First Frost - First Kickstarter
Now, a bit of work getting ready for winter. And the grass now quits growing as it stays colder - so we'll feed what we left earlier. The Kickstarter has to happen - I set a firm date, ready or not.
Hi,
Thanks again for being here and opening this. For being part of this community.
Too long for email - just click on the link to open it up in full.
You won’t want to miss the bonus at the end…
Farming News - First frost of the year. Had to get things ready. Still watching our trouble cow and calf.
Writing News - Kickstarter has to finish before Thanksgiving, so I set a date to start - ready or not. This makes a new, additional emphasis for my online writing.
Fiction News - Last book in the series finished. Next book is a long serial…
Expectancy Factor - You can treat your nightmares and haunting memories as mystery-adventures to resolve them...
Farming News
The orphan calf is back with the herd. And doing fine.
After a few days in the barn by himself, he wasn’t getting less skittish. I just wanted to ensure he recovered from the mud and strain. So I let him out after a couple of days, and followed him down to the herd again.
I left the barn open, with all the low watering tubs. Just in case.
And, sure enough, he was seen up there getting water again.
On the other side of those cows above is a long pool of water that very seldom dries up - and it has water in it now. The idea is that he’ll be able to get water there, too.
You can see he’s mostly got the mud off him.
There’s a cow with a gimp as one of her feet got an infection. She’s doing a lot better, but may need another vet visit before the deep cold hits in mid-November. She’s quite old, but is raising a good heifer for us. And that orphan tends to stick around her a bit, maybe because she moves slowly and is so calm.
Two factors affect grass growth - heat and rain. Too hot or too cold, too dry - these will make grass quit growing. Those last two are facing us now. At this point, we’ll rely on “stockpiled” pastures to keep them going as much as possible during the winter. I have hay bales to set out for our usual February storms and any bad parts in between — until the grass starts greening up in March/April. Another exciting time of year. Another adventure.
Tiny Home News
Our salesman for the shed we are looking at moved onto another job. But we did buy a storage shed for my wif’e’s stuff. It turns out that the cost of her renting a storage space in her old town will cover paying for the four years of rent-to-own we’ll pay for this shed.
And that will be the first building on our new property.
I went up to the lot with a hundred-foot measure to see exactly where it started and stopped, staking as I went. And then I got out the brush mower to mow it off so we could see what was where. Then my wife and I worked out where our small cabin would wind up - and staked that.
I’ve got an appointment for Friday to meet with the local electric cooperative so to see what we’ll need to get power there. He’ll come out and figure where they’ll need to put the power poles in.
We meanwhile visited another shed supplier - and found that they didn’t have the options to make it anything except a shed. Much cheaper as a result. But we weren’t very impressed with their quality.
And then, we took our plans up to an Amish construction company to get their estimate. We may be going back to a simple post-frame barn, then convert that to a “barndominium”. Because the Amish do both regular houses and barns. The initial prices are much cheaper for a barn, and we’ll get more space. (Taxes are lower, as well.)
I’m still getting comparative estimates on other things like a gravel drive and sewer setup. Things are moving along.
We went through the garden and pulled all sorts of vegetables out. Even green tomatoes will ripen if you keep them in a cool spot over winter, out of the freezing cold. But the first frost hit last night - and anything still on the plants would start rotting after the plant was killed by frost, so she got a big bunch of green beans (unsuspected) and both ripe and green tomatoes to deal with now.
More canning. Some to be stored in the basement.
Writing News
The Kickstarter is upon us. I wanted to get it done before the holiday season started, so that backs it up 17 days to the first Tuesday in November. Then finishing on Friday, 22 Nov. The number of days was picked by someone with experience in running these - it’s apparently a sweet spot where the project has enough time to run, but not too long in the middle.
Everything is a test with this, since it’s my first-ever Kickstarter. Quite a learning curve.
I’m going ahead to offer the three books as a hardback and paperback series - but only for US shipping. Because that’s simpler. Overseas can get very pricey very fast.
It’s coming down to the point I need to get this Kickstarter rolling. So this week, I’ll set a final date and start the emails and notices for it. Expect some marketing in your in-box from me - but with helpful notes and tips, as usual.
I’m asking everyone to join this latest adventure. And to share these notes and emails with people who might be interested. The reason is to expand our horizons and build this community.
It’s been interesting to have you along so far. And for some of you, It’s like having some quiet friends who leave a note now and then. I just get to be your guide through all this. And if it starts getting too loud around here, I can appreciate you’r taking a break, or even finding quieter guides.
All I can do is to encourage you to keep your eyes open for upcoming adventures.
For me, it should be setting up and ordering the hardback proofs this week - Just to ensure we have decent final goods.
As well, I’ve planned a set of eight mini-mystery adventure tales which all tie together as these eight (or so) people explain the basics of how authors can make a living from their craft. Each as been, there, done that - but it’s not what they accomplished that’s so interesting as much as how they got there. My job is to weave each of these lives into an integrated and cliff-hanging tale. (Yes, it will become a course all on it’s own - just not one of your dull ones.)
Be sure you’ve signed up with Kickstarter (links below) to get announcements for this release..
WriterpreneurOS Posts
This is another selection from that latest Basic Formulas of Fiction book - and is, again, something I’ve not seen anywhere else. These four points tell whether any book will succeed commercially.
Fiction Posts
Last book in the “Death by Advertising” Anthology posted this week.
Here’s the crossover to the Caretaker trilogy. And now, a returning vet just wants to experience the peace of his uncle’s farm at long last - something he inherited. But finds the main house has been rented for a goth-girl from NYC with an attitude and her own rehab problems.
Another ICYMI: Here’s the full list of stories we’ll be re-telling. Probably end of October when they are all done - that third one is a longish novella, so I may have to split it up.
Death by Advertising
The Caretaker (under the C. C. Brower pen-name)
Triangle - A Memoir , Part 1
Death by Sales Pitch
Triangle - A Memoir, Part 2
Last Chance
Death by Marketing
The Chrysalis Cure
And: there’s always the new anthology to add to your library. (Click on that link.) Yes, the paperback will be coming soon…
Next up: The Hooman Saga - which is a nice little adventure fantasy set in a post-dystopian future. A cosy Sci-fi about telepathic wolves as the top of the new food chain - and a very human girl who crash lands in the middle of their quiet lives. It will nicely serialize here. Now, it runs for some 30-plus short chapters, so I’ll probably include some two or three chapters every week so we aren’t at this for more than a year… Here’s the book link to get your copy.
(Yes, I’ll answer later why this starts off at Book II - it’s a Star Wars type of thing.)
Expectancy Tips
An interesting idea came up this morning. Those eight chapters i mentioned above gave me a new approach to writing. And life.
Because you can always look back on a life as what that person accomplished. While, as the great Alfred Hitchcock pointed out - drama is just life with the dull bits left out. Which means the best way to explain someone’s exaample is not as a dull, historical, “…and then this happened.” But rather to set the character out with all their imperfections, and internal conflict, build a setting for them, involve the reader in the mysterious adventure they are starting — and then roll out that story with increasing tension right up to the climax.
Because that gets the lesson across best - as a story. Because we’re wired that way. We are hear to learn from everyone else’s adventures. We want to learn to solve the dangers of life vicariously. From our own easy chair with a cuppa at hand.
Meaning, if you want to improve your own life, perhaps you need to look up the disasters or near-disasters you’ve had and study the emotional response you had (or still have) to them. Chances are, if you still regret or resent some incident in your life, there are still more lessons to be extracted from them.
Use the classic story framework (character, conflict, setting, journey) to dissect those - and don’t forget the climax and ending (good or bad). In all journeys, there is the return with the boon - what did you come away with after all that?
As time permits, I’m still working on my bonuses in the paid subscription area. You can visit https://store.livingsensical.com for my numerous discount-priced collections of books, courses, materials. As usual.
Kickstarter Previews
Still could use your feedback on the Kickstarter preview.
Please visit the preview and use their comment area to tell me what needs to improve - or just give me (needed) attaboys.
Kickstarter display page here:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1481356435/1548894263?ref=a5wy7u&token=315549e4 (Feel free to share that preview…)
Sign up to be notified when it goes live: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/robertworstell/writerpreneur-cracking-the-cashflow-code-non-fiction-book (Sign up now. Share that link with anyone you know who it could help.
PS. I discovered late pledges have been implemented by Kickstarter - so mine will have these for all who missed the initial roll-out. Lots of great stuff. And I’ll be rolling all this out shortly…
Thanks for being there, opening this.
Sharing is caring. You’re who I do this all for. I value your input.
Leave a comment if something strikes your fancy.
I hope your life is not too interesting to be overwhelming, but sufficiently engaging to keep you amused. (Like some of us here...)
Robert
PS. Again, you can always email me about anything.
PPS. Again, do upgrade to the paid newsletter version. That helps me keep the lights on - so I can keep all this coming to you. As much or little as you want…
Here’s that new beta-reader advanced copy - still available
