Friday, March 30, 2012

MEMORIES



 This morning I was going through a box full of books, papers, etc. all kinds of stuff that I had packed from last year, and I came across the Memory book. I self -published this in 2011. I don't really know if it is considered self published or not. I read this e-mail advertisement about making a soft-covered book out of your blog. I felt such excitement in knowing I could have this done. What a high I felt and without thinking twice, I said yes.
That was my first mistake. Instead of saying yes and hitting the send button, I should of sat back to read over my work, to look for mistakes. To re-read it to see what I wanted or did not want in "my published" book.
Why didn't I think of that? Did I think I was so perfect I could just send it in? I don't think I thought it was perfect, but looking back now, I realized I was just so excited that I could not see past the word publish. Sometimes I act impulsively and this was one of those times.
I could not wait to recieve it. I was like a kid waiting for a present to come in the mail. Checking the mail box everday, looking at the calender to see how long ago I sent it in. It seemed to take forever until finally, when I opened the mail box I saw what I knew was my "book". It was in a heavy manilla envelop with my name printed on it. I could not wait,  I hurried up the steps and ran into the house.  With out even taking off my coat or putting my purse down, I was opening up the heavy envelope. When I pulled out my book and saw the cover, it took my breath away. I just stared at it.
It was a picture of my two rocking chairs and a plant of flowers sitting on a stool on the back patio. It looked beautiful. To say I was in awe is putting it mildly. I was totalled enthralled with it, I felt so proud.
That is until I opened it and the first thing to hit my eyes was a mistake, my heart dropped some and as I started to read, all I could see were my mistakes in spelling and punctuation. I was beyond sad, I was disgusted with it and packed it away. I bemoaned to myself because I did not have enough sense to edit it. I chalked it up to my impulsiveness wondering when I would ever learn.
So here it is about a year later, and I am so glad I found it this morning. It really is interesting if I have to say so myself. I started to read it and could not put it down, I guess because I was reading my memories.
Sure there are mistakes, but that's me. I am not perfect and like my first boss said. "That's why they put erasers on pencils, so you can correct your mistakes." So, yes I can correct this and have it reprinted, but I can leave it like it is and that's what I am going to do - - -

1 comment:

Sharon Lippincott said...

Dee, my daughter did the same thing, but unlike you, she doesn't care. Or didn't at the time. You can go back, post-by-post, and fix those errors you find. It's unlikely you would have found them online. It's so easy to overlook our own errors, at least while the file is warm.

Let that sunshine warm your shoulders and energize your fingers. Write on! (Note the use of the ! 8-> )

Dee's shared items

SO MANY THINGS TO BE THANKFUL FOR

This time of year makes me think of all of those things I have to be thankful for - - - -
my husband
my children
my grandchildren
my health
my freedom
always thankful for friends made