A Little of This, a Little of That

Old Dog, New Trick

Here’s a sentence I never thought I’d write: I know how to make sound panels for a recording studio. 

Not that it was ever on my bucket list, but when Jed asked our church tech team for volunteers to help stretch fabric over wooden frames and stuff them with Rockwool insulation, I thought “why not?” I watched the how-to video Jed sent and it didn’t look like rocket science. 

Turns out I’m good at it. Or at least fast. I cranked out five of those puppies in the time it took the group of us to finish a dozen. (If my five are the first to fall apart, we’ll never know, since they’re all identical.) They now hang in a room at PAC which will be used to create videos to use on the church website or for Sunday services.

So if the writing gig doesn’t work out, I have another option up my sleeve: professional sound panel builder. Now that I’m of an age where the world is no longer my oyster, it’s a comfort to possess skills which I’m sure are in high demand around here.

An Update on the Book

Since I announced that my novel finally found a publisher, some of you have asked about the process.

Okay, maybe one of you asked. 

I’m happy to say the first half of my advance has been deposited and partly spent. I’ve survived  a conference call with my acquisitions editor, Erin, in New York City and my developmental editor, Shari, in Oregon. Erin oversees the whole project while Shari is currently working with the manuscript and must return it to me by June 6 with suggested improvements regarding plot, character, and overall story. Right now I’ve no idea how intense those revisions might be, but I suspect there’ll be no time for making sound panels, attending concerts, cutting grass, or any other such frivolity for the three weeks they give me to rewrite and return it. 

After that, we do one more quick back-and-forth before it goes on to a copy editor and a line editor who go over it with fine tooth combs. Then the marketing people do their thing with cover design and promotions, gearing up to release it in January. It’s quite the process and I’m finding it fascinating, exciting, and still pretty unbelievable.

Thanks for asking!

A Word for Teachers

I attended an excellent spring concert at WestparkSchool last week—my, but Portage is home to a lot of talented young people! I’ll never know where a music teacher begins to teach students a song when it’s strictly percussion—I think I counted over 25 drums, trash cans, and other things that can be beat upon—but it was thrilling to hear and see. Well done, Tyson Anderson! 

Teachers of all stripes, you amaze me. With June here, you are no doubt counting the days. If I can give you a word of encouragement to help you through your last month, it’s this: please don’t simply hang in there during this crazy time. Sometimes it takes only one comment from a respected teacher to change the course of a student’s life forever. Even if you have only 15 days left with your students, ask yourself how many life-giving comments can be uttered in the span of 15 days. Make them count. One day you will see the impact you made, and you’ll be glad you resisted the temptation to check out early. 

And whatever they pay you, it’s not enough. If I ruled the world, rock stars and teachers would trade salaries. God bless you!