When you write a blog regularly you sometimes get free posts from folks.  You’ll start to write a reply to a comment on another post and after 30 minutes of writing you realize that it’ll make a pretty good post itself.  This one is thanks to Ms Betty who commented on my Christmas post with this comment:

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Here’s what I wrote as a response:

Thank you for the kind words. 

I’d like to write a book someday, maybe, but the trick (as with most things) is getting started and staying started..  I like the short essay’s that I do here because I don’t have to do a lot of work to keep the story together for long.  Unfortunately, I believe that most publishers consider blogs to be “tainted” in some way and require unpublished “new” content.

Another problem is that I have a lot to learn.  I passed all four years of high school English (actually, I took and passed all four my senior year.) and studied literature a bit in college but that’s about it. My grammar is horrible (sometimes intentionally, sometimes not.  It’s the “not” times that bother me. Smile).

My punctuation is always punctual but I tend to put comma’s anywhere I want, rather than where they should be.  Periods I’m good with though and semi-colon’s which are the most fun because they make you look smart and no one else really understands the rules for using them regularly anyway.  Other punctuation is pretty much reserved for making smiley faces.  Also, my vocabulary is tiny and I wouldn’t know a preposition from a proposition so I stay away from places where either might be invoked for a purpose.

That said, I did start a book, once, in college.  At some point I determined that if I wrote a page a day I’d have something worth reading at the end of the year.  That was 16 years ago; I’m still on page 3.

Again, thanks for the kind words.  I very much appreciate that people get some small measure of joy out of the stuff that I write.  It makes it very much worth it.

If you like what I write, you should check out Michael Perry’s "Population 485".  He’s an amazing author that focuses his books on rural folks in a similar style to the way that I write (though, he’s much better at it).  Or, just keep reading here.  Smile

Feeling bookish?

6 thoughts on “Feeling bookish?

  • January 6, 2011 at 5:08 pm
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    If S!@# my dad says can be published from a twitter feed *and* made into a TV show, then I’m sure you can get yours published. 🙂

    There is always amazon self-publishing.

    I know a good editor. Her name is Leah.

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  • January 6, 2011 at 6:02 pm
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    True enough I think. Still, it’s a lot of work and i’m lazy. 🙂

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  • January 8, 2011 at 1:42 am
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    I hadn’t come across Michael Perry before, “Population 485” sounds like a good recommendation. Have you read anything by Steven Grayson? I’ve got his “En Route” queued for Kindle reading. Haven’t started it yet but it sounds similar enough to appeal to the same readers. Its also free (as of this writing) on Amazon’s “Limited Time Offer” list.

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    • January 21, 2011 at 5:03 pm
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      Steven “Kelly” Grayson is a Paramedic down here where we live. I have known him for awhile, and am proud to call him as a friend. It’s excellent reading, written in a blog type style that holds your interest.

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      • January 21, 2011 at 5:07 pm
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        Thanks Chris! Does Steven have a blog? If so feel free to share the link.

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  • January 8, 2011 at 2:42 am
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    Thanks Mark. I’ll have a look. I’ll have it pushed to my kindle tonight.

    Reply

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