Culture, French heritage, Maine

In My Mind I’m Going Home

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In my mind I’m goin’ to Carolina
Can’t you see the sunshine
Can’t you just feel the moonshine
Ain’t it just like a friend of mine
To hit me from behind
Yes I’m goin’ to Carolina in my mind

These are the opening words to the song “Carolina In My Mind” by James Taylor. It’s a song I play often. But this week in my mind and in my physical being I’m going to Maine. I’ll be making a short visit to see my mom to see how she is doing and all. I worry about her.

There are a lot of great things to love about the South.

1. collard greens-When I first tried them I was a happy woman I mean oh my gosh.

2. sweet ice tea- Up North I was raised on hot tea which I still love. But a nice cold glass of ice sweet tea is glorious.

3. pecan pie-This is the nectar of the South.

4. inlaws- My inlaws are near me and I do adore them dearly.

However there are great things to enjoy in the North if you have never visited. And I am not talking about New England but rather Northern Maine where you can see the borders of Canada.

Here it’s a slow pace of life. The scenery is so beautiful all you want to do is stare at it. We have moose running around feeling they own the place and in most cases they do. We have fiddleheads, boudin, and blueberries galore one of the many products of my state. Let us not forget Maine lobster that will make your mouth sing. We have valleys, mountains and a bison herd to go with it. You have my French heritage that is unlike anything I have seen since I left my county of Aroostook. It’s like Cheers where every one knowns your name. If they don’t they soon will when you’re ask which family you belong to. We still have the beautiful church that reaches for the sky. We also have the cemetery where my father is buried and who I visit every time I go up.

Maine is a beautiful place. In my mind I go there as often as I can. But this week I’ll be going up for two weeks. I’ll get to enjoy the times that I’ve played over in my mind but playing them out for real. In my mind I’m going to Maine just this time around it will be a reality.

See you when I get back.

Amazon Parrot, Book Illustrator, Publishing House

My Illustrator

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Last week the illustrator from my publishing house contacted me. I went immediately into giddy mode. For this meant the next stage to getting my book published and in the stores. I needed to confirm which spider monkey my character Charlie was. For those who don’t know this, there are quite a few. But the image I had in my mind I passed along to Kim.

It was Jasper’s turn. Not just any yellow cheek Amazon would do. I wanted the company to capture the essence of my bird on the book cover and jacket. She told me what kind of poses she was looking for. I immediately started to plan in my head to take endless pictures of him in the coming days. Why I do not know. There are more pictures of Jasper in my computer then I have of some of my family members. Yes he has made that leap. Going over the endless folders I came up with a small arrangement for her to look over. I did warn her that there were going to be a lot, it ranged between 50-60 pictures. I was not taking any chances. But in case those did not work I sent her seven videos I had of my bird. From those she should be able to come up with something that says Jasper that I am happy with. This bird inspired this book and his personality wrote it. I was just the instrument that he used.

The various emails got sent. Sitting back in my chair a smile formed on my face. This was really happening. The hard work and time put into this venture was unfolding even more. Every step getting me closer to the release of my book. It does not get old, the excitement I feel every time I get more news from the publishing house. I can’t even imagine when the release date is upon me. I am sure you will all hear me from wherever you live. Until then I continue to write. It is what we all do as authors, write.

Acknowledgements, Amazon Parrot, Writers and Support

My Dedication and Acknowledgement

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By the end of this year I will have a couple of short books online and one in the bookstores. Part of that involves coming up with a dedication and an acknowledgement for each one. Granted this is not required. But for me it is necessary. For “Jasper, Amazon Parrot:ARainforest Adventure” the dedication is easy.  I will be dedicating the book to Jasper. Without his personality this book would not have been written.

But now comes the joy of acknowledging everyone who has helped me. That is a long list. Longer then I thought once I started writing down the names.

-My editor Nancy who is an amazing woman. I am so fortunate to have her.

-My friend Ami who helped me with my query letter. The same letter that got my MS into the door to be read. If this letter is not spot on you are dead in the water

-My sister Karen who loaned me her daycare so the children could read the book. This was perfect for beta reading.

-I have my writings groups all of which have helped me in one way or another with edits and suggestions.

-A publisher by the name of Mike who even though rejected my submission filled it with so much positivity I framed it. In that letter he gave me the three reasons why they did not pick up Jasper. I revised it according to his recommendations and two submissions later the book got picked up. Even though Mike will not be publishing Jasper he deserves a lot of credit for this book

-I have the numerous people on my Twitter account, FB profile page and this site alone who have encourage me and lifted me back up.

-I have my friend Debbie who believed in me from the moment she read the very first draft of Jasper. Who knew ,according to her, this book was going to be published.

-Melanie my publisher who believes in my book and shares my vision for it.

The list goes on. I am surrounded by a large group of people who have helped me get to this point. So writing a dedication is not easy if you want to do it right. And you should for you did not get to this point alone, I didn’t.

The Musings of A New Englander