Heat: 1, Karen: 0

Posted on July 8, 2010 | 10 comments

Okay, I learned something about myself yesterday. I am not what I used to be. 20 years ago I could spend the day (at the peak of summer in FL)  at Coquina Beach, drinking beer, and lord knows what else, while eating barely anything, frying my skin to a crisp and not miss a beat. Ahh, the good old days. Now, not so much.

I see lots of posts and tweets about my authors biking, walking, hiking (eek, who does that?) and I want you all to be very careful. We are having records highs on the heat index and we all think we know what we are doing, but sometimes, things aren’t what they seem.

I’m not looking for sympathy here (as my mother so eloquently informs me frequently–you can find that in the dictionary between shit and syphilis) but I do want to share a few tips with you folks out there so you can avoid what I went through. Here’s how it happened. FYI, people with Diabetes who take diaretics in massive quantities, may be more prone to dehydration. Who would have thought? DOH!

I had to go to Wal-Mart to pick up  my heart meds (so I don’t die–rumor is I would be missed). I had to park out in the nether regions of the lot because they have been upgrading our Wally World to a Supercenter (for like a year now) and they have managed to make the store bigger and the parking lot smaller. I know, right? So I walk about 100 miles, give or take, to get to the front door. By the time I get there I am in a full sweat (and I mean linebacker on an open field in the fourth quarter in AZ kinda sweat). I am panting like a pooch and seriously considering laying down on the cool tiles of the store. They are new after all.

So I go around, do my little errands. I stand in line to get my meds (of course I am behind a VERY elderly man who is on one of those motorized cart things and VERY hard of hard of hearing so that when the cashier talks he keeps having to stand up to get closer to hear, then sits back down, which takes like 3 minutes for each motion.) So after 20 minutes standing there I gitter done and move on.

When I get back to the front of the store I am feeling kinda puny and know I need to sit and rehydrate. So I go to McDonald’s and get a Diet Coke, okay, two–free refills–and I sit for a bit. I make two more trips to the little girls room before I head back out into the…sigh…heat.

By the time I get to the car, in outer Mongolia, I am litterally panting and lightheaded. I open the car door, stand for a few minutes to let some of the heat vapors out, and then I just have to sit. I crank up the engine to get the air going, and when I look at the dash the thermostat reads 121. Holy shitsky! So thinking it is too hot inside, I stand to let it and me cool off. Next thing you know….eeeuwww.

I would like to thank the several people who rushed to my aid and offered to call the really expensive ambulance. Some people do still care about their fellow humans.

 Okay, lesson number one on bringing yourself back to life with rehydration: USE WATER not Diet Coke. Okay, the soda, or Pop for those of  you in the other part of the world, is damn good and the fizzy stuff goes down so cool, but it really can be counterproductive. Pay attention to the symptoms when you are in the heat and the way you feel changes. That sweating thing…it goes away just before the vomitting. Yeah, lesson learned. Heat exhaustion is serious business.

So after my little excursion into the heat, I know a few more things.

  • The heat sucks!
  • Heat exhaustion makes it very hard to work/concentrate.
  • Leave your car windows cracked to let a little bit of air get in.
  • Lots of potty trips are contributing to dehydration, especially if you are not putting the right kinds of liquids back in in the proper amounts.
  • Don’t be a hero. If it’s too hot, stay in the damn house.

Stay cool people or someone will have to bring  you back to life. I kinda wonder though, what kinds of things do you do to stay cool in times like these?

Oh, and this made me wonder. Are there any really cool books out there that have settings that are really hot? Like locations or situations. How do authors handle heat stress in their books, or do they just ignore it?

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Posted in Blatherings, Just for Fun

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What makes a Good Author?

Posted on July 1, 2010 | 7 comments
Click Cover to Buy Now!

This is a question I have asked for many years now, in fact I started asking myself this whenI decided to write for publication. I wanted to know what I would have to do to be a good author. I don’t know that I have all the answers, but I have come up with a few things that I know for a fact are required to make a good author. And when I say “good” author, I mean successful.

What is success? My definition is: the positive result of serious effort and smart decision making with a specific goal in mind.

So what does it take? Here are my top ten things.

  1. Enthusiasm
  2. Integrity
  3. Commitment
  4. Determination
  5. Vigilence
  6. Stamina
  7. Support
  8. Values
  9. Humor
  10. Desire

A good author needs to be 100% enthusiastic about their work.

A good author needs to be consistent in their efforts and values.

A good author needs to be totally committed to the successful sales of their book. Not just in getting it into production.

A good author needs to be determined to succeed. They need to be willing do whatever it takes and to make sacrifices if necessary.

A good Author needs to be vigilent in their efforts for continued writing, marketing, and selling. Being an author is a multi-faceted experience and not an easy one.

A good author needs to be willing to invest whatever time is required to attend events, meet people, and talk about their work.

A good author needs to surround themself with other successful people as well as people who  are eager to support and encourage them in all of their positive efforts.

A good author must accept the way the industry works and be willing to adjust their efforts as things change without giving up what they truly believe in.

A good author must roll with the punches. The book industry is a funny one and sometimes the only solution is to sit back and laugh at life before getting back up and doing what you have to.

A good author has to have the true in-your-gut-can’t live without it desire to be successful. Just saying it doesn’t make it so.

Don’t write a book and expect everyone else to do all the work for you. It is your book and no one is responsible for its success except you.

A good author needs to believe!

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Posted in Blatherings

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My Dad

Posted on June 20, 2010 | 7 comments

Okay, my father has been gone for a very long time now. I miss him every day. But it is an odd feeling because I really didn’t know my dad all that well.

My folks split when I was about three and I don’t have too many memories of him. We moved from Michigan to Florida shortly after that, so I didn’t even have the luxury of weekend visits or anything. Unfortunately, my father refused to travel down to FL because he insisted he would be tarred and feathered or hung for marrying a white woman. This made my life a little sad.

When I was eleven I was angry and told my mother I wanted to go live with my dad–hey I was a kid–I figured it would have to be a better life. So my mom took me to Michigan to meet my father. Okay, not the dream reunion I had envisioned. He was more nervous than I and the entire visit was very uncomfortable. We did come to an understanding. He didn’t want me to live with him, but we could talk on the phone every once in a while.

Being the clever kid that I am, I started calling him collect every month. At first he would refuse the charges, but eventually he began accepting them and we settled into a monthly routine. Eventually, I started just calling on my own dime.

Over the years I began sending him pictures and report cards, and those special little things you always hope your parents will be proud of. We developed a very good long distance relationship and as I grew older, he made a point of telling me during each call that he loved me and that he was proud of me. My dad was not a favorite among the other members of my family (my mom’s side) and I never knew his side of the family. But over the years, he came to be a tremendously important person in my life. Our phone calls even increased to sometimes twice a month and we both looked forward to them.

Now, I envied all my friends who had both a mom and dad, but many of them were not close to their dads. I have to say that despite the distance and circumstance, we did grow very close. For years I feared that when he passed I would have regrets for not being there, or not knowing him better, or being a better daughter, but when the time finally came I didn’t have the regrets.

I remember my last call with him. We talked for a little while. I told him about my current drama, he reminded me not to marry a white man, and when we ended the phone call he reminded me how truly proud of me he was and that I had turned into a fine young woman. He said he loved me and and always had, and I told him I loved him too.

A week later, I got the call. I was devastated. I would never truly know my father, I would never feel his influence in my life. But I realize now that I did know him. Probably as well as anyone and that even with simple phone calls he had influenced my life because I worked twice as hard to make sure he was proud of me because I couldn’t be there for him.

My last words with my father were of love and I could not ask for anything more. I know that I’m truly blessed, even if we could not be together. I am who I am because my father played a tremendous role in my life, even from far away. For this I thank God every day.

I love you, Daddy. Always.

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Posted in Blatherings, Recognition