publishing

Just Needling You

/ roughwighting / 93 Comments

acupuncture, needles“It’s only after I’ve given the matter some thought that I decide to take the man up on his offer.

A quid pro quo, so to speak – I help him out, and he’ll help me out.

The only problem is that I don’t need any help. Or at least not his kind.

I’m a published writer, so I promise to give him tips on how to find the right publisher for the book he’s writing on “the zen of wellness.” That’s my title for his book, I think his is more esoteric.

Whatever, I’m looking forward to sharing my experiences with this fascinating man. He’s slight, middle-aged, with brown-speckled-with-gray hair pulled into a small ponytail. His crystal light eyes seem to see way beyond my own eyes. He peers further inside.

Which perhaps is why I’m hesitant to let him practice his trade on me: Continue reading →

Losing Control – X Rated

/ roughwighting / 47 Comments

losing control. X-ratedHow often do you let go of your emotions?

 If you could lighten up a bit, would you let yourself laugh more?

Or cry more?

I used to lose control –  emotionally –  when I was younger, and thus was embarrassed many times, particularly back when I didn’t have the discipline we “adults” are expected to display.

I cringe when I recall times I’ve “lost it,” so to speak.

Movies are a prime example.

Before I knew myself better, I’d watch movies that destroyed me. I’m reluctant to give an example, but since I’m trying to lose control a bit, here goes… Continue reading →

The Wind Beneath My Wings

/ roughwighting / 43 Comments

friends, celebration, e-publishing, writing Whenever I hear the expression “you are the wind beneath my wings,” I think about how my friends have blown me through misgivings, doubts, mistakes, dilemmas, marvels, damnations, mysteries, and discomforts.

The times I laugh the loudest, and cry the hardest, are with my friends.

The wind beneath my wings.

One night this week, a group of six friends took me out to celebrate the publication of my book, The Right Wrong Man. They passed around cards of encouragement and pride, they plied me with chocolate bars to fortify me in my (writing) times of need. They gave me a bag full of ‘writing essentials’ in case the power went out: notebook, candle, pencils, pens, and an eraser that says ‘delete.’

writing, writing with no power, friendships, publishing

God, I love my friends.

college friends, friendsI cherish the faded photos of my first steady friends – friendships cemented during our college years of love found, love lost, tests failed, classes college, dorm, friendshipspassed, maturity endured, parties survived.

And I cherish the photo of us, decades later, still smiling together.

Women are only as strong as their friendships, yes?

friends, college, dorm, aging

Decades after college, still smiling.

champagne, congratulations, friendships, writing, publishingA week ago, another friend, “Inda the Bride,” took me out for lunch to celebrate my book, and before I knew what she was doing, two glasses of champagne sparkled on our table. Her friendship goes way back, including an evening 20 years ago when my daughter made glittery nameplates for our dinner table, but the glimmering “L” came off long before dessert. Linda’s been Inda ever since. Oh, and she and her love married in our house; I even pressed the CD button as she came down our stairs, so Pachelbel Canon in D Major would soothe her jittery nerves.

The wind beneath our wings.

Just as I’m writing this, I see an e-mail pop up from a ‘new’ friend. We’ve only known each other for 12 years. A Baby Friendship. She writes:

friendship, writing, e-book, publishing

MADS helped me survive New England winters, teaching me how to drive in the snow (close your eyes and pray), how to tutor special ed students (stare them in the eyes and love them), and how to laugh when you want to cry.

The wind beneath my wings.

When I began this blog almost two years ago, the second post I wrote was about a long-time friendship – “A Place I Could Easily Call Home” (http://bit.ly/placecallhome), and the first poem I posted explained that “Friendship sooths the rough edge of life.” (http://bit.ly/friendshipoem).

As I scroll down the friendships of my life, the special women who have helped me get through my fears and my devils, helped me celebrate my joys and my loves, I thank them for the wind they’ve provided beneath my wings.

cheers, writing, congratulations, publishing, friendshp Cheers and love to you, my friends!

A Brave New World

/ roughwighting / 24 Comments

self-publishing, Indie publishing, writing, author, Huxley, A Brave New WorldO wonder!
How many goodly creatures are there here!
How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world,
That has such people in’t.

—William Shakespeare, The Tempest, Act V, Scene I, ll. 203–205

Dare I quote Shakespeare while in the same sentence mention Indie Publishing, e-publishing, independent authors, self-published writers, Kindles, Nooks, I-pads, and more?

Darn right I dare.

Shakespeare was a daring writer, pushing convention, taunting enemies and hypocrites, creating love poems between lovers who should never ever be together.

selp-publishing, connecting the dots, writing, Shakespeare, Huxley, H.G. Wells, Aldous Huxley used Shakespeare’s quote for his famous 1932 novel A Brave New World. Huxley was inspired by the novels of H.G. Wells (believe it or not, my favorite author when I was in middle school!) and Wells’ imaginings of the future, which tended to be positively gleeful of what was to come. Remember The Time Machine…? War of the Worlds…? The Invisible Man…? Fabulous books for a young girl with an immense imagination.

Okay, yes, somehow I’m connecting the dots between Shakespeare, H.G. Wells, Aldous Huxley, and Pamela Wight, self-publisher. See my rueful smile here?

But at this moment in time, we are living in a Brave New World. A century from now, readers and writers and publishers (if there still are any) will cite the beginning of the 21st century as a landmark time of changes in the way we read. In the choices of how and who we read.

As of 3:03 the afternoon of Tuesday, January 8, I became a published writer.

I didn’t use an agent. Nor a publisher.

I created my own publishing company – Near. Perfect. Press.

The company is very NEAR, in my own computer;

The idea of creating and sharing with the world in my own time and my own space is PERFECT;

And when I PRESS the keyboard, I can create words and characters and worlds and then, press, send it out to you and to you and to you.

A Brave New World

That’s not to say it’s easy, self-publishing, pushing the boundaries of the way things always have been, always were ‘meant to be.’

I toiled for years on my just-published book, The Right Wrong Man. My main character Meredith developed over the page (with the scribbling of a pen and the tapping of computer keys) through verbs and nouns and metaphors; through research on the police station in St. Thomas and the biting habits of the tarantula; through reading endless newspaper and magazine articles about drug cartels and the illegal trafficking of meth. Oh, and through draft 2 and draft 22.

And now I’m ready to share my novel, my work of inspiration and imagination, my years-long affair with Meredith and Parker and Gregory, and the story of The Right Wrong Man.

Please join me in my

brave

new

world,

which has such wondrous and beauteous people in it.

self-publishing, author, writing, e-book