Self-contemplation & Reflection?????????

Good morning all my favorite peeps out there. I this morning I find myself sitting here attempting to consume my morning ration of the elixir of life, and reviewing my accomplishment of the past year.

Which have not been as many as I would have wished for, but still more than other past years.

I have been able to publish several books that have been in the making for several years, I have been able to design and create several pieces of lovely jewelry, and, may wonders never cease, I have been able to get my Etsy store up and running. On top of that I have been able to get this blog up and functional, somewhat.

Not really to bad for an old fart that has difficulty keep two thoughts running together for more than a day at a time!

It seems that for every completed accomplishment though, I develop more tasks. Now that I have finished writing and publishing the books ,the real job starts, that being the marketing of said books, which seems to be more work than the actual writing. Then there is the Etsy store where I am attempting to sell all the jewelry that I have made.

Good idea as far as it goes, but how do you get all those millions of people out there in internet land to look at your store? And hopefully buy your stuff? Good question, it is done with the use of something they call SEO which is short for Search Engine Optimization. This is where you pick "key words" that when someone is searching for something on the World Wide Web and they type in that particular word the trusty little old Search Engine sends them to your site like magic.

That again is a great plan, but how the heck do you pick a group of words. that will magically send all these lovely people to your site. This wondrous answer is yet to be found!

Good question.

So, into my second cup now.

Next question:

What do I do now?

Answer:

Continue trying to figure out the mystery of SEO for one thing. And continue the work on the next couple of books.

Presently I am working on a Science Fiction Trilogy called The Far Star Trilogy: Consisting of, "The Perilous Star, number one in the trilogy, "Trouble on Tyree" number two in the trilogy, and "Destinies Star". It will be an epic space opera depicting the life and times of Maximilian Starr as a member of the Federation of Planets Security Forces, a pioneer on a newly developed colony world, and his and his families trials and adventures through the years of two generations. Should be pretty good if I ever get it done.

Then there is, "Shang: The White Crane" a historical fiction, based on the adventures and misadventures of my grandfather, Arno Krause in China, the South Seas, South America, and Cuba. Loosely depicting his life from 1889 through 1915 when he settled in Western Pennsylvania with a liberal addition of artistic color. Again this should be a good one, I know the story all I have to do is put it down on paper in such a way as to build the mental images with my words for my readers.

The thing that I have found is that to be accurate historically I am having to learn many new/old things. Such as how long it takes to travel a certain amount of distance by horseback or walking rather than hopping in the car and zipping there at 60 miles per hour. Or what the meaning of the bell system was on a German ship in the 1800s. Or for that matter what the time difference was for travel on a steamship as opposed to a sailing ship. All fun stuff, but time consuming to say the lease. Ah... the joys of research, they are never ending.

Now don't get me wrong here, I really am not having a personal pity party. But simply reflecting on the road ahead.

As they say failure to plan is planning to fail.

Well, time for another cup of Joe, oh that wonderful elixir of life, and I suppose I should put my pants on and get to doing something.

As "She Who Must Be Obeyed" would say, I am burning day light.

And so my peeps I shall bid you all farewell and get on with getting on.

May the Great Architect of the Universe continue to watch over you all and keep you safe as you travel down the mysterious road of life on this wondrous day.