photo by Madison Poulter Here are a few of the Buddhas in my collection. I began to gather them around me, not because I follow the religion, but because Paul always seemed so like a Buddha. He sat cross-legged in his room with his musical instruments or papers around him on the floor. He also had a very calm expression on his face during most of our conversations. He spoke slowly and clearly and looked me right in the eye. So I have my Buddhas almost all over my house to calm me as well. The Link's National Resource Center for Suicide Prevention The Link Counseling Center, located in Georgia since 1971, is a nonprofit community counseling center. The Link provides quality, affordable, confidential counseling, psychotherapy, and support groups to all ages. In addition to counseling and psychotherapy services, The Link also offers three specialized programs: Suicide Prevention and Aftercare, Marriage and Family Therapy, and Children and Adolescents in Crisis and Grief besides … [Read more...]
The Great American Poetry Show Volume 2 – first review!
The Great American Poetry Show Volume 2 Poems by Edited by Larry Ziman, Madeline Sharples, Nicky Selditz The Muse Media West Hollywood, CA Volume 2 Copyright © 2010 by Larry Ziman Hardcover, 157 pages, $35 Review by Zvi A. Sesling This book of poetry really is a show. It is 8x10, hardcover and provides 157 of poetry, followed by a bio of every author. Moreover the authors are presented in alphabetical order which is especially useful if you want to find the poem or author again. As for the poetry, it has some old poetic friends like A.D. Winans, Lyn Lifshin, Alan Catlin, but for the most part I am not familiar with the poets, though their poems are of high quality and belong in the show which is baseball talk for the major leagues. Of the many poems a number caught my eye let me name just three:To My Daughter on a Fine Fall Day, by Carol Carpenter, Big Daddy by Carrie Jerrell, Remembrance by David Parke about a lost love which closes: At night when I stand in the … [Read more...]
A calm moment
Paul loved Joshua Tree, California. He and his girlfriend went there the spring before he died. I recently found this small piece of his writing describing one of their calm moments together. Shhh/Peaceful The Joshua trees are a silent passerby to their secret marriage. An infinite universe of sand and stars envelops them as they look, gracefully, into each other's eyes. She lies on her back with her hair splayed out on the thick blanket. He sits above her, caressing her face with his hand. I've never been to Joshua Tree. Maybe someday though I think going there would be painful. A lot of people in Paul's his life tried to help him, and he rejected most of the help they offered. Perhaps help would have worked better had it come from people unknown to him. Samaritans USA This is a coalition whose primary purpose is to befriend people who are depressed, in crisis and suicidal. For more information about Smaritans USA go to: http://www.samaritansnyc.org/ … [Read more...]
Letters from Paul
Paul was constantly writing letters to his girlfriend while he was at home in Manhattan Beach and she was in New York City. Here are a couple he wrote in February 1996. Though he says he mailed them, I don't know if he ever did. He wrote them in long-hand, so if he mailed them, he must have written out a copy. February 26, 1996 Hi, I have the taste of peaches and strawberries in my mouth. I haven't eaten any lately, I'm just imagining. I don't know why, but I associate these fruits with you. Actually there are some peaches in the bowl upstairs but I don't want to eat any until I'm next to you. I'm looking at a photograph that you took of yourself. The photo shows you laying on your couch with some light shining in from the window. I love this photograph because the combination of your creativity and physical beauty is breathtaking. The sun here is nice, I like to walk on the beach, and I'm also meditating. I know that you're happy in New York. Please stay strong. I love … [Read more...]
Day 4. Oh my gosh, what happened to Day 4?
I decided to cancel it. After just three posts about suicide prevention organizations, I've decided posting about suicide day after day is too, too depressing. So, let's just say I've changed my mind. A woman's prerogative, right? Instead I'm going to make this month a celebration of Paul's life -- with musings, poems, photos, and some of his writing as well. Sure, I'll still post more information about suicide prevention organizations -- but that data will appear toward the end of the page. And, it won't appear in the title. If you're interested you'll have to scroll down a bit. Here's a poem Paul left us -- I think he wrote it right before he died. Way By Paul Sharples I was walking I was thinking I was running I was sinking You were laughing You were loving I was pushing I was shoving If you're wondering How I'm feeling Same old thing I ain't healing If you're hungry I can feed you Please don't think That I don't need you And I let … [Read more...]
Blogging – three years already?
I started blogging on a lark, and here I am three years later with a serious blog on my hands. The first purpose to use it as a sort of bucket list of my end of life plan seems to have gone by the wayside. Even though I still think about the choices I have yet to make in life as long as I stay healthy and together . As Nora Ephron likes to say: it's as though we at our age are racing with the clock. We keep going on normally until our systems like the clockworks decide to stop. And we have no control over when that will happen. So, I feel that using my blog to post about my writing successes and failures, my family occasions, my book due out next May, my life events in general, and to use it as a place to post poems and photos is all to the good. I'm an eclectic person. So no reason my blog shouldn't be eclectic as well. Over these last three years I feel my posts about the ups and downs of querying agents and publisher in the hopes of getting my book published and finally … [Read more...]
What’s next?
More and more I'm feeling ready to have the writing and the revisions and the editing of my memoir be finished. I'm now looking at this final process the way I worked proposals. I have a deadline, and as I get nearer and nearer to it, I'm beginning to prepare myself for the proverbial pens down date. I'm even pretending I have someone breaking that red pen in half, just like I had to do with the engineers who wrote proposals. There is a beginning, middle, and end to this process. That's all there is to it. When I worked proposals I was always happy close to the deadline. That meant I could move on to a whole other proposal project and work with an entirely new proposal team. Well that will be true for me soon -- at least temporarily. I started a novel before I got my memoir publishing contract, and I've put it aside for several months while I've worked on revising the memoir. But come January I'll be back working on the novel. I've signed up for a UCLA extension online novel … [Read more...]
One month countdown
Even though my publisher has given me a December 18 deadline, my goal is to have everything ready to send off to her on December 4 -- one month from today. Here's the list: complete and merged manuscript cover photos photos for inside the book photos of me copy for the paper back cover copy for the hardback dust jacket Here's what's left to do: finish creating almost-final chapters. I have four left to go have the almost-final version reviewed front to back incorporate last review comments if I so choose merge and copy-edit the final document finish picking out photos for the body of the book have my photo taken write the cover and dust jacket copy Sound daunting? Well, I'm a deadline-oriented person. I have no doubt I will get it all finished -- on time. … [Read more...]
In the can or not?
I started bragging on Facebook last week that I had four chapters in the proverbial can. And this week I have three more. Then I got to thinking what that really means. Does that mean that I'm done, done with them, that I'll never touch them again? Absolutely not. As soon as I posted the first four on my storyboard wall I noticed things - just little things - I needed to change. So, I took my red pen and marked them up on the wall copy. Then, I found a bigger thing and marked that up too. And last night while I was watching television - we're watching Season One of "Mad Men" - I started jotting things down on my iPhone note pad. There is no stopping me. My brain is always thinking about this book. Perhaps that's why writer's start their next book. They need to get over the last. So I have to admit, I'm not done with these chapters yet. I've finished incorporating my editor's changes, but I know I need to go through them a time or two again before I ship the whole manuscript … [Read more...]
A political intrusion
When I got to the gym this morning there was a campaign sign for Carly Fiorina sitting on the floor near the exit door. I was incensed, but I opted not to say anything about it until I was finished with my workout. I felt having it there was intrusive like all the political emails, phone calls, and TV adds that intrude on my life every day. I go to the gym to get away from that stuff, not to have it around and thrown in my face. The gym is my time, supposedly free from the interruptions of daily life. Cells phones are outlawed there, so why not campaign signage? Well it turns out that someone else must have felt as I did, because the sign was gone when I was ready to leave. So I didn't have to read anyone the riot act which I would have done but in a nice way. I actually have a suspicion who brought it in - a very politically vocal woman. I hear her talking about politics almost every day. Even my ear buds can't drown her out. … [Read more...]
Advice is just that – advice. It’s not a directive.
Yesterday my Lucky Press publisher, Janice Phelps Williams gave me some very sage advice regarding my revision process. She of course knows I've farmed my book out to readers and editors for comments, and she just wants me to stay on purpose. She said, "I know you are working very hard on the final draft of your book, and I like that you are keeping in mind that it is YOUR book, YOUR story, and YOUR voice. Others can only offer advice. Only you can write this book." This advice is so true and useful. It reminds me of the way we worked on proposals to secure government work contracts at my former day job in aerospace. We had many reviews throughout a rather lengthy proposal planning and writing process. We addressed the comments from those akin to Janice's advice. We especially assessed the review comments from people outside the proposal team a necessary review part of our process because they in fact were not intimately involved in the book like the authors and book captains … [Read more...]
Book progress amidst thoughts about suicide
Well, now I really have my work cut out for me. I have several marked up chapters from my editors so I can complete, complete the first four chapters for sure. I also have final suggestions from my First Reader to combine several chapters -- two into one and three into one. And, right now I think I'm okay about doing that. in fact I know how to do it. So at this point I think I see the light at the end of the tunnel. I can actually see finished chapters on the horizon. I was so worried yesterday that making somce of the suggested changes would be too daunting, but after working through one today I know I'll be okay. Plus it is my book. I can take my editor's notes or leave them. That's the advantage of my being the person with the last red pen. I also think of the suicide crisis we're having because of bullying. In the 11 years since my son Paul's suicide death I think the suicide rate has greatly increased (I plan to include the facts about that at the end of my book). However, … [Read more...]
Getting permissions — second, third, fourth, fifth rounds
After I proudly thought I was on my way to getting permission to use a quote from a Paul Simon song in my book, I got an email from the organization (the third one) I had last communicated with telling me they were not the guys who give out the permissions. However, they were kind enough to give me the name of another permissions-giving-out organization, and I promptly sent off a query and information I thought would be pertinent for their going ahead. But, no. The next organization wasn't the right one either. They too gave me the name and contact information for another organization that gives permission for using Paul Simon lyrics (the previous one only dealt with the music side of permissions). And, duh! It's called Paul Simon Music. Well, I called them right away, left a voice mail for the contact in charge, and within minutes I got an email back with a form to fill out with the book's cost, when it would come out, and the publisher. They also requested a couple of things … [Read more...]
Is there really a process for getting permission to use a quote?
Yesterday I spent a lot of time figuring out how to ask for permission to use a few quotes I have in my book. I've always been into quotes. I write them down when I happen on them. You can see a few of my favorite ones on my Facebook page profile. So, I thought nothing of it when I inserted a few in my memoir manuscript actually one is the first line of one of the poems that will be in the book. Then I asked Janice, my Lucky Press publisher, whether or not I needed to get permission to use them. And, the answer was resounding yes. So, I began down the path of finding out about the permission request process. First Janice suggested I go back to the two books containing two of the quotes and find the page numbers they are on. And, since I didn't have the books anymore, I decided to go to my local library. I actually thought I'd pick the book off the shelf, thumb through it, and voila, there would be the quote. It would just jump out at me. Not so simple. The library didn't have a … [Read more...]
Doubts beget doubts
I'm 16 minutes late starting this. I had set my goal to start a journal entry/blog post at 10 am, to give me enough time to complete it before going on walk to the beach with friends. And what I managed to do was find a few distractions causing me to miss my start time. And the distractions were: putting away the folded laundry, cleaning the bathroom sinks, making the bed, putting away the purse and shoes I wore to dinner last night, taking the sneakers out of the washing machine. All of those things could have waited, but I wanted everything done just in case our guests gaze around our house. I don't want them to catch a glimpse of a mess somewhere. That's how I am. I always have to have things just so before anyone comes over. And that's at the expense of my writing time. Sure I know it's only 16 minutes, but a lot of 16 minutes could add up to a lot of time over the long haul. Right now I'm feeling pressed for time. It's September 12, and my deadline is to have the book in my … [Read more...]
A schedule – in stone!
I've gotten my marching orders. Janice, my Lucky Press LLC publisher, and I worked out a book preparation and publishing schedule that works well for both of us. And, I'm excited about it. Like all of the work I did on proposals in the aerospace industry there is a beginning, middle, and end and plenty of time for reviews along the way. It also makes the end product seem more and more real. I have to keep pinching myself to believe that this is actually happening and happening to me! Here's what the schedule looks like. I will have the book to Janice on October 31 for her review also send any photos for consideration for the cover. Janice will return the book to me with her notes on November 15. I'm so fortunate. She says she trusts that all the helpful professional help I'm getting now will preclude any major rewrite requests from her. I'll then return a final electronic file back to her on December 18 my choice. I want to be free of all memoir work during the last two weeks in … [Read more...]
Another book revision progress report
It's really coming along. I'm down to the last chapter in my first revision pass. I still have lots of moving around and repetition deletions to do, but I'm feeling more confident that the book has now taken on the right shape. And, my storyboards are a big help. I can see where each chapter best belongs by having the whole book posted. I also have highlighted my problem-child text in yellow, so I can see where I need to go back and revise again. Once this first revision is complete, I'm going to ask Janice to give it a preliminary look about the end of September. Then all I'll have to do once she's finished is get it ready for her final edit and galley prep. Did I say, all I'll have to do? I suspect it won't be that simple. Even when the words are in their proper place I'll still have to put it in the required manuscript form and adhere to the Lucky Press style guide. That alone could take weeks. I also didn't mention that one of my friends is currently editing it as well. She … [Read more...]
Book review of The Prophet of Sorrow by Mark Van Aken Williams
From time to time I plan to post a review of a book I espectially like. I think the writer's life must include reading good books. How else would we know how to write if we don't read? Here's review No. 1. A tour de force, the historical novel, The Prophet of Sorrow by Mark Van Aken Williams, is a narrative account of the assassination of Leon Trotsky through the voice of his assassin, Ramon Mercader. Most impressive is Mr. Williams' re-imaginings, in the form of journal entries, of the thoughts, ideas, and motives of each of the characters involved e.g., Trotsky, Stalin, Eitingon, Natalia Sedova (Trotsky's wife), and Caridad Mercador (the assassin's mother) interspersed throughout the narrative. Mr. Williams' writing is smart, historically accurate, and packed with literary and artistic illusions. A must-read for historical fiction buffs. … [Read more...]
Getting back into the writing groove
After almost of week off from my writing routine I'm finding it hard to get back into the groove. But, I'm forcing myself to keep my seat in my desk chair and do what it takes to keep my fingers moving on the keys. I also followed my own advice: write a journal entry and find the nuggets there. As of today I've reedited chapters one through five, and 10, so that's a good start. I've also written a new chapter, and material for inserts into several other chapters. (Sorry to say, I'm not revealing any content here.) And now I've also come up against a major roadblock. I cannot get the company that carries Micore Board -- the material I need to storyboard my manuscript -- to return my calls. Of course, why should they? They are a wholesale resource. I've also called three retail building suppliers and they haven't even heard of Micore Board. I need it. I want it. And I'm afraid I'm going to have to do without it, thwarting my plan to have my book up on the walls right after the … [Read more...]
