Category: routines

Tuesday Tunes

Tuesday Tunes

Lyrics –

Since I was 17
I’ve always hated my body
And it feels like my body’s hated me
Can somebody find me a pill
To make me un-afraid of me?
Seen every therapist, but I’m a cynical
Don’t like to talk about my feelings
I take another hit, I find another fake fix
‘Cause it’s easier than healing
I don’t wanna be this way forever
Keep telling myself that I’ll get better
Every time I try, I always stop me
Maybe I’m just scared to be happy
Since I was 22
I’ve been with somebody who loves me
And I’ve been tryna believe it’s true
But my head always messes up my heart
No matter what I do
Seen every therapist, but I’m a cynical
Don’t like to talk about my feelings
I take another sip, I swear it’s my last fix
‘Cause it’s easier than healing
I don’t wanna be this way forever
Keep telling myself that I’ll get better
Every time I try, I always stop me
Maybe I’m just scared to be happy
I don’t wanna be this way forever
Keep telling myself that I’ll get better
Every time I try, I always stop me
Maybe I’m just scared to be happy
Maybe I’m just scared to be happy
Maybe I’m just scared to be happy
I’m so scared of having something to lose
I’m scared of being somebody new
I’m so scared of all them seeing the truth
‘Cause right now I’ve got nothing
But I don’t wanna be this way forever
Keep telling myself that I’ll get better
Every time I try, I always stop me
Maybe I’m just scared to be happy
Maybe I’m just scared to be happy (Maybe, yeah)
Maybe I’m, I’m scared to be happy

My 2 cents –

This one hits hard for me. It feels like I am being called out.

Monday Poetry

Poetry




Creativity options

Book Discussion

So The next topic in the group is publishing platforms

I am always finding new places for publication. I am quite sure that I don’t have a full list. And each one has a different reason for the use. The best way to give you this is to list the sites and tell you my opinion about them.

  1. Draft2digital – I use this to get the broadest reach. They have a sister site books2read that is useful to share the link…most of the places are available under one link. I will not use them for print materials (ie paperback and hardbacks) as the quality is terrible.
  2. Kdp(Amazon) – They are picky and it is better to use their direct site than to use any of the other platforms to get it to Amazon. They are more likely to refuse it from an outside platform.
  3. Google play books – I have yet to actually see sales here.
  4. Barnes and nobles – I use this for print only. quality is good.
  5. Ingram spark – This is the most aggravating site. their shipping for author copies are the best but they are a pain to set up. If you want to do the indie book stores you have to set wholesale prices at the 55% and it is recommended for you to allow returns. I dislike that. I use this for mostly author copies. especially because they charge 25 per edit you do.
  6. Drive thru fiction – this is a new one for me. still learning about it.
  7. payhip – direct sales.
  8. There’s at least a few more but I don’t know about them.

I will Discuss the things you need to publish paperback versus hardbacks next week. I will be discussing the different places to find useful services for publication.

Monday Poetry

Monday Poetry
Poetry




Creativity options

Book Discussion

So The next topic in the group is Epubs

Okay, this seems complicated. It really is not. You need 2-3 programs max to make a decent Epub. All are Freeware. First is LibreOffice. You export the Manuscript after it is polished to an Epub. (It will be needing attention after that but it is minor.) Next you need Sigil. This allows you to open the file.

First go to stylesheet and go down until you see a line that says direction ltr there may be more but that entire line needs to be erased. It will cause the publication issues otherwise. You will now need to add a “Title” between the words title on each page. It really does not matter what you put here…as long as each page has something there. You can go through and adjust the pages by splitting and merging to get it to lay the way you want. Sigil is very user friendly. The other option is Calibre E-book management. There have been occasions when it has helped me clean up the Epub when I could not with Sigil. Make sure you update the TOC before you try to upload it to the publisher…

Do Not attach the cover to your Epub or the PDF unless you are selling it privately. As places like Draft2digital and Amazon both attach the cover and the book will end up with a double cover image.

I will discuss the places that you can publish(that I am aware of.) Next Week. I will Discuss the things you need to publish paperback versus hardbacks soon.

A dream…

Meme - Feeling Invisible

I am fifty years old. I have had a repetitive dream for as long as I can remember. at least 40 plus years. I am terrible at dream interpretation and I don’t know if I even want it completely interpreted. It now feels like a journey I have finished. Let me explain by telling you that dream first and then I will fill the remaining details in. This is not fiction though I suppose it could be an interesting read. This is the most vivid dream I’ve ever had.

I start the dream in the same place. I always know that I am dreaming, but I am unbothered by that fact. I am on the third floor of a three story house and I have been here before. I am comfortable here. Before me is three doors and a staircase down. I start exploring the first door. I am never alone. the people change, no one stays with me for long at this point. I know everyone, they are people that I have met or will meet in my life. Everyone I have ever cared about was in the dream – some before I ever met them. It takes me a full day to explore each door. The rooms are laid out with symbols of different aspects of the life I have lived. (in example…one room is a gorgeous library that has decor resembling a roma’s wagon, another one is a beautiful bedroom with a canopy bed and carved decor – ivory elephants, onyx roses, wooden trees.) Three rooms, each room takes a full day to explore. so it takes me three days to reach the stairs.

I continue the same pattern on the second floor. Again three doors and a staircase going down. I am starting to see outside at this point and I feel the urge to rush, though I do not. I want to be outside but I am intrigued with the house. As I reach the bottom of the second stairs I am in the middle of the largest kitchen I have ever seen. the smells are so interesting and I feel like I should linger but it causes anxiety to stay. The companions are still there but they are like a radio left playing…background noise. I am focused on the door to the outside. I can clearly see the yard now but I know that I will not reach it. The moment my hand touches the doorknob I wake up.

I have sought dream interpretation before because of the frequency and vivid nature of the dream. Now I know how it ends, sort of.

I went to bed yesterday and I immediately had a night terror.

So I sat up and spent a few hours trying to get my head back together. When exhaustion finally consumed me and I simply couldn’t hold my head up anymore I tried again.

This time I knew I was in the same dream but I was not in the house. I was behind it. The yard had a rusted swingset covered in thick webs. The yard was overgrown and I could see things in the grass. I didn’t spend time trying to figure out what. I still had compainions. We walked carefully around the house. There was only one door into the house and when I started the dream I was staring at it. I had always assumed that it faced the driveway. it did not. after I got around the house there was a dirt driveway that went out as far as I could see. I started walking down the driveway and I woke up. For the first time feeling like I finished the dream.

Now, I know it doesn’t seem like that is the end of the story but I understand it. sometimes the journey is not supposed to end. Sometimes it is more about the journey than it is about either end.

so, now I have shared the details. Sweet dreams.

Tuesday Tunes

Tuesday Tunes

Lyrics –

[Intro: Addie Nicole]
I’ll bite my tongue ’til it bleeds
Metallic tranquility
The pain gets buried beneath
When I bite my tongue ’til it bleeds

[Verse 1: Addie Nicole]
I know the guilt and shame you hide
Kept your secrets deep inside
I internalized them, blamed myself and
Stepped in the line of fire
Sacrificed myself but why
You resent me every time
So when you point that finger point it at the mirror like

[Chorus: Addie Nicole]
I’ll bite my tongue ’til it bleeds
Mеtallic tranquility
The pain gets buried bеneath
But I’ll bite my tongue ’til it bleeds
‘Til it bleeds

[Verse 2: Bradley Amick]
I could destroy you with one line
And the world would take my side
But I’d never go that low like you seem to go every time
Just be human, fuck your pride
You’re addicted to the fight
I want off this ride so I won’t spend another night

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[Chorus: Addie Nicole & Bradley Amick]
I’ll bite my tongue ’til it bleeds
Metallic tranquility
The pain gets buried beneath
The road is high and it’s steep
I waive white flags, keep the peace
In Eden’s garden of trees
You place the traps, plant the seeds
But I’ll bite my tongue ’til it bleeds

[Bridge: Bradley Amick, Addie Nicole]
Pain, pain, I put you through this
Pain, pain, I put you through
Pain, I put you through this
Pain, I put you through
Enjoy the hell that you need
Deploy the darkness you seek
Destroy yourself without me
I’ll bite my tongue ’til it bleeds

[Pre-Chorus: Addie Nicole]
I know that you don’t believe

[Chorus: Addie Nicole & Bradley Amick]
I’ll bite my tongue ’til it bleeds
Metallic tranquility
The pain gets buried beneath
The road is high and it’s steep
I waive white flags, keep the peace
In Eden’s garden of trees
You place the traps, plant the seeds
But I’ll bite my tongue ’til it bleeds

[Post-Chorus: Addie Nicole]
I’ll bite my tongue ’til it bleeds

My 2 cents –

I actually had a hard choice with this song. There is this version and the official version. The imagery is amazing. I decided to do a volume of cut poetry because of this song. (I have done Cut Poems before but this one made me realize I had a ton more to write). The vocals are amazing.

Monday Poetry

Monday Poetry
Poetry



Cut poems have references… Here is the song list I gathered from for this one…Of Course I added words as needed to make the poem work.

(I’ll bite my tongue til it bleeds by Halocene, Hurt by Johnny Cash, Secret by the Pierces, Sound of Silence by Simon and Garfunkel, Dirty little secret by All-American Rejects, Silence by Grace Carter, Live to Tell by Madonna, Bad Habit by Steve Lacy, Bite my tongue by You me at six)

Creativity options

Book Discussion

So The next topic in the group is Front and Back matter.

Okay… Let’s start with the front matter. Every book has certain things. 1. A title Page. 2. A copyright page. 3. when appropriate – a table of contents.
The Title page is fairly basic. It should have the title and the author’s name. You can add details or graphics if you choose but they aren’t necessary. The Copyright page is often simple. Here is what I use:

Copyright © (YEAR) (AUTHOR)
Publisher
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. This is a work of fiction, any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Names, characters, and places are products of the author’s imagination.
Publisher
(Address)
Publisher’s website

Some add the ISBN to the copyright page. I do not choose to because each version is supposed to have it’s own ISBN and I don’t want to have multiple document files for the same book.

The Table of Contents is not always appropriate. Some books are not laid out in a manner that have multiple points of Content. So if it is necessary it is simple. You can simply list the contents and if you are feeling inclined add the page numbers where said content is found.

That is literally all of the front matter. Now for Back Matter…

This is up to the author/publisher what to include but some options are:

  • About the Author – a simple Bio perhaps with a picture. (I recommend the Bio be in 3rd person)
  • About the Publisher – much like the About the Author but focusing on the Publishing company.
  • Other Books published by the Author.
  • Ads – Some people sell ad space in their books. This is put in the back matter.
  • Teasers – If the book is part of a series then you can put a teaser for the next book in the back matter.
  • Other books by the publisher…This is a rare thing but when I have done it I listed the Anthologies we did.

Front and Back matter can help get the page count up if the book is smaller. There are occasions that you do not want to add pages though and it should be considered. Amazon will not allow words on the spine unless there is 75 pages. However, Children’s books are not a place where some of the back matter is appropriate. Books need a minimum of 24 pages for Amazon to allow them to be made as a paperback. That is difficult for Children’s books to achieve sometimes. There are other options than Amazon but Amazon also has the widest reach customer wise.

I will discuss the Epub with you Next week. And I am planning on discussing the places that you can publish(that I am aware of.) Soon.

Tuesday Tunes

Lyrics –

To all things housed in her silence
Nature offers a violence
The bear that keeps to his own line
The wolf that seeks always his own kind
The world that hardens as the harsher winter holds
The parent forced to eat its young before it grows

Every bird, gone unheard
Starving where the ground has froze
The winter sunrise, red on white
Like blood upon the snow
Like blood upon the snow

The ground walked here is a wonder
It ceases never to hunger
And all things nature’s given
She takes all things back from the living

I’ve walked the earth and there are so few here that know
How dark the night and just how cold the wind can blow
I’ve no more hunger now to see where the road will go
I’ve no more kept my warmth
Than blood upon the snow
Blood upon the snow
Blood upon the snow
Blood upon the snow

It’s not my arms that will fail me
But this world takes more strength than it gave me
The trees deny themselves nothing that makes them grow
No rain fall, no sunshine
No blood upon the snow
Blood upon the snow
Blood upon the snow
Blood upon the snow

To all things housed in her silence
Nature offers a violence

My 2 cents –

This is such a lovely song. It feels more like a poem being sung than a song to me.