Morgan Mandel's Page

Good Morning All, and thank you again to Morgan for asking me to fill in for her. (Big wave Morgan!)

I am fortunate enough to work at Oakton Community College where they are really proud of accomplishments made by anyone in the Oakton family, including me, a lowly staff person.

When I became a published author, and yes I still get a chill when I say that, my fellow co-workers were, and still are, very supportive. As a matter of fact, the college itself is very supportive and as proof they interviewed me for the college magazine.

Now when they asked me if they could interview me I said, YES! How neat that they are interested in me and my little book, but in the back of my mind I was cheering, yay, free advertising. And let me tell you, the word spread like wildfire. I had more people coming up to me wishing me congratulations and the book had been out for four months! I noticed an increase in hits on my website and an increase in interest in publishing itself. Which although I am published through a small press, I’m amazed that I actually know the answers to some of there questions.

Of course we all know there are many avenues one can take to advertise their books, we have paid ads, book signings, mailings, etc, but I think that free advertising is the way to go, and you know what? The price is totally right!

If you are interested in reading the article here is the on link: http://www.oakton.edu/outlook6.pdf

June

www.junesproat.com

June will be blogging for me today as I rush getting out the door for a mini-vacation. Just a reminder, if you're almost 60 or over, come on over and join http://sixtyandsavvy.ning.com

Morgan Mandel
www.morganmandel.com

Have you ever stopped and asked yourself why it is that you do what you do? I'm not just talking about work, although that would be a good place to start. Sure we tend to work because we need to pay our bills but why do you work where you work? Why do you do the kind of work that you do? Was it your only choice? Is it still your only choice?

When I was in grad school at UC Santa Barbara after serving two tours in the Republic of South Korea, I met quite a few other grad students who came from foreign countries to include many from Europe. One day, in between classes, I was sitting with some of the foreign students and we were sharing our experiences of living in a foreign country. An observation made by one of the foreign students was - "Americans live to work. In Europe we work to live."

Now this can be taken many ways but whenever I reflect on this conversation I come to appreicate it more and more as true. Look around and you'll see many people in jobs they don't enjoy. I mean really, really don't enjoy. There are days I don't enjoy my job - IT support for a government agency - especially when people yell at me and expect the moon, but overall I really like and enjoy my job. It's challenging, it's mentally and physically stimulating and it's more than just job security. I'm very happy about that, but my job is just part of who I am, albeit a large part of my life and certainly impacts on how I experience other parts of my life. Still, I'm finally beginning to feel the shift from living to work, to working to live.

I just returned from a run. It's my short run for the week, 3 1/2 miles, but it ended up being a very difficult run for me. My asthma has been acting up for the past week and this is my biggest challenge to running. I grew up in Los Angeles and it's not until I moved to Chicago after leaving the army that I developed chronic asthma. Guess I'm better off when I can see the air I'm breathing! Anyway, getting oxygen into my system to motiviate my leg muscles to work is a real challenge when I'm wheezing. Oh, I use my inhaler 20 minutes before -and on this run I had to use it during the run - and I'm on several different medications to help me breathe and prevent my asthma from acting up, but act up it does.

I have allergy-induced asthma and whenever the weather changes I tend to have a reaction. Most days it's more than manageable but today and for the past several days, my asthma has been gallantly trying to interfer with my running progress. So, you might ask - why do I even run in the first place! I mean one bad asthma attack and I'm a goner, and believe me there have been days when I've really struggled to breathe. I remember one day at work, my co-worker told me that I looked just plain grey. I was struggling to breathe and I went home early. The next morning I went in late not having slept very well the night before. When she saw me she almost hugged me. She said she had been very worried when I was late because the night before a friend of hers - much younger than me - had died in his sleep from an asthma attack.

So, why do I run? Well, I do like to challenge myself but I take my asthma very seriously. I pace myself based on how I feel and I've even cut some runs short because I listen to my body and even though I'm use to pushing myself beyond what I think my limits are (you can take the girl out of the army, but you can't take the army out of the girl!) I don't mess with my asthma.

My long run for the week is usually on a Sunday morning. Mornings are better, especially a Sunday morning, because few cars have been out and the air is the most pollutant free and less dense than it is later on in the day. Two weeks ago I ran 7 strong miles but this past Sunday I had to cut my run short only logging 5 1/2 miles. For folks who don't run, you're probably thinking, "That's great!" but I'm prepping for the Chicago Half-Marathon and I want to get my long run as close to 10 miles as I can. I ran this race in 2006 and I know I can finish it but in 2006 when I ran the race it was two weeks shy of my one-year anniversary from a radical hysterectomy. Still, I ran 8 1/2 miles before I had to walk/run and finished in just over three hours. This time I want to get as close to 2 1/2 hours as I can.

So, what's the point to all this? The point is to answer the question - why do we do what we do? I run because I can and because given all that I've shared in this blog, it's a challenge for me. The fact that I can challenge myself against certain odds while still preserving my well-being is quite rewarding and makes me appreicate each and every day that I am alive and doing well. I run because it helps me not take anything for granted - not my health, not my freedom, not anything. My aches and pains are real but I know which ones are temporary and which ones are warning signs. It's because I run and challenge myself that I'm able to be this aware of myself, my health, my body and my surroundings.

I am also a writer. I have published non-fiction works but I will soon be submitting my first novel to a publisher for consideration. I have been working on this novel for more than four years. I'm in what I feel is that last major rewrite and I'm on page 205 of a 260 page novel. I'm ecsatatic! Don't know if it will actually be published but I'm very satisfied with my efforts. I've learned so much in the process about writing in general and about myself.

I write and run because I can. I write and run because I can't imagine not doing either of these things. I write and run because to stop now would be akin to a part of me dying. I write and run because I want to continue to learn about who I am for the rest of my life.

That's why I do what I do.

I kept driving and driving ... past the Hinsdale Oasis ... past O'Hare ... past the exit for Wheeling ... past a deer carcass on the side of the road ... and then, just before bonking my head on Wisconsin, there it was ... the Lake Cook Road exit.

I drove past it by mistake because I was checking out the fine mini-van driving next to me.

Yeah, mini-van. A real man's vehicle, right?

Not really. What really happened was I was checking out the tanned, halter-topped young lady who was riding a bright yellow crotch rocket in the middle lane, causing all kinds of swerving and stuff from the guy drivers all around trying to keep two eyes on her and a third eye on the road.

Anyway, I lied, I ripped my eyes away from her at the last minute and didn't miss my exit.

So I took the exit to really, really, really North Brook (they laughingly spell it Northbrook) and as I drove on Lake Cook road, I looked at Lake County on my left and Cook County on my right, wondering where they came up with the name Lake Cook road.

Then I drove to the huge Borders Books at the corner of Waukegan and Lake Cook and went inside to my booksigning.

Not really. Actually, I drove past the huge Borders Books and a minute later pulled in the parking lot of Max and Benny's , a popular restaurant, deli, bakery with an awesome reputation and food that lives up to it.

Yep, my first signing in a restaurant.

Five of my fellow authors from the anthology, The Heat of the Moment had assembled to eagle, er, hawk the anthology and our own individual books. Joining me were fellow Acme blogger Margot Justes, Bob Goldsborough, Amy Alessio (congrats on the baby, Amy!), Kevin (I'm a fireman, buy my book) Helmold, Christine ... um, Ver ... Verstra... uh...

(wait, I need to look it up)

Here ya' go, Chris Verstraete. I knew it all the time. Yeah, and I wasn't looking at the girl on the crotch rocket.

Anyway, we were all here for our first ever booksigning at a restaurant.

Whoo-hoo!

We were excited ... all pumped up... ready to risk carpel tunnel, dried out ink pens and clumsy busboys.

But I'm not going to lie. The crowd was less than overwhelming. I mean, the staff at the restaurant was very gracious and supportive. They put copies of our books in the front along with an author or two (Kevin, Bob and I took turns), and they let us use their public address system ... I doubt they'll let me do it again in the future ... heh, heh.

But having a signing at the hours 3-5 pm on a Saturday just wasn't conducive to having a large number of people. The few that came to eat were pleasantly surprised to learn that six authors were in the building, but again, there weren't many there then.

The owner came by and remarked that it was not the busiest time to sign, and wondered why we had picked a slow time (actually, one of his managers did - but beggars can't be rich, er, choosers).

Anyway, we had a great time. Bob, Margot, Kevin, Amy and I have had a few joint signings together, and it was fantastic to finally meet Chris. Margot's family came out to support her, and they are cool, not just fantastically good looking and intelligent. We all like each other so it was worth doing.

So I'm sure we'll find somewhere else to sign, be it Canada, er, Wisconsin, I mean, Northbrook or wherever.

Plus, there are rumors that there will soon be another anthology ... stay tuned!

Norm

www.normcowie.com

The Adventures of Guy ... written by a guy (probably)
The Next Adventures of Guy ...more wackiness
The Heat of the Moment
Fang Face (my first YA! coming Aug 2009)

Okay, I'll admit it. I'm a self-proclaimed Star Wars geek. I've loved anything and everything Star Wars since I was a little girl. Movies, music, books... In my neighborhood growing up we'd play Star Wars and even did a play once. I am of the generation who was lucky enough to enjoy the original trilogy as a child and all these years later am enjoying the newest trilogy as an adult. And I can't wait for the Pixar movie next month.

I know obscure character and place names, and never fail to get a head shake and a sigh from my husband when I fill him in on more details than he ever cares to know when we're watching an episode. ("How do you KNOW all this stuff?") No one will play Star Wars trivia with me. ("It's not fair, you always win.") And I can carry on a conversation with any given third, fourth, or fifth grader about the Clone Wars.

I not only read the books that tell the stories of the movies and other events beyond, but I read all of the "behind the scenes" stuff, too. I am one of those people who think George Lucas is one of the most brilliant, creative minds on the planet (or any galaxy far, far away). I recently picked up a book about the making of the original Star Wars movie. The one that came out in 1977 and was simply called "Star Wars", but has now earned the moniker "Episode IV - A New Hope".

The book is fasinating. (Although the small print did give me a migraine the other day when I was trying to read it without my contacts.) What truly amazes me is the insight it gives about George Lucas as a writer. Now I assumed that creative ideas would pour out of him and he would barely be able to keep up with them to write them down. Not always the case. There were days when he would stare at the blank piece of paper (he hand writes all of his first drafts) in front of him and not write anything for hours at a time. Sometimes he didn't finish drafts when he thought he would and had to ask for more time. Story concepts and characters changed numerous times, and drastically so. And, he had a hard time selling the story concept to the studios.

Hmnn? This is sounding familiar. I guess all writers, no matter what level of fame or success they have achieved, or have yet to achieve, go through fundamentally the same struggles.

So as a Star Wars fan, this book has been an extremely interesting read. But as a writer, it's been even more fun to discover that I have something in common with George Lucas. (Now if only our bank accounts had similar balances...life would be even more grand!)

And while George can say he has a new Star Wars movie coming out next MONTH, I can say I have a new book coming out next WEEK. ("This Time for Always" will have its electronic release on July 30 - so be sure to check it out! By buying a copy you'll be entered for the chance to win a SONY eReader from The Wild Rose Press.)

Until then, May the Force be with you.

Debra

THIS TIME FOR ALWAYS
by Debra St. John
coming this summer from
The Wild Rose Press
electronic release 7/30/08
print release 8/29/08

www.debrastjohnromance.com