Indiana Oh Indiana

Since our visit to the vet last week, Dudley is doing splendidly. He hasn’t scratched once. He’s taking two different internal meds, and I have to bathe him three times a week with special shampoo and rinse. The problem is a combination of certain malicious bacteria and fungus that are found on all dogs and cats but which are dangerous on certain canine skin like that of many Westies. The germs eat away at the epidermis creating deep redness, and the need to scratch almost endlessly until the fur actually falls out, and the skin becomes tough and wrinkled as a body defense. Those areas look and feel like elephant skin. Healing has begun, but there is much more treatment necessary to keep the bugs at bay.

I knew that Dr. Parker was good when she walked into the room, where Duds and I were. Her manner won over Dudley immediately. Also, it’s obvious that she knows her stuff. She addressed every issue and possible treatment from top to bottom. At LAST I have found somebody, who really knows what she’s doing! Dudley is going to be all right in six to eight weeks and is already a much happier dog. The dark, scaly, irritated skin where he was scratching so fiercely is already turning a healthy pink again. I’m sleeping better and enjoying my dog once again.

It turns out that his allergies weren’t even food-based. I’m able to hide his pills in pieces of Swiss cheese now. Another issues was that I was using organic, special oatmeal shampoos and rinses, which weren’t killing any of the microbes. Dr. Parker said it might have been better just to use Dawn Dishwashing Liquid! His shampoo is now a medicated one I must leave on him for ten minutes before the rinse. At any rate, everything seems to be working. Hooray! I need to publicize this, as many people with Westies give up and have their dogs taken to shelters or even put down. My point is that there is hope for dogs suffering from this affliction, the medical term for which is Malassezia Dermatitis. There are medications and treatments that can relieve and eliminate this problem, making your pets happy again.  JB

Priorities

Yesterday I saw something appalling on the news. An 85-year-old woman drove her car through the window of a shop, knocking over a younger lady in the process. All of this was caught on a security camera, but the worst part was that several people gathered, like sharks in a feeding frenzy, around the car, not to see if the driver was all right or to check on the fallen young lady, but rather to take pictures with their cell phones. As it turned out, no one was seriously hurt, but at the time, the cell phone gawkers didn’t know that. My question was immediately about where their humanity had gone. The sideshow aspects of the scene were of more interest to them than the safety of those directly involved in the accident. It was like something from a future shock piece of science fiction in which people have become automatons, devoid of compassion. Scary stuff.  JB

The Process of Publishing One’s Work

 In some ways, I should be the last one to be giving advice to other writers on publishing anything. My qualifications on the subject of writing come mostly from my having taught English for thirty-five years and a creative writing class that I designed and taught for twenty-five years. Each spring my students published a sixty-page anthology of their best writing for which the school twice received recognition for the book’s high quality by The American Association of Teachers of English. Those books are still the results of which I remain most proud from my career in the classroom.

My own first book, ALL MY LAZY RIVERS, an Indiana Childhood, was published in January of 2010 in Baltimore. It is still available in paperback and on Kindle at Amazon.com and as paperback and NookBook at Barnes & Noble, but most of the profits go to the publisher, as I receive only 7% for the first seven years. My second book, COME ON, FLUFFY, THIS AIN’T NO BALLET, a Novel on Coming of Age, is a Kindle book on Amazon and yield’s 70% profit for me, far more generous than the contract with my first publisher, but the limitation is that the work is an eBook, which can exclude readers of traditional hard copies of books. This may be a conundrum for a writer, who wants his or her friends and family, who are uninitiated into the world of eBooks, to read the work. There is also the choice of self-publishing, but that is another story, one that somehow lacks the luster and dignity of having a traditional publisher seek one’s work with monetary compensation (however small) and a willingness to market one’s book.

My third book, COME SEPTEMBER, Journey of a High School Teacher was published in 2012 as a Kindle read and as a paperback. For better or worse, most of the serious publishers are still in New York City, that bastion of companies like Random House. Of course, sending unsolicited manuscripts to those places is simply not done, unless you happen to be John Grisham, Anne Rice, or Stephen King, so it is necessary to procure an agent, who will represent your work and help to create a pitch to interest a publisher in buying the book through some kind of contract. Most of the respected literary agencies receive at least a thousand queries per month from all over the country and overseas. At times it seems that unknown writers now need an agent in order to find an agent, even to begin communication on any level with a publishing house.

I suspect that some of those large literary agencies have staffs of weary readers, highly trained in the art of spotting just the right hook in a query letter in order for further info to be requested from the author. I often wonder how many queries with great potential are placed on the proverbial conveyor belt, racing thousands of letters and even manuscripts toward some great figurative incinerator. The very hugeness of agencies and their efforts to hurry through all those e-mails and snail mails from hopeful authors is a bit staggering, and I also imagine that agents and their underlings grow jaded by the end of each day in dealing with what must be quite a lot of garbage with which they are expected to deal politely, if at all. “Oh, no! Not another of these.” is a message, perhaps not even spoken aloud, that may dominate life in a literary agency, but sheer volume must be the single greatest annoyance and enemy of those poor readers, and ultimately of writers, who want so much to be appreciated.

Realistic determination on the part of the author is a prerequisite. He must believe deeply in his own work and be willing to do his homework in finding comparable work by already “successful” writers. Freshness is certainly important, but agents seem to be most interested in what will sell. It is very important to know the agencies and their criteria and to know what they’re looking for. Read carefully the bio of each agent to find his or her special interest, like thriller, memoir, cookbook, historical fiction, etc.

I’ve read about successful writers, who knew they had something special in their own work but something not necessarily recognized by literary agents. One example is Kathryn Stockett, author of the wildly popular book, THE HELP, which soon also became a popular film. Ms. Stockett counted forty-five rejections in a row after which she didn’t keep careful track any more, but estimates that there were at least sixty rejection letters in a row for her book. Think of all those incinerators containing the ashes of her query letters and sample chapters. This has inspired me in the sense that so far, as of May 8, 2012, I had sent fifty-four query letters and in some cases with sample chapters, when requested and received fourteen rejection letters, all very polite but mostly very impersonal notes sent also to zillions of other hungry writers. Only one of those actually named my book and gave me encouragement to keep going with it. Such is the experience any unknown author without entree can expect in attempting to find an agent, let alone a publisher. Some agents tell you to expect a response in six months, so it is necessary to send simultaneous queries to many agencies, especially if you’re my age (almost sixty-eight) and want to get through the actual publication process of your book some time before your eightieth birthday. In June of 2012 CreateSpace and Kindle of Amazon published Come September, Journey of a High School Teacher. My best advice to writers, who want to be published, is to explore the possibilities of CreateSpace and Kindle through Amazon,  now the largest book distributor in the world. Also, authors should copyright their work before submitting it for publication or even for mere perusal. I have copyrights on all of my books, which are sold in Europe now and in places like India.

There are also people who simply must write, not for money or fame, but for the joy of expression for its own sake and perhaps for the satisfaction of sharing their thoughts, and sentiments. Blogs are perfect venues for that kind of writing, and in essence, if you’re writing a blog, you’re “published,” because you’ve a readership, even if only one other person.

My two most recent books, Hodgepodge, a Feast for Mind and Spirit, and Mum’s the Word: Secrets of a Family were both published in 2013 by Kindle and CreateSpace Publishing. These have been more successful financially, because I’m paying neither an agent, nor a publishing house for materials for the paperback versions. The books are placed in libraries and bookstores, but there is no expense to me. I receive royalty checks according to sales. Because I believe in the quality of the books, I don’t mind tooting my own horn about them once in a while.

JB

Here is the Kindle link to five of my books. Paperbacks are also available on Amazon and at Barnes & Noble. I’m working now on a sixth book, which should be published in June of this year. The title will be Growing Old in America…or One Codger’s Perspective .

http://www.amazon.com/s?ie=UTF8&field-author=John%20Bolinger&page=1&rh=n%3A133140011%2Cp_27%3AJohn%20Bolinger

JB

25 Things Babies Born in 2014 May Never Know

By Stacy Johnson

Here’s a list of things kids born in 2014 might never experience, or at least will see a whole lot less of as they reach their formative years.

Things kids born in 2014 may never know:

1. The post office. Instead of email, someone used to come all the way to your house just to drop a bunch of ads into a box on the front porch. This service was a big money loser.

2. Parking meters. There was a time when you had to pay for parking by putting coins into a little steel box on a pole.

3. Bank tellers. People used to visit a bank branch to make deposits and withdrawals. What a lot of effort expended on something that can be done digitally in mere seconds with no travel involved.

4. Paper statements. Trees used to give their lives so that those who refused to go digital could get bills and other statements in the mail. (See No. 1.)

5. Paper checks. While it was illegal to make your own paper money, it was OK to write an amount of money on a piece of ordinary paper. Once you signed it, it somehow magically became the same as money.

6. Cable TV. Before universal Wi-Fi, there used to be a wire running all the way from downtown to bring entertainment into the house. Judging by the price, you’d have thought it contained a cure for cancer.

7. Toll booths. Before they started charging tolls by taking a picture of your license plate, you had to stop at a booth and either throw money in a basket or hand it to someone. They were kind of like phone booths on the turnpike.

8. Phone booths. Before everyone had wireless phones, there used to be little glass rooms on street corners where you’d go in and use coins to make a call. For some people, they also doubled as bathrooms.

9. Newspapers. In days before everyone had computers at home and in their pockets, printing presses made paper versions of websites. People would then drive around and throw them on your lawn.

10. Car keys. Cars had keys you’d insert into a keyhole in the doors and dashboard to unlock and start the car. Sometimes you’d lock them in, then try to retrieve them with a coat hanger. Other people would stop and try to help.

11. Bookstores. A retail store where you’d go to buy books.

12. Books. There used to be a physical version of e-books made out of paper.

13. DVDs. Before movies were delivered online, they came on discs you’d stick into your computer or a player attached to your TV.

14. Incandescent lighting. This kind of light bulb didn’t last as long or cost as much as LED lighting, but it had a nice glow to it.

15. Fax machines. These devices transmitted a piece of paper to another fax machine anywhere in the world. It worked over phone lines.

16. Phone lines. Before wireless, calls were carried on wires. Like power wires, they were strung everywhere and stopped working during snow and ice storms.

17. Non-digital picture frames. There was a time when a picture frame could only display one picture at a time, so you needed a frame for every picture. Some were better looking than the picture they contained.

18. Cursive handwriting. You’d pick up a pen or pencil and actually write things by hand. Not only that, but the letters of each word were all connected in such a way that it was often impossible to decipher.

19. Camcorders. Before HD video cameras became standard in phones, you had to buy a separate device if you wanted video selfies.

20. Blind dates. In the days before dating websites, people were forced to meet one another any way they could, including being introduced to friends of friends. It was awkward, because there was no way to IM, text, exchange pics or otherwise communicate before actually meeting. The people you met this way usually weren’t as good looking as you.

21. Talking to one person at a time. Before pocket computers, you weren’t required to stay in constant communication via text. Nor was it customary to let everyone you’d ever met know where you were and what you were doing via Facebook. As a result, you’d often find yourself forced to communicate solely with the people in front of you.

22. Driving a car. Before self-driving cars, you had to do it all: gas, brakes, mirrors, turn signals, talk on the phone, text, put on makeup and eat, all at the same time.

23. Setting a thermostat. Before “The Internet of Things,” you had to manually set the temperature in your house.

24. Forgetting someone’s name. Before Google Glass came along, we had to recognize faces all by ourselves, and remember their personal information.

25. Buying music. With Pandora, Spotify, Rdio, iTunes Radio, etc., we have unlimited music libraries that we pay for by the month. Before that, we bought our music one song or album at a time and built collections.

The Cusp of the Old Year

Today is Christmas Eve. In some ways, I still feel the way I did as a child in the 1950’s, in awe of this season of transformation, and in other ways I have learned to savor this time in terms of looking at the past, enjoying its recollections, and then letting go too.    It is certainly a time for personal and family traditions that help to anchor us in an ever-changing, increasingly impersonal world of electronics that promises us speed and human connection but which at last gives us still more distance between us and others, and a shallow, abbreviated text message of what we once loved, like a sumptuous meal condensed into some flavorless capsule.  All the more reason to cherish a time of year when, for reasons that transcend both religion and commercialism, we confront an emotional reality based upon everything we have been and everything we would like to become.

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Think of that holiday card you have received from an old friend from whom you haven’t heard in a long time, the signature alone summoning happy memories of times gone by.  That occurrence is most common at this time of year, because we have almost a collective acceptance of genuine sentiment, which many are too embarrassed to allow during any other season.  There is still something childlike and innocent about this time of year that takes us back to a naive but heartfelt joy in being with those we love and remembering those who are gone.  Zuzu’s petals (IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE), And Rosebud (Citizen Kane) are such powerful symbols of what we once saw and valued so clearly as children.  Maybe that’s why children are still at the hub of all that is Christmas, from the Christ child in his manger crib, to the face of a child on Christmas morning opening his first gift.  Everything about this season says, “Hey!  It’s OK.  Go ahead and feel deeply.  Forgive those who have treated you badly and don’t be afraid to show unbridled kindness and generosity to those you love.”  We, like Ebenezer Scrooge, can be transformed as at no other time of the year.  We can become more appreciative of what we have and of what we can give.  It’s a miraculous time.

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For us adults at this time of year there is a strong feeling of time passing, as the clock ticks toward January first, when we let go of our sentimental views of past days (at least for a while) and replace our memories with hopes of better and more productive days that lie ahead, doing better at work, losing a few pounds through sheer will power, cleaning that hall closet, writing to those old friends we haven’t heard from for a long time.  We find a new chance to do well and to accomplish goals, however small.

Don’t be afraid or embarrassed to let the season enfold you or to allow yourself to enfold it.  The rewards are incalculable.

 

JB