Through the help of my physician, I am on a small weight loss program. I asked for this, because this is the first time my cholesterol was found to be high. I am usually abnormally low. I also had high blood sugar for the first time. Since my roommate suffered a major heart attack, it gave me a wake up call. I have cut out all junk food and started eating healthy. I am also exercising and hope to start running distance again. I will show the before and after pics when I get down under 210lbs. Just this week alone, I have dropped 9 pounds: from 230lbs to 221lbs. This is radical for a week, but it is funny what your body can do if you have strong discipline and willpower. I write a lot about this in a new book I am authoring. Other than the Atlanta GA heatwave zapping my energy, I feel better physically and mentally.
Tag Archives: The Little Book Of Change
Technical edit NOW?
I am ready to go into the technical edit of my latest book. It will be a self help book and I am seeking someone that has at least a masters in psychology/counseling for a methodology proofread.
I am seeking full trade. You will have credit and any other listings I can provide. I just need to make sure my research is sound and solid.
If you or someone you know is interested, PM me. I will also need references. If you have published white papers, I would like to see them.
Here is the website to my book. This is a new area that I am going into, so I want this to be as professional as possible.
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What a cold will do!
Over the past two weeks or so I have suffered from one of the most virulent sinus infections: ever! It was so bad that I couldn’t even sleep any longer. I just had to meander through my days, take my antibiotics and hope for the best. It also took a mental toll on me as well. Because I wasn’t able to eat, I started to reach for junk food which pumped me full of sugars and preservatives. It just made things worse.
In one of the chapters of my book The Little Book of Change, I talk about eating well and in another chapter I talk about taking care of yourself. I also touch on what effects an everyday cold or flu can have on your mental well being in yet another chapter.
First, my body cycled up and down due to my sugar intake. When I ate junk food, my blood sugar crashed, causing me to seek out more junk food to even out my blood sugar levels. I know you are familiar with the feeling. You eat a fast food biscuit for breakfast, and you are running to the coffee pot 30 minutes later. I finally had to start eating foods that were high in protein. I also stayed away from prepackaged foods as well as fast food. Putting good food into my body began to even me out. There is a saying that your mother’s home cooking is the best thing for a cold.
Secondly, I had to take better care of myself. As a runner, my first reaction was to burn out a cold with a 5K or a 10K distance run. It has worked before, but when you were as sick as I was, extra physical activity will only diminish your strength to fight off a cold. I stayed out of the heat and kept my body cool in the air conditioning of my apartment.
Finally, when you are ill, you can be mentally depressed and are more subject to anxiety. In addition to feeling nasty, my brain was cycling from euphoric highs to bottomed out lows. I was also feeling depressed and I was having a lot of bad dreams when I slept. This is part of a cold. Your body is weak from trying to fight off infection. You will be weak mentally as well. Every dreaded, if-then thought ran through my head. For instance, “When can I get back to work.” Or, “I am missing the 4th of July holiday.” I even found that I was putting myself down at times. I finally had to “take my own medicine” and tell myself, “You have a cold. You are sick. You will feel depressed and anxious. You heave to weather out the storm. When you are physically better, you will feel better mentally!”
Now that I feel better, my strength is coming back. I am no longer depressed and I am thinking clearly. I am now able to pick up my life where I left off.
So eat well, take care of yourself, and know that when you are ill, your mind can go in many different directions. Just know that this is temporary. When you feel better, you will be able to get back to your life.
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Finally Some Time
I have been working hard the past few weeks. I have been working on different show as well as working at a prop house. I am really tired. This heat is getting to me. Not that you really needed to know this, but….
I am going back through the book again and starting a new edit. I think I have had enough time away from the text where I can make clean editorial decisions. The book won’t change that much, I am just going to connect the chapters together a little bit better. This book will be six years in the making.
Challenges hit us every day. That is all I will say.
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A New rewrite? : The Little Book of Change
Wow. Artists. I guess you can call me one.
I was cleaning up my spelling and grammar errors for my first draft to go to edit. I had to take a step back and do a second draft. I don’t know if it is me “double guessing”, or I am just inundated with the material. I am considering adding to some of my chapters. As I was reading them, I felt that some of the things I explain, like mental illness, etc, are a little light. I also feel that I make a few big leaps from one paragraph to another. This is in part to trying to keep this book short and to the point, But I think I may have to add a few more pages to connect things a little better.
I wished I could share it all with you, but then that would be putting out the book before it is published.
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Time for the editor
I have now contacted an editor and asked if she is still interested in editing my book. If you write a book, look for an editor with credentials. Ask for the credentials, if you don’t see them. If both of you are in need and are willing to make a trade, make sure you feel good about your editor. I asked the first editor for her credentials, and she replied, “I edited a law school text book”. She also sent me the link, and she was a the top of the credits. I guess if someone can edit a law book, then they can edit just about anything.
You are looking for someone who can clean up your spelling and grammar, without taking away your voice. There are many ways to say things. The first editor would send me notes saying, “I know you are trying to say this. So I properly rewrote the sentence to reflect it. Will this work for you?” I gave a thumbs up or a thumbs down. That way we were in good communication and she made sure I had the final “sign off”.
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Making the big book – The Little Book of Change
I went back to a raw word document to edit my work a little better. I unformatted all my text and margins and dumped everything into a plain word doc. Instead of 112 pages, I have 38. That way I can look it over and organically make changes. I think I am going to get it edited then decide on the format of my book. I am looking at a small book size.
What have I learned today.
I am burned out. I am really burned out. This move to ATL has been going well, but I think after 9 months, the move is wearing off. I feel like I am supposed to be here, and I know I am living in the right place, but I have an unsettling feeling. Maybe I have been working to hard. I have also been worrying about money. I don’t have a house or equity line to fall back on like I did a few years ago. It is me, and all me. I know I have friends and family, but I feel alone right now.
It could also be from writing this book. I have conjured up a lot of memories of my childhood that I tried very hard to forget. That would be a problem.
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The Eyes don’t have it? (The Little Book of Change)
I keep saying that I have to back away from editing my book, but I just can’t put it down. I guess I want to see it published. It would be great if it becomes a revenue stream, but I am hoping that it will help a few people.
Don’t edit with bad eyes! I had my eyes tested this afternoon and they had to dilate my pupils. It was hell, even with sunglasses. I tried to edit, but couldn’t even see my iPad.
Take a day off. It rained today so I was able to lay in bed an let my eyes heal
I have been writing in another blog, but I haven’t been keeping up with my weight loss posts. I have been eat well and excercising. I am down to 222lbs from 230lbs. I am running sub 11 miles (up to 3 miles now).
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Revision 26? (The Little Book of Change)
Can I even call it revision 26? I mean I have been writing this thing for 4 years. For all I know, I am into hundreds of revisions. 26 is the revision that I decided to use as my first printed manuscript. Wow, was it a mess. I don’t know if it was the conversion to a .pdf format or the author, but I found a lot of errors. I am going with both. As I backed away for the first time, I couldn’t believe the errors within the first 10 pages. But that is OK. That is why you call it a first revision.
This isn’t my first book. I learned some hard lessons during my first trip across the galaxy. I thought that I could be the editor and take the short cut, but I got busted. I had my proof printed out and proudly showed to the guys at work. They started to read it and were finding errors left and right. I was embarrassed. I was so proud to finally make a book and it was bad.
So, I hired an editor. It took about 12 edits to get it right and I still think we missed a word or two.
If you want to self publish, don’t take the easy and cheap way out. Spend the money or trade for an editor and graphic artist. I promise that you will miss something. At least this never happened to me, but I am sure it hits other authors hard. I look at books on Amazon and the first thing I look at are the reviews. Nothing irritates a reader more than being caught up in a book, only to get bumped out of their world by a spelling error and error in grammar. Your reader will forgive you if your character development isn’t that good. You reader will forgive you if your narrative is lacking luster, but they hate errors!
Don’t believe me? Read the book reviews.
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