Gemini Rising

Blog Week Post #5 - The Writer in Me.

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Blog Week Birthday Bastion 2024  (13+) Blogging event from September 1-7, 2024. Closed. #2277665 by WakeUpAndLive

Today’s Prompt for 5 SEP is:


The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go. Dr. Seuss.

Tell us more about the writer in you. Plans/Aspirations/Fears/Status etc?


Word Count: 437

Amazing how Dr. Seuss inspired not only my generation, but generations, period. There’s so much wisdom in those words – the more you learn, the more places you go. Going places and gaining experience is learning and it’s a fun way to learn. It’s the “This is amazing” factor of new places that imbue a sense of wonder. That’s something I had when I went to Germany with the US Army in the 1980’s. It’s not only the sense of adventure and wonder that I draw on as a writer, but it’s those powerful emotions I experienced at the time as well.

From the aughts to the mid-teens, I wrote a large amount of material that was published with small press. Unfortunately, those small presses went out of business, or down-sized, in the late teens, leaving me with a lot of good material that was now, unpublished. My plan and aspirations going forward now, it to re-publish my material as a self-published author. The work is slow, but rewarding.

Any writing fears? No. I’ve gotten over them. I really fine-tuned my writing during the aughts and early teens. Learning how to self-edit and be patient with yourself was really an important skill to learn. While I do have 2 new works “in the works,” I don’t believe I’ll be finishing them any time soon.

So far, I’ve re-published 8 of my stories. I have 1 novel length story that’s been re-published, 2 novella length stories that are available in ebook and print, and 5 shorter stories between 10-20K words that are available for ebook. I have at least 13 more stories to go! If anything, I suppose my fears is not getting the work done at all. When you self-publish, you really take a lot onto yourself. First you write the manuscript, edit, work with a beta reader, edit some more and prepare a final copy. Next you need to work on a cover. Then comes blurbs – a book length blurb, a short hook, and a series blurb. Then you need to secure a copyright to legally protect your intellectual property. You need to secure ISBNS and and barcode for publishing. Then you need to format and upload. Once officially published, there’s marketing, which really isn’t easy, especially with me, because I want to work on the next story.

Currently, I’m working on re-publishing a short story for Kindle/Smashwords. It’s a sweet Christmas story that takes place in the Netherlands about ice skating. The only thing stopping me is that I run out of time. Let me get going. I’ve got things to write!

All the best,
Steph