Downhill With New Calves... TED talking Books
Only 6 more calves to go. A couple of new gorgeous ones this week. Meanwhile, writing the scripts for four TED-talk-length promo and course videos.
[Here’s an audio - not exactly a voiceover, but might be interesting if you ever thought you’d want to hear actual live pasture sounds. Sorry about the occasional wind noise…]
Hi,
That calf-pause quit. Had a couple of gorgeous ones this week. Now only 6 to go - and I’m dieting you to one new calf per week, still. Meanwhile, I solve my book re-writing problems by - wait for it - more writing. Only different…
Farming News - Up to nine calves now. #7 is featured. New patterns. More tiny home garden news.
Writing News - Solved the re-writing problem by simply writing a new set of scripts for the upcoming promo videos.
Expectancy - It’s a daily habit. Dug up a video for you from the archives.
Farming News
Here’s Calf Number 7! Another new heifer calf.
Yes, I’m expecting some proposed names for this one - comment on Substack or email me back. (Her momma’s name is Splotches, if that helps.)
This was the one I had trouble with a few weeks ago, since her Momma wasn’t taking her right off. But you can see they’re doing great now.
(UPDATE: We’re up to 11 calves now! Still expecting a total of 17 this spring. Over half-way and 6 to go. Have to start keeping a card in my pocket for the momma still left to watch.
Blackberries are through flowering, and I can see we have a lot in reach now.
Gooseberries didn’t have a good season. My brother in law picked all he could, but hardly got over a cup or two.
Elderberries are in bloom, so this is when I mentally note where to check. I may need to transplant some this year, as they keep getting mowed off.
Wild Apple sprouts - I have at least three I know of. One is nearly four foot tall, so that’s dicey to move, but the other two I planted last fall, so those two should be able to be transplanted after they go dormant this fall. Have to look that up.
Tiny Home News
Now the next lesson in container gardening - overwatering tomatoes. The leaves curl and the plants are stunted. We talked about it, and probably will raise the containers all up with cut-off 2x4 blocks. But the issue is that they are half-barrels, so might have somewhere north of 10 gallons of water in them, plus the dirt - so roughly a hundred pounds of lifting of hard-to-grip plastic.
Today I drilled holes in the worst two (yes, the water poured out of the very first hole, so our prognosis was correct.) Then I went all Archimedes and got a crowbar to lift it up and slide two blocks underneat. Repeated for a second barrel, too. Tomorrow, I’ll cut some more blocks and see if I can raise all of them.
Interesting to watch a 16x60 “tiny home” (960 square feet - about 10x the one I’m living in) shed-home delivered to site and finished off.
Writing News
Last week I was telling you about making those Kickstarter videos for my upcoming book. And I wrestled with it for days, until I finally worked out that I had to write a 3-act mystery into that non-fiction. Once I separated the story out into four-parts (two Act 2’s) then it rolled right off. As I write this, I’m on the home stretch of the 3rd Act, which is the Call to Action part.
Again, these are a maximum of 18 minutes long, but will probably be shorter. These are TED talk length, since people can’t readily comprehend with out a break every 18 minutes. And I’ll publish each of them here once I get them going. That’s just the script. Then I have to make a Power Point with images that I can run while I read this off onto a Zoom video, which I’ll then download. Such a test also gives me audio for some sort of audiobook in theory. Since the book these videos are based on is over 200 pages long, I’m just going to record these course/promo videos for now.
Kickstarter Planning
I had an idea to survey you on what I should create as special editions:
One of the things I noticed on the massive amount of fiction I wrote is that the stories can get really intricate with all these different characters in them (ie. Felicity)
And there’s another problem a short series on the Hooman Saga, which happens in a parallel universe, but crosses over quite a bit.
So I wanted to maybe bring those stories all out again in published order, in collections, leaving out the standalones that don’t influence later stories. It would probably be named something like the Ghost Hunter Chronicles.
Still doing homework on this Kickstarter area. I found you can research other Kickstarters, since they don’t delete completed projects. This then gives me other ideas.
With any luck, I’ll have the pre-release link up this week just to get things started.
I’m also having to get my own direct order site for paperbacks up. My ebooks are already on https://store.livingsensical.com but in this way, I can sell paperbacks and hardbacks below market price with a higher royalty.
The Recurring Special Offer:
For a short time, the beta-readers version of Writerpreneur OS is still available. Until I start the Kickstarter release, you can download the new and improved edition (especially if you already have it from earlier.)
That link is now Pay What You Want - a nice way to donate.
Here’s the link: https://livingsensical.gumroad.com/l/WOS01-beta-readers
See if you can find more oopsies. Leave comments, reviews. Ask questions.
It’s just north of 250 pages these days, depending on format. Available are epub and PDF. No charge. (Free download, in other words.)
Nearly 20 years of writing-publishing-entrepreneuring - all rolled into a single book. And updated. Condensed.
AN ASK: if you’ve downloaded it, please give some feedback. Leave it in the comments, send me an email. Something, anything. Like it, could be better.
NOTE: This will be first released as a Kickstarter special edition, in paperback and hardback, as well as ebook. Exclusive to that platform…
Expectancy
This is really a daily thing to practice. And I cover it again in my script, but here is where I’ve covered it before:
Daily practice makes it a habit. And such an engrained habit makes success attainable for anyone.
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…
PPPS. I’m considering putting my entire library up (digital versions) for the Patron (Founding Member) level. I’ve done that before in parts, as many of you know. Do let me know what you think about that idea. Reply to this email, or leave a comment on my Substack page for this.
(Meanwhile, I’ve put my archived newsletters and articles all available as free, instead of behind a paywall.)
AND you can always buy me a coffee…
I have good friends who raise beef cattle in upstate New York and they usually expect about 30 - 40 calves each year and like you, let the mothers do their thing in the pasture. They keep their cattle outside all year and say the cattle prefer it that way. They do have to go out every day to check on the expectant mothers and keep a written log of their cattle. If the winter is mild through Jan/Feb, the calves gain more weight and sell for more. What a life. I enjoy reading your posts too.