Dumb as a stick.

by Louis Bertrand Shalako

c2010

All Rights Reserved


Some days it seems like I'm just hacking away and I can't get a hit.

Specifically, I downloaded Kindle for PC. In the process, I clicked on 'continue without registering' and then of course the thing downloaded beautifully. I still can't read a free sample of my book. My device is not 'registered.' So I basically uninstalled it. I'll try again some other time!

Everything seems to take an inordinate amount of time and there are other priorities. Shave, shower, cook once in a while. Life goes on.

But if I seem to be going slowly, I guess 'festina lente' is the motto of the day.

(Make haste slowly.)

I tried to get into B & N, and Borders. No American credit card, no American bank account. I'm sure I could get one. It's just a matter of putting in the time.

In an earlier note, I called my two books 'sacrificial goats.' In some weird sense you have to give something up in order to get something else.

Without a couple of pawns--sacrificial goats, I would be unable to interogate the system. I'm a pretty good little interviewer, and I reckon I'll learn quite a bit over the long term.

In spite of learning all this new stuff, there are times when I'm still as dumb as a stick. Like when I posted a link; and when I checked on it to make sure it worked, I was looking at my 'dashboard.'

So any Tom, Dick or Harry could go in there and edit my stuff, especially if I was as dumb as two sticks and stayed logged in rather than sign out. I shake my head sometimes, I really do. (Checking the link was actually a good idea. -ed.)

The basic premise is to finish re-writing and editing my third book, while some of these things sink in. Every new thing has its own learning curve, that's for sure. At some point, when I submit a short story, I will be able to put in links to my books. That's just simple common sense.

As far as publicity campaigns, and promotion, I really haven't put that into practice yet. If my cover art fails to make the grade for 'smashwords,' I'll have to download (for free) 'paint' which is noted in the style guide.

The problem is the red text has mucky edges, although white, yellow and orange work better in the editing portion of Microsoft's basic photo viewer.

Lost in the challenges of the day, we often tend to forget just how far we have come.