Change is Good!

It's been a few weeks since I last posted. There are reasons for that. First, I'm a speech-language pathologist working at a public school and June is one of the busiest months of the year. Second, I'm almost finished with the first draft of my second novel, and that's been consuming all of my writing time. Third, I need a change from Kick Back Moments. It certainly has been fun searching for spontaneous occurrences that settle the nerves, like seeing a spectacular sunrise while stuck in traffic. When I sit down to blog however, I find myself wanting to write about the book world, so why not go for it. Something fresh to start the summer. The new name for Kick Back Moments will be:

A Novel Journey 

 

It will be at the same place with the same address, but the content will be slightly different. What will you find?

 

• A variety of posts about the often crazy writing and publication process. 

 

 

• The joys and frustrations of being a writer. For example, a joy are the places you go when writing a novel. In July, I'll be traveling to the spiritual center in Lily Dale, NY to visit with a medium. The main character in my book attempts to contact someone who has died in order to fulfill a wish, so I need to experience it. I can't wait to see what happens and you'll hear all about it. In August, I'm visiting a coffee plantation on the Big Island in Hawaii because that's the setting for my story. I'll be sure to post plenty of photos. One of the frustrations of being a writer is the paycheck. In most cases, it doesn't exist. Thankfully, I have a great day job! It is true however, that artists create because the soul demands it, not for the money.    

 

 

 

 

• Great books I've read. No bad reviews here. If I don't like a book, you'll never know about it. One person's idea of a good read, may put someone else to sleep. It's all so subjective. I'd never want to dissuade anyone from trying a book just because I didn't like it.

 

Loved it!

 

 

• Authors and more authors. Most authors have such interesting stories about how they started writing and how they became published. Many world class authors such as Neil Gaiman and Jodi Picoult visit the Saratoga Springs area when they do book tours. They will frequently be featured here. You'll also meet writers who may not be on the New York Times Best Sellers List yet, but are on the rise. 

 

                                                          Garth Stein signing his novel,

The Art of Racing in the Rain
 

 

• You'll stay updated on publishing trends and related articles. There is so much happening in the publishing industry today and I do my best to keep up. When I find something interesting, I'll share. Like this, from Forbes Magazine:  Considering Self-Publishing? Don't Bother, Unless You Follow Guy Kawasaki's Advice:  http://www.forbes.com/sites/kathycaprino/2013/01/21/considering-self-publishing-dont-bother-unless-you-follow-guy-kawasakis-advice/

• I'll also post a kick back moment every now and then along with other cool stuff like this eagle I spotted while I was kayaking last Sunday on Kaydeross Creek in Saratoga Springs, NY. After all, a novel journey can be about writing/reading a book or discoveries.   

 Bald eagle spotted on Kaydeross Creek

Saratoga Springs, NY

 

 

I sincerely have appreciated you stopping by Kick Back Moments and hope you continue to do so under it's new name. I started blogging because everything I read about becoming a successful writer said it was a must. In the beginning, it felt like I was talking to myself. Probably because I was, but I kept at it. Now, I get about 3,000 hits a month from all over the world. It has been fun and rewarding so I will continue with a slight twist. Please come back and visit A Novel Journey. After all:

    

 

  

 

  

Stephen King Goes for Print, not Pixels

Shortly after I get out of bed in the morning, I check my email on my laptop, desktop or tablet.

After a cup of coffee, a shower, and finding something in my closet to wear that I don't have to iron, I turn on the TV to watch a few minutes of the news, primarily for the traffic report.

Then off to work in my Toyota Corolla where I spend my commute listening to a book on CD, music from my iPod, or perhaps catching up on phone calls with my handy car blue tooth.

When I settle in at the office, I check my e-mail and Outlook calendar. If I don't have any appointments scheduled, I click into Microsoft Word and write a report then head over to IEP Direct, my school district's electronic student data base. The work world certainly has become computer dependent. In fact, when systems are down, people emerge into the hallway in a bit of a panic because at least eighty percent of their workload requires digital cooperation. 
   

In this day and age of machines, it really is hard to avoid to technological overload. Isn't it?

When my day finally winds down and it's time to snuggle up on the couch with a novel, I don't want to have to turn on another electronic device. I know e-readers are popular and they have their advantages, but for me they just can't replace the 3-D sensory experience of reading a print book. I love the fact that books don't come with a manual of instructions or a battery, you don't have to plug them in, and they always work. For those reasons, I feel uneasy when I hear about another brick and mortar bookstore closing or that paper books will soon be obsolete.

Yikes!

That's why I was so pleased to learn that Stephen King will only be offering his new novel, Joyland, as a trade paperback with some hard copies available.

Mr. King wants to do his part to help save paper books and bookstores. Here's what King's publisher Chrales Ardai says, "Readers are going to have to read it the old way, as ink on paper, not pixels on a screen. You’ve got your paperback and you’ve got your hardcover, the same two choices you had for books when Steve was growing up and when I was. Part of the decision is the desire to support traditional booksellers, something Steve and I both care a great deal about—it’s frightening to see the decline in the fortunes of bookstores over the last handful of years."
You can read the entire article at: http://boingboing.net/2013/05/29/why-cling-to-the-past-exclusi.html

Joyland will be released on June 4. If you want to make a statement that there still is a place for traditional books in a technologically dominant world, here's your chance. I know I'll be stopping by my favorite independent bookstore on that day to pick up a copy. Let's make June 4 Black Tuesday for independent bookstores!

KICK BACK SONG OF THE WEEK:
A beautiful song that celebrates Main Street merchants, Good Morning Morgantown by Joni Mitchell accompanied by art work from a first grade class somewhere in the U.S.A.

A LITTLE SOMETHING EXTRA:

Finally, some good news for bookstores. Let's keep it going!

According to a report in the Christian Science Monitor, sales at independent bookstores are up: "Sales at independent bookstores rose about 8 percent in 2012 over 2011, according to a survey by the American Booksellers Association (ABA). This growth was all the more remarkable since the sales of the national chain Barnes & Noble were so tepid. “I think the worst days of the independents are behind them,” says Jim Milliot, coeditorial director for Publishers Weekly magazine. “The demise of traditional print books has been a bit overblown. Everybody is a little anxious, but they are starting to think they’ve figured it out for the time being.”

Just Rest! Ok...But How?

"Just rest, Greg," I said to my teenage son as he stood in the family room one Friday evening texting his friends about plans for the night."

He shrugged, sat on the edge of the couch, picked up the remote control, and began flipping through the twelve hundred digital cable channels.
  
I continued with my cleaning compulsion of bending over and picking things up like socks that didn't find their way to the laundry basket and papers that didn't find their way to the World Lit. homework bin at school. I choose to save my responsibility lecture for when my son, Max, returned from wherever. No sense hearing myself rant twice. (I am so glad those days are over!!!)

"I don't like resting," Greg said before he reached channel seventy-something.

I looked at him in disbelief. "You left for school at 6:45 in the morning and worked at the Y after that. Aren't you tired?"

"Nope," he said as he switched off the TV and headed for the shower.

"Do you want another tour of the bathroom? I think you forgot where the laundry basket is." I said.

Greg smiled. (I'm glad one of us did.)

I was reminded of this conversation last Saturday when my doctor came into my hospital room and told me I'd need two weeks of rest before resuming my normal activities. At the time it sounded good. My neck and throat were sore from the thyroidectomy he performed on the previous day and I felt groggy from the feel better drugs dripping into me from the IV. However, by Tuesday I found myself repeating Greg's words, 'I don't like resting.'

If I had the choice of spending a Saturday in a chair at the beach or one kayaking along the coast, I'd choose kayaking. The number one thing on my list of things to do when I travel to the Big Island of Hawaii is to climb Mauna Kea, the tallest sea mountain in the world. I enjoy resting for short periods of time, but two full weeks of no driving, working, physical activity, etc. seemed like too much.

I do, however, believe in allowing the body time to heal, so I adhered to my doctor's advice. What did I do?

I took naps whenever I felt a bit tired, even if they only lasted five minutes.

   I made time to remember my dreams when I woke up!

I contemplated about important issues while I looked out my living room window. Things like why do leaves flutter in different directions when the wind blows and why do leaves from the same branch fly in various directions when they are released from the tree? I knew I should have taken physics.

I read Gone Girl in 48-hours—the ultimate woman scorned revenge book. Wow! I will also be buying Gillian Flynn's other two novels, Sharp Edges & Dark Places. I love finding new authors who really know how to tell a story.

I traveled to the Hawaii on the Internet and made plans for when I go for real.

I nearly completed draft one of novel two.

I watched Doctor Zhivago from start to finish. 

Surprisingly, I never had watched this movie before in its entirety. 

Wow!

I watched bits and pieces of the Today Show and learned why they've gone down in ratings. 

Opinions on this are welcome.

 I turned off the Today Show and welcomed the quiet.

    I cooked.
Maybe that doesn't count as resting,
but it certainly was relaxing.

 I watched Life of Pi for the second time.
I definitely prefer the tiger story.
How about you?
This question will reappear on Kick Back Moments within
a few weeks, so watch the movie or read the book,
if you haven't already.

Resting is a lot more fun than I thought.

By the time my two weeks of healing are over, 

I have a feeling I will have mastered the art.

 

 

How about you?

Do you prefer resting or moving?

 

In other word, when you first step foot on the beach, do you head for the chair or the water?    

Take Care of Your Body!

Hi Kick Back Friends,

I'm taking a bit of a break from posting. I am having my thyroid removed on Friday and will need a little time to rest and recover. Just so you know, a nodule was found on my thyroid during a routine physical examination. That led to an ultrasound which led to a biopsy, and suspicious cells were found. I was also told that my thyroid was not functioning properly, which is why I was feeling exhausted, cranky, and gaining weight. I thought it was part of passing the 50-year-old mark.

The good news is thyroid cancer has a high cure rate and I should be back to my energetic self again within two or three weeks post-surgery.

The kick back advice for you is to make routine physical examinations a priority. I am the first one to put them on the back burner. When my husband asked me when was the last time I had a physical, I couldn't remember. He insisted I make an appointment, which not only may have saved my life, but will make me feel so much better once my dysfunctional, diseased thyroid is out of my body and my medication is regulated. So, if you're not able to find the time to visit your doctor, try harder. You are the most important person in your world. It's time to take care. I'm glad I did!!!

I'll check in next week to let you know how I'm doing. Then...back to finding those kick back moments that make our world a little brighter.

Fondly,

Peggy     

The Fog Will Clear

Addiction is hard. One day we try a substance whether it be caffeine, junk food, alcohol, or cocaine. Maybe a week later we try it again. A few days later, again. Soon our body craves the substance and before too long it demands it. We're officially addicted.

 Simple things like a stroll through the park, reading at the beach, spending time with a friend no longer provide pleasure. A monster has taken control of our life. It numbs our senses. Sadness is anesthetized with the a bag of chips; happiness is delivered by a scotch on the rocks; bliss is contained in a chemical. More than 24 million US residents aged 12 or older are currently suffering from drug addiction, and that does not include compulsive eating.

According to the website www.rehabinfo.net, "One of the biggest mistakes made about addiction is the assumption that those who are struggling under its control are weak or somehow lacking in willpower and moral integrity. On the contrary, drug addiction is a deadly disease, one that changes the chemistry of the brain and is characterized by relapse and compulsivity. Drugs work by either over-stimulating the pleasure and reward system or by mimicking neurotransmitters in the brain and altering the body’s ability to effectively communicate between systems.

If you or a loved one is addicted to drugs, is it hopeless?

No.

There are over 13,000 drug rehabilitation facilities in the U.S. and families can provide support to loved ones as they go through recovery. There are many success stories and I'm going to share one with you. A friend's nephew, Kyle, just took a major step in his battle to break an addiction. He realized that he could experience joy without his drug. I was so moved when I read the words and saw the drawing that emerged from him at the moment he realized how wonderful life could be. I am honored to share this with you:

THE FOG WILL CLEAR

By: Kyle Kindlon

 

            The road of life has twists and turns ups and downs at the end is so real so pure. My life has been covered with a fog that I was unable to see the light through the thick wet smoke damp fog. As the fog clears it represents my mind state clearing making me able to have a slight view of life with the light shining through the fog showing me how real and pure it really is. Seeing a beautiful view of mountains as the bright sky has the sun rising over the mountains, reflecting off a clear blue body of water seems to make two suns as the cattails blow in the wind. All these different sights represent a feeling of love emotion passion excitement distress the care others have for me so deep so real is mesmerizing as staring into a fire for hours days wanting it to stay this way forever. My whole life I spent thinking this was all a fairytale but it’s real as my mind clears more and more I can see how real it all really is. Not ever wanting that dark fog to mask this again, that fog is the depressing darkness of death that taste of the first sight of light seeing there is more to life.

 

 Kyle has been drug free for more than thirty days!

For anyone struggling with an addiction, Heart of Life by John Mayer:

 



"I know the heart of life is good."