How to Get a Move On

Inspiration and opportunities are all around you. If you’re sitting there waiting for the big opportunity or idea to hit you might be in for a long wait. What you have to do is to sit there like a catcher. You’ve got to be ready for the opportunity or idea. You need to seek a place where you are tuned into the idea of being able and open to catch an idea as it floats by.

There are different ways that you can be prepared. First you can be healthy, or, at least relatively healthy. You can be sure to be getting enough sleep. You can limit your use of alcoholic drinks and you can stop doing drugs right now. If you believe that a drug induced high is what you need in order to be brilliant let me disabuse you of that idea. It won’t work. So, quit doing the drugs and get some therapy and try to find a normalcy in your life. Then, open yourself up for creativity and ideas to flow more easily. If you are smoking stop doing that too. Add another 7 years to your life right now. Quit smoking.

If you find that you are too highly strung to relax you can practice being relaxed. Try to meditate. Just take a really deep breath and blow it all out. As you exhale imagine that you have attached little bits and pieces of stress and tension to the breath as it is exiting your body. Imagine that toxic laden breath moving out into the air and attaching itself to the nearest tree where it will be absorbed into a living thing that doesn’t have as many hang-ups as you do and will be converted into life force energies that will come back to you and others. It’s a cycle.

I have never been a believer in the one fix all solution. I think it’s a little bit of this and a little bit of that which over time come to smooth out our rough edges and allow us to do the things we’d like to be doing.

Another thing that you can do is eat right. Our bodies are full of a lot of junk food. Granted, it all tastes really good, but over the years you’ve become dependent upon it. It’s sort of like being addicted to cigarettes. Pull those smokes away suddenly and you’re going to be one really sick and cranky person. Same thing with all your junk food. Start by adding healthy stuff to your diet and crowd the junk food out. If you generally eat lunch out 5 days a week see if you can’t select something healthier from the menu. If you want to save some money start taking your lunch to work. Nowadays there are many people who are trying to save money. If you take your lunch to work, a salad with dressing on the side, some crackers for crunch and a piece of fruit and you’re going to save a lot of calories and a lot of money.

Smoky Skys

Am finally getting over my cold. Boy, but it lasted a long time. Our air is still full of smoke from all the fires burning in California. I just took a picture of a very red sun at 8:00 pm.

The Cat House on The Kings

This is Cat Heaven. http://www.cathouseonthekings.com/

And, unfortunately, the video was removed. But, the link is still there above if you'd like to go see their site. A tremendous job of work of fostering hundreds of cats.

In the meantime, I found Cat Clips a really great site. Sat here and watched them all. You can see the site at: Wizard of Wit Productions
This video is Treat Tactics. Just a hoot.

"Wild Orchids" by Jude Deveraux

For the last year or so I’ve been writing reviews about the books I’ve been reading. I just started a new one about an hour ago. Normally, I wouldn’t write about the book until after I was finished and would proceed onto the review, except, this is a good one. I have this gauge I use for books. If I cry a lot it’s a good book. I call them three hanky tearjerkers. And, if a book rates as a three hanky tearjerker I really, really liked it.

I’m on page 29. I think I started crying about page 5. It’s an on again, off again sort of crying, but I have to tell you, this is one really good book. “Wild Orchids” by Jude Deveraux. I don’t even have to wait for the end to recommend it. If you don’t have anything better to do go on down to the library and check it out. And, if you can’t find that particular one anything by Jude Deveraux will do. She’s written a bunch of them and I’m betting that her other stories are just as good as this one.

Post Note: I finished the book. It's fabulous. I wrote the review at my other blog.

Computers and Dead People

Sometimes I think computers are more complicated than talking to dead people. Actually, I think I must have some basic operating rules that apply to both how I approach computers and how I also relate to dead people.

It’s just a few rules.

Like with computers if it’s buzzing too loudly it needs to either be turned off or taken in for repair. Also, if it’s smoking turn it off. If it is being too slow on the internet then maybe your cache needs to be cleaned out. And, if your computer is powerful enough you can have several different programs on at the same time.

In regard to dead people you could have similar rules. I never went to school to learn these things, but then I never went to school to learn about computers either. It’s just what I’ve picked up along the way as I've talked to the dearly departed.

Folks who have died aren’t unhappy. They’re perfectly okay with having passed over. Heaven is a nice place. And, if you think they’ve done bad things in this life either to you personally or to somebody else rest assured that they will get what’s coming to them. It isn’t exactly Hell, but more along the lines of they get to experience what they handed out. They see and feel exactly how their actions affected everybody; man, animal, vegetable and mineral. There are cosmic rules of balance that ensure what goes around comes around and somebody who acted badly in this life will be real sorry next lifetime around. It’s actually a good incentive to shape up and live a good life this time around.

The other side isn’t exactly floating around on clouds and strumming harps. It’s interesting from what they tell me. Different levels according to where you’re at. Could be once you’ve passed over you’ll get another job. Might be more associated with the life that you just left too. Could be you help others who’ve just passed over. Some days it’s like Grand Central Station they tell me.

And, a final rule is that your loved ones who’ve passed over are aware of you. It’s not like they are at your elbow all the time, though it does happen, especially with mothers and kids, but when you think of them they hear those thoughts. Can’t do much about it, especially since you aren’t tuned in to hearing them, but you don’t need a medium or somebody else to tell your mother or husband who has passed over that you love them and you miss them lots. You can do that. Anytime, anywhere and however many times you want to. Just a passing thought and they heard you just fine.

Fiddling

Well, this is a bit of an experiment. I've created a new Amazon store. I'm looking to see if anybody has a crystal skull up for sale too. I've got a little one on my desk, but hey, the cat could take a liking to it and I'd never see it again. The one I want should be larger. And, as with any tool of diviniation I'd want to imprint it with my own vibrations. Except, one of the guides just said a Magic 8 ball would do just as well for me. Probably cheaper too. And, I've already got a bunch of them.

Saturday Morning

I find it interesting that whenever I can’t find anything to talk about something comes anyway. Could be because I am a sage in the Michael teachings. Could be because I’ve got a big mouth. But, in any case, the words mostly flow. Right now, though, I’m having trouble coming up with something for my monthly newsletter. Maybe I’m trying too hard. Maybe I just need to ease up a bit and focus in on some subjects that I think might be interesting to talk about. Give me a word or a topic and I can go to town on it.

Okay, with that in mind maybe I can start with te word apple. It’s typically the first word used to represent the first word of the alphabet. You could have other words that start with the letter, "A" and be the keyword picture holder. Like aardvark. Or Antithesis. Actually, I don’t know how to picture antithesis. What else would be a noun that would start with a? Arthritis. That’s a condition.

Okay, that’s enough paddling about. Now, I want to go somewhere. Where would somebody go who is interested in spirituality or in things of a psychic nature?

Well, I can remember before I stepped over the line and became obviously psychic; the things that worried me in those days.

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I used to think God didn’t care. I talked to him a lot, but it was sort of like shouting down into a well or hollering off the edge of a cliff. Nothing happened and although I might have vented my spleen I didn’t feel that much better for long. There was this unending ache in my heart about God in those days. It lasted for years from the time I was a little girl until the time when I finally stepped over the edge and opened to my psychic nature. I just had this emptiness inside, this yearning that I just couldn’t put a finger on to explain exactly what it was but that would not go away.

I had always thought in terms of God being masculine. Also, old. With a beard. God without a beard just didn’t cut it. I still refer to God in the masculine and still sort of think of Him so, but there’s a part of me that has come away from that way of thinking to think of God in a different way. Gone is the little girl anxiousness that if I don’t do right retribution will be swift or sure. So, I’m not so worried these days.

Now, instead of the yearning for something when I pray, the wanting for God to fix something for me about whatever is wrong, nowadays I try to sink into bliss. The thought I hold in my mind is that I just want to hang out in that place where peace is, where bliss is, where joy is, where love is. It doesn’t always happen to me, but it’s what I set out to do. I don’t get upset if I don’t quite get there. I know when it laps around at my edges. Usually, my eyes fill with tears and my heart seems to get bigger. Something inside gets bigger and it isn’t my stomach. I feel it up higher in my chest. I figure it must be my heart.

And, if that’s the only thing that will ever happen to me again as far as developing along the lines of spirituality and my psychic nature I’ll be happy. I’ve got a place to go to eventually. It’s the place I came from once upon a time. It’s a place I’ve gone to many times before. It’s the place I’ll go to when I’m done here.

Dip

I can’t believe that a person would spend their life going about at the same pace. Just as in a day of 24 hours some of the time you spend during that time is spent asleep and dreaming, the rest of it is spent at your job whatever that might be work or school and the remainder doing what you like. For some people their days never seem to end and these are the ones with jobs where they are always on call like doctors and nurses or firefighters or mothers. But, that is just one day. For some it is busy for much of the time, for others not so busy. But, for all of us somewhere in that day there is time to somehow call your own. This is my time. I claim it now and will allow nothing to intrude. Let’s put it another way. I hope nothing intrudes.

I want to be more fully here right now as I write. I want to immerse myself even more than I normally do. Supposing that when I normally write I write as I would swim upon the surface of the water. Now, I want to dive. I want to open my eyes under the water. I want to writhe and twist and be weightless for just a moment in time. I want to be as I would be out of this body in another time and place as I would be with my soul.

How can I even be apart from my soul? I am my soul and my soul is me, yet I do not understand my soul. I glimpse it upon occasion and stand scratching my head at the imponderableness of it. It is as a mother to my 3 year old self. I imagine that it is calm. I imagine that it knows what is best for me. I imagine that it knows what is in store for me in a general sort of a way. I am blithely happy with my childhood and my world extends about 5 feet around me.

My world. I am happy in my world. And, then comes outside of my world where I see for the first time playmates and school and teachers and those who are not my family. I do not understand them. They frighten me. And, yet my soul knows what I will encounter in a general sort of way. And, is not afraid.

My soul that knows for a certainty that I survived and thrived 2,582 years ago. My soul that knows for a certainty that I have loved many times, many husbands, many wives, many children. My soul that knows for a certainty that I have been kind and generous and loving. My soul that knows for a certainty that I have killed and murdered and been a horrible shit. My soul that doesn’t care about any of that. My soul that knows I am busy right now with this life. My soul who knows I am a blithering idiot and loves me even for it.

And, sometimes I dip below the surface.

Where I Might Speak Out

One of the things I love about surfing are the interesting things people do with their blogs. This morning at Blog Explosion I noticed Cindy Swanson had put a really short audio intro to her site, Notes in the Key of Life, up near the top of her blog. It was only 30 seconds long, but I was absolutely entranced.

So, I’m thinking about doing something similar. In fact, yesterday I was looking at the statistics for my sites and saw that 4 people had listened recently to the one and only podcast I’d made for my Learn to Channel blog a year ago. That’s my own personal rule. One thing and I’m interested. Two instances of the universe pointing something out and I’m ready to do something about it. So, tomorrow I’ll spend some time cranking up the recorder and try to figure out something to say about all of this.

I remember back when I was having trouble with the editing part of the podcasts. I wanted to get some nice, soft background music going on that didn’t interfere with what I was saying. But, getting my voice to the proper volume was a problem and that’s where the project stalled. So, maybe this time I’ll do a bit better at it.

Fun Helping a Friend

So, I'm going to be helping a girlfriend bone up on some of the office skills she has but hasn't used in mandy years, come up to snuff on computer stuff and generally horse around on the internet and the computer. I think it will be fun. We'll have to get her an internet name. Will study on it and see what happens. Best that it comes from her, though, better that way. Like Dennis is DeeDude. And, like I'm Lady Skye Fyre. Will need to look over tutorials and things that are already available and see what might be useful. I know that there are tons of them at Microsoft.

Am also trying something out here with an ad from Amazon. It's supposed to showcase whatever is appropriate for this website.

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Before I Got Up

As I lay in bed this morning even before the sun had started coming up I began to think of people who’ve asked me to pray for them and who’ve asked for healing energy. I thought of one woman in particular who sent me two photographs of her little girl. Such a tiny little girl. I wondered what was wrong with her and if she’s doing any better. And, I began to think of the energy she asked me to send. I use the pretend method and hope that the person on the receiving end can use whatever comes their way.

I energize the Universe around me around them
I ask that my guides help
I ask for my thoughts to focus upon the task at hand
I ask for courage to do this
I ask for healing grace for myself that I can do this
The palms of my hands are before me, vertical with my body facing away toward the person, the people who have asked for healing energy
They grow hot
I have no idea whether the person in question was able to use the energy, to feel the energy, to see that the energy I have asked to be sent to them or whether any of this makes one blamed bit of difference.

I only do as they ask
These are my prayers.
And, for specific requests, for those I know are dealing with issues, for those who would like to ask for help and don’t know how or that they can, for all these I ask God’s grace and love in my prayers to you.

Working - How Rick Steves Does It

I’ve always enjoyed saying that I like to watch other people work. It’s a sort of a friendly jab at lazy folk everywhere and at myself when I don’t sense I'm in a particularly productive mode. However, I do enjoy watching folks work just for the sheer joy of it. I just finished watching Rick Steves and his camera and production crew of 2 walk through the part you don’t see in an episode of travelogue. It isn’t effortless; though it does appear always as if he is having the best of times doing what he does walking all about Europe visiting the touristy places I just can’t get to. The man, according to his crew, is the Ever Ready Bunny. After a long and tiring day when the crew has retired in exhaustion Rick stays up late in his hotel room re-writing the script they will be using the next day.

So, why am I talking about this now? It’s because I admire the way he works. I admire the tirelessness of it, the way the creative muse he needs is there for him right when he wants it to be. And, of course, I want that for myself too. So, there is a reason I like to watch people work. Though I have to say it was more from amusement than anything else that I watched 5 guys studying another guy digging a hole once. But, I do enjoy also the enthusiasm people show when they are doing something they are interested in, something they are passionate about. That’s my motivation.

Elvis

From Smile Box

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Spiritual Singles

Opening a magazine at random never fails to amuse me. Anyway, I did that to the April, May & June, 2008, issue of Open Exchange Magazine. They call themselves the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Area’s healthy living magazine. You can always find something really interesting there. The article on page 76 I saw was about manifesting your mate and was written by Jill Crosby who is the owner and founder of SpiritualSingles.com. You can see the longer version of her article here at OpenExchange.com. But, immediately, I am intrigued. Not that I’m looking for a mate, I’ve already got DeeDude, but I’m thinking of all those dating and singles places that are always wanting to exchange links with me and I rarely do it because I’m not that convinced there are that many great places out there.

I just got a gut feeling about this place. So, I signed up as an affiliate. I’d already determined that I wanted to put a link for them on my sites, but how much even better is it to be an affiliate? Well, they’ve got some pretty banners. And, if anybody buys a membership from them they are very generous to me. Just a win-win situation.

What’s especially cool is they are not limited to the San Francisco Bay Area. They’re all over the place, and serve the internet community…which is all over. But, can you imagine? If you were Wiccan or a channel like me, or just more spiritually minded than you were once upon a time, this could very well be the place for you.

I like what Jill says in the article I read that getting love starts with you. You are the one who creates the flow of love energy moving towards yourself. It doesn’t start from without. It starts from within.

Prayer

When you pray do you have the same prayers that you pray again and again? I love saying the Hail Mary. I’m happy as a clam saying it 10 times in the car coming home from work. One of the guides just said that was a decade. I should get out my rosary and just do that. I find comfort in saying that particular prayer. Sometimes I even imagine Mary and think of her as a sort of intermediary from me to her son Jesus or to God, sort of like in the old days when I was growing up.

Then, there are other times when I whine a lot. Oh, please…oh, please….oh, please. Well, maybe it isn’t whining, but there’s an awful lot of it.

But, have you thought about just having a conversation with God? Or, if you’re more comfortable with a prayer you could make one up yourself rather than saying the same one you’ve been saying for years.

Here’s my method…or, just one that I use. I start by taking a really deep breath. I’m not concerned about anything other than taking that breath. Sometimes I have to do it more than once. Then, I imagine my body getting quiet. There’s always a lot of busy work going on. The body has all of its normal things to do anyway…breathing, blood circulating, digestion going on, filtering things, brain activity…stuff like that. I don’t mind that continuing. What I’m sort of concentrating on is the stress and tension I seem to carry with me no matter what. I sort of make a promise to myself that whatever leaves for now can always come back later again if it needs to. Somehow making that deal with myself enables me to have a few moments of peace. It’s like I trick myself. But, hey, it works. What can I say? So, this is the stage I set.

Now, I remember that Spirit is all around me. God isn’t up there, or out there, or far away from me. God is at my elbow. When I was a kid I always imagined God to be sort of like Santa Claus, except he wasn’t as fat and he didn’t laugh as much, but he was an older, white haired guy. Those memories still sort of come back to me at times, but mostly now when I do this quieting down God at my elbow move I tend to imagine God as being a cloud of peace, a cushiony, enveloping place where when I enter I dissolve into tears of relief. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but it’s like walking into a comforting hug. Getting to this stage in the prayer saying business is almost enough for me sometimes. Sometimes I just stay here for a few moments and then I’m good to go for another while.

But, you can do more.

So, say you’re in the comforting area of Spirit. Now what can you do? Well, just be. Instead of it being you and It you can think along the lines of this is what you are. This is where you came from. This is where you will someday go back to again, this feeling of peace, this feeling of being one with something greater than yourself. Imagine this feeling that is beginning to wash over you as a condition of what life is like all the time for your higher self. This is the part of you that is in charge. It’s the directing traffic part of your being. Same as Spirit, but more a part of you like the freckles on your nose. The same part that was with you when you were a slave in Rome, when you were a soldier in World War I, when you were a tycoon during the dot.com bust.

I am not generally in close contact with my higher self all the time. First time I ever saw it during a meditation it was like 10 feet tall and scared the living daylights out of me. Very strange. Anyway, I know I’ve got one. I haven’t spent a lot of quality time with my higher self lately, but it never hurts to try to try to figure out what the hell it’s got scheduled for you so you don’t get hit with some surprising move out of left field. (One of the guides just said you can tell I haven’t had a lot of practice doing this….hey, I’m trying…I’m evolving…there might be a day when I can speak with more authority on this, but for now? It’s one toe forward into the dark just like everybody else…)

Okay, so you’re in the comforting place. You’ve just shaken hands and done the, “How do you do.” with your higher self. You’re rubbing elbows with God. Enjoy.

How about a bit of well wishing for friends and relatives? How about some healing work? Okay, so here’s where the imagining comes into play again.

Imagine that in this peaceful, Spirit filled, wonderfully calming place it is also filled with light, healing light. It’s everywhere. It’s like the sun coming up over the Smoky Mountains. It’s like the first rays that you see when the day is upon you. That’s the healing light. There might also be sounds associated with this healing energy, but however you imagine the healing part to be allow it to wash over you. Allow it to be in every cell of your being. Enjoy and wallow.

Now, start thinking of the people you generally say prayers for. Think of the folks in your life who are hurting. Think of how much better you feel now and sort of direct it all their way. Now, think of your relatives, your friends, the people who you care about. Now, think of the folks who irritate the hell out of you. Send some their way too. Now, think of the folks you meet on the internet and send some their way too. The idea of the healing energies is that they will use it or not. But, it can’t hurt to send it their way. Sometimes when the number of folks I’ve got grows large I think of them as, “My group”. In my mind they’re all standing together and the healing energy of Spirit, of the Universe just sort of goes their way and maybe it can help them over whatever bumps in the road they’ve got in their lives.

I don’t know if it works. I do it anyway. I do know years ago I was doing it and the next day one of the ladies I was sending energy to called me up complaining that I’d awakened her at four in the morning and don’t do that again. LOL.

By the way, your prayers are always heard. Maybe they aren’t answered quite the way you wanted, but they are always heard.

A very interesting website is World Prayers where you can spin a wheel and find a prayer to say or go in search of one. It's worth while checking it out. Also, I've got a prayer page at Talking to Spirit. And, while I was searching for a picture to illustrate this entry came upon some really wonderful instructions on how to make your own rosary.

UFO Healing - An Email I Received

Here's an email I got yesterday. I thought it was pretty interesting, so I'm posting it here without any identifying info about the writer.

Question: Have you ever contacted a ufo for a physical healing face to face....
is this possible???

Answer: I've never been in contact with a UFO. However, there are some books out there. Look for books channeled by Mary Margaret Moore who channels Bartholomew who says he is an extra terrestrial being and for Bashar who is channeled by Darryl Anka. Have a look at my site at Talking to Spirit and check out their links:

The healing from other beings is possible from what I've heard, though I've not had any experience with it and I've never actually seen an alien face to face (one of the guides just made a rude joke about people I work with...LOL), but I'm thinking the best results will probably come from your own moves. Live with moderation. Remember to laugh and have fun. Try to handle your stress. Pay attention to your diet. Remember to exercise. Keep being interested in things even as you age. When you do get sick immediately visit your doctor. I live in the west and am most attuned with western medical practices. Those are the places I would go to first, but I would not discount healing meditations and emotional and psychological healing work. All of it together will help I think. Miracles? They are hard to come by I think. Instant ones anyway. And, most important are your own life lessons. It could very well be that the best way for a person to learn XYZ is for them to experience a horribly debilitating illness. Some of this you can control. Some of this you can moderate, but some of it is written in the stars.

Here's a funny story for you. In the early days when I'd just started channeling I asked my guide Seth if he'd ever seen an alien. He didn't say anything for a few seconds and then he said to me, "Who do you think you've been talking to all this time?" I was really shocked and then I got to thinking about it. Seth was not of this earth so he would qualify as being an extra terrestrial being.

Funny what happens when you change your point of view.

Entrecard

So, I was farting around at Blog Explosion this morning before work and happened upon a blog that had a neato sort of widget in the sidebar. It had an E on it and when I clicked on it said something about Entrecard. So, this evening when I got home from work I signed up.

Now, here's the funny part. There's a section of the signup where you write a description of your site. I've had the same description for some time and wanted to get a new one.

Here's the one that's been in place forever: The Spirit Moved Me and Look What Happened – the blog. A behind the scenes look at what it’s like to be a psychic. Recipes, channeling by the Guides and Folk in Spirit I talk to. Lots of fun.

So, I start writing. And nothing happens. I mean, I'm tired. I've had a really frustrating week. I'd rather throw rocks than write, but I want to get signed up and you'd think something as simple as a weeny little description wouldn't stump me. I was stumped.

So, I asked for help. And, we all know who I asked help from. I asked for a bit of an assist from Spirit. Hey, I do it all the time. And, generally, if I close my eyes, take a deeper than usual breath everything turns out well and I get the boost I need to move forward under my own steam.

So, here's what resulted. I think this is a lead in to the weekend. It sure made me laugh.

#1: The Spirit Moved Me and Look What Happened. The result of a life lived much like anybody else and what it’s now like to have a daily conversation with God who does not forget.

#2: The Spirit Moved Me and Look What Happened. She’s psychic but you wouldn’t know it. Not by the way she drives in any case. Take a look at what this middle aged psychic has to offer to everybody for free, free, free.

After I finished laughing I was out of my rut and came up with this version on my own: The Spirit Moved Me and Look What Happened. See what it’s like to be psychic. Delve into the mysterious arts and thumb your nose at fate with me. A common sense look at uncommon happenings.

I Feel Better Now - I Only Needed a Hug

Check out Juan Mann's website.

Write A Book

Here’s what I do. I determine that I’m going to tackle a big project. I mean this one is simply huge for me. It’s something that’s been in the works, I think, for a long time, just sort of percolating away, but the idea of doing this is daunting.

Write another book.

This one will be on how to channel. It’s obviously for a very small audience, but I think it has a place in the arena of books out there already. Plus, I’m funny. Well, sort of. One of the guides just said, “Huh?”

Oh, I have to tell you at the grocery store this evening the line was just inching along and I had time to look at the magazines on display. I zeroed in on this one with lots of stuff to look at. I can’t tell you the name of it; it was just there and caught my eye. So, I took it off the rack and flipped it open and happened upon an article of how to look pretty. I spent about a nano second on this article. My first impression was that these were all very young ladies and all of them were already very pretty. My next impression was of one of the tips that had to do with applying makeup. I don’t wear it. Anyway, with a sigh I knew that particular article was certainly not for me. No hope here. Old, fat, ugly and do not wear makeup. No hope. Not that it bums me out or anything. It used to when I was younger, (and a site prettier than now), but I’m pretty much okay with being ugly. Anyway, as I reached to return the magazine to the rack one of the guides said, “The quickest way to be pretty is with a smile.”

Sometimes my heart stops with the stuff they say.

Anyway, back to writing the book. What I tend to do with the larger projects is to whittle away at them from afar. Like I'm doing everything but work on the book right now. I've farted around on the Internet for awhile. I did spend my lunch time yesterday writing some notes out about it. I know there's already a lot of material on the subject at several of my sites, but I want to pull it all together and I want to start fresh with the writing.

I guess I could think about it here for a few minutes. Sort of muttering aloud on the blog.

Okay....so, I suppose I should think about size of book. I'd like to be able to hold it in one hand. I'd also like there to be enough room for somebody to write comments in the margins. I guess a 6 x 9 inch or so book would be okay. That's not too big. Not too small either.

Okay, so how thick? Okay...forget that. I just turned around and looked for a book the size I can envision for what I want to do. I hauled, "A Traveller's History of Scotland" off of the bookshelf behind me. It's 5 inches wide, 7 and 3/4 inch high and a little more than half an inch thick. The print in it is too small though. Okay, on average about 12 words to the line. I remember that number from another time I was figuring how long to make a book. And, 36 lines to the page for an average of 432 words per page. For rough count lets call it 425 words a page. Okay, so there are 239 pages in this particular book. Just because I feel like it I'm going to move with 222 pages because that's my special number. Okay...that is 94,350 words. My first novel was 75,000 words and that took me 3 years to write. But, I can't really base any of this on the labor involved with that because it was the first time I'd ever done anything like this and I also didn't know what I was doing. Not that I know now, but I know a little bit more. Also, this isn't a work of fiction but will be a how to book. That should be easier. Especially since I already know how to do it.

Okay, so a book of 94,000 words. Figure I write 1,000 words a day and it will take me 94 days or 3 months to complete. Right. Like I'm going to write 1,000 words every day. I could try though. I could try.

The guides were the ones who suggested I do it. They said I could aim for my birthday to have it done. That's September 1st. That's 4 months from now. I suppose I could do it.

Okay, so 94,000 words. How to break it up?

If I had 15 chapters about how many words per chapter...about 6,200. I'm talking rough here. Don't have to count words...count pages. Okay, so I know when I'm writing in Word I get about 600 words to the page that would be 10 pages per chapter. I'd have to do a few to see if it works.

I suppose I ought to be thinking about content about now. I'm really not sure that I can talk enough to fill this book up.

For this I need my special crayons. New ones. Fresh out of the box and a big old piece of paper. I'll take a picture of it when I'm done.

What I do is draw a big circle. In the middle of the circle I put the main thrust of the book. Then, the ideas begin to radiate out from the center. I'll do it tomorrow and post it to the blog.

And, I will sweep my desk off so I can be really clear about this. I think this might be fun. God knows I need some fun right now.