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You are here: Home / Archives for patchwork and ornament book

patchwork and ornament book

The Lure of the Resolution

December 30, 2009 by admin

As we count down the last minutes of 2009 and wait for a certain glittering ball to drop in Times Square, many of us are jotting down resolutions. Once again we renew promises to ourselves, and even if we have a tendency to break them as early as January 2, the lure of the resolution still tempts us, draws us in, gives us new hope of possibilities.

Generally, I don’t have resolutions, though I do like to have a focus for the coming year. For me, weight loss and other such resolutions never seem to work. When I focus on my dreams, though, I find resolutions…some might call them goals…to be effective. What about you? Do you make resolutions for your dreams? If so, how do they work out? Are there any you want to tweak for 2010?

Here’s a little summary of how 2009 worked out for me, along with my hopes for 2010:

As I write this, it appears that I will keep my promise to finish Blood and Loam by this coming Saturday. After 20 years, I’m calling it done! This means that 2010 is the time to start querying. Normally I prefer being my own publisher, but I’ve decided, at least for now, to try the traditional route with my first novel. If not, well, you’ll be hearing me podcast it later in the year.

At the beginning of 2009, I didn’t realize that I would have a completed editing project in my hands. Patchwork & Ornament, originally meant for family only, grew into a full-fledged book. Quickly. On a whim, I threw together the first ten pages and a synopsis and submitted it to the Texas Writers’ League Manuscript Contest. When I say threw together, I mean it. I had barely finished reading the journals, and most of what I would end up using lay in an unsorted pile on the floor when I entered the contest…and yet, it became a finalist! Go figure. With the final book in hand, I began to seek reviews, and we just received our first one from Feathered Quill, 5 stars on Amazon!

As with Blood and Loam, it looks like 2010 will require effort on my part to let people know that the book exists. I’ve done several news releases already, but it looks like I’ll be rolling up sleeves to write some articles as well.

I have made the decision not to reprint When a Grandchild Dies, but I will keep it alive online through pdf and audio formats. I love technology! I promise in 2010 to update the Resources section, which is now available free online at www.gal-in-sky.com/When a Grandchild Dies Resources Page.html.

So, looking at 2010, it appears that the first part of the year will be focused on marketing two very different works. I’m in the midst of moving, so current plan is to start the new novel by March at the latest. I also plan to finish and podcast Exodus (still need a final name, darn it), which I will offer as free content on the gal in sky site.

I hope that everyone reading this blog has a happy, healthy 2010! May your resolutions come to pass and all your dreams come true!

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: 2010, books, creativity, goals, independent publishing, jeanette feldman, jenny feldman, memoir, nadine feldman, nadine galinsky, novelist, novels, patchwork and ornament book, resolutions, writing

Special Promotion for Patchwork and Ornament

November 11, 2009 by admin

Patchwork and Ornament arrived yesterday! For those who don’t know, P&O, by Jeanette Feldman, is an artist’s memoir written in a collage-style format of short essays, stories, and poetry. She tells her story of growing up in poverty in the South Bronx with an immigrant mother and disabled father. As her interest in art unfolded, she found a new and happier life filled with love, travel, and creativity. P&O includes several full-color photographs of Jenny’s work and was recognized as a finalist in the 2009 Texas Writers’ League Manuscript Contest (under the name Pentimento).

This is a labor of love, and we are honoring Jenny Feldman’s memory with a special pre-release promotion. From now through December 31, we are selling P&O for $18 (plus tax and S&H). $10 of every sale will be send to Donorschoose.org to support arts in the schools. Everyone wins! P&O will not be available to the general public until early 2010, so you get a fascinating story before everyone else, and at the same time we all support a worthwhile organization.

I believe that Jenny Feldman’s life would have been very different (and not in a good way) had she not had access to an art education. In addition, we believe strongly that an education in the arts benefits all students.

For ordering details, please visit www.patchworkornament.com. Feel free to share this with everyone you know!

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: books, independent publishing, jeanette feldman, jenny feldman, memoir, nadine feldman, nadine galinsky, patchwork and ornament book, self-publishing

Patchwork & Ornament: Art Preview

November 4, 2009 by admin

Just thought I would share some of the images from Patchwork & Ornament: A Woman’s Journey of Life, Love, and Art by Jeanette Feldman. P&O is filled with numerous full-color photographs of art and travel.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: art, books, jeanette feldman, jenny feldman, memoir, nadine feldman, nadine galinsky, patchwork and ornament book

Thoughts on Self-Publishing

November 3, 2009 by admin

Back from vacation, I’m trying to figure out where I left off with my various projects. Exodus is ready for fresh eyes, as is Blood and Loam. There’s also the updated version of When a Grandchild Dies. I also explored a few new ideas while I was gone, and one of those is ready for some good ol’ uncensored creative writing.

Most exciting, though, is that Patchwork and Ornament, Jeanette Feldman’s memoir, is on its way. As with When a Grandchild Dies, I am both excited and nervous. Part of me says, “What was I thinking?” Initially, P&O was meant purely for family, as a way to preserve my mother-in-law’s writings and art in book form for future generations. Still, I couldn’t let go of the nagging thought that others outside the family might find it interesting as well. When I handed the manuscript over to others, expecting a quick, cursory “that’s nice,” I found that readers didn’t want to put it down. Still, as the books make their way from Canada to Houston, I know that the real work has just begun.

As I go forth to market this book, I am aware of strikes against it. We all know that self-published works tend to be dismissed as being of poor quality, especially now when anyone and everyone can put a book out there.

Here’s the thing, though. As part of my research into this market, I read some of those self-published works. One in particular grabbed my attention. The author didn’t bother to get the book edited, and it was filled with typos and other errors. It had a plain cover, just a single color with an uninteresting title. Yet when I read it, I found it a compelling read, and I let go of my editorial eye as the story swept me away.

Maybe I part company with some of my writer friends, but I believe that the one prerequisite for putting a book out is to believe in it. I learned that from When a Grandchild Dies. Bookstores didn’t want me to come in to hold signings because “it might depress our customers.” Bereavement organizations aimed primarily at parents didn’t want me speaking, because the parent/grandparent relationship can be rocky. Even at a conference for bereavement professionals, one therapist told me, “I saw the subject of your book and almost didn’t come over to talk to you because I’m a grandparent, and I can’t imagine anything more devastating.”

In other words, getting the word out to my audience, the bereaved grandparents, wasn’t easy. I had to work hard and persist to find speaking opportunities and ways to find the people who needed the book. Yet I did so, and WGD has done well.

WGD is a self-published book. Ten years later, as I work on updating it, I know I’m a much better writer than I was then. Although I’m still pleased with the book overall, some areas need substantial improvement. Yet I have received enough letters from people who read the book to know that my efforts are appreciated. Had I waited for a traditional publisher, I might still be waiting yet today, and those grandparents and other family members who benefited from WGD would not have received the help they needed.

I agree that writers should take care that their book is of high quality by utilizing editors, cover designers, etc. We should try to elevate our work to its highest and best potential. However, we should not hold back our ideas because they might not sell, or maybe they’re not “good enough” somehow. One never really knows what’s going to sell anyway! Also, although I am pleased with WGD’s sales, that has never been my measure of success with the book. The lessons I learned, the growth I achieved, and the knowledge that I helped people in the process is what matters most to me.

Patchwork and Ornament is a different kind of book. It doesn’t have the specific niche that WGD has. That will make it both easier and harder to market. That said, I have done my best with P&O to make it beautiful, and I will do my best to find its audience. That’s the best that any of us can do–and it is what we must do, whether or not there are naysayers.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: books, creativity, independent publishing, jeanette feldman, jenny feldman, memoir, nadine feldman, nadine galinsky, patchwork and ornament book, publishing, self-publishing, writing, writing business

Return of the Muse

September 21, 2009 by admin

Getting back into a creative thinking mode after wearing my “business” cap for a while, as I’ve already written, hasn’t been easy. I have gone forward knowing that the well runs dry from time to time, and eventually the juices flow once again. Sometimes we plod along for days, weeks, or months, doing creative exercises and writing wooden, boring prose, waiting, sometimes patiently but more often not for the muse to show her face.

Of course, sometimes when we look back during those plodding moments, we realize that we did some of our best work, or at least created the foundation for it. When we write for a period of time, we know that our relationship to our work is much like our relationships with our spouses. There are times of intense romance, times of slow, steady flame, and times of just getting through–but if we hang in there, those moments of “just getting through” can deepen our commitment.

Still, I admit to loving the romance! So I’m happy to report a reappearance of the muse. And it happened in an instant.

It was Saturday, Rosh Hoshanah, the Jewish New Year. This is always a difficult day for me, because twelve years ago on RH, I learned that the child I was carrying was dying. Over the years, my grief has diminished considerably, but on Rosh Hoshanah and Mother’s Day, I give myself permission to be a complete, sobbing mess. This year was no exception.

By afternoon I was feeling better, and we decided to go to our storage unit where we keep my late mother-in-law’s art. Since Patchwork and Ornament is done, I wanted to put the piles of journals I had used as source material into storage…it’s quite a stack that has occupied my living room for the past nine months.

Within five minutes of completing our task, I felt lighter and happier. I remembered an old creative project that could be a lot of fun to finish. I started to talk to Henry about going to Sorrento, Italy, where my mother-in-law conceived her “Blossoms” art series, to develop some text to go with the 100+ drawings in the series. Ideas flowed easily, and along with them flowed a deep river of joy. We stopped for a glass of wine and a plate of cheese, and I talked nonstop about all the fun things I wanted to work on.

Working on Patchwork and Ornament, I have worked on my own grief about Jenny Feldman’s death. Perhaps in putting away the journals, I was ready to put away some of the sadness. Perhaps the tears had washed away enough pain that I could feel new again. Or maybe I just plodded along enough, keeping the faith, until the switch of creativity came on again.

Who knows?

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: books, creativity, jeanette feldman, jenny feldman, memoir, nadine feldman, nadine galinsky, patchwork and ornament book, publishing, writing

Writing and Legacy

September 16, 2009 by admin

When Jenny Feldman died, I had no idea how quickly I would be swept up into a book project, or how involved it would be. The result, now at the printer’s, has gotten me thinking in a whole new way about family legacies. While I know others have written on the subject, I have the distinct feeling that there’s another book idea brewing. Some have suggested a companion workbook to Patchwork and Ornament that helps people get started on their own family legacies. Hmmm. I can see it, the size of the book, the style of pages, the illustrations…I’m drooling already.

When my stepdaughter Sarah saw me working diligently on her grandmother’s memoir, she said, “I guess when you die I’ll need to do this for you.”

“I hope not,” I said. Not because I haven’t enjoyed working on Patchwork. This project has brought me great joy and satisfaction. I do hope, however, that as a writer, I get everything on paper that I want to say, that I publish as many of my ideas as possible, that when I leave this earth I will have expressed all that I need to. At this point I’m not sure who my legacy is for…I don’t have grandchildren yet, so I don’t know at this point who cares. I do know this, however: Jenny Feldman didn’t think that people cared about her writings, and many people do. So it’s not my place to decide who may or may want to receive any legacy I have to give. It’s only my place to offer it, with a full heart and the best of my writing ability.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: art, books, creativity, legacy, memoir, nadine galinsky, patchwork and ornament book, publishing, writing

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