The word is spreading.

The word is finally getting out around town about my book. My two best promoters so far are my nephew and granddaughter. When I visited my brother my nephew asked me if I would go to school and talk on career day about being an author. My granddaughter gave her teacher a business card with my book information. The teacher asked her if I would come in and talk to the class about my book.
My books will be arriving soon so I started to plan a few book signings. My sister-in-law is working on a press release. Tom has my web site set up for taking orders and shipping them to you when you make an order. We have some orders and as soon as the books come in we will ship them. Others want to pick their books up at the book signings.

The book is ready to order.

Finally, the book is finished! “Help! I Married a Cartoon Character” is being printed currently. I expect my first shipment of books in a couple of weeks.
The publishers determined the cost of my book. The Hard Cover is $23.95 and the Paperback is $13.95. I am offering a numbered Hard Cover book for $28.95 for a limited time. Go to my web site and order a book today! http://lizlally.com It would make a great Christmas gift.
My very first order was from my best friend of many years. She ordered 4 Hard Back books.
This book selling is also getting a little dangerous. Last night, Tom and I went to a wedding reception. Their theme was western and there was a bucking bull by the dance floor for the daring to ride. A friend came over to me and said, “I will buy 5 books if you ride the bull!” I said, “No, I don’t think so!” She was persistent, “Come on 5 books! Right now I will buy 5 books!” I must admit that I was tempted.

In production.

I checked the web of my publisher and my book is finally in production. Now I just have to wait. My work is done. I guess it’s time to get serious about advertising. My publishing plus package includes a marketing workbook and kit, but I’m not sure when I will be getting it. I am going to E-mail them Monday and find out. I could read it now since I know absolutely about advertising.

Proof stage is complete!

Well, I just pushed the send button and accepted the Proofreaders corrections, the cover, and sent my corrections. This completes the proof stage. My chance to make corrections has now passed. I think it’s time to celebrate!


The book is going to production! Time for a
glass of chardonnay! This is where it all started!

Reconsidering the cover copy!

After I posted the pictures of the cover the publishers made and the cover that Tom was working on, I received E-mail from some readers of my Blog. It appears they like the cover the publishers made.
Tom made a copy of the cover on photo paper and it looks better than on regular paper. I have gotten past the publishers not notifying me that they couldn’t make the pictures into cartoons. It’s time to move on!
Now, my focus is on advertising. The publishers feel the cover is very important in selling books. Now, what cover will attract people browsing through the humor section to purchase my book? Here are some comments I have received on the publishers book cover. “I don’t like it!” “It’s too busy!” “It’s too dark!” “It’s great!” “I love it!” “It’s perfect!” “You have to use this cover!” Now I don’t know which direction to go, since the publishers can’t make the photos into cartoon pictures for the cover.
I would really appreciate your opinion. Tom posted three book covers. Would you please E-mail me liz@lizlally.com and tell me which cover you think is the best for advertising and attracting people to buy my book? Or do you have any suggestions I could use for the cover?

A. The publisher's cover...........B. Tom's cover............................C. Tom altered publisher's cover

Just chilling!

Well, today I am finishing my fall cleaning, since I can’t move on with my book until I hear from the Editorial Board. I am working on my lists of who to call, E-mail, or send a mailing for advertising my book. Many people tell me E-mail is the best way to go, but I don’t have the E-mail of most of the people. I often heard people say, “My E-mail is piling up; I haven’t read it yet.” As far as mailing, someone said to me, “What will make your mail any different than any other junk mail they get? Also, I have been told that this Blog is a good source of advertising.
Tom is trying on his vest with 42 pockets. He is so excited he found two more pockets he didn’t know he had. He is putting gadgets in and out of the pockets. I think he wants to see which pocket works best for each gadget. (I’m just guessing!) I stopped asking about his gadgets long ago. I just don’t understand the need for them. You will have to read my book to learn more about how Tom’s gadgets evolved. Why he needs so many gadgets is a mystery to me. I devoted a whole chapter to Tom and his gadgets.

Waiting to hear from the Editorial Board.

I received an E-mail from the Editorial Board my Publishing Service Associate forwarded my E-mail about my concerns of my Proofreading. I am waiting to hear from them. Hopefully they will correct the mistakes.
I understand that I have to go over the book and check if there are any mistakes the Proofreader missed. However, he never addressed the punctuation. I left that up to him since I am not too sure where and when to insert commas. I paid the Proofreader by the word so he should have looked at every word.
Tom and I plan to work on the cover this weekend. I have to pick colors and he is still working on the photos to make them look more like cartoons.

MY FIRST MELT DOWN!!!

The more I looked at the cover of my book; the more anxious I got. They only have one more shot at getting my cover like I envision it. Then, I have to pay extra for anything else they do. And they are NOT understanding what I envision! I sent two photographs and asked them to change them into cartoons and put them on the cover. Well, they took the photos and blurred and darkened them. Then put them on the cover. It does not look good!
I called my contact girl about my concerns and she said what I think is a cartoon and what they think is a cartoon may be different. Apparently! I am afraid to send anything else because I can’t communicate with them so they just do what they think I think.
I thought they would be in touch with me before they worked on the cover. However, they do the cover once. Send it. I accept or reject. Then they do another. If I reject, I pay for another. I would like to E-mail or talk to someone in that department to make sure that what they think and what I think is the same! But, I guess that’s not how the publishing works.
As for the Proofreader, I took a good look at the manuscript in book form and there are still many punctuation mistakes. I paid a Line Editor to go over my manuscript. She addressed my sentence fragments, dangling participles and other grammar mistakes. After she finished, there were still minor typos and punctuation mistakes so I paid for a Proofreader and thought he would correct the commas and typos. But he didn’t address the punctuation at all. I also found other mistakes he should have addressed. So, I called my contact girl again and she said someone should have checked the book after the Proofreader sent it back. She asked me to E-mail some sentence examples and they will check if there is a pattern.
So, I am waiting to hear about the Proofreading. Tom is working on a cover for my book and so far it looks great. We have mixed emotions about doing my cover because I am paying for the primer plus publishing package and experts in the field are suppose to be working WITH ME on my cover. Apparently what they think working WITH ME and what I think working WITH ME is also different. I thought they would communicate WITH ME before making the actual cover. I don’t understand why they couldn’t E-mail me and say, “This is what we are working on for your cover? Is this blurry, dark, ugly cover what you had in mind? What do you think?” Then I would TELL THEM EXACTLY WHAT I THOUGHT OF THE COVER AND EXPLAIN WHAT A CARTOON LOOKS LIKE!!! Then the experts would know how to design my cover.
Now, I have to reject the cover. Then I guess I have two options: I can send the cover Tom is working on and hope they understand it or I can tell them to design a cover and hope for the best.


..........Expert,s Cover. ..................Cover Tom is working on.....

Cover and Proofreading are complete.

My publisher sent the cover and the Proofreader’s corrections to accept or reject. The corrections of the Proofreader are okay however, I’m not quite satisfied with the front cover. It’s not what I envisioned for the cover. It’s too dark and busy. I have a friend and classmate who is an artist; I think I will give her a call and explain to her what I envision for the cover. Hopefully she can capture my thoughts.
Well Tom read my Blog. As he was reading it, I noticed him smiling and he looked over at me and just shook his head. Gosh, “that was easy” I should have taken over half of his room.

Post Product Editorial Service.

I checked the status of my book again on my publishers’ web site and it is in Post Product Editorial Service. I think this means it is being Proofread.
I didn’t Blog for a few days because I was a little busy. Tom went out of town so this was my chance to do what my friends and I call “The Ten Minute Rule!” The Rule is after he leaves you wait Ten Minutes just in case he forgot something and comes back. Then after Ten Minutes you start your projects. This Rule prevents all the hassle and comments from them whenever we want to make a home improvement. I explain this Rule more in my book.
This time I converted half of the spare room into an office for me so I can package all my books for mailing when the orders come rolling in. Then I took over a third of his computer room for my book information, my TWO briefcases, my computer, my plant, and other important stuff. He has been home for a day and hasn’t noticed the spare room rearranged with the added tables and shelves. I am sitting in my third of the computer room typing my Blog and he is sitting at his desk. He looked over at me and made a comment, “You are spending a lot of time in here lately.” If history repeats itself it will take a few days for him to notice my stuff and realize my invasion. Unless of course he reads my Blog; I suspect sometimes he just posts my Blog and doesn’t always read it. Well I will know in a few minutes if he reads my Blog.

A way to advertise my book or not.

I am still waiting to hear from my publishers! Yesterday a lady called and offered me a space on a placemat. Popular restaurants in the area will use the placemats. She said it is a circulation of around 80,000 I’m not sure this is a way to advertise my book. I usually just glance at the advertising on placemats. The cost is around $600 for a year. I told her I needed time to think about this offer so she will call back on Friday.
My publisher will send me a marketing success workbook and marketing toolkit which includes a set of templates for creating my own press release, sell sheet, event sign, post card, business card, poster and Web site banner ad. I guess this covers everything. I suppose I will wait until I receive these marketing items before I try other ways of advertising.

Promoting my book, business cards again.

While I’m waiting to hear from my publisher, Tom printed out some more business cards. I decided to try this approach to sell my book one more time. We went to the local tavern and ran into a few friends. They asked, “How is your book coming along?” So this was my cue to pass out the business cards. Someone approached me that overheard our conversation and was very interested in my book so I talked to her for about twenty minutes and gave her a business card.
Yesterday I ran into a friend and gave her a card and said, “Check out my Blog.” She said, “What’s a Blog?” I still haven’t figure out how this Blog will sell books. Then I ran into a classmate at the grocery store and she was on her way to a party so she took some cards to pass out. However, she said, “I don’t do the computer or E- mail just call me when your book is published.” So she won’t be checking out my web page or Blog. Maybe the web site and blog isn’t the way to promote my book. However, Tom thinks this is the way to go. I think there are many people who don’t use the computer or E-mail out there.Tom won’t give out a card unless it comes up in a conversation so he hasn’t given out any cards yet. In his circle of friends who is going to say, “Hey is anyone’s wife publishing a book?”

Current Status.

I just checked the progress of my book on my publisher’s web site and the:
Current Status: In Production.
It’s been 9 days since my book went into production. All I can do now is wait!

Pictures don't lie.

I’ve been busy checking over my manuscript again. After the Proofreader corrects mistakes, I am allowed 50 changes. After that I have to pay for the changes. They consider every push of the keys a change. Hopefully, the Proofreader does a good job because I don’t want to waste my 50 changes on typos. So far all the services of publishing my book have done a great job.
I put pictures in the center of the book to help you visualize some of the stories. I was looking over the pictures and for the first time I took a good look at the first and last picture. The first picture is Tom and I standing in front of his 1956 Chevy when we were 19 years old and the last picture is Tom and I standing in front of our 2006 Cadillac a couple months ago. We tried to do the same pose in front of the car but it was impossible. Did you notice how narrow the cars are today compared to cars in 1956?
I put the two pictures side by side and now I realize why classmates that I haven’t seen for awhile didn’t recognize me. I always felt a little perturbed when I had to introduce myself to someone that I hung around with eight hours a day for twelve years.

Who would have thought we would change from this to this in just 45 years!!

Just one more thing

I bought my own briefcase to make sure it would hold all the things I needed. I guess I do have one more thing to say about my miniature briefcase gift from Tom. I found a use for it. I decided to put my business cards in it.
This week I plan to do fall cleaning and decorate for Halloween. Also, outside I need to finish cleaning the garage, deck, and yard for the winter weather because once my book is published I am giving my promotion 110% of my time and energy. I’m not sure what that will entail yet. I have already hounded, threatened, and bribed my relatives and friends to buy my book. However, when I approach acquaintances and strangers my sales pitch will have to be a little more tactful, I am sure!

My two briefcases!

My book is currently in production.

I E-mailed my publisher about the minor mistakes I found in my manuscript when I read it over the other day. She informed me that the designers are creating both the interior and the cover files for my book. Once the proofs have been created they will send them to the Proofreader which can take 2-3 weeks. Once that service is complete they will send me the Proofreader’s proof form and offer up to 50 corrections on my own proof form.I told Tom I needed a briefcase for just my book information since its getting close to being completed. I want to put the important papers that I have to address in one spot and be able to carry it around wherever I go. Well, I was sitting in the living room and Tom came in and said, “Here this is for you.” He gave me a briefcase. Check out the pictures at the end of this blog and see the briefcase my husband gave me. I have nothing more to say about the briefcase. It is just another story in my life of being married to a cartoon character. After you read my book, you will understand why I find this gift from Tom not in the least bit unusual. The gifts from Tom just keep coming!

My briefcase, a gift from Tom.

Filling my briefcase with papers from my publisher.

Going to the coffee shop with my briefcase.

Why this book took two years plus in the making.

It has been exactly two years and one month since I seriously started writing this book. I chose the title “Help! I Married a Cartoon Character” and decided on the form of my name Liz Lally as my author name. Over the last two years I changed the title three times. I have gone through a whirlwind of emotions while writing this book. I would write a story and that story would trigger memories and I would go off on a tangent. Then I would write another story and it would send me off writing in another direction on another tangent. I finally had enough material for three books. I kept changing the title to accommodate the tangents that I went down. Finally I needed to regroup so I went over the book with Lora and Maureen and they helped me get back on track. So I came full circle and am back with my title “Help! I Married a Cartoon Character” and Liz Lally as my author name.
I arranged the material that I wrote over the past two years into three categories:
The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. This book is The Good!

Polished Cover Copy

My publishers sent my polished cover copy back yesterday to approve. I didn’t check my E-mail until after I posted my Blog. Wow, they took my information and nailed exactly what I wanted to say by adding a few adjectives, adverbs, and verbs and some other suggestions. I immediately approved their suggestions. I think the next step is the illustrations for the front cover.
Here is a sentence from my book cover: These are the sometimes perplexing, usually hilarious, always endearing antics of a true American character---and the wife who loves him anyway.I went to the coffee shop with Tom and decided to go over my manuscript one more time for mistakes. I ran into a friend and since Tom had a couple cards, I passed out my second card with my book information.

Betty Bloging

Bloging at the coffee shop.

Cover Copy Progress

Today I’m wondering if the publishers are working on my cover or if it is on someone’s desk. My publisher E-mailed a couple weeks ago and said that they merged with a couple other publishers. I wonder if that is a good idea or not. Is it better to be a small publishing company or a large one? I suppose there are advantages and disadvantages to both. Since I am new to this business, I don’t have a clue.
I found a couple mistakes in my manuscript yesterday. I wonder if the proof reader will find them.

Promoting on hold.

I changed my mind about making a flyer and decided to forget the promoting until I get the book published. I bought the premier plus publishing package and an advertising kit is included so I’ll wait until I get that and go from there. But I don’t understand how writing a Blog will sell my book when the only people who know about it is who I tell and I could just say, “Do you want to buy my book.” Anyway, my publisher’s newsletter said they do so I will keep on blogging.
I spent most of today reading my manuscript and checking for more grammar mistakes while waiting patiently for my cover to be completed. I read 55,673 words. I know exactly how many words because my publisher charges me by the word to edit my manuscript.

Promoting my book, business cards.

Well today I gave out a total of 1 card about my book information. I had plenty of opportunity at church and at the coffee shop to pass out my cards and promote my book but I didn’t want to draw attention to myself. I wouldn’t have given out this one card if the person hadn’t said to me, “I heard you wrote a book.” Stepping out of the comfort zone of my family and friends was a little harder than I anticipated. Even though my friends make comments about my book they will be there for me and will buy a copy. Their comments prepared me a bit for future rejection. Even the friend who said, “Who the *#****## wants to read a book about Lal.” He said about a month ago I’ll buy a book but I’m not going to any wine and cheese book signing. I don’t like wine.” I’m sure he will be there. I still have some time to change his mind.
I have never liked being the center of attention. I belonged to organizations and worked on many committees and had great ideas and suggestions but I always avoided the speaking and such and stayed in the background.
I got other people to pass out my cards. Again I managed to stay in the background. My mother in law and sister in law came over for a visit and I gave each of them a pile to pass out. Then I called my daughter and gave her a pile to pass out. All the cards are gone.I think I will work on a flyer and hang it in the post office and the coffee shop and where ever. I’m not ready for this one on one promoting outside of my family and friends.

Promoting my book.

Well I decided to get serious about promoting my book while I wait for my cover to be completed. I am stepping way out of my comfort zone! I have never liked to sell things and ask people if they wanted to buy something. When my kids sold things for fund raisers I bought their share instead of having them bother friends and relatives. I have eaten more fund raising pop corn, candy bars, and nuts than I care to mention. I have tons of wrapping paper, Christmas cards, and I could light a candle everyday for the next twenty years.
It took 6 months of Tom encouraging me to finally start this Blog. According to recent reports this is suppose to be the new and upcoming way to promote your book.
My family and all of our relatives that I have talked about the book with support me. But some of our close friends are a different story. For the last year I have been asking our very close friends of many years if they would buy a book I was writing and some of their reactions were: “Who the *#***## wants to read a book about Lal?” “What could you possibly write a book about?” “Why do you want to write a book?” “Who cares about what you did.” “How long is the book going to be? I don’t like to read big books.” These are the comments from the people who love me. What are the people going to say who don’t really know me? For awhile I was crushed but now I am a little better at accepting rejection.
A while back when I sent articles to magazines, I told a friend of mine when we were shopping at the book store. Later she pointed to a book and said, “You better buy this book.” The title was “How to Accept Rejection” The magazines sent back my articles with a note saying this isn’t what we are looking for.Tom made business cards with my book title and information about my web page and Blog. I will give these to friends and acquaintances when I run into them.

Cover count down

Well, I’m counting days again. It has been 1 week and 3 days since they started working on my cover. They said it would take 3 to 5 weeks to complete my cover. A part of me is expecting an E-mail from them saying my pictures for the cover are a little harsh on Tom and I should chose a picture that showed some of his charm. I should have informed them in advance that Tom picked out one of the pictures for the cover. In fact when I was writing the book, Tom reminded me about some stories that I had forgotten about. All of the stories in my book have his sign of approval.

It’s all about the Name or is it?

This is my birth name Elizabeth Jane Wolfe. I was named after my grandmothers. I have grandma Eiler’s middle name Elizabeth and grandma Wolfe’s middle name Jane. I cringe at the thought of mom naming me their first names instead of their middle names. I would have been named Hilda Cora Wolfe. Anyway, when I married I became Elizabeth Jane Lally.
I have been practicing writing my name for my book signing. I have it down to two forms of my name and I am pondering over which name to put on my book cover. I thought Liz Lally would be catchy and it kind of flows when I write it. However Elizabeth Jane Lally has a hint of sophistication. But I never heard anyone ever describe me as being sophisticated. Should I add a little sophistication to my personality and be Elizabeth or should I be my humorous self and be Liz? My name and personality has gone through stages of change and development and I want my author name to illustrate this new part of my life.
I have been called a lot of names in my lifetime and not all of them I care to mention. However I am mostly called Betty. When I was a child everyone in my neighborhood called me Betty Jane and they still do to this day. When I was in the sixth grade my friends and I decided to change our names so I became Bess. Around this time the boys started to get a little obnoxious and tease us girls and since my last name was Wolfe they would howl like a wolf to get my attention. In ninth grade we decided we needed another name change so I became Bet. Then we thought it would be cool to call each other by our initials so I became BJ. In our senior year we decided we needed one more name change so I became Liz. At work and at Penn State I was called Elizabeth. After I married Tom some of our friends called me Lal.
When I started to write my book I felt like Liz should be my name but now that my book is almost finished I’m not sure how I want my name on the cover of my book.
Now which name should I put on the cover of my book?
Elizabeth Jane Lally or Liz Lally.

Does color really make a difference?

Today I am wondering about what colors they will use to make my cover. Will they suggest colors or will I pick out the colors I like? What color makes a best selling book?
My book is a humorous book. Is there a color used for humor? What about romance novels, murder mysteries, religious books, or how to books is there a color for each or do they just randomly pick a color. Does it really make a difference?
Some people have spent much time studying colors and how they affect people. Tom was telling me just the other day about an article he read about the different colors and what mood they were suppose to put you in. But I have my doubts about this theory because when I’m happy, angry, sad, disgusted, ambitious or lazy color has nothing to do with my mood. I could go in and out of all the colors in the rainbow and still be happy, angry, sad, disgusted, ambitious or lazy. Many other factors enter into my mood and color is not one of them. Especially when I’m in my romantic mood it’s usually dark and I have my glasses off so I couldn’t see a color even if I had too. However, if anyone has a tip on a color that will put people in a mood to buy my book; let me know. I’m open for suggestions. Just what color could that be?

Cover Copy Polish

I sent my manuscript in for the third time and the next step for it is to be proofread before publication. Now they are working on the cover of my book. This should take three to five weeks. I sent in two pictures and hope they can convert them into cartoons and put them on the cover. Tom picked out one picture and I picked out another one. Hopefully they will accomplish what I envision. Tom has approved everything I have written and does all the technical part of my preparation for publishing. I don’t know why the editors have commented; “Does Tom know you wrote this?” everyone seems concerned about poor Tom. What about me? The person that lives with this cartoon character and his Lally Logic.

The line edit is complete!

While I was typing my blog on Tuesday my publisher was sending me my edited manuscript. It took exactly two weeks and two days for my line edit. When I took a close look at the manuscript and all the instructions to go to the words view, toolbar, review, tools, track, changes, accept, or reject I became a little overwhelmed. My whole low-tech being immediately went into overload and shut down. I have never clicked on these words before. They are at the top of the screen. I only used tools before to check my spelling.
It took me a whole day to settle down. Every page was filled with red lines pointing out grammar mistakes. I did not even know that I was so grammatically ignorant! I started to wonder if I was the only one who was lacking in this area so every time I came upon a friend I questioned them about their knowledge of dangling participles, sentence fragments, run-on sentences, and past perfect tense. And in my circle of friends not one knew what I was talking about. They just gave me a blank look and said, “What?” I guess out there somewhere people will be bothered by my dangling participles along with my editors so I will make the corrections. Especially when my book is a best seller and I’m a famous author I guess I want to be grammatically correct. I just hope they don’t want me to be correct in other areas. I thank it’s a little late for me to go to charm school.
This editor also felt that I was a little harsh on Tom and wanted me to portray him as a little more charming. I already sprinkled the book with some of Tom’s charm when the evaluation made this same suggestion, but apparently not enough. So this was the hold up of my editing and getting back to my blog I was painstakingly trying to sprinkle some of Tom’s charm throughout the book again. They don’t understand that finding Tom’s charm is like finding a needle in a haystack!
Tom said I could push one button and accept the changes instead of addressing one at a time after I addressed the comments by the line editor. Thank goodness!
Today I am grateful that Tom has a room full of the latest high-tech gadgets. He has the latest technology in computers and knows how to use all the programs. I devoted a whole chapter to Tom and his gadgets in my book. Technology is another area where Tom and I are complete opposites. He has to be on the cutting-edge-of-high-technology and I am as low as I can go in technology.
To anyone out there reading my blog who cares about dangling participles and the such, I apologize! I am overwhelmed in the grammatically correct area. I tried but there are too many rules! I will leave that to my editors.

Liz is conquering Grammar!

Liz is defeated by Grammar!
Liz has left the building!

Autumn Leaves

While waiting to hear from my editor I decided to clean the garage so we can get the car into the garage before the snow starts to fall. I don’t know how so much stuff can accumulate in the garage in just four months.
On our way back from New York Tom noticed the green leaves turning red and yellow on a few trees. I just hope when Jack Frost turns the rest of the leaves Tom doesn’t get his uncontrollable desire to take his annual one-hundred-twenty mile trip through the mountains to see the colored leaves. The trip isn’t too bad now since the kids are gone. But when we took this yearly trip in autumn with three kids in the back seat it was miserable. I relate our many family trips and vacations in my book with three kids in a space three feet by five. Why we took these trips with three kids who couldn’t travel one mile without bickering over one thing or another is beyond me. I thought it would be educational for the kids to visit other states. But Tom was obsessed when he got behind that wheel. He didn’t want to stop. He drove those three kids all the way to the tip of Maine and the tip of Florida. When I questioned Tom, “Why do we have to go all the way to tip of the states?” He said, “Someday they will thank us.” Not one child has thanked us for those trips to this day. In fact Maureen tells anyone who will listen that she was so sick when we took her on the Boston Historical Trail that she almost died and how her Dad made go all the way to the end.

The start of the third week.

Today is the start of the third week of my book being edited. It's after 5:00 and I haven't received E-mail from my publisher so I guess they are still editing. Gosh, I hope there aren't too many mistakes. I wonder how I will make the corrections on the manuscript. I hope they don't make it too difficult or time consuming.

Riding into the sunset.

We stayed in a hotel even though Marty offerd us a room on his boat. The constant swaying back and forth and up and down from the waves was a little much.
Walking on water at Lake Ontario.
We got home from visiting Marty around 2:30pm. Tom and I are exact opposites when it comes to traveling. My book is full of humorous examples of how our thinking is the exact opposite. We are at different end of the spectrum in most areas. He could just get in the car and drive for hours with no particular destination. He finds it very relaxing and enjoyable. He often says to me, “Come on, let’s get into the car and ride into the sunset.” I absolutely detest traveling. I get into the car and go from point a to b. I am very nervous on the interstates with all the traffic especially trucks. However, when I get to our destination I really enjoy myself and am grateful that we made the trip. The town Marty moved to in New York is a very beautiful little town on the shore of Lake Ontario.

I have to get off this boat.

Gliding on Lake Ontario in Marty's boat.


The view from Marty's boat on Lake Ontario.


I
guess I should start a list of relatives and friends who would possibly buy my book. I wonder if I have enough relatives and friends to make my book a best seller. What exactly is a best seller? How many books do I have to sell to get on the best seller list? How do I get on the best seller list?
I wonder at what point do I become an author. I wrote a manuscript and it is in the process of being published so am I an author now or do I have to wait until my book is published? How do I become a famous author? If my book is a best seller will I automatically become a famous author? Could I become a famous author without having a best seller? Oh, I’m thinking way too much. I better get off this boat and get back on the dry land.

Today is my birthday.

Last night Tom suggested that we go to New York and visit our son. This isn’t logical because he just left our house from leave on Wednesday. Tom wanted to visit him on Thursday so here we are in New York on Friday sitting on his boat. You have to read my book to learn about Tom’s Lally Logic. Tom didn’t suggest that we go to New York for my birthday. I already got my wheel barrel of corn. My book explains all about the wonderful gifts I receive from this cartoon character I married.
It is two weeks today since I turned in my manuscript to a line editor. Maybe it will be done today since it took two years to write. One week of editing for each year. However they said it will take three to five weeks. I don’t know how this publishing business works. I wonder where my best selling manuscript is now. Is it sitting somewhere in a pile of manuscripts in an office somewhere? Is someone reading it now word by word? Are there many mistakes?

Some things never change

Things are getting back to normal today. Our son, Marty was home on leave from the army and left yesterday for a base in New York. As a young boy, he always enjoyed playing practical jokes on his Dad. He hasn’t changed much in that area even though he is thirty-six. But now Marty tries to outsmart him with mind games especially in the area of technology. He knows his father is obsessed with being on the cutting edge of high technology so he is constantly trying to get something higher tech than his father.
My book is full of the tricks Marty played on his Dad as a young boy. He would wait until Tom was resting in his recliner and drifted into a sound sleep. Then Marty would get a screw driver and slither across the room on his belly and remove the handle for the footstool. He would slither back across the room with the handle and anxiously wait until his Dad woke up and reached for the handle to get up. Then Tom yelled, “Martin!” He would smile and walk into the living room and say, “Dad, did you call me?
Not a day went by without Marty playing a joke on his father. The bizarre thing was that Tom fell for his antics day after day.

The green pen marks.

I can’t help wondering how many corrections my manuscript will need. I have come a long way since I took English classes at Penn State. I remember turning in an English paper and thinking that it was perfect. I was shocked when the professor returned my paper. It was full of green pen marks pointing out my mistakes.
Finally I listened to the professor when she said, “I am lonely in my office. Come in and see me if you need help.” After a few office visits, the green marks on my papers became less and less.
It has been one week and four days since I sent in my manuscript.

Help! I need a line editor!

Maureen and I edited the content and organization of my manuscript however we didn’t address the typos, punctuation, and grammar.
When I got home from Texas, I started to look at the spelling, grammar, and punctuation. I noticed some run-on sentences and some sentence fragraments. I dug out some English books from classes I took at Penn State. After two weeks of struggling with verbs and dangling participles, I decided to have a line editor help me with these problems. After all if I am going to become a famous author and have a best seller I better make sure my grammar is correct. No one wants to read a book with dangling participles. I am anxiously waiting to hear from the line editor. It will take three to five weeks for my manuscript to be edited.

Self publishing my book

I decided to self publish my book. After much research I chose a self publisher and sent in my manuscript. They evaluated my manuscript and I was very pleased with the evaluation.
I guess all the editing I did on my book finally paid off. First I gave my manuscript to a friend to get her opinion on the stories and check the flow of the chapters. Then I gave it to my sister-in-law. I was a little concerned about her reaction since the stories were about her big brother. She felt they were hilarious and enjoyed reading the manuscript. Next I had my daughter and her husband read over the stories to see if they flowed and were clear.
Finally I went to my oldest daughter’s home in Texas and we went to a luxurious hotel and did the final evaluation. On our way we stopped at a local grocery store and got a bottle of wine, cheese, and some apples. We ran into her friend and Maureen told her about my book and she wanted her picture taken with me since I soon would be a famous author. Before long the manager joined us and I have a couple book orders.
We had a great time at the hotel and accomplished editing the rest of the manuscript.

Our first stop on the way to editing my book.




This book took two years to write.

Editing in the lobby.

Editing

Editing.

Room service.

A break from editing.

Editing on the balcony.

My book is finished!

I finally finished writing my book, Help! I Married a Cartoon Character.
I revealed many humorous experiences of forty years of marriage to my childhood sweetheart with honesty and insight. It all started on our honeymoon when he neglected to make motel reservations and took me to a run down hotel with prostitutes prancing at the front door.
I watched my Prince Charming slowly turn into a cartoon character. Many times he would do something and I would pick up the newspaper and there would be a cartoon portraying a character doing the exact same thing.
One of Tom's prized purchases was his recliner rocker. The very first time Tom reclined into his rocker I heard a loud YELL then a THUD. When I looked in Tom's direction, the recliner tipped backward onto the floor with Tom in it. He had to roll over onto the floor to get out of the rocker.
Periodically over the next few weeks, I would hear a YELL then a THUD coming from the living room. Sure enough Tom was on the floor in his beloved recliner.
Shortly after Tom fell backward in his recliner, a cartoon from the local newspaper showed the cartoon character falling backward in his recliner just like Tom always fell. The wife in the cartoon told her husband, "Hang in there you will master that chair yet." However, I have my doubts about Tom ever mastering his recliner. It has been forty years and six recliners later and I still occasionally hear a YELL and a THUD coming from the living room.

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