Patience

2/16/2023

 


Patience is not my strongest virtue. In fact, some days I'm not particularly sure if it's in my wheelhouse at all. If there was ever one lesson that I am intended to work on for the rest of my days it would be this. 

So, it probably will come as surprise to those that know me that I have very little patience for things that should be a someone straight-forward fix. Case in point, my Amazon Author account.  

My first book was traditionally published in 2007 and from there I started my own Publishing Brand, Half Dog Publishing, for my non-traditionally published ebooks and paperbacks. Though I dabbled in other platforms, most of my books have gone through Amazon. There are other outlets out there that handle books they rarely get the attention and opportunity that Amazon offers. That being said, Amazon is the master at streamlining the process and limiting interaction. This is fantastic until you need help that doesn't fit into one of the selected categories that they offer help with on their site. 

You see, I was an idiot. I admit the responsibility and take full credit for it. During the period of time when I was struggling and could not write I did the unthinkable. I deleted the email contact that went to my Amazon Author (KDP Dashboard, for those in the know). Thus, when I started writing again last fall I was still trying to figure out with the books I already had as Teagan and how to move forward from it. It wasn't until I tried to get into Teagan's books that I realized that I was now very much stuck. There was no backup verification for the account and they held many years of writing behind the protective wall of verification. It's all still there and after a month of trying to regain access, I'm afraid that the patience I mentioned is getting pretty thin. 

As someone who has worked extensively with the public for many, many years I knew that the last thing I wanted to do was go into the situation with my guns blazing and be an all-out Karen. After all, I am the one to blame for deleting the email account. I tried first with Google to try and get the email back and since that didn't work I started on Amazon. 

I am now up to 13 emails back and forth and I'm on my fifth or sixth representative. Every two steps forward mean a step back and while I'm making progress it is at the pace of a snail. Again, in this day and age, it would be easy to go full-blown on them, but I am the only person who truly has something to lose. They would be happy to sit back and watch those books sit there on their platform with little to no interaction. So for now, it's a stalemate. 

The last email said to give them 4-5 days to get back to me. I sent one back reminding them that I had already been fully involved in this for much longer and pleaded for them to speed up the process. Only time will tell... and for now, I'm still working on that patience. 


THE SHEEP HAVE IT

2/04/2023

 



I admit it. I have a weird obsession with sheep and I'm not entirely sure where it came from. 

   There is a long-standing tradition in Maine of summering sheep on islands. Think of it. It's a self-contained environment and, provided that you have picked the right island, the sheep spend their days grazing on high fields and bushes and living their best life. 

   Little Nash Island off the coast of Maine is well known for this. Little Nash is part of a grouping of islands including Big Nash and Flat Island. Little Nash was home to the Nash Island Lighthouse, an automated light that is controlled by the US Coast Guard in 1947. Not long after that, the US Coast Guard burned the old Keeper's cottage burned down due to deterioration, leaving only the tower. In 1982 it was replaced by an offshore lighted buoy.  

Photography courtesy US Coast Guard

   If you have read my last book ONLY YOU (published under the pseudonym Teagan Oliver) I touch briefly on the task of getting sheep to the islands off the coast. Most times it is up to the farmer to load his sheep up in a boat and tow them out. In ONLY YOU I chose for them to bring them out by the local ferry that services the islands. But as always, things do not always go smoothly. 


   I felt a bit bad for putting Nate in that position, but I just couldn't keep it out of the story. When my son was little I had a poster in his nursery of a boat towing a skiff filled with sheep out to an island for summer. The poster is long gone, but I still think of it. 

Will more sheep pop up in my upcoming stories? Well, I have it on good authority that the idea is out there. I love the Windsweeper Cove stories and I really want to introduce you all to more of the people who live there. 

In the meantime, if you would like to read ONLY YOU it is available from AMAZON either in ebook or print. I hope you enjoy the story as much as I did writing it! 


ONLY YOU KINDLE 

ONLY YOU PAPERBACK




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