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November 15, 2008

As the Talking Heads once asked, "My God, What Have I Done?"

Well the unplanned trip to Ireland and Scotland to which I
committed myself is happening. The second I confirmed
“buy this trip” on Expedia, I really had no choice. I have
always made fun of people for buying things simply because
they are bargains. Well, no more. A freaking plane ticket?
That might be the worst offense I’ve ever heard of. I bought it
because it was so cheap, with no planning, saving, or honestly,
much thought behind it.

Would I consider wasting a plane ticket to Dublin? Of course not.
But I am getting nervous about saving enough money to go. It’s
now less than 3 months away and I could buy a few packages
of Ramen noodles with the money in my savings account, and
not much more. I booked my room in Edinburgh, and put down
a very small deposit. There’s no turning back now. Tonight I will
reserve my rooms in Dublin and Belfast. I’ve made contact with
people from all three places on myspace, so hopefully I will get
to meet up with a few of them, or at least get some good pointers.
I will be getting my tax return shortly before leaving, so that will
be the bulk of my spending money, but I’m still nervous as hell.
I feel like I should have the money in my pocket as we speak.
But, I have a plane ticket, by god. If I have to sleep on the
streets, sell finger paintings and rely on the kindness of
strangers to get by, well, at least I’m finally going to have
a real vacation for the first time in years. If I have to eat
gruel to prepare for it, then so be it.

I don’t have the web addresses handy, but I am staying at the
Abberley House in Dublin, The Old Rectory in Belfast and
Tantallon Place in Edinburgh.

Viva la Ramen!



November 6, 2008

Am I Blue? You Betcha!

I’ve never been much good at multi-tasking. Tuesday night was no
exception. I was trying to talk to my two best friends at the same
time. At almost straight-up 10:00PM, Jill was crying in my cell
phone from Colorado, and Kathi was screaming on the verge of
tears on my land line. I screamed and babbled into both phones
and took the first call I’d gotten. I was giddy, I was confused, and
I have poor motor skills.

I saw the polling numbers, I saw states like Pennsylvania and Ohio
go blue, but still I didn’t believe it. Our country elected a black man
as its president (technically he is bi-racial, but I’m not one to be
technical.) After I’d talked to both of my friends and was ordered to
go to the Dubliner to celebrate by Jill, I stopped for a moment and
felt very sad that my father didn’t live to see this day come.

My parents raised my sister and me to believe that all people are
created equal, and that bigotry is intolerable. By the time I was six
years old I knew who Martin Luther King, Jr. was and what he had
done; I knew what the Holocaust was, and that it must never happen
again. I knew that some of my ancestors were killed as their country
was stolen from them. I will forever be grateful to my parents for that.
Yes, my father would have indeed loved how far we have come as a nation.

As happy as I was about the huge step our country took, I was more
excited that the candidate I supported and believed in won. It sounds
corny to say “I don’t see color,” because we all do. And that’s not a
bad thing. We’re all different. But it took a few minutes for the gravity
of the situation to really sink in. At first I was just ecstatic that “my”
candidate won. But folks, we were a part of history on Tuesday. Had
a very conservative African American been elected, I would have been
happy about the step our country took. I surely would have gotten choked
up. And then today I could go about the business of bitching and moaning
about his or her position on issues! And that is one thing that makes our
country great. I may not agree with them, but one of the reason I love
America is because those who oppose Obama have no fear of being
put in prison for speaking out against him.

I now feel confident that I will see a woman leading this great country
before I die. I feel pretty sure that it won’t be Hillary Clinton, or me, but
it will happen! And I will be happy. But, I never want to support a
candidate simply because of skin color or gender. If I agree with the
generic white guy’s platform, bring him on.

I wish I had taken pictures at The Dubliner. It looked like an
Obama-endorsed rally. The bar was as crowded as a Friday night,
and the TVs were blasting. People listened to the acceptance speech,
clapping and screaming along with the crowd in Chicago. I felt like I was
at a rock concert. I know I saw a few tears, and I was proud to be on
the little blue island of Dallas County in this red state. Anyone who
thinks that all of our individual and collective problems will suddenly
vanish is, quite frankly, delusional! But it’s good to see hope again.
It’s good to feel it.

I saw on the news tonight that there were problems at Baylor University,
including a noose hanging from a tree, and Obama signs being burned.
This at the good ol’ Baptist University. Hhhmmmm…I refuse to comment
here. I know there will be more acts of hatred, ignorance and bigotry.
I just dearly hope that our next President and his lovely family will be safe.

Finally - and I know my animal-loving brethren are with me on this – I am
thrilled that the First Family is going to get a dog! I’m even happier that
they said in a recent interview that they are going to rescue a dog! Now
if I could just get Charlie to stop lobbying to be the First Dog. J



September 28, 2008

So who ever said blogging was a full time job?

It's been awhile. I entered a couple of short story contests some months
back and didn't even get an honorable mention. That's okay, considering
how many people enter. Gone is my beginners luck, that's for sure. I
guess the good thing is that one entry was actually new work. Of course,
it's now been months since that was written, with nothing to follow it up. I
miss writing, but I can't seem to find the inspiration to do it. I had a dream
last night that a film was made of my book, which is odd, seeing as it is
comprised of 25 very short stories! I remember coming to the realization
that "someone owes me for the film rights to this bitch!" I wonder what
that means? (I also dreamed that I was visiting someone I hate in another
city, when we witnessed the crash of a Southwest Airlines plane.
It was extremely unpleasant. Ugh....)

So I've gone and done something a little crazy. I have forced myself to
save a lot of money in the next 4 1/2 months. I found an unbelievably
cheap round trip ticket to Dublin on Expedia, and by golly I bought it.
Nonrefundable. So now I've found myself planning a trip to Dublin,
Belfast and Edinburgh. I leave on Friday the 13th (February '09.)
Good thing I'm not superstitious. At least I have the luck o' the
Irish on my side!

Maybe I can write a book set in Ireland..... :-)



August 2, 2008

How Music Makes Everything Better, or, At the Gym With a Non-Gym Rat!

It’s a well known fact that I’m a little challenged; I just can’t, well…figure
things out. However, I have recently made progress and, dare I say,
advanced from Neanderthal to “Early Modern Human,” (formerly known as
Cro-Magnon.) Yes, I have conquered the MP3 player. It really took no time
to figure it out once I tried. After all, it didn’t require any assembly and did
not come with those evil stick-figure “instructions” like my Ikea TV stand.

Being the person who doesn’t want to be there and feels totally self-conscious,
I was very nervous my first day at the gym. “This won’t be so bad,” I told
myself as I walked into 24 Hour Fitness. Oh yes, it would be. I was the oldest
and most out of shape person there! Seriously. And it’s not as if I’m 80 years
old and weight 300 pounds. Jeez. Where were all the normal people? The
people trying to lose weight or to get back in shape like me?? I knew I wouldn’t
last more than a day. A couple I call “Mr. and Mrs. Sporty Sport Sports" planted
their toned, tanned twenty-something bodies in front of me and made me watch
them run on the treadmill. There was no jiggling as they ran. I hated them. Who
wants to work out with your boyfriend or girlfriend anyway? I’m all for getting
hot and sweaty together, but like that? Yuck. I wouldn’t want my significant
other anywhere near me while I was working out.

I didn’t fare much better when I went upstairs to lift weights. I walked past the
grunting muscle heads and gave the weight machines my ever-popular caveman
stare. I had no idea what I was doing, so I found free weights and tried not to
look stupid and tried not to look in the mirror. A girl with approximately 3% body
fat joined me, expertly hoisting a bar bell, totally blasting her rear delts. And boy
was she tan. Everyone was tan. Am I the only person left on earth who is worried
about skin cancer? I may be pasty, but by god, they will look fifty before
I am forty-five!

Luckily, subsequent trips to the gym were not so bad. The normal people showed
up, some of whom were older than me. A few of them were a LOT older, too. I
knew I could do it after all, even though I was still uncomfortable. But working out
with my shiny new friend made all the difference. As I watched Mr. and Mrs.
Sporty Sport Sports’ perfect calves in front of me, Billy Idol wailed “your generation
don’t mean a thing to me!” I had to smile. The weakness in my de-conditioned quads
didn’t seem so bad as I tried to keep from humming along with Elvis Costello and
Glenn Tilbrook’s irresistibly catchy, “From a Whisper to a Scream.” (Try to listen
to that bitch and not tap your foot.) The dude jumping rope when I was on the
bicep machine had no idea he was keeping perfect time to the Arctic Monkeys.

The first hour or so with my MP3 player went by really quickly. I almost enjoyed it.
In the immortal words of Kip Dynamite, “I love technology.”



July 26, 2008

Where the hell have I been?

Writing, taking classes, creating silly paintings, getting back in shape...
Well, uh, no. None of the above. The muse is still AWOL and things are
just sort of blah. But one thing has remained the same. I AM A COMPLETE
MORON.

My entertainment center got broken the day I moved into the townhouse
I'm in right now. That was almost two years ago. I put my TV on my dining
room table, because I don't have room for the table here anyway. I put up
with the white trash/college effect until February 1st of this year. That day
I went to Ikea on my lunch break and finally bought a TV cabinet. I didn't
want another entertainment center because I plan on upgrading my TV,
and it will be a different shape. Also playing a part in my decision was
the fact that something smaller would be easy to put together. Right.

I managed to avoid inguinal and abdominal hernias as well as exacerbation
of my bad back as I lugged the heavy thing inside. I opened the box and
pulled out the instructions. This was my first Ikea purchase, so I had no
idea they use f-ing..stick people! Seriously, I need words. Silly caveman
drawings mean nothing to me. I felt like said caveman myself as I stared
slack-jawed at the little booklet. I've taken it out a few times since then,
with the same result. The TV cabinet sits in pieces five and a half
(almost 6) months later, propped up against the stairs and the old dining
room table.

I also bought a pull-up bar shortly after I got the TV stand. This way I could
eventually start to do real pull ups, not even having to use a chair for assistance.
Yay! All a part of getting back in shape, you know. Well, needless to say,
I couldn't figure out how to get the damn thing mounted in a doorway.
And I don't have a drill. It sits between the love seat and a wall, along with
Charlie's toys.

A few months ago I bought a water filtration thing for my faucet. Surely this
was something I could figure out. Um, yeah…no. I couldn't get the little thing
screwed on to my damn faucet. Balls.

How have I managed to function alone for all these years? I have no idea.
But at least I can change a tire. Even in heels.



June 10, 2008

Happy Birthday to Me!

My birthday party Saturday night was so much fun! I got to see
so many people I adore. Jill and Chris were in town from Colorado,
so that made it extra special. It was so nice seeing old friends like
Gretchen and Peter, and new friends I'm so happy to have met. I
even got a short story idea brewing in my head, then promptly lost it!
Oh well, maybe I will remember it one day. Progress? Maybe!
Anyway, pictures will be posted soon. Stay tuned!



May 25, 2008

Happy Memorial Day

Well it's been awhile, hasn't it? I didn't forget about my web site.
I guess I just haven't had much to say. I've been trying to "get it
back," so to speak. I'm feeling much better, and even worked out
4 days this week, for the first time since November or December.
I've been listening to music more lately, hoping maybe that would
inspire me to write, but still...nothing. I'm not giving up, though.
Like I said in a previous entry, I can't force it. As I slowly return
to some semblance or normalcy, perhaps my desire to tell a story
will return with it.

I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday!!

MM



May 1, 2008

SOME THINGS I MISS

I miss writing. That was the whole purpose of me starting this
web site - to accompany the book I wrote. Dry spells and writer's
block are not unusual, but this one is dragging on a bit longer than
I'd prefer. I think I might have written one new story since November.
Maybe October? I wonder where my muse has gone, where my focus
has run off to, and if my creativity has disappeared. I feel like the well
has dried up and I don't know how to get it back. I do know that I can't
force it. Anything I write that is forced inevitably stinks. I guess I just
have to be patient and maybe sit down one day and see if anything
comes to me. Sometimes I wish I could be one of those prolific
people who just HAS to create, all the time.

I also miss being in good shape. For years I worked out every day,
5-6 days a week, and it was just a natural part of my day. I was strong
and I felt good and I never got sick. Now my legs feel like they might
catch on fire after I get up the stairs to my second-floor office. I'm
lethargic, I catch colds more easily and I can rarely even find the
energy to clean house, much less exercise. I don't even know
what is the cause and what is the effect anymore. This is something
I CAN force, but I don't know how to force myself to force myself.
Uh, that didn't make any sense.

Some might say I need to get in touch with my spirit, find my desire
and motivation. I think I just need a good old-fashioned kick in the
pants.



April 21, 2008

The Aging of Generation X

I'm middle-aged. Middle-aged. That term is innocuous enough,
but when I use it to describe myself, it's terrifying. I never thought
I would get old, but then I guess no one does. As we cruise
carelessly through our teenage years and twenties, middle age
seems like some unfortunate infirmity that happens to everyone
else. But alas, the years go by and we get real jobs, get married,
spawn, and begin to notice wrinkles etched into our once-smooth,
naive faces. Hair begins to grow where it should not, even as it
disappears from our pretty little heads. We're here, in middle
adulthood. No longer can we check that 18-34 demo on forms
we fill out. I'm old enough to be a cougar. Everything has
changed. But has it really?

Is it just me, or does it seem like my generation - "Generation X,"
as one Douglas Coupland christened us - is resisting middle age
more than any before us? We're not going down without a fight,
by god. I can't speak for everyone, but I for one don't feel that I
should be staring down the barrel of the big 4-0. In many ways,
I still feel like a kid. And I don't think that's just because I never
had any of my own. I still wear my hair in pigtails sometimes,
wear silly or mildly offensive t-shirts, and I listen to the same
music I did when I was sixteen. It seems like most of my friends
and cohorts are much the same. We haven't left behind the
culture of our formative years. We haven't forgotten where
we came from.

I wonder if there will come a time when we do leave it behind
and accept that we're getting old? Will I be wearing my infamous
"Who Needs Big Tits When You Have an Ass Like This?" t-shirt
when I'm 55? (I guess that depends on what my rear end looks like!)
Will Darin be wearing his checkered Vans in the Heritage Gardens
Rest Home? Will we know if and when we start to look foolish? Do
younger people think we're pathetic, like Uncle Rico waxing nostalgic
about how he could have won state?

I don't know, but as long as I still get carded now and then, I'll continue
to laugh at sophomoric guy humor, wear really tall shoes, and listen to
the blankety-blank Pretenders first album!

For more on this subject, check out this New York Magazine
article on the "grup" phenomenon.

http://nymag.com/news/features/16529/



April 14, 2008

Ten Good Years

I know it has nothing to do with writing or my book..but I had
Charlie's 10th birthday party tonight at the Dubliner. Yeah, I
know, just an excuse for people to get together and have a
good time. But I think Charlie did too! I took a lot of good
pictures of him and his friends. Hope you enjoy.

Maybe I'll write again one day. In the meantime, enjoy
the pictures and write a nice review for me on Amazon.com!



April 9, 2008

Keepin it real for a decade!

For those of you here in town:

The agoraphobicanine is turning 10! Come celebrate and watch
as Charlie sneaks to the bathrooms, tries to go behind the bar,
and ignores any other dogs that might be there. Come shake
his hand, and buy him a bowl of water.

When :   Sunday, April 14th 2008 @4:00
Where:   The Dubliner
              2818 Greenville Ave
              Dallas, TX 75206

(Another excuse to get together and have a few drinks!) No need to RSVP.



April 1, 2008

Urgent, lost!

Missing muse, lost approximately November 2007. Alleged
"writer" desperately needs to find her. Needs medication, is
a little frightened of children, and doesn't always play well with
others. Would do best as only muse. Some potty training issues,
very food agressive but affectionate.

If you have any information, please email
marci@marcimangham.com



March 25, 2008

What is "normal" behavior?

When people are depressed, they tend to exhibit behaviors
which are unlike those they exhibit when feeling healthy. Some
may stop eating, cry constantly, eat far more than usual, drink
too much, spend too much money, retreat from family and friends,
lash out and become angry more easily, become impulsive and
reckless, reach out to people from the past, sleep all the time,
suffer from insomnia, seek counseling, go on medication,
suffer from fatigue, get sick more often, suffer from poor
performance at work or school, experience loss of libido,
pour themselves into hobbies/creative endeavors, lose
interest in things they normally enjoy, buy leather pants...
wait, WHAT???? Is that normal "depression behavior??"

Oh yeah. Yours Truly was terribly depressed a couple of weeks
ago and whilst perusing ebay, found a pair of leather pants for
which the auction was about to end, for a VERY low price. For
reasons I don’t understand and can’t explain, I bid on them. And
won. By the time they arrived Saturday evening, I had long since
forgotten what in the world possessed me! I didn’t even wear leather
pants 20 years ago. What was I thinking? Turns out they are too
small and I can’t button them, but even if they fit, what would I do
with them? Even if they fit, even if I had someplace to wear them
(not to mention the desire) it’s quickly getting way too warm for
them. And plus I’m ALMOST 39. Good grief. I never even looked
at the "normal" pants, for which I did the original search. I have
to say, though, they’re a great length and a beautiful pair of pants.
Maybe I’ll resell them on ebay.

Perhaps depression can affect the leather-pants-buying-hormone.
Or maybe my whacked-out thyroid did it! Or maybe my blood
pressure had spiked at the moment I bid on them!

Yeah, that’s my story and I’m sticking to it.



March 18, 2008

Kickin' it Old School

This past weekend was the big pre-St. Patty's celebration,
in Dallas and all over the world. Those of you who live here
are aware of the Greenville Avenue Parade and post-parade
street party. The party has gotten absolutely huge over the last
6 years or so, and I can no longer tolerate wall-to-wall people.
Ick. It's just too much, I become claustrophobic, and I end up
wanting to hit someone. I had no intention of going anywhere
near it.

My friends Darin and Caren live a few streets down, and one
block over from The Dubliner, which is the center of the madness.
They invited me to their party Saturday, which I thought sounded
like a fun alternative to the mayhem up the street. (It was, by the way.)
Darin's "special occasion" band, The Mumbles, were to play The
Dubliner at 7:00 that night. Of course they invited me to go along,
but I thought I'd probably rather pull my own toenails out than face
the Dub any time on Saturday. They assured me that a large chunk
of the idiot population would be gone by the time night fell. Well, to
my own surprise, I drove my car home and set out on foot to see the
Mumbles play. It's a short drive from home, but a fairly long walk. I
wasn't scared, though, since there were so many cops and cabs out.
It reminded me of being in New Orleans during Halloween or Mardi
Gras - no fear, because you really aren't alone.

The Dubliner wasn't nearly the nightmare I had expected, and The
Mumbles were great. I never go see live music, but this was too much
fun. They're an 80s cover band, but they don't perform the standard
"I Melt With You" and "Tainted Love," nor do they do pop or hair metal
songs. Nope, they play music I listened to back then and actually still like.
They opened with "Don't Change" by INXS and did songs by The Jam,
The Pretenders, Dead Kennedys, Wire Train, Elvis Costello, Lords of the
New Church and so on. I even stayed for all 3 sets. It almost made me feel
young again!

Of course, when I got to work Monday and had to leave at 11:30 to rush to
the doctor for elevated blood pressure, I was reminded that I am NOT. Rats.



March 11, 2008

I Actually Got Something Done

Maybe there's something to that "tortured artist" thing. Im
going through a very hard time right now, and after months
of getting nothing done, this weekend I entered four stories
in a contest, worked a little on both of my novels, and did a
new painting that I actually like (I'd post a picture of it but I
don't know how!) Maybe it's not depression and it was just
the booze! Or maybe my dry spell is over. Who knows?
Whatever the case, it felt good to say that I did something
besides sit around and cry and eat too much. Too bad I
never got my laundry done, though. Damn.



March 6, 2008

Born Bad?

I've been wondering lately if some beings are just "born bad."
There is that whole nature versus nurture thing, as some
acquaintances and I pointed out while talking about pit bulls
at the Dubliner the other day. I've met so many of them
through volunteering, and the majority of them are such
dear, sweet, happy dogs. They have the capacity to be
dangerous weapons, but that's pretty much always due
to being mishandled by stupid people. People who want
to fight them, or just think it's cool to have a "tough" dog.
They're not given any love or affection and are often chained
up or worse. That's pretty much a recipe for disaster with any
large, strong dog. But I seriously doubt any dog is born
irreversibly mean.

People....I don't know. I watched an old interview Stone Phillips
did with Jeffrey Dahmer and his father the other day. Chilling.
It seems as if most serial killers, or violent criminals of any type,
have a history of being the victims of violence themselves. Many
of them were physically and/or sexually abused as children.
Dahmer? Not so much. By his own admmission his childhood
was basically normal, good times and bad just like all of us. His
parents seemed totally normal. Personally, I'd much rather know
that he'd suffered some terrible abuse as a child. It's frightening
to know that someone became capable of such gruesome crimes
for no apparent reason. Born bad? I guess some people are.

We all have our faults. Some people are emotionally crippled, too
cowardly to not end up hurting those who love them somehow. Some
people are so submissive that they make themselves targets and
spend their whole lives forgiving people and letting themselves be
taken advantage of. Some people have to be the center of attention
and have to know everything about everything and show how smart
they are. Some people are selfish and antisocial. And on and on
and on. I think people are basically good for the most part, even
though we've all got SERIOUS issues. (Yours Truly definitely included!)

But damn, how do you end up raping and eating people???



February 29, 2008

Where Have you Been All My Life??

I'm almost 39 years old (gasp!) and I finally got my very first
brand new computer. It was installed while I was on a business
trip in Las Vegas (my least favorite place in the US, by the way)
earlier this week. My first computer was a laptop my friend Neil
sold me for fifty bucks. My second was a free computer Neil built
with spare parts, and the third and most recent was one I bought
for $25 from my friend Kathi's employer when they upgraded to
new ones. To say that I got my $75 worth out of the three computers
for the last several years would be a huge understatement! But the
latest one had become so slow and full and viruses (despite the fact
that I regularly ran two separate virus scans) that it was almost
unusable. It took over 20 minutes just to start up, bless its heart.

My new Dell is amazing! I'm finally getting my money's worth
since I've been paying for high speed DSL and working at a
snail's pace. I have a cool printer, Windows Vista, and a nice
little flat screen monitor. It's great! I might even name it. I can't
decide if I'll spend more time up here because it's so much fun
to play with, or less because everything takes so much less time.
Whatever the case, I hope I will write more.

I did write one short new entry for the story contest. You have to
start somewhere, I guess!

Despite not being a fan of Vegas, I did have a good time on
my trip. I always enjoy seeing my colleagues from around the
country, and meeting new people. On the surface, I wouldn't
expect to have much in common with anyone in the insurance
business (hey wait, aren't I in the insurance biz??) but it's always
nice to see "superiors," "colleagues" or "generic white businessmen"
turn into real people when you talk to them. I got a little plug for my
book and took a copy of it with me, and I passed out the last of my
bookmarks and cards. Maybe someone will buy it and read it. And
maybe he or she will even like it.



February 24, 2008

Update on my 'life partner'

I think I might have mentioned in my blog a couple of months
ago that my dog Charlie was ill. He is my constant and only
companion, so I was devastated when the vet thought he
might have intestinal cancer. He withered away to 58 pounds,
which is tiny for a German Shepherd, even one with such a
naturally thin frame.

To our surprise, his ultrasound did not show any masses, just
mild to moderate thickening, consistent with inflammatory bowel
disease. He was put on Prednisone and Pepcid, and LOTS of
food, including canned food and yogurt. I am happy to report
that he is off the special, expensive food and I have been able
to greatly reduce his Prednisone dosage. And he hasn't thrown
up since October!

Best of all, the ridiculous feedings have put 17 pounds on him.
He weighs 75 pounds now, almost more than he's ever weighed
in his life. I've actually had to reduce his food intake a little.
Yay Charlie!

Charlie is such an odd little dog. He even has his own myspace
page. I guess Dogster wasn't good enough. Check him out:

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=338975662



February 18, 2008

Better late than never

I finally got my first royalty check from the publisher, and I was
able to pay two of my charities. Originally I said I would donate
50% of the royalties I received from my book sales, but I've
decided to make it 100%. I haven't really sold enough books
to distribute among 4 different charities. Maybe I should have
just picked one? Oh well, at least I will be able to give them all
something! I will have to wait until I get my replacement debit
card to pay the other two since they didn't have PayPal options
on their web sites. (I've been very scattered and losing things lately.)
I never realized how much I'd come to depend on that little gold card.

Speaking of my mind being on other things, I haven't written
anything in months. Writer's block, depression, lack of creativity,
no new ideas, age, lack of confidence or desire...I can't really say
exactly why I haven't written anything. But I am going to take some
baby steps and enter a short story contest. I can enter as many
times as I choose, so I plan to regurgitate some old ones, which
I hope will lead to creating a new one. Maybe more than one? I
think I have the desire, so hopefully I will remember to actually do
it. I don't have my sights set on winning; at this point I just want
to write something new!



February 04, 2008

SURPRISE!! (For pictures from the party, click here)

My book release release party was Saturday, and I had a great
time. Many thanks to those who took the time to come by. I know
everyone was busy, so it meant a great deal. The only problem
with hosting a party is that I don't get enough time to talk to any
one person. Not everyone knew each other and I hated to think
that anyone was bored, or felt ignored. I was so busy trying to
talk to everyone that I forgot for the first couple of hours that I
had my camera. If anyone who was taking pictures wants to
email me some, that would be great. Especially if I'm not in them.
(You all know how psycho I am about pictures of myself and how
they ruin my day!) Special thanks also to Chris and the entire staff
of the Capitol Pub. It was a the perfect setting for a great time, and
they even have Smithwyk's on tap now. Sweet.

The highlight of the day came about an hour or hour and a half into
it. I looked up and thought, "Wow, that looks just like Jill." Jill is my
oldest, dearest friend who has lived in Colorado for the last ten years.
Just as the lovely lookalike removed her sunglasses, I realized that it
WAS Jill!!!! I was so excited that I screamed and fell to my knees like
I'd just been shot, or healed by a televangelist! She came down just for
my party. What a great surprise! Her Mom did a terrific job of keeping
it a secret, even from my Mom. Thanks Carol! And thanks to Chris for
being such a great dad and husband and encouraging Jill to come
down to surprise me. We had such a good time catching up with
each other, and she with our old friends Dave, Malina, Ian, and
Ricky.

And last but not least, special thanks to Tina, Jill and Tara.
I realized I didn't spend a penny all day. :-)



February 01, 2008

It's the thought that counts...right??

Well, I checked my royalty statement at Xlibris, and it shows
royalties for the third quarter 2007 "unpaid as of 12-31-07."
Well, they're still unpaid, and I really want to make donations
to my charities. I'm not sure how all this works, but I would
think that I might be getting a check soon. Or maybe not!
Perhaps I'll just make the donations now, and just keep the
royalty check when it comes in. Not that I'll be bestowing
great riches upon my charities (believe me, I've not sold
that many books!) but I want to donate as planned. It's not
as if anyone was wondering or waiting, but it bothers me.
Oh well. I'll wait a little longer. Patience has certainly never
been my strongest virtue.

I hope to see a lot of friends Saturday at my book release
party. It should be a good time!



January 26, 2008

A Shout Out to Silas Green

Who is he? That's a good question. Yesterday I stumbled
across a nice 5-star review of my little book on Amazon.com,
written by one Silas Green. I don't know anyone by that name!
I thought I knew or knew of everyone who had purchased and/or
read my book. Maybe a friend used a pseudonym? I'm not sure,
but whoever you are, thank you so much for your kinds words,
and for taking the time to do that!

I'm feeling much better than I was the day I wrote my cryptic
"people never change" blog entry. There was some misinformation
involved, and I am just in a better place in general (knock on wood!).
The men in the white coats can stay away for now.

Since I am not in school this semester, I need to get to work on my
novels after I get myself caught up at work. My sister hopes one of
them will pay off her mortgage one day, so I have my work cut out
for me. Now if only I can replace the broken torture device at my
desk with a proper chair so I can sit comfortably for more than
10 minutes!



January 18, 2008

Book Release Party

Saturday February 2, 2008 from 3 PM until?

Location: The Capitol Pub – 2401 N. Henderson (at Capitol) Dallas, TX 75206 (214) 887-9330

www.capitolpubdallas.com

Please RSVP to marci@marcimangham.com or 214-515-0776, 214-923-4797



January 15, 2008

Not the feel-good blog of the year...

I've always known that you can't change a person, but I
was naive and believed that people could change, for the
better. Now I know that people just don't change. I found
out the hard way. And it sucks. Oh yeah, I also quit school.
Maybe I'll have time to write fiction or nonsensical blogs.
But this is all I've got right now.



January 13, 2008

Back to normal

Well it's been a nice break, but Spring semester starts
Monday, and I've looked at the syllabus for both classes,
as well as assignments and their due dates. I'm going to
be FAR busier this semester. It only gets harder! I hope
my feeble old brain is up to the task.

I got sick on December 28th, and didn't get rid of it for
about 11 days. Of course I was sick on New Years Eve.
I'm sure I would have spent NYE on the couch alone in
my jammies anyway, but I had to complain about it since
I was sick and didn't have a choice! Now I'm just trying to
get back to normal and get back in shape. I haven't been
taking very good care of myself the last few months.

I'm still trying to sell copies of the book. My sales page is
somewhat dismal. I really think the stupid $19.99 price the
publisher set has kept people from buying it. Or maybe no
one cares about the stupid thing! ha! Oh well. My poor
charities...It is cool to see my book on Amazon and Barnes
and Noble, etc. I have even found it in Africa, The Czech
Republic, Germany, Italy, France, and all over the UK. Cool.

Ah well, just a quick post to show that I really do still exist.
Santa, the Easter Bunny and me! Ta ta!!



December 25, 2007

Happy Holidays!

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa, Happy
Festivus - whatever you celebrate, I hope it's a good one. I
am in the middle of six days off in a row, which is more time
off than I've had in YEARS. I said I was going to get some
work done on my novels, but so far I've done nothing. And it's
been great. No work, no school (I got a 4.0 in both classes last
semester, by the way.) I go back to work for two days, then I
get four more off. Going back to work with no holidays until
Memorial Day will be a shock to the system! But for now I
am going to enjoy this idle time immensely, and I will not
feel guilty for being completely unproductive.

I'm sorry if you're waiting for Xlibris to mail your book. They
haven't shipped any since December 12th, unfortunately. Oh
well, there's nothing I can't do to change that. I hope everyone
has a safe and happy holiday season!

-MM



December 17, 2007

What's more important, time or money??

Well my book is now available on Amazon.com. It appears that it
is in stock and available for immediate shipping. I'm not sure if
that is the case or not, but if so, it might be a little less annoying
than having to wait almost a month to get it from Xlibris. The only
drawback is that I get a lower royalty from orders made through
other retailers. Normally that wouldn't be a big deal, but since I'm
giving to charity, I want all the money I can get! But, I also
understand that it's irritating to have to wait forever for something.
So, I encourage anyone to try and order from Amazon, or Barnes
and Noble once it's on there. Also, if you read it and liked it at all,
feel free to write a review on Amazon. But please, no reviews
if you hated it!



December 10, 2007

BOOK SIGNING...Wait...what??

I've had so many people ask me if I would sign their copy of my
book. I have to admit, I'm taken aback. I'm a nobody, after all.
I'm just a person who likes to make up stories and decided to
have some of them bound together in a book with a cool picture
on the cover. Most of those who have bought the book are family,
personal friends, colleagues, or acquaintances. To give them
an "autograph" seems so arrogant. I did manage to sign one so
far, and for someone who can affect whether or not a get a pay
check, no less! For the record, she asked, I didn't offer.

My friend Janice (who also proclaimed herself my agent!)
suggested that I have a book signing event. I pretty much
pish-poshed her away (that was an ode to you, Jim Harvey!)
and said that was silly. But I had toyed with the idea of a book
release party before this thing was a reality. Now I'm thinking
that I will have said party, and if anyone wants me to sign a
copy of the book, then fine - I'll do it. And call it a book signing
if you want to! Details will be forthcoming. It will likely happen
after the holidays, either at the Dubliner or the Capitol Pub in
Dallas. Stay tuned. If nothing else, it's a good excuse to get
together for fun and drinks. And I can pretend I have a social life!



December 04, 2007

CANCEL THE APB

Well it seems book orders are finally being processed. There
was a strange 12-day lag between the first orders and the next
batch, but slowly but surely they are going out. I know at least
five people have gotten theirs, so if you have ordered one but
haven't received it, seems it will take a good 3 weeks, give or
take a few days. I doubt the process will be any faster once
it's available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, etc.

Thanks for your orders and your patience!



November 28, 2007

WHAT'S TAKING SO LONG?

Well if you've ordered my book and are wondering where the
heck it is...well I don't know either! I checked my sales page
and it's still only showing that I have sold 4 books, the last one
being shipped 11-15-07.

I called Xlibris and they just reiterated that it takes 10-15
BUSINESS days for the book to be printed (remember it's
print on demand) and shipped. There's been a holiday as
well so that would cause a little more of a delay. Sales are
only on my account page once they've shipped; if I don't
see any shipments in the next couple of days, I will call
Xlibris back.

Please email me if you ordered the book between 11-2
and 11-5 and have not gotten it!



November 19, 2007

My first foray into “real” writing

Well after having written four essays and weekly responses
to readings, it was finally time for my final English assignment
of the semester. We were to do a five-page research paper,
using various resources such as books, newspapers, interviews,
periodicals, web sites, etc. This was the first paper in which we
were to include a Works Cited page and credit our sources.

I started late due to all of my health issues, getting the previous
essay done, and studying for my Psych exam. I wasn’t sure what
in the world my topic would be (we were free to choose our own.)
Wednesday night as I was falling asleep, I decided on animal
hoarding, a subject about which I already knew quite a lot due to
my volunteer experience. I had absolutely no luck finding resources
at books stores or libraries. There is a fair amount of information on
the Internet, but we were encouraged not to just utilize the Web for
our sources. I ended up wasting $15 on a book about compulsive
hoarding, not specifically animal hoarding. Still, it gave me a little
information. I found a couple of sources on the Internet that were
copies of periodical articles, or reports from forums, not just web
site articles. Finally it started coming together.

It took me a few hours, but I got it done. I hope I cited and credited
my sources correctly. This was just the first of many papers I will write
if I am successful in continuing my education. It was probably the
easiest as well, but I’m still happy that I got it done, and I hope that
my first draft doesn’t need much work. Special thanks goes to my
dear old friend Christian Courtwright for being my expert interview!
That really helped flesh out the paper. Here’s hoping that I do well
on this one. It will be something to build on in the LONG journey
ahead of me.

Now that I’m pretty much finished with English for the semester, other
than revising my draft, maybe I will have some time in between working
and studying Psychology to work on my novels, Claus Rising and Post
Mortem. Here's hoping!



November 11, 2007

Inflammatory bowels and high blood pressure, oh my!

Well I seem to have disappeared now that the book has been
published. I guess that makes sense, since I have no updates
on the production status to post. Still, I should have taken the
time to say thank you to my friends, family and colleagues who
have either ordered the book, or have just been really nice and
supportive. (But of course a special thanks goes out to those
who have bought it, in spite of the inflated price Xlibris is
charging!) Apparently it takes something like 15 days for them
to print a copy, so I won't be able to access the numbers on
how many have been ordered until they've actually produced
them and sent them out. I hope there will be enough sales for
me to be able to send more than $5 checks to my charities!

The reasons for my disappearace are mostly health-related.
My own and Charlie's. I think I may have found out for sure
today that Charlie does not have intestinal cancer, just
inflammatory bowel disease. But even that is no picnic.
And I think going to the doctor will be a new Tuesday
tradition for me - this coming one will be three in a row.
Hopefully my issues can get taken care of pretty quickly
and easily and I can get back to business. It's just kind of
hard to find the energy to blog about books and writing when
you feel as if your head or heart are about to explode!



November 2, 2007

The Book Is Out!

Well the book is ready. I hope no one thinks that I believe this
is some award-winning best seller. Not at all! This is just a small
collection of short stories I've written over the last few years. I
decided to put them together in a little anthology as a gift to
myself. Hopefully the royalties I plan to donate to charity will be
a nice gift for those in need as well. Someday I hope to have my
novels published the traditional way - they will pay ME to publish!

One of the drawbacks of self-publishing (well, subsidy publishing)
is the cost of corrections you don't catch. I managed to find a few
things that slipped through even after basic copy edit (the program,
though done by a human, is still a program. It changed "shone" to
"shined" in one story and I didn't catch it until it was too late!). I
couldn't afford the expense or time of correcting in the stage at
which I noticed. There are a few other little things like 9 instead
of "nine," etc., and one consistency error.
Other than that it looks okay.

So that being said, I'm kind of excited. If I die next week and never
see my novels in print, at least now I can say I've been published!
And the cover looks cool. ;-) I feel like the price is excessive due
to the short length of the book, but I had no control over that.
Just remember - it's a good cause!



October 31, 2007

Wednesday Update

Well my biological clock has simmered down a bit. Maybe that's
because I've just been too sick and stressed out to worry about
something I have such little control over. Or maybe it's because
I've finally reached the Adolescence chapter of my Developmental
Psych class!

I have written virtually nothing in my novels the last few weeks. I'm
convinced that I will be eighty years old by the time I finish, and by
then I may not even remember how they started or what I'm supposed
to be writing about. But I will keep plugging along, albeit at a snail's
pace.

That other little book, the one for which I created this site, is going to be
available very soon. They supposedly sent my author copy on the 26th,
so as soon as I take a look at that and fax in my approval, the book will
be available for sale. I'll update the site and blog when that happens.



October 22, 2007

What's that noise?

It must be the incessant sound of my biological clock ticking.
Yep, I said my biological clock. I wasn't sure that I had one,
but, alas, it found me. I've always poked fun at single women
desperate to have children, come hell or high water. Sperm
banks, careless sex, etc., etc. I never understood it before,
but unfortunately I'm beginning to.

I never dreamed of my wedding day as a little girl; I never
longed for a family as a teenager or a young adult. I suppose
I'm not what one would consider "traditional." Some might even
consider me abnormal. And yet, deep down I think I always
assumed that the whole love-marriage-family thing would
happen to me. It just wasn't my top priority. But yet here
I am, in middle adulthood, and none of that happened for
me. I will not have a family. I'm not sure how I feel
about that.

Now when I see children I feel weepy, knowing that I will
never hear a little voice call me "Mommy," and I will never
know that kind of love. I keep hoping that this is only
happening because I have been studying about pregnancy
and childhood for my Developmental Psychology class.
(Maybe the fairy tale will end when I get to adolescence!)

People think there is a stigma attached to, say, single motherhood.
Well try being a woman of a certain age who never married or had
kids. Wow. I get the "aren't you ..cute" attitude, the almost distrustful
looks, what appears to be an urge to mother me from people, and I
also get treated like a joke. No one would ever admit to feeling such
a thing or treating me in this manner, but that's the reality of my life.
I have begun to wonder if people (especially mothers) have any
respect for women who have never had children. We are treated
like we're not real women, like we have not served our purpose for
being alive. And that sucks. I didn't choose this life, but what if I
had? So what if someone doesn't want to spawn? Being able to
reproduce does not define one's worth as a human being.

I think I'm just a little grumpy. I know this blog entry isn't about
my book, writing, my website, or even school. But this is my blog,
and I'm its dictator. So that's it: I wish I'd had kids, and I feel sad.
Still, I want to assure all of my male friends that I will not be chasing
you with a turkey baster any time soon!



October 13, 2007

FUN WITH SPYING

The Patriot Act. Surveillance cameras. Internet search engines.

We hear so much about privacy, a lack thereof, and our right to it.
Some intrusion has unfortunately become a necessary evil, but I
think that to a certain extent, we've just come to believe that we
have a right to information about other people. Or maybe that
has happened as a result of the ease with which it is now obtained.
Is the cause the effect or vice-versa? Chicken or the egg?
Who knows?

When I think about how much information is at our fingertips,
information that was once considered private, I start to feel almost
guilty about my daily snoop. See, every morning I log in to see how
much traffic was on my web site the day before. I like to see how
many visitors I've had, how many countries/regions are represented
etc. ISP numbers for the most active visitors are logged. Sometimes
I can tell who the visitor was, usually if someone looked at my web site
at work and I know the name of his or her employer. Otherwise it's just
"Qwest Communications Cleveland Ohio" or "Charter Communications
Ft. Worth." etc. (If I can track an actual name, I'm not nearly advanced
enough to know how!) But there are a few visitors looking from home
whom I recognize. I don't think anyone who knows me wants to hide the
fact that they've been looking at my web site. So why do I feel guilty about
knowing who's been stopping by? It's not as if I can hear them saying,
"that book is going to be terrible" or "look at the wrinkles on her forehead"
while looking at my site.

I don't know. Maybe I just feel like I should be able to view a web site
anonymously, so I feel bad that I don't give others the same consideration.
But I have to admit, I do wish I could identify EVERY visitor, not just
the most active. Am I nosy, intrusive, or just curious?



October 7, 2007

Where is your comfort zone?

I recently started two novels. One of them is based on a story
in my collection and has been brewing in my head for a few
months. Those who have heard about it, or read what I’ve
written so far, seem very excited about it. I have to admit
it’s a good idea, and if done right, it should be very funny.
I don’t like to talk too much about it, because I’m afraid
someone will steal my great idea and write the novel faster,
and possibly better, than I can. (How is that for confidence??)

At some point, another idea came to life, and I began writing a
second novel. The main character is a fifteen or sixteen-year-old
girl. I had every intention of writing for an audience older than the
character, maybe a Lovely Bones or Bastard out of Carolina-type
book. But then I read a blog on one of my favorite writing sites
about venturing out of your comfort zone. If you normally write
romance, try science fiction; if you’re a writer of fantasy, try
your hand at mystery, and so on. My writing has never really fit
into one category (that would be too boring), but with the exception
of one story in my collection, I’ve always written for my own peer
group. This article made me think about my own comfort zone, and
my reluctance to venture out of it. Or maybe I wasn’t reluctant;
perhaps I’d just never thought about stepping out of it before.
Why not write my book about a teenager FOR teenagers?

To my surprise, I’ve found that the beginning has flowed quite
easily, even though I have such little time for writing these days.
I’m having more trouble with the novel I was so excited about.
Who’d a thunk it? Writing for young adults is actually easier
than I thought it would be. In fact, it’s probably easier than
writing for adults. I’ve found that it’s not that different, really.
You just need to temper the language a bit, and write more
predictably and obviously, but not to the point of being
patronizing. My only problem will be cultural references
and some language. I remember what it was like to be a
teenage girl in 1985, but things have changed a lot. I can
probably get a lot of research done by looking at teenagers’
profiles on myspace. Ugh.

Maybe I should just crawl back into my comfort zone after all! :)



October 4, 2007

Publish Date 11-16-07

Assuming I get all of my changes in to the publisher timely
after proofing my galleys, the projected date the book will
be available to order is November 16th.

So far, though, they are way ahead of schedule. I got to see
the cover yesterday, and it looks good. There was a little
confusion (they inadvertently forgot to ask me for my
preferences for design, templates, colors, fonts, etc.) but all
is well now and I think I like the final result. Fingers crossed
now that the rest of the process will go smoothly.

Unfortunately I've had to read the book yet again in proofing
the interior galley. Is it terrible for me to say that I am
SO sick of it now that I never want to see it again?? That
has definitely inspired me to work on my novels! :-)



October 2, 2007

SUBJECTIVITY AND OPINIONS

First let me say that I think anyone would agree that The Godfather is
a better film than Ernest Goes to Camp. My theory only goes so far.
Now, moving on…

When I look at the paintings that are beginning to clutter my living
room, I tend to giggle at them. I enjoy painting, but I know I’m no
Picasso. My paintings are one-dimensional and “cute,” certainly
not art show material. And yet, when I walk into the building I work
in and see a gigantic…blue rectangle hanging in the foyer, I begin
to ponder the subjectivity involved in judging, critiquing or just
enjoying art, in any discipline. Some people might prefer my little
dog paintings to the giant blue rectangle. At least you can tell that
they’re dogs. And who doesn’t like dogs?

This subjectivity, especially when assessing one’s own talents, has
really come to light for me lately. At the matter-of-fact suggestion
of a friend (the Antisocial F knows who he is) last spring, I began
to enter short story contests. Well, I started with one contest for
wow-womenonwriting.com. Baby steps, as they say. I wrote it
after a few glasses of wine, and promptly submitted it. The
next morning I was mildly embarrassed because I didn’t think
it was that great, but after another reading, I figured it was
cute, and that I’d done fairly well with the 500 word limit. Still, I
definitely didn’t expect to place in the contest. To my surprise, I
came in third. My first contest! (You can read all about it through
a link on the “About the Author” page.)

Later I entered the writersweekly.com 24-hour contest. They give
you the prompt and word limit at noon on a Saturday and the writer
has until noon Sunday to submit a story. Unfortunately I was in a great
hurry and very distracted the day I got the prompt, and I rushed it. I
submitted what I considered to be an extremely sub-par effort. I was
very upset with myself later, but I moved on.

I also entered the summer contest for WOW, and this time I finally hit
the right note. I was really proud of my submission, and thought that
I wrote better, and with more heart this time around. While I wasn’t
“guaranteeing a win” or anything, I fully expected to get honorable
mention, if not to place in the top three again. I even expanded the
story and put it in Both Ends Burning.

I received an email notifying me that the Writers Weekly winners had
been announced. I went to their site to read the winning stories, cursing
myself the entire time for being such a slacker. Much to my surprise, I got
an honorable mention, and won a little prize. I was happy, but are you
kidding me? That crap??

So today the winners of the WOW summer contest were announced. I already
knew that I hadn’t placed in the top 10 since I didn’t get any emails requesting a
picture and bio this time. Turns out, I didn’t even get honorable mention. Most of
the time these small rejections and defeats don’t bother me, but I have to admit I
was disappointed. Finally I had written something I really thought was worthy.
Obviously the guest judge was under-whelmed! I read the winners, and they were
quite good, as one might expect. But I still honestly believe that my story was
just as good, if not better.

But that is just MY opinion. I also thought my Writers Weekly story was
absolute garbage, but apparently the people who judged all those hundreds
(who knows, maybe thousands?) of entries from around the world didn’t think
so. Ten different judges could judge the same contest, and surely there would
be ten different results. That’s just the nature of things. My mother used to say,
“to each his own.” It’s a cliché, but different tastes really do make the world
go ‘round. If everyone liked the same things and all had the same opinions, this
would be an incredibly dull world, and one that I would certainly not want to live in.

Even if I won all of its short story contests! :)



October 1, 2007

FINALLY

As expected, there were some problems with the materials I submitted
to the publisher. Apparently my author photo and cover photo weren't
large enough. Or I guess I should say they weren't of high enough
resolution. I stared slack-jawed at my screen when I read, "...please
re-send the photos with at least 300 dpi..." Huh? I finally found out
what DPI meant, figured out all by myself how to to verify that they
were, indeed, too low...but the problem remained.

I got out the disc my friend Larry gave me of the author photos.
I had put it in a drawer after I promptly shrunk them so I wouldn't
have to look at my big, scary face. I suffered through said
terrifying visage and found that it was exactly 300 dpi. Sweet.
Then I called my friend Donnie who did the cover photo, and
he re-sized it for me, but it was something like 6MB and was
too big for the publisher's server. I spoke to my submissions
rep, and she had me send it to her personal Yahoo account.
It worked!

So now the production department has my manuscript, and the
design department should have my photos. I just need to get
with them on the actual layout/design and font. I should have
my schedule and agreement to same on Monday, so I will have an
approximate publishing date. Finally!



September 27, 2007

Book Update

Well the manuscript is back from basic copy edit. I sent it to be done
professionally, because I find that I start to zone out while reading
my own work. For instance, maybe I wouldn’t notice after a few
readings that I typed “two” instead of “too” or maybe I typed “fool”
instead of “food” and my spell check, of course, would let it pass.
But most of all, I’m a terrible typist.

Unfortunately, I’m also borderline computer illiterate, so I’m sure
that I’ve done something wrong as far as file type, formatting, etc.,
but I submitted everything to the publisher just the same. Hopefully
whatever corrections I have to make can be done easily. Maybe the
book will be ready by Christmas after all.

I got a nice compliment from the guy who did the editing:

“…I found the collection of writing to be extremely well done indeed.
Some of the stories are so beautifully written and vividly described
that the reader cannot fail to be moved or surprised. I particularly
enjoyed “Letter From Home,” deeply impressive writing of the
highest quality…”

Wow, very nice!



September 26, 2007

The Old Grey Mare

We all know the song. She ain't what she used to be.That song drifted
through my mind, taunting me as I clicked with shaking hand on the email
from my English professor. She was responding to the first essay I'd written
in twenty years. "I'm so out of practice, I've killed so many brain cells,
I haven't faced the dreaded teacher's red pen in forever...... " Click. Cringe.

These were her comments:

"Your paper is on the way. I've graded your paper because I could see no
room for improvement. I would love for all of my students to be
as diligent as you!"

And on the actual paper:

"Marci, your draft is excellent, and I cannot think of ways to improve it,
so I’m going to go ahead and give you your final draft grade. Your grade
is 95 (A) Excellent!"

Maybe the old grey mare IS what she used to be. Of course, after I read
that she couldn't think of any revisions to make, and could see no room for
improvement, I immediately began to wonder why my grade wasn't 100.
I guess some things really never change...



September 17, 2007

Inaugural Blog

It seems that everyone has a blog now, so here goes. I’m not sure
that I will have anything interesting to say, but I’ll try. And I certainly
can’t guarantee that it will be updated daily…or even weekly.
Who knows? I’m learning as I go.

I’ve blogged before, but never as myself. I’ve always hidden behind
a nickname, feeling free to express my innermost feelings to strangers
around the world. But here I am, feeling a little exposed, and very
“Dear Diary.” Here’s hoping you won’t have to suffer any musings on my
latest crush or that new bitch in my Algebra class.

Why a blog, or even a web site when my book isn’t even out yet? Why not?
I’m not a patient person; I was able to create a web site more quickly and
easily than a book can be published, so I did. Well, actually someone else
did. All hail the web master, eh? I guess I’ve had to learn some patience
with this book-publishing thing. It was to be ready by Christmas, but now
I’m not so sure. There’s been an unexpected delay in basic copy edit, so
that may or may not affect the “release” date.

The next question you might ask yourself is why a short story collection?
And why self-publish? Well, I consider this book a sampling of the writing
I’ve been doing over the last few years. Putting it together in a published
collection is something I wanted to do as a gift – to myself, and to my family
and friends. In donating royalties to charity, hopefully it will be a gift to
others in need as well.

I didn’t try to get it traditionally published because there isn’t really a market
for short story collections written by unknown authors. Hopefully one of the novels
I’m working on will be “traditionally” published one day. Of course, I might be
eighty by the time I finish even one of them. Working a full time stressful job
AND going to school for the first time in twenty years doesn’t leave much time
for writing, but I’ll try to sneak some in here and there. And I hope to have
completed two novels I can be really proud of someday.

So there’s my first blog entry. Am I supposed to say “end of transmission”
or some such?? :)

- Marci Mangham