Those 70ish Girls

I’m excited about the JC Coyotes going to the State B basketball tournament this week. They’re scheduled to play their first game, today!

At the end of the blog, I have a couple of pictures of two guys I was around a lot growing up. I believe both went to the State B as participants when they were Seniors (wink).

I graduated in 1970. Our team made it to the regionals.

Now…Here is the blog I wrote for today…

In the last week, I have read three novels and a children’s storybook. I had read two of the novels and the children’s book before, but that was over a year ago. Yesterday, I was invited to the Cedar Creek Literary Club brunch. The speaker was an author who has had a novel published and is writing a second one. I was fascinated by her accounting of the challenges a writer faces once the book is completed. It was clear that I had approached it all wrong.

She said two “must haves” are an editor and a cover creator. She gave us a lot of other information as well, but I’ve been organizing my thoughts around these two.

The first book I read was written by a bestselling author. It was a little “dark” but pretty good. The second was written by me. Since I hadn’t read it for over a year, I got a knew perspective.

I realized I needed a professional editor. They are costly, ($3500.00 to $4000.00). I had help identifying punctuation and grammar errors, but since I was the only one to actually work on the manuscript, I missed correcting a few…several…a lot of them.

As I reread the book, the storyline kept me interested, but there were parts that were too repetitive. It was if I was afraid the reader had fallen asleep and maybe missed something. A few other things also need finessing.

As far as the cover goes, I think it looks great, but then I could be attached to my own creation. It happened when I had children, too. Thankfully, a higher power was involved.

I put a lot of time into this book. I think it’s time I make a decision. Do I scrap it or make it something I can be proud of?

Now all I need is four thousand buckaroos.

The third book I read needs some minor changes, but I think the story is riveting. I, again, was slightly repetitive with information. It was like I was doing a twenty thousand word story and I only had fifteen thousand words.

The photographs in this story are the work of a good friend who specializes in outdoor scenes. They’re fabulous.

The story in the children’s book, is from a childhood memory of mine. We Shall See what We Shall See, is what it is! It’s about a favorite character I made up while my dad and I were telling each other tales.

I have neglected my blog. I’ve been recovering from surgery. I will write more on that later…I believe all is well.

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Have a great day! Prayers for all of my South Dakota, Colorado, and Wyoming family and friends who have been hit hard with yet another awful blizzard.

On the good news side, the Jones County Coyotes made it to the State B tournament for the first time in thirty years!

Go Coyotes!!!!

William Francis, Sr. Is 2nd to the left in front.

Billy Francis, big Bill’s son is the guy without the cover-up.