Author: cabinart

Ten Things Learned in February

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February is my favorite month, especially when it has rained and snowed around here. Orchards begin blooming, yard flowers and wildflowers are out (I saw some poppies across Lake Kaweah on February 21), the air is clean, and the weather is exciting. So few days, so much to learn.

The Dream is a podcast with a series about multi-level marketing companies, and another about the wellness industry. The main lessons are A. Multi-level marketing is a useless exercise in trying to earn a living; B. There are 13 vitamins—A, C, D, E, K, and 8 different B; C. Supplements are not vitamins and are not regulated by the FDA.
Remember when I told you what those scribbly squares are called? They are QR codes, and now I am participating in them. An upcoming show in Exeter’s Courthouse Gallery (now called CACHE) will have recordings with the art so that you can hear artists tell you about each piece if you scan the code with your smartphone (and I think you are supposed to bring ear dealies).
Ever heard of a “sweetheart table“? This is a fad with brides and grooms: they sit at their own table at the head of the wedding reception. You ask, “Who cares?” So glad you asked. Trail Guy and I care enough about a couple getting married in April to build their sweetheart table for them. This involves more learning than you care to read about today.
I learned what our average monthly propane use is. This is helpful information when one’s gauge doesn’t work, although I am pretty good at guessing by feeling the tank. (The delivery man pooh-poohed that method until he saw that I was right.)
We tried a new coffee supplier: Community Coffee Company. It was part of my feeble attempt to stop using the giant A, to buy American, and to stay stocked up. They didn’t have a lot of choices, which made things easy. (There are many American coffee supply companies; no need to use the big A or drive down the hill.)
A friend (Hi CK!) told me her favorite tea is Rooibus. Excuse me? It is pronounced “ROY-buss”, it is herbal (no caffeine), and it is hard for me to find any discernible flavor, so I like the version with vanilla from Celestial Seasonings, which is described here: Rooibus (they don’t offer it any more!)
I bought a huge pair of overalls (made in China, sigh) and converted them to a jumper! (Phooey, bought them from the big A).
Eggs are “only” $3/dozen (fall down laughing) at Costco. My neighbor has kindly brought some to me for that bargain price.
Gas was “only” $4.13/gallon at a Sinclair station in Tulare. I don’t make it a habit of driving 45 miles to save money on gas, but I certainly don’t pass up a good price when it appears.
Occasionally tightening the screws on a roof of heavy gauge metal is a good plan if you like to keep your roof intact and attached. Three of our neighbors plus our church lost pieces of roofing in February storms.

Pippin isn’t too interested in learning anything other than how to sneak into the house, shove me out of this chair, and spend as much time as possible near the woodstove.

February 2023 in Three Rivers (before the snow)

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The first daffodil opened in my yard on February 17.

A neighbor’s flowering quince bloomed sooner than ours.

Yes, I know you have seen this many times.

There are some new steps at the gate to the BLM (Bureau of Land Management) area above our house.

This is the top of Case Mountain. When people talk about the BLM land, they call it Case Mt. but one would have to walk very far and do a tremendous amount of trespassing to reach actual Case Mt.

Fiddleneck are the first flowers of the season, often starting in January.

Redmaids ought to be called “magenta maids”.

That bank on the right will have some blueish purple flowers in another month. I can’t spell the name.

Hi, you little misnamed blooms.

We’ll conclude today’s tour with another fiddleneck.

Three Rivers Weather Report

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Several friends asked if we got snow last week. We hadn’t on Friday when I sent out a newsletter stating no snow.

Then, it snowed on Friday night and Saturday morning.

Not very much (we are at 1000′), but it stayed cold all day so the parts that weren’t dissolved by rain stayed around.

Pippin wasn’t interested in being an outdoor cat on Saturday.

On Sunday, snow was still visible on the foothills around our house.

Because it was a little bit sunny, we took a short walk. All the little drainages were flowing.

I was thinking about flowers and cold: flowers are kept in refrigerators at florist shops, so this can’t be too bad. These daffodils will probably bounce back.

The rosemary is certainly flourishing.

More snow and rain is coming.

Don’t you just love wet winters in California??

Three Rivers

Writing, Editing, Publishing, Chapter Four

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. . .Selling

Selling is the most difficult part of writing a book. There are entire blogs and websites devoted to this topic, and it is as individual as the stories and the authors. I have no answers, no tricks, no proven method. A friend told me (in reference to The Cabins of Wilsonia) “The worn spot in the sink was made drip by drip by drip”.

Here is a list of You Cans:

Ask some place to host a book signing, such as a local book shop or gift shop or museum or gallery.
Host your own book signing at your house or a friend’s house or your church or your service club.
Use the Book of Faces or other (anti)social media.
Send a press release to your local paper (if there is one).
Keep books with you at all times.
Write a newsletter about the book and send it to everyone you know.
Send emails to everyone you know.
Give a book every time someone asks for a donation to a fundraiser.
Look for local businesses to sell the book.
Pay your publisher to list the book on their site.
Pay the publisher to list the book on that big online store.
Start a blog and do all the publicity ideas above to get the word out.

There are many other ways to sell, but this is enough for now.

Indeed. I believe our Reading Rabbit has expired from exhaustion.

self-publishing

Writing, Editing, Publishing, Chapter Three

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As promised yesterday, today we continue The List of tasks in writing a book. (This ought to be numbers 15-29, but I can’t get the blog to obey me.)

Today’s list begins with finding someone to write the foreword. IT IS NOT A “FORWARD”. Got that? One of the quickest ways to tell if a book is self-published by someone without experience (or money to hire experience) is if their word at the front of the book (FOREWORD) is self-written and is titled “Forward”. This is what my old friend Jennifer referred to as “loving hands at home”, and it was not a compliment.

Shall we proceed?

Find someone to write the foreword (optional).
Write a conclusion or an afterword (optional).
Decide who to dedicate the book to (optional).
Decide what type of publisher you need: full service, printing only, or a choose-your-own combination of services.
Decide if you want hardcover, softcover, e-book, Print-On-Demand, or a combination.
Hire a formatter (or use the publisher’s formatter).
Proofread again.
Find an indexer (if your book would be enhanced by an index).
Proofread the index.
Send the index to the formatter to add to the book.
Get the cover designed.
Buy an ISBN and a bar code (unless you choose that service from the publishing company).
Decide how many books you want.
Keep writing lots of checks.
FINALLY, when you have the book in hand, start the hardest part which is. . .

. . . to be continued tomorrow

As Solomon wrote “. . .Of making many books there is no end. . .” Ecclesiastes 11:10

self-publishing

Writing, Editing, Publishing, Chapter Two

As promised yesterday, today we begin the list of tasks involved in writing a book. Brace yourself!

The List

Write the book.
Hire an editor.
Rewrite the book.
Title the chapters.
Proofread.
Choose a title.
Find the illustrations.
Get permission to use the illustrations.
Have the illustrations prepared for printing.
Caption the illustrations.
Write the back blurb.
Get a a photo of yourself.
Write your short biography.
Write the acknowledgements (optional).

Tomorrow, we shall continue The List. Reading Rabbit is raring to go.

self-publishing

Writing, Editing, Publishing, Chapter One

Today’s blog post contains an experiment. If you receive these posts in email, and read the email on your iPhone or iPad, and if the pictures in the post don’t show for you, tap here janabotkin.net. Then PLEASE let me know what happens, because this is a mystery I would like to solve.

Books

Writing, editing, and publishing are skills I have learned and practiced through the years. It began with The Cabins of Mineral King, under the guidance of my cabin neighbor, Jane Coughran. Many years passed before I took on The Cabins of Wilsonia. During those years of 1998-2011, everything about the publishing process changed.

This time I did all the book design myself, which is called “formatting”. I had to buy a laptop, a scanner, Photoshop, and InDesign, and learn to use them all. I hired an editor, hired a publishing consultant, recruited several proofreaders, and found a printer. It took four years.

That process taught me skills that I used for other books, some mine, some other people’s: Trail of Promises, The Visalia Electric Railroad, Mineral King Wildflowers, Adventures in Boy Scouting, Oil Town Teacher, six coloring books, and currently, White Plague: When TB was Called Consumption (the working title).

Who Cares?

You might care, especially if you or someone you know has written or plans to write a book. Let this serve as a short tutorial (or perhaps a warning).

Writing the book is only one tiny little piece of the process.

Tomorrow, I will begin The List.

books editing publishing self-publishing

Two Drawings, Mine and Someone Else’s

Hers

A drawing student brought in a photo she had taken, a challenging choice for a beginner. I tell my students, “Pick something you love, because you will be looking at it for a long time”. She loves this scene and worked very diligently.

This is the result of her labors, and I think she did a wonderful job! (I removed her name because she didn’t ask to be on the World Wide Web, and I didn’t ask her permission.)

This is how it looks after I’ve photoshopped it for reproduction purposes, in case my student wants to have copies or cards printed.

Mine

For about five years, I have been working with a writer on a book about tuberculosis. It began as a local story about the TB hospital in Springville (here in Tulare County). When he started researching, the story grew into a different book, a massive project. Through it I have learned much more than I ever expected about “the white plague”, as opposed to “the black plague” (both of which refer to skin color associated with the disease, not race, so no need to get your knickers in a twist.)

The author came to me initially for some drawings for the Springville book, and upon further discussion, hired me to edit for him. We are finally reaching the end of the main text and are now gathering appropriate illustrations.

He couldn’t find a good photo of Virginia Poe (wife of Edgar), so he asked me to draw her from a rather gruesome photo (or painting?) taken shortly after she assumed room temperature.

Are you properly horrified? This fits with Edgar Allan Poe’s writings, doesn’t it? I haven’t read his work, but I learned plenty about him through the process of assisting with the writing of this book. I’ll stick with modern writers for my fiction.

Meanwhile, I think the background needs a little bit more work.

Okay, all better now. I also remembered to sign the drawing.

commission commissioned pencil drawing custom art drawing drawing lessons pencil drawing

Possibly Walking More Than Working

I really meant to paint. I started detailing this piece.

But holy guacamole, look at this day!

My walking buddy and I spotted some white rocks beneath the bridge. They got heavier as we got closer to home but we made it.

I added them to my little eccentric project to be arranged later. The iris are starting to appear above the soil now.
Then I went back to work and finished this 10×20″ oil painting of Tulare County’s finest scenery.

Next, I went back to this 10×20″ painting.

Doesn’t look like much, but it was a little progress. Remember, no deadlines, no upcoming shows, no commissions, just the beautiful month of February in Tulare County.

citrus art citrus painting oil paintings Tulare county Tulare County art

A Little Work, A Little Walk, A Little More Work

While I am waiting to begin the murals at the giant church in Visalia, I have time to paint. However, I don’t have any deadlines, no upcoming shows, no commissions (there are a couple, but they are still in the conversation stage), and it has been BEE-YOO-TEE-FULL outside.

So, I work a little, walk a little, and work a little more.

When I am thinking about walking, it is a little bit hard to focus on detail. So, the detail on this 6×18″ oil painting of Tulare County’s best will have to wait.

Let’s make like a tree and leaf.

Nothing in particular to photograph, just the same beautiful scenes of February in my Three Rivers neighborhood.

The elephant on Alta Peak is very clear, with a shadow making an ear and a rocky place making an eye. His back leg is significantly larger than his front. And there is Moro Rock.