To..." At some point in all of our lives it is "Time To...". I'll let you fill in your own words for the moment, but as you will see below in my first essay. I chose
'Take a Chance' as my first subject.
I hope you enjoy, and I am always interested in comments, and in this case, your way to finish the Phrase.
Time to …
A
series of essays on based on completing the title phrase.
Essay No.
1 - Time to take a Chance
2015
was a year that began with no agenda, or grand plans, except for one: To have each breath followed by another, so
that I would be there to experience the joy and excitement of her first trip to
Chicago. A year that began with lots
of time on our hands courtesy of Mother Nature: Time to think, Time to worry,
Time to muse, Time to write, Time to Dream, Time to Create, Time to Shovel, and
Time to Shiver.
Where
did all of this time come from, especially in this day of: multi-tasking,
multiple jobs, carting the kids here and there, or going to watch your
grandchildren perform either in the arts or on the athletic arena? For me the answer is quite simple. First of
all, I am retired, so I enjoy the luxury of having time to do with as I please
something one rarely gets to do during their working, and child rearing
years. Second, my only child, and my
only grandchild live over a hundred miles away, which makes it a bit much to
run off to every event, or on the negative side to see them as often as I would
like. The time factor during the first
three months of this year, was greatly influenced, as mentioned above by Mother
Nature, as it was either; snowing and blowing, or so bitterly cold and windy,
that you only went out if you truly had to.
I
would like to take this moment to add another important word into this essay.
The word is Proud, and that is
exactly how I feel about what I have accomplished in the first eight plus
months of this year. I know I still have over a quarter of a year left to
accomplish more, but I am both proud and satisfied with what I have
accomplished to date, and if nothing more is completed, then it has still been
a wonderful year. Especially during a
year that began with no true plan or agenda, for me to have allowed my
creativity, to simply flow, both physically and mentally.
For
those that do not know me personally, I have written both poetry and prose for
years, but have never submitted any to be published, with the exception of a
piece for Collector’s Magazine, titled “Addicted to Glass”. Towards
the end of 2013, I was sitting in my office, and cleaning up the files on my
laptop, when I came across a folder, that held much of the work that I have
written over the years, and have transferred to a digital format. I spent the rest of the day, reading some of
the stories, and the idea of finally publishing my five novel series worked its
way to the surface in my mind. After a few days of on-line research, I decided
I would publish the first book in the series. I did not feel comfortable with
publishing my first book myself, so I talked with my wife, and gave myself an
early Christmas Present, and contracted with a known publishing house, which
would publish and distribute a book in all e-formats, and still allow the
author to keep their rights.
It did
not take me long to figure out that, what I was getting was quite basic, and
that any additional service, such as editing, or proofing was additional and
very expensive. I did learn a lot during the process, and became more active on
line, and communicating with other indie authors, learned of Amazon’s KDP
program, and a bit later about Smashwords.com.
My book was published, under a pen-name that I still use today. It was at that point when my frustration with
the old school publisher set in. I could
find my book listed on Amazon, and Barnes & Nobel, but I had no way of
knowing if it was selling. The
publisher, did not have the ability, or even felt it necessary to have a way
for authors to check on their performance, until a entire sales quarter had
ended, and the you still had to wait another two months for your sales
information. I am have a results driven
personality, so I truly became more and more frustrated, when I could not get
any results. My first knowledge that my book had sold at least one copy came
when it receive a review and rating on Amazon.
During this five months period of no analytical information, I probably
received five calls from my representative at the publishers, asking if I was
ready to publish my next book in the series.
To which my response was, “How can I make that decision, when you can’t
tell me how the first book is doing.”
My
frustration, led me to Amazon KDP, and I released the second book in the series
in March of that year. I still had no idea how the first book was doing, but I
knew that the second book was selling on Amazon, so I released one a month
until all five were out. Looking to
further expand the distribution of my books, I began to also publish on
Smashwords, beginning with a series of short stories that had actually been
portions cut from the original series.
I
didn’t leave what I published to just what I had already written. Once my mind had shifted back into a writing
mode again, my creative juices began to flow, and new stories and poetry began
to find its way to my fingers and onto my laptop. I began to publish a blog, which often
contained one of my new poems, and without any pre-planning, a collection of
new poems just seemed to work together, and my first book of poetry was born,
and published. I knew that I had been given a gift, and I was not about to
waste it; by the end of 2014 I had published twenty different works. Five of
which I had written during the year, while the rest had been written earlier,
but all needed editing and revisions.
2015
arrived, bringing with it a continuation of the snow and cold that settled in
over the Northeast in late December. Time
was plentiful, as most of the time it was either too snowy and windy, or too
cold and windy to venture outside. With
ample time to think and write, I decided that it was time to take another
chance. I decided to write my next book
under my own name, instead of my pen-name.
Essentially I had decided to let the world know that I could and did
write both poetry and prose, and that I was strong enough to accept either the
criticism or praise, whatever the outcome may be.
To
date this year I have written and published two novels, and a book of poetry
and prose. Thankfully, for the most part, I have received much more praise than
criticism, and can truly say that I am very happy to have realized that it was
once again “Time to take a Chance.
The
decision to write and published under my own name, was a major step for me. I
would no longer be hiding behind a pen-name, but would be now be taking full
and complete credit for my work, be it positive or negative. Along with writing under my own name, I also
made the decision to reach out to a different market and in a new genre for me.
I did not what the genre would be, for like so much of what I write, it simply
flows out of me.
The
story that escaped from where ever it had been hiding in my sub-conscious
became my first International Crime Drama “Murder in St. Luietz” (Guns –
Stilettos & Money). A story that
takes place on a fictional tropical island, and not only involves the islands
police force, but agents from the United States, and wet work specialist from
the Russian mafia, all because a US Senator changed his vote on an
appropriations bill, suddenly bringing an end to Gretchen’s grand plan. I
decided to Market it exclusively through Amazon, along with a paperback edition
through CreatSpace. I will be the first
to admit, that I am still a starving author, but I am proud of its solid
reviews, and 4.25 rating.
While
“Murder in St. Luietz” was going through its editing process, I decided to head
off in a different direction. I had a
large number of works of poetry, some of which had been published on one of my
blogs, and others that had never been published. I decided to break the book into four
different sections, and include both poetry and prose. Many of the poems were
inspired, by my experiences with dealing with the sudden addition of my
mother-in-law, as a member of our household.
As I put the book together, I made the decision that nothing was going
to be excluded from the book. The title
for the book is essentially a statement of its contents. “Words from the Heart” A Collection of Poetry
and Prose became the title before the poem “Words from the Heart” was written.
The assembly of the parts of the book inspired the title poem. Published on June 24th of this
year, both through CreatSpace as a paperback, and Amazon in digital formats, I
am quite proud of the book and that fact that all of its ratings have been five
stars.
A
third book also managed to find its way out of heart and mind. Inspired by a long series of tones that came
out of my police scanner one night, as the 911 Center, took total control of
the communications channels to put out a system wide broadcast. This one happened to be to officially
announce the retirement of a captain, from the Sheriff’s Department, but the
idea formed, and I began to write about a similar series of tones from a 911
Center in a fictitious city. My newest book, “Out of the Chaos” which will be
released digitally today, September 12th,
was born that night, and simply flowed out of me. As usual, when I
write, I did so without knowing what was going to happen next until is showed
up on screen of my laptop. Somewhere
along the way, the book evolved from a police drama, to a romantic police
drama, as the principals began to realize that a special connection had formed between
them. Once again I have had the book
published as a paperback through CreatSpace, while with this book; I am not
limiting it to Amazon. Instead it will be released through Amazon, Smashwords,
and Google Play at the same time.
In
conclusion, and I hate admit it, but I
am old enough that I learned how to read, with Dick and Jane, and have until
just a few years ago, always held a physical book in my hands when reading.
I must admit that I do own a Kindle, but I did not get one until I began
to publish on Amazon. I now do most of my reading on it, in part,
because my wife and I can read, me on my Kindle, and her on her Nook, in bed at
night for as long as either pleases, without disturbing whoever wants to sleep
first .They are convenient, and certainly save on shelf space, but there is
something special about the feeling of actual book in your hands. As an author, there was a special feeling of
pride, when I received my own copies of my books. There is something special about writing a
book, and then holding the actual physical results of your efforts in your
hand. I am proud of every piece that I
have written and published, be it in digital format only, or also in print,
written under my pen-name or under my own name.
I write for the pleasure of writing, yes I would love to have a
bestseller, but I can truthfully say that if I have provided some form of
entertainment, and pleasure to one reader, then I am happy that I took the
chance.
©September 12, 2015
By: Richard Nurse
All Rights Reserved
