Moving Along

I'm making this public - maybe as a way of a commitment.
I have started another set of short stories but, this time I am thinking of trying to tie them together as a novel  - way easier to write but soooo time consuming and patience is not my strong card.
The first book should be out soon.
The blog is still a bit of a problem for me as I'm having trouble setting up my profile but, as with all things, this too may happen.

Start to Finish

I keep getting asked when All These Long Years Later will be out.  The answer is that I have no idea.
BUT! it did go to Turning Point Arts yesterday.  That is that is the company that has so patiently walked and sometimes pushed me through what I have discovered has been a very complicated adventure.
And this morning, as I drank my coffee and considered the start of a new year, I realized that yesterday was the perfect day to send off the book.   I can proudly say that in 2013,  I took a new and exciting journey - start to finish.
Happy New Year to everyone!

Cracking the Code :-)

I've had hundreds and hundreds of people :-) tell me that they cannot reply to my blog and since I would enjoy hearing from you, Brad Grigor of Turning Point Arts has suggested the following:

The simplest way to read your blog is to go directly to your blog site
www.barleywick.blogspot.ca with a web browser. From there, one can read all
the posts and leave comments. NOTE: To leave a comment, the reader must open
the post first (not just be looking at the summary of the post on your home
page). In other words, CLICK THE TITLE of the post and it opens with a
comment form. Beyond that, the details depend a lot on each person's setup
(PC, Mac, tablet, smartphone, etc.) and sophistication.

I REALLY hope this is successful














Robyn
My blog  www.barleywick.blogspot.ca
By The Beach B&B
www.bythebeachbb.com

From there, one can read all the posts and leave comments. NOTE: To leave a comment, the reader must open the post first (not just be looking at the summary of the post on your home page). In other words, CLICK THE TITLE of the post and it opens with a comment form. Beyond that, the details depend a lot on each person’s setup (PC, Mac, tablet, smartphone, etc.) and sophistication.

 

Back To My Book

I’m back to dealing with my book of short stories.  My publisher, Turning Point Arts, has been excellent and extremely patient.  I had no idea how long this would take and if I write another book – I must confess that I am underway but that the last few Christmas weeks have got in the way- I will plan a way to streamline things on my own part.

At present, I have just finished re-reading and tweaking the manuscript for about the tenth or twelfth time - no exaggeration.  I have one other person re-reading for a final time and someone else going over my tweaks and being sure that my instructions to the publisher are clear and accurate.

As I decided on changes, I gave him the story, page, paragraph and line, and then the change.  We are now ensuring that the line numbers, etc. are an accurate match with the manuscript line numbers.  I found that my most common slip was a word worm where I used a word and then it got caught in my consciousness.  For example: My brother tossed me the ball but the toss was way off.  My dog retrieved it but then we knew that the game of toss was over.

Obviously, it would not have been that blatant but…

I’m being told that I am being too fussy and that nobody else would notice but as with anything else, I would, and that is really what it’s all about.

Great Christmas

Great Christmas.  All the kids were here and then two friends joined us for dinner.  4 dogs and ten people!It's time to shake my head and square my shoulders and get back to the last part of publishing my book of short stories.

Wishing a Merry Christmas to All and to All a Good Year

SO...Santa is on his own and...


“Right!  I said, again.  But now you’re on your own.”

All of this, of course, was being broadcast to the growing crowd outside of the window.

My mother told me later that a man standing beside her in the crowd told her that he came to watch and listen every day on his lunch break.  “And this is absolutely the best one I’ve heard, yet.”  She never said if she acknowledged our relationship.

“A Bride Doll?  A cash register savings bank?  A real life sewing machine?” suggested Santa.

“No,” I said. “No.”  And, then again “Nope!”

Both of us were despairing.

“Oh, for Heaven’s sake,” I finally said.  “This is no good.  Handkerchiefs!”

The candy cane elf moved forward but Santa shook his head, almost imperceptibly  at her. 

“No, you’re right.  This is no good.  I’m doing a terrible job, “he said to me.

Santa’s eyes, under his bushy white eyebrows, looked so very  sad and worried.  He was such a nice man.  

 “Oh, it’s alright, Santa,” I comforted him, and gently patted his red suited shoulder, but if you could just make a note, a term used frequently by my family, of the Bubble Car, that’s all I really need.  And I slipped off his knee, took my shiny gift and my candy cane and saw myself out.

Copyright © 2013, Robyn Gerland

SAnta Is On His Own

So...Amy, now you know the little girl's name, is in line to see Santa.

                                                       It’s Alright, Santa

“You just stand, here,” she said.  “They’ll tell you when it’s your turn.”

continued...

There were no second thoughts or trepidation as a third real elf indicated that I should enter the window and follow the winding , tinseled path to Santa’s throne.

“Ho! Ho! Ho! Hello little girl,” he repeated, lifting me onto his knee, “and what is your name?”

Grandma had been right. He had needed me to write my name on the letter.

“I’m Amy” I said, proudly. “I wrote the letter.”

“Ah, yes, of course.  You’re the little girl who wrote me that lovely letter.”

I beamed.

He adjusted me slightly, turning so that the photographer elf could get the perfect Christmas picture.

“Click,” went the camera and Santa, looking me squarely in the eye, said, “and what would you like for Christmas, Amy?”

Aghast, I said, “you know what I want.  I wrote you the letter.”

‘Oh yes, so you did – the letter.  I think it was a Toni Doll”.

“No!” I wrinkled my brow.  My grandma often talked about her failing memory and so, compassionately I suggested, “Let me give you hint.  You can build things with it.”

“Ah, yes.” He thought carefully. “It was the Junior Lineman’s Toolbelt.  But for a little girl?” he added. 

The selection of toys in post war, 1946, was very limited and, like today, certain things were the undeniable favourites.

“Right!  The belt like my Dad’s.”

He nodded. “There was something else?”

I am sure that he hoped that there was not but knew, for certain, that there would be. “Can you give me another hint?”

Hmm, I assessed the situation.  This is not going the way I thought it would.

“Well, something with wheels to push on the floor,” I said aloud.

“Push on the floor, hmm.  Oh, I remember, a Bubble Car.”  This was another 1946 toy of choice.

“Right!  I said, again.  But now you’re on your own.”

Stay tuned as Amy and Santa entertain the crowd outside of Woodward's department store....  

Copyright © 2013, Robyn Gerland