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At
the age of 46 I decided to flip the board and start
the game over. I had been a professional musician
all of my adult life but I was needing BIG CHANGE.
With fifteen thousand dollars I purchased a totally
off the grid ten acre parcel with an old trailer, a
gravity fed spring, and a lean-to for the animals.
Moonglow Ranch is located in western Oregon so my
two teenage daughters opted out. My younger daughter
later spent her Sophmore year here but it was not
her cup of tea.
I don't even pretend to be a real writer. It was
during the fall of 2004, my second winter on
Moonglow Ranch. We were low on money as usual and
going mushroom hunting. Our young male cats Isahia
and Swartz insisted on attending us in our mission.
The problem; 'the boys' had only just that day
gotten 'fixed' , (with the help of a low cost vet
voucher) and were supposed to be resting
comfortably. The cats insisted and persisted. I
recall that mushrooms were scarce on that day but
all parties returned home with little event. That
evening as we sat around the wood-stove, with our
favorite red wine, we conjured up the bones of OFF
THE GRID. I jumped up grabbed my computer and typed
the general outline. I can't much recall how the
rest of it worked but I can see in my computer files
that I began writing November 15th and finished Dec
15th. It was an interesting and even thrilling
process. The characters really do take over.
As a person who has great difficulty writing a
letter, it was a shocker. I knew my story needed
severe editing but . . . well, as my sister Shelly
encouraged, "It's as good as lots of 'em". She's a
teacher and has been involved in school reading
programs so she reads a lot of juvenile fiction. It
was all I needed to hear. Just to be in the running
is good enough for me.
My sisters Shelly Elling and Aime McNamara both
helped me edit OFF THE GRID, but don't blame them
for it's many errors. I mucked it up myself, over
and over with format problems and changes. I just
hate all of that part when it comes to writing a
book. Thank God for my sisters. My eldest sister
Trish Cramer also offered to help with the sequel
but it got dumped accidentely when my computer
pooped. I was liking it alright but Jamie had gotten
into
drugs. Maybe it's better untold after all.
And then there's the world of publishing. I gave it
a feeble try, (searching for an agent, that is), but
everything indicated that in this day and age a
person is better off making it happen for
themselves. I'm all about that.
I think that I was lucky the day that I found
Booklocker.com . Angie and Richard are really
gentle with beginners and quite creative and
knowledgeable. I highly recommend them. If you have
a book in you and just have to see it through it is
a great education.
I have been a reader and student of
A Course in Miracles for the last ten years. All
that I could think when I first got my hands on that
book was, 'Wow, I wish I'd learned this when I was
younger'. I hope some of what has moved me and
helped me, through the Course's gentle lessons, will
reflect in my little story. |
