Galleys, Phillies

After looking through my book's galleys, I found some more mistakes (mine) and so I changed the file and re-submitted it to the printer. We also worked on the cover--I don't have the right color for the title yet and I'd like the picture adjusted a little. I'll pick up the new galleys tomorrow and I hope to get it back the beginning of next week. Then only about a week to print them!

I have learned a few more things about copyright. The US office recommends we read the circulars they have about it, so I opened the first one, Copyright Basics, HERE. They said the copyright starts when the book (or music or poem or whatever) is published. So, we don't have to wait for the office to tell us it is copyrighted:

Copyright protection subsists from the time the work is created
in fixed form. The copyright in the work of authorship
immediately becomes the property of the author who created
the work. Only the author or those deriving their rights
through the author can rightfully claim copyright.

I thought I had read somewhere (a long time ago) the copyright starts when it reaches their office. Still, I will be sending in the application as soon as I get the book. They want to know the date it was put into printed form, so I'll be filling that in when the printer tells me it's done.

The more we do, the more we learn. I'm excited to get on with the process. We have a lot to learn about marketing, too.

Congratulations to the 2008 World Champion Phillies. I am from Pennsylvania and my family was a big fan of the Phillies as I grew up. I went to the University of Pennsylvania and worked in Philadelphia for a while after graduating. I moved to other places and didn't follow them as closely, but I'm surprised how emotionally involved I got while watching the post-season. I saw the last pitch and was very happy for them.

Great Lakes Naval Museum

It's a beautiful, blustery fall day (Sunday) and my husband Tom and I went to the Great Lakes Naval Memorial and Museum at the Muskegon Lake Channel. A big addition was added this past year and is shaping up although still in progress. There are many models of ships there, including the ones that are docked in Muskegon. I'm sure it's a lot of work. We think they are planning to put some of Tom's pictures of downtown Muskegon in the 1940's there which he had drawn for a pictorial of Western Avenue. They aren't there yet, so we'll check it out next spring.

It was pretty chilly by the lake already. We walked a short distance along the channel, but it was so windy we turned around soon. We also saw the new bike trail along the road to Lake Michigan. They changed the lanes to give bikers more room. I'll have to also plan to take the bike next spring to try out the new setup.

The book galleys needed some work, so this week I'll try to get the final form in to the printer. I had taken a picture of a country church in the general area I used as my setting. However, the town and country are fictionalized and the names are changed. The geography is similar but not the same in my story as the real thing. I was pleased with the picture when I first saw it and so far it looks good on the cover. I am hoping for good resolution on the finished product.

Well, I hear thunder so I'll finish this post. No use taking chances with blowing the laptop.

Deadlines, Cafe Scientifique

My book is at the digital printers and I will meet with them to see the "galleys" today. One of my favorite TV programs was (on CBS from 1984-1996) "Murder She Wrote" with Angela Lansbury as Jessica Fletcher. She wrote mystery fiction and also solved a murder every week. I loved it when she was on a deadline. She'd be busy at her typewriter (the word processor came later), telling everyone she had to get finished with her manuscript by so-and-so time. Then a murder would happen and everyone knew she was the only one who could really solve it. In fact, when the police arrested someone you could always eliminate them as a suspect. Somehow she managed to finish the book and solve the mystery! What a relief until the next episode!

So, I thought of Jessica a lot as I was trying to get my book done before Christmas season. I've been very busy, but fortunately no townspeople have been around asking me to solve a local murder mystery! I've talked with a manager from a book store who might be willing to take it on consignment. She wants to see it first which is totally reasonable, so I want to get it to her as soon as I can. I am now working on getting a copyright. The copyright office is not your grandfather's copyright office! There are all kinds of downloads for forms and I had to update my Adobe ® reader to get what I needed. It's neat because you can fill in the form by computer and then print it all out. You mail in the print-out and the process is supposed to be faster than before. My last book was quite a while ago and I got the notice through snail mail. It didn't take that long , but it's always nice to know you have it.

I'm writing this Thursday, and tonight I'm going to a Muskegon Cafe Scientifique meeting in the GVSU/AWRI building on Muskegon Lake. It's a research facility of Grand Valley State University. The program is by Dr. Keith Crandall who is Professor of Biology and Curator of Crustacea at Brigham Young University. After the presentation, discussion and questions are allowed in an informal setting. It's a very good idea, I think, for students and community members. I used to want to belong to a discussion group when I was in veterinary school at University of Pennsylvania, but 1) I didn't have time and 2) there weren't any--not like this anyway. Well, we will see how it goes.

Printer

I won't take too long to write this post because I hope to go to the printer today with my book file. I had written a book 9 years ago which was a Christian adventure story. (As I told you, I'm a slow writer, but not that slow! In the meantime I earned a certificate of theology and wrote 2 booklets.) At that time there were no printers that I am aware of in this area which did digital printing of books. I took it to a regular printer and got a lot of copies in order to spread the cost. It took months to get it back and I still have books in the basement.

Now, I've found a printer who does digital printing and they told me it would only take a week or so. And, I can get less copies and still stay fairly economical. I'd like to put my book on the Internet as an e-book also. So, I better get going and soon I'll tell you all about my book!

World Blogger Day

My mother has come and gone and we had a nice visit. She has never been in Michigan in October and enjoyed the colored leaves and scenery. So, it’s time to get back to work with my book, blog and teaching plans.

One of the blogs I enjoy is Tim’s El Salvador Blog which you can access at http://luterano.blogspot.com/ (2019 Update: the blog is now called El Salvador Perspectives, but is still there)! He has been a very faithful blogger and publishes information about El Salvador and its people. My husband and I sponsor two children in El Salvador through the agency CFCA (Christian Foundation for Children and Aging), and we were there a few years ago. Tim's blog helps me keep up to date on the happenings there.

I just noticed he has posted that October 15, 2008 was world blogger day. Apparently bloggers from all over the world blog on one subject and this year was poverty. Though this is two days late, I will feel I've added a little by telling you about our sponsored children and linking to CFCA (2019 Update: the charity is now called Unbound and found HERE ). They have done a marvelous job at connecting persons in the US with poor children and aging over the world. They encourage communication by letters from both the sponsor and recipient. One gets to know the family and some of their culture and situation. They also encourage visits. I've been to Mexico and El Salvador through these group "mission awareness trips." It is a way to make a genuine difference in the world.

My husband and I are watching baseball playoffs. I am from Pennsylvania and used to go to Phillies games once in a while. I’m still a fan, so I am routing for them. Although I won’t be upset if the Rays win. They seem to have character as a team. And alas, I am a graduate of Penn State and my husband graduated from University of Michigan. Need I say more?

Muskegonmemories

My husband has had a website for several years called Muskegon Memories. He made a template from software we had on our computer and posted it on a server. However, our computer had a temporary crash the other day and the template would have to be re-done from scratch. I've been wanting him to move to blogging for a while and convinced him this was the time. I set up the blog for him and he is now starting. The address is http://muskegonmemories.blogspot.com/ . He grew up in Muskegon and has worked here a good part of his life. He enjoys local history and volunteers in the archive department of our Muskegon County Museum (2019 Update: now called Lakeshore Museum Center). For months he has been scanning old pictures to be put in their digital library. Now you have on-line access to old pictures that have been gathered by the museum. If you are from this area and/or enjoy histories of various localities, give it a try!


As for the rest of the week, my mother is coming to visit from Ohio, so I have to get ready. I'm not the greatest housekeeper (not the worst either, I hope), so I've got to get out the vacuum and dustcloth. I'd like to get some things done around the house, but when you're trying to get a book out by Christmas shopping season, the rest just has to wait. Maybe someday I'll get those new curtains and re-paint the bathroom.

Catholic Interests

Along with Latin American studies and Intelligent Design theory, I'm interested in the Catholic Church in general, in unity of Christians, and in women's issues. I like to read Catholic news and opinion and it is nice to be able to access a whole variety online. I often read the online Catholic News Agency which is found HERE.

The Pope often speaks on the topic of materialism. It is easy to forget in our everyday life that money is not the bedrock of our existence. We try to assure our own security, but in the end we can't. Trusting in God is in a different dimension than trusting in money. Sure, we work in whatever profession we decide upon or have the opportunity to do and we try to be good stewards. But along with that is a deeper stream of "handing things over" to the Lord. It is allowing His will to be done. In that way we are not swept away with the winds of economic crisis. We look to the Lord for our well-being.

2019 Update: As I go through my blog I am finding many outdated links. I'm sorry if you have tried them and have found yourself at a dead end. I intend to change or delete any outdated links.

Latin America

One thing I'm interested in besides ID theory is Latin American studies and the Hispanic population of our country. I watch the Hispanic news on Univision channel on cable. A pet peeve of mine is the lack of news coverage of Latin America on our own news stations. You would think the other countries in this hemisphere did not exist. I am very glad to understand enough Spanish to watch "las noticias" (news) and a few "novelas" (soap operas). We only getI mainly watch one Spanish-speaking station, but to me it is worth the whole cable channel price. (My husband likes the sports.) I took 4 years of Spanish in high school and one semester not that long ago at our city's Community College. Since then, I volunteered for English as a Second Language (ESL), and had a wonderful time with my "student." We learned a lot from each other and are now good friends.

I find the Spanish stations extremely good. I will go into more details later, I hope. Today is busy because there's a lot of college football on. Penn State is my alma mater and Michigan is my husband's. (It's Saturday--I often write ahead and the posts come out Tuesdays and Fridays.)

Then we are going to a Buster Keaton film retrospective. His fan club meets in Muskegon every year because the actor spent time here as a youth, and they found there are many local residents interested in him also. They show his old movies at their yearly meetings which are open to the public on a Saturday night. It is a good place for Tom & I to celebrate our 20th anniversary of being engaged.

Kay at Blog, Anniversary

Now that the short history of science and religion is complete, I'd like to write about various subjects in addition to Intelligent Design. Though I have enjoyed learning about ID for the past few years and would like to teach people about it, I am a writer and interested in other things as well! I've been working on a fictional mystery with Catholic themes which I am typesetting now and hope to get to the printer soon. It is a challenge to write, print and market our own books, but with the new opportunities that digital printing and the Internet provide, I am glad to try.

I'd like to use the blog to put my thoughts in column form, which will be linked under the Topic, "Kay at Blog" and sometimes the subject at hand. I'm interested in many things, and these can swirl around in my head as probably happens with other writers. Writing can help one think and focus toward learning more.

I want to wish my wonderful husband a very happy anniversary. We got engaged 20 years ago this week. We were at a CROP walk, which raises funds for good causes both at home and throughout the world. A good start for our relationship! Our CROP walk is this weekend, and we will supply a half-bushel of apples for the "end-of-the-walk" refreshments. This shows our appreciation to those who do so much work of organizing and raising money through sponsors. Tom has been more than I could have ever asked in a life companion. I hope we have 20 or 40 more years to spend together!