Tag: Reminiscing

Courage

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Announcing you are an author and writing a book takes courage.

You are putting yourself out there when you tell family, friends, acquaintances, and even strangers you are writing a book.

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People will have different reactions. Some will show support. Others may get excited. A surprising number will be negative. The reactions are all over the spectrum.

If a parent, partner, or spouse isn’t supportive it hurts. I can hurt very deeply. For many writers finishing the first book is a lifetime dream. Just sharing you are writing exposes yourself.

Too often your spouse, parents and friends just don’t get it. They may even be shocked and horrified by what you write. Don’t be surprised if you write romance, erotica, violence, or horror that people are shocked by what you write.

When you write you put your personality into your book.

The book is an expression or who you are. It reflects your mores. Do not fool yourself, people will judge you by what you write. If it has Christian themes they may call you a religious nut. If it has shooting and beatings, they will call you gruesome. If it has sex they may think you are a sex fiend.

You’ll find the judgment of more severe when you have just one book. With only one book it becomes the lone standard by which you are judged and unfortunately, often attacked. When you get two or three or more books the public sees different sides of you. The more you write and publish, the more you bloom. You’ll find your self-assurance increasing. You will proudly declare you are a writer; you are an author.

It doesn’t stop here. Almost all will have an opinion about you and your writing

When you first start writing, you may be timid in letting others know you are writing a book. After all, almost everyone says they are going to pen the next great novel. You know lots of people talk about writing a book, but few really finish one. Dealing with the criticism and praise can be confusing.

You will confront disapproval, pessimism and judgement. You will wonder how family and friends can be so mean in their comments. You will feel worse as you share with beta readers and go through the editing process. It will feel like they are attacking you personally when they are just sharing their thoughts on the quality of your writing.

You have to be thick skinned. You have to listen to the editors and make corrections and grow. The criticism will start dying off as the editing process continues and you show them you are actually going to do this. When they see you can follow through, the kind words will follow. The criticism will decrease unless you have written on a hot topic.

The skeptics will diminish as you complete your project. If you give up and quit, be prepared to hear the I knew you didn’t have the self-disciple comments. Those comments are probably on target.

You’ll find how you react change to others over the writing process. At first you almost apologize for being a writer. Your self-confidence grows as you get further into and then actually finish the book. You become proud of what you have done.

There’s more. You can’t please everyone. Some will not like your book.

This is inescapable. You have to face. If you are the emotional type, this will be hard. You’ll soon learn if your temperament is right for this sort of work. This is really amplified when you are a new author and emotionally attached to your work. You may feel that a rejection of your book was a rejection of you. This isn’t the case, but it is a hard lesson to learn.

Here are a few thoughts to help deal with these experiences.

Realize that how you feel and react is normal.

You are just learning about writing books and the business of writing. Don’t beat yourself up. There will be enough others doing that to you. Be easy on yourself and learn from the experience.

When the hurtful comment is left as a review or when someone says it to your face, don’t take it personally.

Go ahead and take a deep breath, exhale slowly and do not rebut or argue with them. Ask yourself if it is useful criticism that you can try to use to improve your book. If yes, learn from it; use it. It might be jealousy. If so, smile and ignore it. Is it jealousy, or a comment that does not help?

Positive self-talk helps.

It took guts to write your book. Your view is valid. Remind yourself you can be an author. Remember you are creative. Self-talk is okay. Psych yourself up. Repeat and say over to yourself you can write the book. Someone once said, “Fake it until you make it!”

You can do it!

Writing and publishing a book is an attainable object. The one ingredient you’ll need more than anything is persistence. Take a long term view. Set deadlines and meet them! Most of all, enjoy the journey. If your writing touches one life or heart you are a success.

Remember, when people make remark about you writing and your dream of writing a book, just take a deep breath, nod, and carry on. It’s your dream. If you can dream it, you can achieve it.

Hold on tight to your dreams and then achieve them!

Picture Source: http://www.mycity-web.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/bigstock_story_2226743.jpg

I Believed I Could Fly

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Superman

In 1956, my father returned from a one-year tour of duty in Turkey. Our family moved to Greenville, South Carolina. The Unites States Air Force stationed dad at Donaldson Air Force Base, a C-124 airfield that emphasized air transport and called itself the “Airlift Capital of the World”.

My first memories are from living at 201 Maco Terrace in Greenville from 1956 – 1958. That was also the first house my parents owned.

My favorite TV show during those days was Superman. Superman always began, “Faster than a speeding bullet! More powerful than a locomotive! Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound! Look, it’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s Superman! … He fights a never-ending battle for truth, justice, and the American way!”

In 1956 and 1957 I would run around the house with a towel for a cape and wearing only my brief undies pretending I was Superman. I would have my arms stretched out in front of me, my head down as I was flying around the living room and kitchen.

One evening I decided I would try to fly. I got on the couch and then stood on the arm of the sofa. Suddenly I jumped with arms outstretched.

Instead of flying, I feel like a rock. My forehead found the corner of the coffee table. I didn’t fly but instead received a big cut. We had to get in the car and drive to the emergency room at Donaldson AFB. The wound was so severe that blood was flowing from my forehead into my eyes where I couldn’t see.

I asked my mother if they would get me a seeing-eye dog if I went blind. Suddenly, the laughter filled the car. My parents were laughing at me.

The doctor also chuckled as I received the fifteen stitches to stop the bleeding as mother retold the story. I have heard the seeing-eye dog story for over fifty years.

The happy ending was I got stitches, didn’t go blind, and learned I couldn’t fly. Growing up a military brat was a never-ending adventure.

Jimmie Aaron Kepler is a novelist, poet, book reviewer, and award-winning short story writer. His work has appeared in over twenty venues, including Bewildering Stories and Beyond Imagination. When not writing each morning at his favorite coffee house, he supports his writing, reading, and book reviewing habit working as an IT application support analyst. He is a former Captain in the US Army. His blog Kepler’s Book Reviews was named a 100 best blogs for history buffs. You can visit him at http://www.jimmiekepler.com.

Martian Mondays: The Martian Chronicles – Chapter Ten: The Locusts

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Chapter Ten – “The Locusts” – This story first appeared in The Martian Chronicles. This vignette concerns the swift colonization of Mars. The title refers to the rockets and settlers that quickly spread across all of Mars.

A 1997 edition of the book advances all the dates by 31 years. This story is advanced from February 2002 to 2033.

Attending a Writer’s Conference Can Be Awkward

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Last Year's East Texas Christian Writer's Conference
Last Year’s East Texas Christian Writer’s Conference

I have attended various writers’ conferences for over thirty years. Today and tomorrow I am attending the East Texas Christian Writer’s Conference. It is the fourth time I’ve attended this conference.

Awkward describes attending a conference for the first time. This is especially true if you have never been to that particular conference or any writer‘s conference for that matter.

You need to accept that the conference is work and sacrifice. The sacrifice comes from the time and money you invest in the conference.

You made the choice using vacation time on yourself instead of spending it with a spouse and loved ones. Money is spent on the conference registration fees, travel, meals, lodging, and supplies like a new pen and notebook.

You learn that selecting the right conference for you and running the gauntlet of getting your partner to agree to your attendance, getting the time off work, registering for the meeting, obtaining lodging, and selecting the conferences to attend is work. It is work packing for the trip and then more work unpacking when it is over.

When you go to a new location and know no one it can be stressful and lonely. It can be scary as you meet new people including writers you are a fan of.

It involves choices. Which sessions do I attend? Should I skip a session I paid for to meet and mingle? The sessions are fun.

You look at not only what sessions and panels are there, but you look at the guest list. You focus on who is coming. Make a list of authors, publishers, and editors attending the conference. Ask which of these do I admire? Are there attendees that you would like to meet and make an impression upon?

Then you look at what agents you are interested in as well as what publishers you are interested in. Once you know the publisher you‘re interested in find out which editors work for them and who is going to be at the conference. This takes a little bit of research.

Look at the acknowledgements of your favorite book and usually you‘ll find out who edited the book. You then look at the guest list for the convention and find out who is present. You might have an editor or agent present you want to meet.

You need to find out what the agents, publishers, and editors are doing. Do not talk to them in the escalator, in the bathroom or when they are meeting with their top author for a meal. A good time to meet them is after a panel or after a session they taught. You need to have some follow-up questions for them. Tell them which of their works or authors you enjoy. Ask them what is coming up next. DO NOT mention your own work at this point. You can do that in other settings. For example, in some cases you can make appointments through the convention to pitch a completed manuscript to them.

I know a lot of writers are shy or introverted. That will rarely sell your book or manuscript. I am an outgoing introvert. I am not shy, but have a strong tendency toward being wholly or predominantly concerned with and interested in my own mental life instead of focusing on obtaining gratification from what is outside the self. You have to get over the shy. Writing isn’t a loner craft. It takes the community of the editor, publisher, and even publicists as well as the writer.

The most important part of the conference involves meeting new people and make a good impression. You are there to learn and to network. The networking is critical. You can encourage one another. You need to focus on always being nice, always being friendly, and always being courteous.

Attending a conference is a wonderful experience. I am doing it today and tomorrow.

Pioneer Plaza & Texas Longhorns

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Texas Longhorns in downtown Dallas, Texas
Texas Longhorns in downtown Dallas, Texas

Pioneer Plaza:

Located just north of the Dallas Convention Center is Pioneer Plaza. It is a large public park in the Convention Center District of downtown Dallas, Texas. The centerpiece of the Pioneer Plaza is large sculptures. It is a heavily visited tourist site. Located next to Pioneer Park Cemetery which features the Confederate War Memorial, the two offer the largest public open space in Dallas’ central business district.

Background of Pioneer Plaza:

The land was once railroad and warehouse property. Built on land cleared as part of the failed Griffin Square development, developer Trammel Crow gets credit for the idea behind the sculptures and plaza. He wanted an iconic “Western” sculpture in the City of Dallas. He assembled a group to give the sculptures. Begun in 1992, the $9 million project started on 4.2 acres of land donated by the City of Dallas. $4.8 million of the cost came from private funds raised from individuals and local businesses.

Sculpture:

The large sculpture celebrates the nineteenth-century cattle drives that took place along the Shawnee Trail. It was the earliest and easternmost route by which Texas longhorn cattle moved to northern railheads. The trail passed through Austin, Waco, and Dallas until the Chisolm Trail siphoned off most of the traffic in 1867.

Artist Robert Summers of Glen Rose, Texas created 70 bronze steers and 3 trail riders sculptures. Each steer is larger-than-life at six feet high. All together the sculpture is the largest bronze monument of its kind in the world. Set along an artificial ridge, man-made limestone cliff the native landscaping with a flowing stream and waterfall creates a dramatic effect.

Maintained by the adjacent Dallas Convention Center, Pioneer Plaza is the second most visited tourist attraction in downtown Dallas.

Source:

Creative Commons License

Pioneer Plaza by Wikipedia and Jimmie A. Kepler is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. Based on a work at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pioneer_Plaza.

The photograph was taken in Dallas, Texas USA by Jimmie A. Kepler in December 2008.

Creative Commons License

Texas Longhorns in downtown Dallas, Texas by Jimmie A. Kepler is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at https://www.dropbox.com/s/6u5jvbvtdlc08k8/100_1613.jpg.

I am a Military Brat

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Pease Air Force Base at Portsmouth, New Hampshire. The picture was taken in the May 1966 from the balcony of the operations building. I was in the 7th grade. There is one KC-135 and six B-52s on the runway.
Pease Air Force Base at Portsmouth, New Hampshire. There is one KC-135 and six B-52s on the runway. The picture was taken in the May 1966 from the balcony of the operations building. I was in the 7th grade. I lived on Pease AFB from February 1966 to May 1967 and was in the 7th and 8th grades while we lived there.

What is a military brat? A military brat is the son or daughter of an airman, marine, sailor, or soldier. These children of career military have common characteristics. They grew up in a community of service. Sacrificing for the greater good is part of their character. They moved on average once every three years to a new state, region, or country.

Academic studies show military brats lack racism.1 They are the only color blind group in the USA. They are the most open-minded of any subgroup in the world. They are more tolerant and embrace diversity with respect for others better than their civilian counterparts to include those raised in liberal homes. They are equally respectful and tolerant of conservative, moderate and liberal points of view.2

They adapt to change and new situations better than any group in the United States. 2

They are socially independent. They do well in personal relationships. They put the needs of the other people ahead of their own needs.

Military brats who grew up as military dependents particularly in the late 1940s to early 1970s are kinder, caring, and more loyal than their raised as civilian children counterparts. They were higher achievers academically and professionally make the best employees due to characteristics like self-discipline, self-starter, flexibility, and their personal fiscal responsibility. 2

Most military brats do not have a real home town.2 Most do not know their cousins, aunts and uncles or grandparents very well. Many, including me, do not trust the governments of North Korea, Russia and China.

The word brat is not derogatory. It stands for:

B – Born

R – Raised

A – And

T – Trained1

I’m a military brat. My father served in the United States Army, United States Army Air Force and the United States Air Force (USAF). He retired from the USAF.

I am also a former United States Army officer. Growing up as a military brat helped prepare me for my service. It was all natural and comfortable to me. I felt it was where I belonged more than anyplace else in my life.

1 http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=military%20brat

2 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_brat_(U.S._subculture)

My Writing Room

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Jimmie A. Kepler here, greetings from the blast furnace called north Texas and the Dallas-Fort Worth area. The temperature reached 109 degrees on my front porch today. That’s hot!

This morning I went to Starbucks for my morning writing. I love the early morning right before the sun comes up. There is a peacefulness found there not found elsewhere. Starbucks is where I do about third of my writing. I do over half of my writing at home. I thought today I would show you   my modest home office. It is a combination bedroom/office. It is the bedroom where I sleep each night.

I’ve created a three-minute and fifty-one second video tour of my home office. I hope you have as much fun seeing the video as I had making it.

My home office, by Jimmie A. Kepler …

Exciting and Sad

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Bewildering StoriesI live in the Dallas Fort Worth metropolitan area of north Texas. The area includes 12 counties, over 9,000 square miles (larger than the states of Rhode Island and Connecticut combined), with just fewer than 7,000,000 million people, it is the fourth largest metro area in the USA. Only the New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago metro areas are larger. It’s big!

The blast furnace has returned to north Texas. After a week of overnight lows in the lower 60s I awoke to 77 degrees at 5 AM. Ugh, that is hot. Heat is on the schedule the rest if the month. It is August, so we should have highs around 100 and low temperatures around 80.

The last week has been exciting and sad. Let us look at the sad first. Another of my high school classmates passed away. Her name was Deborah. She went in for routine surgery on August 13. There were complications. She died on August 15. She was a sweetie. She loved her children and grandchildren. Her funeral was Monday August 19.

On Sunday evening I found out my friend Christy (Judy) had passed away from pneumonia. I had only known her eight years. I met her through Yahoo 360 and then became friends through Multiply. She was only a couple of years older than me. When I worked in Los Angeles last summer she was a great help. She told me which places to see, visit (like the bookstores), and I even made my way out to Simi Valley.

The exciting is I had a short story come out this week in Bewildering Stories. While it has been over thirty years since I had my first writing sale, I still get excited seeing my by-line and reading my articles and stories. You can check it out by clicking HERE.

Devotional: Contentment

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Carrier Air-conditioner
Carrier Air-conditioner

Waves of heat radiated from the concrete as I leave the cocoon of my day job. Temperatures skyrocket twenty-five to thirty degrees. The hot wind slapping my face reminds me of a blast furnace. Even my eyes burn from its unwanted embrace.

As I enter the parking garage the heat and humidity mix makes me move with a purpose to my Ford Taurus. As soon as the engine starts I turn on the air-conditioner and adjust the fan to a near flash-freeze setting. My body demands immediate relief from the triple-digit inferno.

As I settle into the driver’s seat and my body cooperates by not going into a heat stroke state though I fear heat exhaustion was mere seconds away, I unscrew the cap on my bottle of water. Condensation covered it immediately with sweat when I exited the day job’s building. It’s cool, clear contents help me return to normalcy. The combination of water with the refrigerated air make sure I can survive the hour drive home.

During the trip I notice several drivers sipping from their water bottles. Observation finds no one driving with their windows rolled down. The time and temperature signs signal the dangerous warning as I see triple digit numbers flashing. Some are as high as 111. I am grateful for my air-conditioning. I am blessed as I sip on the cool, clear, chilled water.

As I slow my car to a stop in front of my home, put the transmission in parking gear, turn off the air-conditioning and exit back into the blast furnace I again feel hot wind slapping my face and my eyes burn from its unwanted embrace.

The temperature feels even hotter as I walk to the door that leads into my home. I cool air greets me as I open the door and walk into the entry hall. I closed the door behind me glad I have a barrier between the heat and the cool. And I reflect with amazement remembering my parents, grandparents, and even myself living in the heat without Mr. Willis Haviland Carrier’s wonderful invention.

While we dream of the good old days, it is wise to remember they really weren’t that good. We had no air-conditioned cars, workplaces, schools, businesses, or homes. Heck, we didn’t even have bottled water.

The words of the Apostle Paul from the Bible come to mind. “Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.” – Philippians 4:11. I was happy without air-conditioning as a child. I am happy with it as an adult. The key isn’t having or not having it, but to be satisfied. Of course, on a hot day, it is easier to be happy when cool.

Hello, I’m a Writer and Poet

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Poetry & Prose Magazine February 2011
Poetry & Prose Magazine February 2011

I’m Jimmie A. Kepler. I write poetry, nonfiction, science-fiction, historical fiction, and book reviews. You’ll find my blogs and websites are: Speaking of … , Kepler’s Book Reviews, Kepler’s Military History Book Reviews, Kepler’s Military History, and Jimmie A. Kepler – Writer & Poet. You can find a list of my publications and poems at Jimmie’s publications and poems.

I have completed a Christian historical fiction novel, “Honor and Jealousy in Texas.” I support my writing and reading habit by working a day job. I work as a solutions support analyst for a Fortune 500 privately held company. I belong to the Wholehearted Writing group in Dallas.

Reading, poetry and writing are my passions. I grew up in a career United States Air Force family. In my youth, I worked in a grocery store, warehouse, folk-rock band as a rhythm guitar player, a vendor at a major league baseball stadium, and for a milk distributor. I graduated college with a Bachelor of Arts degree in history with minors in English and military science.

I served as a commissioned officer in the United States Army on active duty for three years and then five years in the United States Army Reserves. I graduated from the Infantry Officer Basic Course and Airborne School. I am honorably discharged as a Captain, United States Army Reserves.

Coming off active duty I went to graduate school full-time completing Master of Religious Education/Master of Arts degree. During graduate school, I worked as a custodian, day laborer, painter, preschool teacher, and as a route auditor for a soft drink distributor. For 16 years, I worked as a director of education and private school principal. I earned a doctor of education degree in educational administration.

I have been freelance writing over 30 years selling his first article in 1981. I have sold nonfiction magazine and trade journal articles including getting three cover articles. I also have short stories and poems published. I wrote a weekly column for over sixteen years as well over 150 books reviews in the military history genre for several publishers. I have written a historical fiction novel, “Honor and Jealousy in Texas” and am an active member of Wholehearted Writing in Dallas.

In the late 1990s, I went back to college studying computer science completing the core curriculum for the associate of applied sciences in computer systems. I earned CompTIA A+, i-Net+ and Network+ computer certifications as well as induction in for Phi Theta Kappa for academic excellence. While born in Texas, I have lived in Ohio, Illinois, South Carolina, Arizona, New Hampshire, Kansas, Georgia, Louisiana, California, Washington, and Texas. I am married, have three grown children and one grandchild.