I have a milestone birthday coming up in early October, and I thought I’d commemorate it a couple of different ways.
Kindra didn’t like the idea of me going back to bull-riding and I am much too scared of heights to go para-sailing, so I settled on a safer and more permanent way - I’d publish a second book.
And, voila! Hello, Again is now published and available on Amazon, right next to its older brother, Goodbye Very Much.
They are similar in approach, comprised of selected newspaper columns, very much like the ones you read in this space almost every week.
Hello, Again picks up where Goodbye Very Much ends, with me dealing with grief from the death of my first wife, Dianna, and the unexpected death of my three-month-old grandson.
It ends with the Saturday evening a few years later when I married the wonderful lady who hangs rainbows in my life, Kindra.
In between are 88 columns that I hope are entertaining and maybe thought-provoking. The sum of their content is that grief bodyslams us all, often several times, but life is very much worth the living.
A few years ago, my friend, the late Bob Perry, and I spent a lunch talking about writing.
Bob had written and published several novels, including my favorite, Brothers of the Cross Timbers.
He said he could never be a newspaper writer because he couldn’t bear the thought of having to meet a deadline every single day. The stress would be too much and take the joy out of writing, he said.
I told him I had always wanted to write a novel and had started a couple, but finally had to admit to myself that I couldn’t stay interested in writing on the same subject for as long as a novel required.
Weekly newspaper columns suited my style better. Pick a topic, write the best 400 words you can, send it to the press and then do it all over.
Deadlines have turned out to be my friend. Without them, I wouldn’t be nearly as productive.
Bob and I agreed that its important to find a niche where you can thrive. For me, it’s doing this - writing a newspaper column.
Hello, Again is available on Amazon, as is Goodbye Very Much. If you feel like ordering a copy, bring it by the Lincoln County News and I’ll be happy to sign it for you.
I’ll order a few to have on hand, as well. Then it will be on to that second commemorative activity...