Everybody wants to be closer to free!

Friends, family, lurkers, professional peers, I have a small announcement.
Remember when I put my book out and I thought a hundred people would shrug and say, meh?
Remember how thousands and thousands of people downloaded my book and then paid for my book and I had no way to show what it meant to me other than gushing?
Well, it has been 90 days since I ordered my first proofreading copy and I am allowed to give my book away for free starting at midnight tonight.
So this is how I say thank you.
If you thought about getting it and never did- this is your chance.
If you liked it and want to share it with someone for free- this is your chance.
If you just want to be a cool person with a hook-up for free stuff- this is your chance.
I've been given an incredible gift these last nine weeks and I want to share it and spread it.
So enough gushing.
Gushing is overrated.
Have a book on me!
Download it, share it, love it, hate it, read it, review it, just don't miss it!

Write what you know

A writer is a leach.
 I want to soak all the humor and trauma right out of people and laugh and cry over what was never mine to begin with.
Leach.
Emotional vampire.
However you label it, you have a story and I want it!
Last week I was working on my current manuscript while the Artist was on his computer. I interrupted three times. "Do cars use metric wrenches?"
The Artist: "The foreign ones do."
five minutes later. "Would you replace a radiator or a water pump first?"
The Artist "huh?"
Nevermind.
five minutes later. "Do you park a Cessna in a hangar or outside?"
The Artist: "Depends. Outside is fine."
"What sort of drills do they do for soccer teams?"
The Artist: "Honey, what are you doing?"
"I'm working on my book and I have to know how to fix cars, fly planes and play soccer."
Long, long pause.
The Artist: "That's good. Write what you  know."


Which is fabulous advice (even when your sarcastic husband says it in his deadpan voice and makes you laugh so hard you delete a page of dialogue) but there is a beautiful tool for finding out what we don't know-research.
Research. Sounds so dry and boring. I like to call it story time.
Something amazing happened after the success of On Little Wings. I got to add a little tag to my life. Now when I have questions I call total strangers in my apologetic voice and say, "So sorry to bother you, but I am an author and I would like to interview you for my next book." And then I sit down and people pour their stories into me!

Last night I spent several hours interviewing an Air Force Crew Chief and a retired fighter pilot.
I sat at a kitchen table between the two of them while they taught me yaw and pitch and pressure and flight controls and visual flight rules.
They told me about the Gs in a F16 and G measles that pop the blood vessels in your legs and how your heart goes into your stomach cavity. Literally.
I took the pretend yoke in  my hand and he made me pull a plane out of a stall to make sure I understood the details.
"Not too fast!" he insisted as I pushed the stick in to level the nose.
I learned maneuvers, nicknames, soaked up a culture that fascinates me.
Next week I meet with a commander of the Civil Air Patrol and after that, I have a meeting with a car mechanic to learn how to change a radiator (I researched it for hours on youtube, but I want every detail to be accurate.)

So yes, write what you know. And learn what you don't.
Be a leach. Be a listener.
And then be a donor- give it all back. Give it all back and more.
Make it fly.

But...

I think reality shows wrecked television, but
I just finished watching Project Runway.

I don't feel like doing the laundry, but
I just put my fifth load of the day in the dryer.

I sent my daughter to school in short sleeves, but
it just started snowing.

Yesterday we were walking outside barefoot, but
winter finally found us.

The Cowgirl turns nine next week, but
I've haven't figured out a party or bought a single present.

The Dancer has been potty trained since she was two, but
yesterday she had her fourth accident this week.

I think parents should always stay calm, but
yesterday I bopped my child with a stuffed cat.

I really need a babysitter this weekend, but
I think it's too late to line anything up.

I believe in healthy eating, but
I downed a bag of peanut m&ms in two days and told myself it was healthy because of the nuts.

The Dancer is bothering me and asking me to bake her some cookies, but
I am ignoring her and writing instead.

I make myself sit down and write a page every day, but
sometimes I do a lot more.

I need to interview a pilot for my next book, but
I'm too tired to learn something new today.

I got a one star review on Amazon, but
I laughed about it and didn't cry later.

I am a work in progress, but
some days I just feel like a piece of work.

I am really sorry about the stuffed cat.
No buts.

How is your week wrapping up?