Amira Willighagen singing at the audition.
This is a YouTube starring Amira Willighagen, an amazing nine-year-old girl who auditioned on Holland’s Got Talent. She sings opera and has never had lessons. Amira has a naturally beautiful voice and even though she was just recovering from a cold, she decided to audition anyway. There are subtitles when she talks for those of us who can’t speak Dutch. Here is the link: Amira Willighagen
Holland’s Got Talent judging panel
- Amira Willghagenm singing at the final
Here i s Link to the final: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8KrpwqxE4g
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Red Willow’s Quest
As much as I love the feel of a book, the future of the publishing industry seems to be moving more toward eBooks, so I decided to put my toe in the water and convert my novel Red Willow’s Quest into an eBook.
The first thing I did was to have it professionally edited to make the writing even stronger. A well-edited eBook is as important as a well-edited print book.
The next step was to decide if I should design a new cover or use the original one. Many people decide whether to buy an eBook based on the cover. With eBooks it’s a challenge to create a cover that shows the title, author’s name and art work clearly when the image may only be an inch high on some sites. The author also has to consider that the eBook illustration might be black-and-white, so it needs to look good in black-and-white as well as color. I already had a cover design for my novel when it was originally printed, so I decided to use the same cover.
The third step was to convert the electronically word-processed book file into the proper eBook formats. While it’s possible to do this yourself, it takes time to learn and it’s not expensive to hire someone. Before giving your file to someone to format, be sure to read over the manuscript again to ensure that there are no errors. It’s helpful to also have someone else proofread it because once it’s formatted it costs money to make any changes.
My grandson Asher reading Red Willow’s Quest
A friend recommended the company I used to format my manuscript. He formatted in several different ways so that it can be read on different kinds of readers. For example, Amazon needs a different format than an iPad.
After this was done, it was ready to post on Amazon. I decided to do it using the Amazon Select program. With this program, Amazon has exclusive rights to publish the eBook for 90 days. During these 90 days, you can give the manuscript away for free on several different days. This is a way to generate interest in the eBook, as word-of-mouth endorsements can be a very effective way to become virally known.
At this point in the process I was set to go, but still felt intimidated by the process of actually putting the file up on Amazon. Fortunately my daughter helped me set up an account on Amazon and download the file. It was fairly easy to do and I’m sure I can do it without help in the future.
Now my book is available on Amazon both as print book and an eBook.
If you like exciting, historical fiction novels, read Red Willow’s Quest. Here is the back cover blurb:
Action, romance and adventure set the tone for this uplifting story about a Shoshoni maiden, Red Willow, who sets out on a quest to become a medicine woman in the rugged Rocky Mountains. She must face tribal opposition, wild animals, enemy warriors and dangerous white trappers. Wind Chaser, a wolf-dog, is her only companion until Masheka, a Kootenai warrior, is guided to protect her.
Back cover
The book garnered good reviews in Bloomsbury Review and Colorado Libraries Mpls. St. Paul Magazine. I look forward to giving my novel new life as an eBook.
My daughter gave me a sweater and on it was a tag with a quote that read:
“Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”― Mary Oliver
Why I Wake Early
I was intrigued by this uplifting quote and so I went on line to find out more about Mary Oliver. I discovered, as many of you probably already know, she is a well-known poet who is a Pulitzer Prize winner.
She writes poems that are meditations about the natural world around her. As she has grown older her poetry has become more spiritual.
One of Mary Oliver’s most well known poems is Wild Geese. I found a YouTube of her reading Wild Geese and some of her other poems at Emory University. It’s treat to hear her read her own material and reveals some of her delightful sense of humor.
A Thousand Mornings
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnaP7ig69go
Another one of her more famous poems is The Journey. Here is a YouTube where the poem is set to photos and music.
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Christmas decorations
Winter landscape
A winter moment
Red berries against the white snow
Decorated tree
Owl in the tree
Bear in the tree
I’d like to share with you a New Year youtube with beautiful photos, a poem and music Auld Land Syne by Sissel.
Have a Happy New Year
https://youtube.com/watch?v=VhiF-PD4E_c
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The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2013 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 2,700 times in 2013. If it were a cable car, it would take about 45 trips to carry that many people.
Click here to see the complete report.
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Water Night
I received this link today to Eric Whitacre on Ted Talk. I loved the presentation. It was such a gift to hear about Whitacre and his music. This is well worth your time to listen to. Whitacre decided to do a virtual choir and posted it on the internet and thousands of singers responded from all over the world. There is part of the song on this Ted Talk. Lux Aurumque means Light of God and the voices from all over the world singing together are the sound of God.
Here is the link to the talk.
http://tinyurl.com/vurtualchoirahh
The first song preformed is called Lux Aurumque’ which is a Latin word meaning Light Gold or Light of God. It’s a Christmas piece based on a Latin poem. In English here are the words.
Light and Gold
Light, light
Light, light
Light, light
Warm
Warm
And heavy
And heavy
And heavy
Pure
Pure
Pure like gold
They sing and sing and sing
To the newborn babe.
Here is a youtube of the whole song.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7o7BrlbaDs
Fly to Paradise is the fourth virtual choir piece Whitacre did.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8oDnUga0JU
Here are the words to the song.
And all she ever thinks about is being in any other place than this,
‘Cause she remembers having wings
But she’s forgotten what it’s like to feel a paradise of bliss.
And all I want to do is fly, just fly,
Just fly.
And all she ever thinks about is memories of soaring through the sky,
‘Cause she remembers having wings
But she’s forgotten what it feels like to fly.
And all I want to do is fly, just fly,
And all I want to do is fly,
Just fly!
Eric Whitacre has two albums out Water Night and Light of Gold. I know they’ll be on my Christmas list. Enjoy the holidays and the true meaning behind them.
Light and Gold
Sunrise on Lake Superior
This fall I went up to Lake Superior to enjoy the fall color. The beauty of fall is really remarkable in Minnesota so I wanted to share it with you.
Our house on Lake Superior
Waves crashing into the shoreline
Sunrise on Lake Superior
Birch log
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We all want to be happy and have a good life. Some people seem to naturally be cheerful and others struggle with depression. Regardless of what type of person you are, current studies show that one of the ways to be happier is to be grateful for all the blessings and good things in your life. We learn to see and be grateful for even the little blessings like seeing a cardinal at a birdfeeder, getting a card in the mail, or having a good meal with your family. By focusing on the positive things we experience each day we become more aware of the blessings in our lives. Gratitude opens the heart to love.
Robert Emmons, a professor at the University of California, Davis, has done research on gratitude for eleven years and has done many studies. Some of his studies show that people who keep a gratitude journal and write down five things they are grateful for every day are happier. The benefits for keeping a journal are psychological, social, emotional, and physical. Psychologically people felt more alert, alive and aware. Socially students found an increase in their grades. Emotionally people experienced more positive emotions. Physically people exercised more, their sleep was better and they awoke each morning more refreshed.
Emmons has a youtube on the gratitude studies he has done. You might find this one of interest.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRrnfGf5aWE
Emmons has also written books on Gratitude such as Words of Gratitude and Gratitude Works.
Here are several quotes on gratitude that I found uplifting.
Gratitude “Cultivate the habit of being grateful for every good thing that comes to you, and to give thanks continuously. And because all things have contributed to your advancement, you should include all things in your gratitude.”
“We must find time to stop and thank the people who make a difference in our lives.”
“To be grateful is to recognize the Love of God in everything He has given us – and He has given us everything. Every breath we draw is a gift of His love, every moment of existence is a grace, for it brings with it immense graces from Him.
Gratitude therefore takes nothing for granted, is never unresponsive, is constantly awakening to new wonder and to praise of the goodness of God. For the grateful person knows that God is good, not by hearsay but by experience. And that is what makes all the difference.”
How have you found gratitude helps you? Have you ever kept a gratitude journal? If so what benefits did you notice?
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