ROAD TO WRITING - QUARTERLY REVIEW - PART II

The month of March: Four seminars: Two in Yuma and two in Pahrump.

The Elks Lodge in Pahrump, Nevada

The Road from Yuma, Az. to Parker, Az.

The Yuma fairgrounds were the venue for the Good Sam Rally and The Gypsy Journal Rally.  My first impression of the Fairgrounds was what everyone later learned to call “The sound of Freedom.” The Marine Air Base, only a few miles away, is the training ground, well the training airspace, for fighter pilots all over the world. My heart skipped a beat as these impressive jets passed over, almost close enough to touch. They stirred a fear that just as quickly was replaced by a feeling of safety and power knowing the Marines were doing their jobs. It really was a great feeling. By the time the second rally began, either the flights had decreased or we all became accustomed to “The Sound of Freedom.”

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention Nick Russel, author of BIG LAKE, whose self-published e-book hit the New York Best Seller List that week of the rally. Nick is the editor of The Gypsy Journal Newspaper, http://gypsyjournalrv.com, and IS the Gypsy Journal Rally. He and his wife along with a hundred or more volunteers put on a wonderful, educational, friendly rally. And of course my interest was Nick’s seminar,” The Birth of a Best Seller.”

Because of Nick’s advice and knowledge, my book sales increased tenfold during the month of March.  It didn’t make the New York Best Seller List, but it boosted my faith in the magic of blogging and twittering. 

Sportster relaxes at the Nevada Treasure RV Resort, in Pahrump, Nevada

After saying good bye twice, first to my new friends at the Arizona Good Sam Samboree, and then again  to my friends at the Gypsy Journal Rally, I headed for the KOFA SKP Park in Yuma for a couple of days of down time before I headed north to Parker and on to Pahrump. In Pahrump Nevada, at the Nevada Treasure RV Resort, http://nevadatreasurervresort.com/,  I conducted two more seminars for  the Nevada Good Sam Samboree and the Regional WIT Rally ( Winnebago). During both rallies I met many more interesting people. Ollie Hill, from Laramie, Wyoming, attended my seminar. Visit his website, www.highcountryhorse.net. He has developed a kid’s game called, KID’S ARENA HORSE PLAY, as well as authoring many books on back packing and outfitting. Through the sales of his publications he raises money for 4-H projects.

Daniel Holstein of the Las Vegas Police Department And the son of one of the WIT attendees, spoke to us about his experience consulting for the CSI of Las Vegas television series. Not only did I have the privilege to meet Daniel, but also obtain his permission to e-mail him parts of my manuscript for his review.

Between these two rallies I enjoyed ten days of down time at the Elks Lodge in Pahrump. The lodge was active and hospitable and cooked a great Lasagna dinner. I spent my days writing with the spectacular view of the desert’s landscape filling every window of my RV. I walked in the desert when I needed a break from writing. I could have stayed for months in the solitude but had to spend a couple nights at the Pair-A-Dice SKP Park in order to catch up on my laundry.

I regretted my last day in Pahrump but I was also anxious to go home. Pahrump is a wonderful town with wonderful people. If you ever come through here go to Mom’s Diner, less than a mile from the Elks Lodge. The small restaurant has great food and friendly patrons who will invite you to share their table when it’s crowded, which is most of the time.

My next adventure will be reconnecting with my friends, neighbors and employees and my customers back in Sun City, Ca. at The Canine Beauty Salon…..and finishing my book, GOING HOME WITH A CAT AND A GHOST that I hope to have available late summer or early fall.

THE ROAD TO WRITING - QUARTERLY REVIEW - PART I

April 1^st! Do you believe it? The first quarter of the year has come to pass. Three months spun into  a whirlwind of events and new friends and new places.

Indio was my first stop for the FMCA Western Area Rally. What a great experience. The people at FMCA know how to put on a rally. The events and vendors were varied, educational and friendly. I ran into my favorite and most trusted RV Service man from Temecula Valley RV, www.temeculavalleyrv.com, Erik Kitley. He claims to be the “Best in the Southwest” and in my humble opinion he fits the bill.

I also met Mark Sickman, a member of the Roadtrek RV group. Mark attended my seminar along with over thirty others. The comment cards returned to me after the seminar were 99% raving reviews. But Mark Sickman, an author himself, flowered me with an encore that humbled and ingratiated me. Mark, a distinctive and precise man of words, wrote a book review for COAST TO COAST WITH A CAT AND A GHOST and submitted it to the Roadtrek magazine, which published it last month. I am discovering, along this Road of Writing that authors are much more than professional colleagues, they are of a group consciousness that will change your tire or give you a push when you need one. I only hope I can return the kindness.

The Indio rally was the jump start to my three month long book tour. The Authors’ Meet And Greet at the Sun City Library in Menifee, Ca. hosted seventeen authors due to the efforts of Shirley Wible, the program director. Shirley, another lover of authors and books, put together a successful book signing event, giving me the opportunity to become acquainted with even more respected authors such as Kay Murphy  author of  THE TAINTED LEGACY, http://www.skaymurphy.com/, Martin Lastrapes, author of INSIDE THE OUTSIDE, http://www.martinlastrapes.com/, and  Nickolae Gerstner author of LONGBOURN, http://www.nickolae.com/about-nickolae.html. The many more talented authors that I have not mentioned is in no way intended to  minimize their talents, but I hope, an encouragement to discover them by attending the next Meet and Greet  event.

Martin Lastrapes, author of INSIDE THE OUTSIDE

Niclolae Gerstner ,author of LONGBOURN, at the Sun City Library Meet and Greet 

After these events, I slipped out of town to experience the annual phenomenon of Quartzsite, Arizona. For those of you who have been following me, you know what the experience entails: shopping until you drop, only to start all over again the next day to do it all over again. It also means RV friends meeting with RV friends, not only roughing the desert’s accommodations of sand and wind but also marveling at its vastness, solitude and starry nights. While in Quartzsite I attended the Readers Oasis Book Fair and met not only more fascinating and talented authors, but the naked book store owner who is a legend in his own right. 

Darlene Miller, who wrote RV CHUCKLES AND CHUCKHOLES, http://www.amazon.com/Chuckles-Chuckholes-More-Confessions-Happy-Campers/dp/0977299716  is another author I was fortunate to meet. And although time was limited in Quartzsite, we were able to meet up again at Parker, Arizona when she gave me a tour of the area and Parker Dam that endeared me to the area. When her husband repaired a leak on the roof of my rig, I was reminded why I love RVers: I may travel alone but I am never alone.

Darlene Miller,  author of RV CHUCKLES AND CHUCKHOLES, at The Readers' Oasis Book Fair, Quartzsite, Az.

Coming back from Quartzite I contributed my time to The Chino Book Festival, a fund raiser for the children of Chino, Ca. I as well as other members of the California Inland Empire Writers’ Club, http://www.angelfire.com/amiga/iecwc/index.html  participated in manning a booth and promoting public awareness of the club’s attributes and  scholarships.

I did another book signing at The Menifee Arts council, http://artscouncilmenifee.org/ which hosted a wonderful event at the Kay Cisneros Senior “Center to bring awareness to the artists of the Menifee Valley area. What a great job the volunteers did, and the attendance was fantastic.

After hob-nobing with community members, neighbors and friends I hit the road in my Wizard of Winnebago, along with Sportster and “the Ghost.” My goal: to perform four seminars at four different rallies, two in Yuma, Arizona, and two in Pahrump. Nevada. Stay tuned for the next blog as my quarterly report continues with more gratitude and heart-warming examples of the goodness of people.

 Judy Howard

jhoward1935@gmail.com

www.sportsterandme.com

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF AN ON-LINE CRITIQUE GROUP?

A REMNANT OF ROUTE 66.  TWO GUNS, ARIZONA.

As many of you know, I have been conducting seminars, titled, “Have you ever thought about writing?” since the release of my book, COAST TO COAST WITH A CAT AND A GHOST.

 I perform these seminar/workshops mainly at RV rallies for two reasons. One, because my book is about but not limited to, travel in an RV. The second reason I choose the RV community because RVers talk to other RVers. What better way to spread the word about my book?

But, on a more serious vein, I have had tremendous interest about the subject. How did you get started? Had you ever written before? How did you self-publish? I read a statistic that 23% of us have considered writing a book.

But here is a problem I have come upon in the RV community. Because I stress the importance of joining a writing group, for support and critique, I have discovered many of the RVers do not have a home base and thus are never in one place long enough to join a group. As I too, am traveling considerably now, I miss my home group.

So here is what I want to put out there in RV cyberspace: How about an on-line critique group?

I am volunteering to act as a moderator of  five people who are serious about their work. I am laying out a format, but I am open to suggestions.

1.      Each member e-mails five pages of current work every week to the other four members. Thus each member will have five pages from each member to read and critique. Members will use Microsoft Word and learn to use the track changes feature. Each member will make the changes and suggestions to each of the other four members work  and then email it back to its author and also the other members.

2.      All  changes or suggestions, as in all critique groups, should be constructive and supportive and   can be either accepted or rejected by the author.

3.      Although I am nowhere near an expert in any genre, I am least knowledgeable about poetry. I believe I would like to limit the genre to fiction and or memoirs but that is only a suggestion and as members of the group, we can make a group decision.

4.       The critique should be returned to the members in a timely manner, say three days. The author may ask questions about the suggestions or comments but cannot defend his/her work, after all he/she can take it or leave it.

So there it is folks. What do you think?

Please e-mail me or comment. If anyone would like to get in on this experiment, please let me know.

We need a name for the critique group. Suggestions?

PARKER AND PAHRUMP

The road from Yuma to Parker may appear to be a road to nowhere. The desert stretches ahead and behind, promising an avenue for my mind to reach and soar. Some of the best scenes in my next book are born on a road like this.

London Bridge in Lake Havasu City Arizona. Can you believe each brick was dismantled in London and reassembled here? A serene Sunday morning as smooth as the river, before the world began to stir. I snapped photos that never capture  the atmosphere but they will  carry me back like a chapter in a good book. 

Sportster enjoys the luxury  of  The Treasure RV Resort in Pahrump, Nevada. The resort  employs a great veteran chef, Mike Johnson, who cooks for the rallies as well as operates a little cafe called  The Grill Room that serves breakfast, lunch and dinner.There is even a five lane bowling alley.  The pool , a waterfall and walking bridge over the cascade create a fantasy vacation.
Two seminars in Yuma completed , two more to present here. 

 This is Pahrump.Only one hour from Death Valley or Las Vegas. There is so much more to explore in the area, The Dublin Caves in Shoshone, The Amargosa Opera House and China Ranch Date Farm.
This is my panoramic  view for the next ten days until my seminar at The Winnebago Rally.
Inspiring, huh? Who needs Walden's Pond? Ten days of creating and hiking.

NEW PRICE ON KINDLE!

Check out the new price  for my Kindle book. COAST TO COAST WITH A CAT AND A GHOST.

                                                                 $ .99

jhoward1935@gmail.com
sportsterandme.com

THE GYPSY JOURNAL RALLY GETS UNDERWAY IN YUMA

I am wrapping up my first week on the road to writing. When I left home on Tuesday, several inches of snow  had created  a white hush over  Beaumont, Ca. The winter wonder land was deposited by a cold winter storm rushing through Sun City that sucked the mercury down from the ninety degree mark the day before causing me to put back the warmer clothes I had removed from my tiny closet.

I traveled to Yuma, through snow peaked mountains and fertile farmland and arrived without any mishaps. The Good Sam Rally was already bustling with vendors setting up their wares.

Only thirty minutes into my arrival a squadron of Marine Corps fighter jets screeched over the fairgrounds. I wanted to give them a high five as they passed above but I may have lost my arm they were so close. The roar shook my rig like ten big rigs passing me on the interstate; at least it seemed like that. By the third day I became acclimated to their training sessions from the Marine Air Base and felt a warm sense of security each time they flew overhead that is after I exhaled in relief

My seminars were well attended except the one competing with the ice cream social. I canceled it, shuffled the two attendees to the Saturday class and headed over to the ice cream social where I discovered the Wadinger. Check out my last blog to learn about the making of  a Wadinger.

The most memorable  event of the rally was meeting Bernie, a retired Marine Corps K-9 and her fellow team mates following in her paw prints. It was exhilarating to watch the dogs show their stuff with such enthusiasm. Although I have trained dogs for protection work in the past and the demonstration was not new to me, I always love to watch the dogs work with an eagerness to serve that is unmatched by any human employee.

Yesterday I watched the Good Sam attendees head out for home and places yet unseen as the Gypsy Journal Rally rigs  crept  into the vacated spaces, sighed a heavy hiss, came to rest and ignored the roars  from the Marine Corps.

It wasn’t until after I met Nick Russell did I realize what a privilege it is and tremendous opportunity to participate in this rally. In the five minutes, I now have had more sales on Amazon in the last three days than I have since my book came out. Wow!! Thank you Nick. What happens after I take his seminar?

Back at home my girls are literally working their fingers to the bone, grooming dogs. I say literally because my assistant manager was bitten in the hand. After a trip to emergency and a heavy dose of antibiotics she is recovering nicely and ready to go back to work. And my manager, who just announced her pregnancy, grooms a dog, throws up, grooms another dog, throws up and just keeps on working.  My girl’s enthusiasm may not match the Marine Corps k-9s but their loyalty is definitely a match.

I will check in next week as I get ready to travel to Pahrump, Nevada.

GOOD SAM SAMBOREE IN YUMA, AZ.

This is Bernie, an 11 yr. old Belgian Malinois. Don't let her grey muzzle, puppy eyes, and tail wagging personality fool you. She has served her country in the Marine Corps with dignity and bravery, doing two tours in Iraq. She is being retired and will spend her days with her former handler Cpl. Bret Reynolds. in Ohio.
"She was my first explosive dog." Reynolds explained and "the only other girl I am allowed to love besides my wife."

What's a Wadinger?

The sun is just coming up at Beaumont, Ca. as I approach the I-10 East heading out for Yuma, Az. The night before created this scene out my passenger window.Jack Incarnate is gazing at the white wonderland, snow several inches deep. You might be able to make out the bill of his Harley hat that is shielding his bug eyes from becoming snow blind. I wanted to get out and make a snowball and feel the crispy air, but instead I just rolled down the window and kept rolling.

The item between her hands looks like a wooden corn dog on a stick.

To make a Wadinger you take one jumbo ( uncooked) biscuit from  a tube of jumbo biscuits and press the raw dough down over the wooden "corn dog"

Hold the Wadinger" over hot coals as it you were roasting a marshmallow until it is golden brown. You know when it is done when it will slide easily off the wooden dowel.


We stuffed the inside with strawberries and whipped cream, but other ideas are scrambled eggs and sausage, and I though of taco mixin's.

The inside is up to your imagination and your taste buds!!