News on Charlie's Story and My Book's Status

          Today, I was told that one of the instructors at the college where I teach is using “Charlies Story” in her new student success classes to inspire them that no matter what, if they want it, they can succeed.  She said it made an impression on her students, and it also opened the class up for a great discussion. 

                     What a fantastic compliment!

Update on the book. 

My book is at the publisher’s, and I am waiting to hear from them.  I have a couple of consultation calls that I am waiting to receive.  I wonder what the cover design will turn out to be.  I am working on putting together marketing ideas, and creating a plan.  I have decided that I would like to have a book trailer for the book.  I am not sure that I want to tackle that task.  I wonder if I can afford someone to create it for me.

It is a time of waiting, planning and contemplation.  I am working on getting my other blog (Thoughtful Reflections Blogspot) up-to-date on scheduled interviews.  There is a press release in the works.  I love to write, but I really am not crazy about the phase of the process.  I am a doer, and waiting is not one of my virtues. However, the success of this book is important because I really believe it can help others in many ways.  Regardless, I feel as if I am caught up in a time warp that has me suspended in time. In a way, I rather feel like this poem I wrote once when I had writer’s block: 

         

The Silent Muse

Silence surrounds the muse

like the murky veil

            on a smoke-stained rose

            that enfolds a city’s dawn

            as the elegant words

            of pomp and circumstance

            are as voiceless

            as the cry of a city’s neon lights.

In agony, he craves respite

            from the tyranny

            of a need

            that makes him a wanton, helpless pawn

            that lures him tauntingly

            like a siren lures a ship

            toward the hidden craggy rocks

            on cold, rainy, foggy, nights.

Thus, taunts this siren

            tricking the mind

            with ghostly strains

            of lilting rhyme

            to entice the muse,

            causing the need to be stirred

            when the mind’s curtain is drawn

            to suffer silent, voiceless nights.