By Thursday I usually have the next Monday’s blog post well in hand. The operative word is “usually.”
Last Thursday, I not only didn’t have a post well in hand for today. I didn’t even have a topic.
Here’s the thing. I’ve been burning the candle at both ends lately, trying to meet a number of self-imposed writing deadlines and goals. Therefore, today I’ll just catch you up on two writing projects I’ve been working on lately.
Harrisburg, Did You Know? Cabarrus History, Book 1
I wrote a local history column for Harrisburg Horizons weekly newspaper from May 2006 through 2012. It’s been my desire ever since to publish those articles in a book. The time has come!
I’ve formatted the first 91 articles, the introduction, and the back matter for Book 1. My sister is helping me with the indexing. With the index, it looks like the paperback book will be about 500 pages.
Formatting and proofreading of the first 91 articles were tedious tasks. My sister is a fantastic proofreader and has been a tremendous help.
A photographer friend of mine took the photograph for the cover on Friday. By Friday night I had created the cover for the e-book. Creating a book cover was a new experience for me and gave me an unbelievable sense of accomplishment. Technology doesn’t come easy for me.
There are still a few details to finish, including the creation of the paperback book cover. I expect that task to be more challenging than the e-book cover, but I’m excited to start on that today.
I hope to be able to announce a publication date in the next couple of weeks I’ll announce on my blog and on Facebook when the e-book and the paperback are available. I hope that’s before Christmas!
Be on the lookout for that surprise blog post!
Harrisburg, Did You Know? Cabarrus History, Book 2
I’m formatting and proofreading the second book of local history newspaper columns, which will not only include the last 84 history articles.
I hope to include some of my research done about topics I didn’t get to write about when the newspaper suddenly ceased publication. It depends on how many pages Book 2 is after a get the 84 articles formatted.
It’s been fun rereading the columns because I’ve forgotten some of the details. I anticipate this book will also be available in paperback as well as for Kindle, perhaps in March 2023.
My Website
My website, http://www.janetmorrisonbooks.com is being redesigned. I’ll make an announcement on my blog when the new site is up and running. It will have the same address with the addition of that important “s” after “http” to indicate my site has SSL certification.
Until my next blog post
Thank you for dropping by my blog and lending moral support to this struggling writer.
Keep reading books.
Give thanks for all you have.
Remember the people of Ukraine.
Janet
Janet's Writing Blog 
Sounds splendid Janet, I am very happy for you and exited about the book! I am sure it will be wonderful and as well a fantastic experience. Keep working, that is the only way to be talented in what one does, nothing replaces hard work. Around here we are already feeling the autumn weather and it is getting colder every day, which we all were hoping for and now many are nostalgic for the warmth of the long Indian Summer we experienced. Hope all is well in your area. All the best,
F.
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Thank you for your constant encouragement, Francis. Yes, things are suddenly moving right along. Later today I’ll tackle the cover for the paperbook edition and hope that process goes as smoothly as for the e-book cover. Having to do the index manually was a disappointment but not unexpected. My sister has been an invaluable help with the proofreading and indexing. I haven’t heard from the company that’s redesigning my website in a couple of weeks, so I assume that means they haven’t run into any snags. Or, it might just mean there was other work in the pipeline ahead of mine — which is quite understandable. It’s a small company, just a couple and one other employees. I’m confident they’ll have the new site up and running by early January, which was our agreement. The weather here has definitely turned to winter. I believe it was 24 degrees this morning. They’ve already had snow in the NC mountains, and I suppose you heard about parts of New York State getting as much as 70 inches of snow over the weekend. All I can say is I’m glad I live in NC and not NY (for a host of reasons!) It’s sunny here this afternoon and I have errands to run, so I’ll close for now. I’m sure you’ve been putting tons of excellent posts on your blog lately. I just haven’t had time to look. All the best. Janet
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You’ve been very productive!
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I’m sure you’ll get that cover perfectly, things have a way of moving smoothly and that’s a blessing. Enjoy the sunny day! Best of luck and all the best!
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I’ve been “in the zone” lately. I hope it lasts a while longer!
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The cover looks great, if I don’t say so myself. All I need to add is a QR code on the back. I’ve never created a QR code before. It sounds too easy to be true. That’s on the list for tomorrow/Thursday. Since you have dual citizenship, don’t forget it’s Thanksgiving Day!
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No, definitely not forgotten because we celebrate Thanksgiving with friends from the very large US expat community here in Spain, so wishing you and your family a very blessed and happy Thanksgiving day! Cheers Janet and all the best!
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I know just what you mean. I love it when that happens!
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