New Idea

/while trying to get closer to the Printing phase of my book and being chastised for still trying to add more subjects to the list of Headings, by Ann and Alejandra, I have come up with the idea of writing them out on my Blog. That way, I keep the book reasonable in size and people who are still interested, will see them on the Blog. So, soon you will be reading about the Health Care System in Canada there, instead of a chapter in the book. So, you can put away your whips, Ann and Alej.! Janice

Getting closer!

I've been working every free hour with Alejandra and we have gotten each chapter of my Memoir to get them in the right order. We have also photographed each photo hich refers to the chapter and numbered them so the Formatter can insert the photo with the sharpest photo possible. It's a lot of hard work and very time-consuming. We recently had a meeting with Wheatmark consultants, trying to get them to give a partial refund for the $1,5OOI paid Mark and wasn't satisfied with the work he did. Alejandra was able to do the technology faster and better. My friend Ann, next door, says I mght as well stay with Wheatmark rather than starting all over again with a new publisher. But I'm encouraged that we're getting closer to having each chapter in the right sequence. Ann and Alej. keep encouraging me that we ARE going to have a Book. Eventually. Alez was able to find out how many words and pages I had so far: not bad. Manuscripts all over the house... Talk to you soon. Janice

Long time, no see

Hi, dear Friends, I can't believe I've let so much time go by without giving you some Updates. But I have and it's mea culpa. In my last msg to you, I was rejoicing that I had found the company called Wheatmark which was recommended to me for the publishing of my book of memoirs and I was so happy. Well, today I have had Ann, my dear neighbor next door send me a copy of the letter we wrote to the consultant at Wheatmark, complaining that they had charged me $1500 to put all my chapters in the correct order, but they had not done anything. And, oh, the frustration that I have endured because of everything that went wrong. This year, my birthday celebration was for my 97th year, so I'm quickly gaining on you, Grandpa! Forgetting about all the health difficulties, the Pacemaker installation, the move to a private house and how I manage all the details, the completion of the writing for the book, the details of all the work it involved which only the good work from Alejandra, my caregiver, kept me going. I'm not going to get mired in all the problems; they are just a waste of time. So let's get on with it, and bring you up to date. Alejandra was the one who cut, copied and pasted all the chapters and photos and organized them under the chapter Headings. I am almost finished with them. I am almost ready to turn the contents over to the Formatter, who will stage the paragraphs and titles of chapters. I still have to reduce the cartoon design for the cover, and re-position the Title and the Author's name. When I get all the persnickety details figured out and the manuscript is finally at the Printers, I hall relax and take up making jewelry again. And begin teaching classes in the beautiful setting of the Garage-Studio. A huge weight off my shoulders. So I promise to keep you better informed as I plow ahead. My determination is stronger than ever. Love, Janice

Oh, Happy Day!

Friday, August 4, 2023 will stand out as the day I made a "snall step" (for me) and a "giant leap" (for publishing). A load has been lifted from my shoulders. My computer tech guy admitted he could not move the chapters of my book around, but suggested a publihing compawny here in Tucson which is dedicated to helping Writers above and beyond what other printers try to do. The company is called Wheatmark Publishing and they have been in operation for 20 years. They had a survey for the Writer to answer what the book was all about and what you wanted to accomplish with it.The day after I emailed the survey, I received a phone call from one of the Consultants making an appointment for Friday. He arrived at 11 a.m. and didn't leave until 5 p.m. And we talked about printing the entire time! He discovered that my Microsoft Word had expired way back in 2015 and all my writing went into different lists instead of Word, so they were "trapped". He helped me order a new Word, and set evverything up. I had put all my indes cards in sections with heading of where each chapter should go, took my box of index cards home with him and is going to move each chapter under the SUBJECT it belongs to and then I get to revise them -- again. Mark (the consultant) says I have way too many pages and have to do major surgery. But I have already re-written the Back cver and will re-draw the front cover in cartoon style, Mark is going to bring me the re-organized list of chapters next Wednesday. and will help me all along the process. In June I had to have a Pacemaker implanted, but it's healing nicely and the numbers are now in the correct range. I'm still weak but am enthusiastic again and "rarin' to go". TTYS, Love, Janice

Did you think I had forgotten you?

No, I haven't. It's just that I'm a victim of the pandemic, the same as all of you. While I did not catch the Covid during its many reincarnations, some people did here at Valley Manor and we had to quarantine for quite a while, and since we couldn't gather, there wasn't much to report on. I have to confess that the political situation has me deeply depressed; I feel as if I don't know my own country any more and the hatred and violence leaves me saddened and bewildered. The queen's death has put more pressure on me to get the book finished asap; she was only 6 months older than I and was actively working only two days before she died. You never know; You never know. But I have made and am making progress lately with the help of my computer wizards. My computer was completly Offline for five days this past week and I could not get into the Inbox, Send mail, revise any chapters or communicate. Today my computer tech unplugged something, plugged something else, and poked a lot of buttons and suddenly everything was working again. I had earlier gathered all my chapters and anecdotes on Index Cards and assembled them in the order they happened or were remembered.Today, the Tech printed out 330 pages so I can now revise them and shuffle them around so they read well. Months of work ahead of me, but I am hopeful that I may some time see a printed book on my coffee table. I tell everyone who will listen that all these people writing How To books on Writing should emphasize the necessity of putting everything in ONE file instead of lots of different documents. Heavens, the WRITING is the FUN part and a piece of cake. It's the publishing that makes it fragile and frustrating. I've received permission from David Fitzsimmons, the famous columnist and cartoonist to use the cartoon he drew of me when he visited Valley Manor last year. and I've a rough draft of the cover showing me squushed inbetween my husband in the window seat and a grossly fat man in the aisle seat to explain the title of "Life as observed from the Middle Seat." So, I'm alive and well, and eager to make some progress heading to the Printers. I've decided to self-publish so I can keep control over the "voice" of each chapter. Talk to you soon, Janice

Successful craft show

Yesterday was the craft show for Valley Manor and in spite of some last-minute glitches (it wouldn't be Tucson without last-minute mind-changes!) it was a great success, much to my relief. During the previous two weeks I had been on the phone arranging for guest artisans here at Valley Manor to come and show their art, since I didn't wnt to hog the spotlight, and I felt we'd get a better turnout if the residents knew there would be more than just jewelry. My two former students, Linda and Connie came with their jewelry which is unusual, creative contemporary works in copper, including the difficult fold-forming. It was SO NICE to see them both again after such a long pandemic hiatus. We had people who made trivets, hand-painted greeting cards knitted lacy shawls, and I added hand-painted gift boxes on my table from water-color painting the Kelowna Waldorf School students had painted. I sold at least ten of my gossamer necklaces, seen so often on TV now. The turnout was great and the residents kept saying how much FUN it was, so that pleased me. All the guests sold enough to be happy with the results. It was a lot of work, though, and I couldn't have managed without the help of Mike, my new-found friend who has retired and is going to become a profesional jeweler. He helped lug tables around, helped people set up, made the Clubhouse look lovely, helped me put out all my jewelry and hung around jollying the customers till he folded up all the tables and we left the Clubhouse pristinely. What a help he was! It was so packed at 2 p.m. that I didn't have time to write out receipts and just threw the cash and checks in the shoebox. :-) But it was only for two hours, so not THAT MUCH cash and checks! With my arthritis acting up all last week, and guzzling Arthritis Tylenols and rubbing my right legt with Icy-Hot I got through it, but Boy, was I pooped! A HAPPY pooped, but if they had an escalator running between my aptartment and the dining-room I'd have been on it for Supper. Now, back to the book --- Love, Janice

Craft Show scheduled

The Engage Life director, Sally, assigned a day for me to have a craft show in the Clubhouse: Friday, October 1, 2021. From 1:30 p.m. to 3:30. My first thought was, "Oh, October; next month!" Then I realized that the First was only two weeks away, and that I was in charge of organizing it. I had decided that since there are so many men living in Valley Manor and they weren't keen on buying jewelry, I should try to offer several different crafts, in order to draw more people into the Clubhouse. So for the last few days I've been scrambling to talk other "crafters" to come and display and sell their specialties. It's been met with great enthusiasm and I now have two greeting card makers, a lady who makes suncatchers as well as earrings, a resident who makes colorful, woven hot pads or trivets, a new resident who has made a lot of lace shawls, and two of my students who make very differenc geometric copper jewelry, as well as two tables featuring my own one-of-a-kind jewelry. Since I haven't been able to hold a craft show for two years because of Covid restrictions, my inventory has grown enormously. I've reduced the prices considerably. It's been a job recruiting the other crafters, but I feel that the variety will intrigue more residents to come out for it. Since Sally had the bad accident on her vacation, her leg is in a cast and she gets around by wheelchair, so I will have to organize the various tables and the set-up in the Clubhouse. My arthritis has been acting up, so I'm hoping that by sitting down occasionally I'll be able to still stand up to describe the fossils, opals and pearls I'll be selling. I'll have books and magazines on my table describing the unique stones. I'm hoping it will be a Fun Day for everyone. Love, Janice