Articles at Shared Reviews

I wasn't very active at Shared Reviews in April, for the first month in a long time. I worked really hard there in March and got a bit burned out.

Since Yahoo bought Associated Content, and Google has made serious changes to showing search results from "content farms," the amount I've been making from that source has been negligible. I posted quite a few articles on AC for page views only, which means that I have the right to remove them. I'm doing just that and moving them over to Shared Reviews.

So far this month, I've moved:
Reduce the Chances of Losing Food to Animals While Camping
Red Tamarillo- Fruit, but Not So Fruity
Fleas on Your Dog- Facts and Control

Shared Reviews requires unique content, so I can't put them both places. I think, in the long run that SR is the better place for me to earn.

Editing

I did some editing on News from Dead Mule Swamp. Nothing very astounding, but at least I did something.

First Payment from Smashwords

As you may have noticed in the sidebar, I have two ebooks listed at Smashwords. I'm happy with their percent paid to the author, and their broad distribution base. If you meet their formatting standards for Premium Content, you'll be listed with several major ebook distributors.

I have received my first payout of $10.55. I know this is very small potatoes, but it makes me seriously happy to have broken into the ebook world in at least a small way!

Why Do Authors Blog?

Why do authors blog? Good question. I'm glad you asked.

The obvious answer is that they can't help themselves. Writers write, that's all there is to it.

The secondary reason is all tied up with marketing. In this day and age of easy electronic publishing, more than ever before, an author must convince people that there is some reason one should buy his or her writings.

Keeping a blog going will accomplish at least the following:
• it can prove to people that you can actually write
• it gives you a face and personality
• it demonstrates your commitment to your craft
• it gives you a forum to share snippets (or more) of your work, and to offer special discounts, etc
• it gives you an easy place to market your published works

So, now you know my bald-faced motives. If you would like to see what some other authors I know are saying, you can hop over to Authors I Know- You Should Too!

It's About Time to Work on North Country Quest

Here's the deal- The book North Country Cache tells the stories of my first 2300 miles of hiking on the North Country Trail. I've always said that there was going to be a sequel with the final 2100 miles, called North Country Quest. I even have several chapters all done. (Each hike is a separate essay, with some continuity between, but they can almost stand on their own)

But some things happened this past fall, things that made me angry with the trail people and very hurt. For quite a while I wasn't sure that I was going to be able to continue to be involved with the trail. That was pretty tough sledding, since the trail has been just about the biggest thing in my life for 20 years. (Behind faith and family)

I seem to be coming to grips with all of that. Finally.

Yesterday, I needed a piece of info for the article I was writing. I couldn't find it anywhere, but I was pretty sure it was in one of the chapters for NCQ that I had done. So I went to open that file. I couldn't find it! Now this was serious. It was a long chapter, covering one of the longest hikes we did in a continuous piece, and I was happy with what I had written (as far as I could remember).

PANIC. The computer that the NCQ chapters is on had crashed once, maybe twice since I had written "A is for Asphalt" (the title of that chapter). So I went hunting. Couldn't find a paper copy... not good- always make a paper copy in case of total electronic meltdown. Couldn't find that I had put those chapters on a CD. Wow...

So I hunted through my email files, knowing that I had sent it to Marie, my hiking buddy. I found it! Whew.

The bottom line is that I need to start working on this project with some diligence. I may actually be ready to do so.

Here is the opening of "A is for Asphalt:"

Marie and I are trudging down the Ohio road. It's the next-to-the-last day of this hike, but despite being mid-summer it's the first of our days together which has been uncomfortably hot. Not only is it hot, but
this section of road is almost boring. For the first time we can see more than a few hundred feet of the road ahead. As we have walked farther and farther north the terrain has flattened a bit, and the valleys are wider. We can sometimes see a half-mile ahead before the road crests or curves out of sight in front of us.

Glancing down at the sticky black surface beneath our boots I notice the letter "A" has been spray-painted on its surface. "A is for asphalt," I quip. "B is for bulldozer," Marie counters. We continue through an alphabet "for boys," and discover that we've walked almost two miles by the time we arrive at "zipper front fly."

"Shall we try it for girls?" We seem to have a lot more trouble filling a list between "apron" and "zip-loc bags." This time we've filled almost an hour and three more miles have slipped beneath our feet. Plus we've had a good laugh at ourselves for degenerating into stereotypes we don't believe in.

Your National Forests Article

Well, I certainly can't say I was early, but I turned in the article for Your National Forests magazine. It was due by the end of the month, and I made it.

It took me three tries. Having 2000 words might sound like a lot, but when one has to describe a 4400-mile trail to people who may never have heard of it, it's not very many. I wrote a whole lot of the article, read it over and decided that it was so boring I wouldn't even finish it if I saw it in print.

Then I tried to fix it. I pulled it apart and tried to insert some better pieces. No better. However, I did like my opening.

Finally, I inserted a story, and moved the drier parts nearer the end. That was better. Of course I had to include info about the National Forests, and the trail goes through 10 of them!

Anyway, it's done and sent. Writing often means re-writing and re-writing and struggling over pace and wording to make factual information more interesting. Hopefully, I've succeeded.

It begins:

Don't you wish there was a trail that wandered across the upper United States, connecting National Forests and other protected wild areas? It could be laid out in such a way that hikers could walk to some of the most scenic places in the northeast. Don't you wish...

Adventure Loop Guide

Went out for a hike again today to check out another section of the Adventure Loop. I think I've found a good route from Black Lake to the North Country Trail.

Wrote it up the the guidebook draft.