Today is a non-author working day. I am doing some other things to take my mind off of my book. The book is resting as I would like to think. I will get back in the grove in a couple of days to push to the finish line. In some ways it is like making a cake. After putting everything together you sometimes have to let the ingredients rest in order for the finished product to be just right. That is what I am trying to do! Wish me luck as I try to not focus on the book 24/7.

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In sharing the story of Homer the dulcimer I have received much encouragement and some suggestions. I have taken all of it in and reflective in allowing others to see my work and offer ways in which I can make the book better. I have tried to incorporate those ideas where they would enhance the book. These ideas have allowed me to better define the characters and to answer some question that may arise as the reader goes on this journey with Homer. I hope all of my readers will enjoy this stor...
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Our reputation is very important to us. We work very hard to develop our reputation. It is a reflection of who we are. Most of strive to develop a reputation that we can be proud of. Today I was around many of my friends while attending church. After church I went up to tell some of them about being a struggling author and passing out my bookmark with my book title and my author's website address. Afterwards I was thinking wow I am talking about myself and what I was doing. In fact I was putt...

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Today was our annual Jam N Que at Ft. Christmas Park. Several years ago three strangers from Central Florida met through a dulcimer website. Having a common interest to promote the mountain dulcimer they met to devise a plan for bringing people together who have the single interest of playing the dulcimer. I was one of those three people. The other two are now my good friends Della and John. You can see John's handiwork by going to the Florida Sunshine Dulcimer society website. I have a link ...
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Tomorrow is a big day of playing with my dulcimer friends. To get ready I am playing my dulcimer. I have a lot ot tunes I would like to play tomorrow. If you want to get good at something you need to be dedicated to doing what it takes. The dulcimer allows you to advance at whatever pace you want. You set your goal and work towards reaching it. This is a lot like working on this book. I had this story in me a long time ago. It has taken me to now to see that I am close to reaching my goal of ...
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Tonight I have been working on my Book Cover. Part of this self-publishing is doing all of the design work for the cover. There are templates which makes the process a lot smoother. I found a style I liked and have spent some time formatting the sections. I hope the readers will like what I have designed. 
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Sometimes in our busy daily lives we forget to take a step back and just take in the moment. We never know when we will not get that next moment. A dear friend of mine passed away. I was lucky to have seen her last week and I can still see her laughing as we were talking. Never take anything for granted.
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In a previous live I did take a college writing class. The class was about writing mysteries. We had to read several mystery books and critque them. For our final project we had to write a short mystery story. We had to define our characters, develop a plot and connect the reader to the story. I did okay but it was not a 'masterpiece.' When I started writing about Homer I rmembered what I was taught about writing about what I know. So in developing the story about Homer I used my own experien...

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Yesterday we took a day trip to St. Augustine. We took our dulcimers with us and found a park where we could sit and play. We sat on a bench under a tree and had a wonderful time. We had several people come up and ask about our instruments. It is interesting to see the faces of people who have never heard or seen a dulcimer before. We are on a mission to show the dulcimer where ever we can!
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I have been working on some promotion ideas for the book. I am going to be getting a window decal for my car with the web addess of my website. I should have that sometime this week. In addition I have created a bookmark to give away to also promote Homer the dulcimer. I hope everyone will like it and use it.
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I have put the book down today to work on some other projects. I think it helps the process to sometimes put something down, do something else, and then go back. You get a better perspective of what you are try to accomplish. I will be out and about. Everyone enjoy today! 
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In the book Homer has a friend that he plays for all the time. This character is based on a real event. The book even includes a picture that documents what really happened. I do not want to give too much away. You will have to read the book to find out which character is based on a real life event.


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On a dulcimer website I received an encouraging post about my new book. This has really charged me and helps me to know that I am going in the right direction with my book. It is so rewarding watching something you have created take on a life of its own!
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This is my first post on my own personal blog. As time goes by I will blog about all kinds of different things. Sometimes it may be about my book and the progress in getting it to print. It may be about the next book I am working on. It could be dulcimer related and what I am currently doing with my mountain dulcimer. You will just have to check back to see!
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