A Spring Baby

My husband came in this morning carrying a cardboard box. In the box was a buff colored, baby goat that was very cold. Mama wasn't too happy to have a family I guess. She ignored him. So I have been trying to convince him the bottle is his best friend. Finally just a few minutes ago, he decided I was right. Now he's sleeping. So I will be on a feeding routine now for two months. After being outside a couple days ago, a hen decided to thank us today by laying an egg. Now we can look forward to fresh eggs.
A long time ago, I attended a writer's workshop in the back of the town library. The teacher was a retired English teacher. I will always be grateful for all that she taught me in that six weeks and ever since when she looks at my writing. Her advice from the start was to write about what I knew from experiences. That's easy to do when I enjoy animals and chickens. Makes my rural stories more believable.
Today I have been compiling family pictures and stories to make into a memoir book. I will self publish this book when it's ready, but I really don't worry about it selling except to relatives. Of course, there might be a lesson to be learned from my upbringing with today's economic mess.
Gotta go before the baby cries,
Booksbyfay
Fay Risner
Keystone, Iowa
www.booksbyfay.tripod.com
booksbyfay@yahoo
www.twitter/booksbyfay
www.amazon.com for books
www.createspace for books
www.bookorphanage for mystery book "Neighbor Watchers"
www.camppope for Civil War book "Ella Mayfield's Pawpaw Militia"
Lemstone Christian Bookstore for "Open A Window" and "Hello Alzheimer's Good Bye Dad" both about Alzheimer's

Nature in Iowa

Saw an eagle yesterday about five miles from home. Probably the same one I saw on Monday just down the road by the creek in the top of a tree. How neat is that when eagles are so plentiful that they can be seen by anyone. Rates right up there with me with the hoot owl's wake up call in February at about 3 in the morning when he's calling for a mate. I have grown to count on that hoot as well as the screeching of mating cats beneath my bedroom window in the night. All signs that spring is around the corner. I'm ready.
booksbyfay
Fay Risner
Keystone, Iowa
www.booksbyfay.tripod.com
booksbyfay@yahoo
www.twitter/booksbyfay
www.amazon.com
www.createspace.com
www.bookorpanage for my mystery book "Neighbor Watchers"
www.camppope for my civil war book "Ella Mayfield's Pawpaw Militia

Beautiful Day In the Neighborhood

This is a beautiful day in my neighborhood. For the first time since last fall, I turned the chickens loose. They are singing and the rooster is crowing his thank yous. We went shopping and bought garden seeds. Maybe it will be an early spring. Every stranger I said hi to talked to me as if they knew me. There's definitely something in the air. Came home and found I had a call from someone who wants to invite me to an author day at the library in Anamosa on June 7 and I am delighted. Now the woman I need to talk to has to call me to get the particulars. I'll spill the details when I have them. Still working on my Alzheimers speech for the Benton Community Health Class in Van Horne, Iowa which is March 25th. I put a call in to a librarian in Dysart, Iowa too but she wasn't in today so I call her tomorrow. It is so great to have places to take my books in the area. Needless to say I haven't accomplished a novel today, but getting a breath of fresh air before the deep freeze comes back, rain and ice that will be here tomorrow was worth a break from the computer. Bye.
booksbyfay
Fay Risner
http://www.booksbyfay.tripod.com/
www.twitter/booksbyfay
email booksbyfay@yahoo
www. amazon.com for books
www.createspace store
Lemstone Bookstore, Cedar Rapids, Ia
ebay for book "Christmas Traditions" amish love story
Book Orphanage on the web for my mystery book "Neighbor Watchers" first in Amazing Gracie Mystery series
Camp Pope on the web for my civil war book "Ella Mayfield and the Pawpaw Militia"

A New Day

What a difference a new day makes! I've sold ten books which is great for little old me. The buyer who the post office keeps losing her books has gotten back to me that she is sorry this is happening to me. I called her an angel. It is I that is sorry this has happened to her. Any rate with a good night's sleep, multiple sales and an encouraging email from a buyer and I lost the urge to kick something.
Now how do you go about coming up with a story idea? I'm faced with that all the time. Got the new garden and flower seed catalogs coming in the mail all the time now. I love to look at them for new and improved varieties. A flower called Love Lies Bleeding is one I've had before, but I wondered about making that the title of a story. There must be some lore behind the name so I did my research and now I am writing a short story by that title for one of the contests. I've often said my best asset is my imagination. That is true. I'll let you know if I place in the contest with this story. Gotta write so have a good day,
Booksbyfay
Fay Risner
Keystone, Iowa
www.booksbyfay.tripod.com
email booksbyfay@yahoo
www.twitter/booksbyfay

Kick Something

Ever have one of those days when you want to kick something. Preferably soft enough not to hurt my foot. So I'm an author that wants to make book sales with my books. I was so excited Jan.1 when I got an order for fifteen books - one of each. I sent the books in the mail right away. Three weeks later the buyer emailed me that the books didn't come. I hadn't put tracking or insurance on the box. Dumb I know. A few days later I get pieces of the top of my box in the mail from a recovery station post office. The letter told me to describe what was in the box and they would try to recovery my items. I sent a pic of all fifteen book covers. Never heard back. By Feb. 10th though the buyer is so very nice about waiting, I didn't feel right so I mailed out another box. This time I insured the box and put tracking on. Of course this $145.00 is on me. Friday I find out that the box is in the dead mail office and can't be delivered. Now I'm hoping that at least I can recover my money back for the books. The process is a long one I'm sure. In the mean time, I have to give the buyer the bad news that I have to order a whole new set of books because my inventory is depleted. That takes two weeks and two weeks for her to get the books. We are looking at end of March. This time I am using UPS. See if they can do a better job of delivery providing the buyer doesn't ask for the check back. Here's hoping for better days. Gotta go.
booksbyfay
Fay Risner
Keystone, Iowa
website www.booksbyfay.tripod.com
email booksbyfay@yahoo
www.twitter/booksbyfay

Winter Window Scene

It's really, really cold in Iowa. I know this because I had to do the chores since hubby is under the weather. He can't figure out how I get done so fast. I say it's simple when you run. The sun is shining and the wind isn't blowing hard. I know this because the birds have decided it is safe to come out and hop in the yard. What they are feeding on is dog food bites. The starlings spent hours carrying the dog's food out of his bowl and dropping the pieces into our front yard because they were too hard to eat. When the snow melted and thawed the soggy pieces, the birds ate most of them. Now the starlings spit the leftovers back out. Spring will be here soon birds so get ready to clean up your mess when the pieces soften up again.
Internet is great for finding people with mutual interests. I just began a conversation with Helen who has a website for writing. www.hushpen.com so check her out. She has an interesting first chapter of a romance story she is working on. Give her your opinion and help encourage a fellow writer. This is the time of year that I work on my short story contest entries to see how I stand up in competition. So have to have my eight stories and essays done by the last of April. I have six of them formulated and just have to keep going over them to make sure they will pass a contest. Two more to create. Gotta go. Have to write.
Booksbyfay
Fay Risner
Keystone, Iowa
website www.booksbyfay.tripod.com
www.twitter/booksbyfay
email booksbyfay@yahoo

Crazy TV show

Yesterday was one of those days, I could do without. First of all, my husband has been not feeling well for a month now. We went to the hospital early yesterday morning to a pain management clinic. Had no idea what he was in for. Was told he was going to get a epidural shot to stop the pain in his left leg.
Right away I thought of the television show I just watched on Monday night. I love "The Worst Week". Does anyone else know that show? It is a fast pace comedy that reminds me of the old shows from the fifties and sixties. I love it, because the show is not based on sexual content but real life experiences gone awry and exaggerated to a great degree.
So Monday night, the wife is having a baby. Her doctor refuses to give her the epidural shot so she's upset at the doctor. Her husband is on the way to the hospital, accidentally drops his cell phone and it goes in a post office pick up box. He has his arm in the box and gets way laid by a postal worker. He's taken to the hospital with bad back pain and given an epidural. He finds he's in the wrong hospital and has to get to his needy wife. His legs are turning to rubber by the time he gets out the hospital doors. He falls on the sidewalk and elbows his body to the hospital. Now not exactly believable because other people are walking all around him and don't seem to notice, but funny. He gets in the hospital, his father in law comes hunting for him and steals an old man's wheelchair. He gets to the delivery in time and his wife isn't too worried about him. She's mad because he got the epidural and not her.
Now here I am yesterday picturing my husband needing a wheelchair to get to the car and wondering how I am going to get 200 pounds of limpness in the house when we get home. Turns out this shot was a steroid to kill pain but works different than the shot given women in labor. He walked out of the room on his own. What a relief! However, other than writing this blog I didn't get up enough passion to try to write anything else. That whole imagination gone wild experience did me in for the day.
Today is a different story. It's a white, hazy world on the Iowa prairie today with a white out happening. Instant freeze to the face when I did chores this morning so I can work on writing all day and be glad I don't have to go back out. So gotta go.
Booksbyfay
Fay Risner
website www.booksbyfay.tripod.com
www.twitter/booksbyfay
email fayrisner@yahoo