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OK, this is a little more off-topic than most, but I don't do much social media outside of CP, so I wouldn't know where else to post it.
I finished a book a while back -- my first! (authoring, that is, not reading; I've finished a few of those, too, though.) I'm pretty sure it's pretty good. I like it anyway, and a few of my kids and their friends do, too. At least that's what they tell me. Maybe they're just polite. (Kids these days!)
It's an adventure book of sorts. (About 3 young kids who live/hangout at the White House. No politics of course. Just zany antics and goofball adventures. Protecting the world from the devious plots of a couple international spies. That sort of thing.) If any of you want to read it online, I'll send you a link.
Anyways, now I'm on to the sequel. I like writing. It's hard, but rewarding, so I enjoy the process and the product. What I DON'T enjoy is trying to get published. I've sent off a formal proposal to a half-dozen publishers and literary agents, but after 6 months I haven't heard back a peep. (OK, well maybe a couple "peeps", but definitely no "pops".) So now I'm trying to decide whether I'm on the right track or not. Is it crazy to be writing the 2nd book when I haven't even sold the 1st? Sure it's fun, but is it worth the investment? The first book was the hardest thing I've ever completed. Took 7+ years of weekends, on & off. This second one should be a bit easier, but it still takes a lot of time. (Time I could be spending with my kids, instead of writing about somebody else's!)
My dream would be to find a publisher (one of those niche outfits; not a meat grinder) who would give it a look and say, "I think you're on to something here." I've looked into self-publishing too, of course. But that's just not my gig. Maybe my ego is getting in the way, but I think the book has enough quality to earn a stamp on the spine.
So now, I'm just curious: what would you do? Keep writing just for the fun of it, even if it never sits on anyone's shelf but the grandkids'? Or quit and just take the family on a hike?
modified 6-Aug-24 16:46pm.
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It sounds like it's providing you with some joy(tm), so I'd say keep at it.
As far as publishing, yeah. I hear it's hard. Keep at it, maybe find an agent willing to shop it around. After all: Quote: When writing his first award-winning novel, Carrie he gave up and threw it in the garbage, fortunately, his wife read it and encouraged him to finish it. Once finished Carrie was submitted and rejected 30 times by various publishers until it was finally accepted by Doubleday.
TTFN - Kent
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I would never try to talk anyone out of his hobby, as long as it doesn't hurt anybody else.
I happen to listen to a podcast that is hosted in part by John C. Dvorak, which a lot of people here might remember from PC Mag. He's had a 30-year writing career, and even though it has nothing to do with his current podcast(s), he does talk about writing every once in a while.
Based on what I've repeatedly heard him say, I'd suggest you get yourself an agent, first and foremost. Without one, forget about going directly to publishers - that's a dead end.
It's also my understanding that Amazon might be more willing to publish books than any "traditional" book publisher. I wouldn't know where to start however, but that's something that was relayed to me.
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You are right on the dot about Amazon as a publisher.
I know a 13-year-old high school kid in Chennai, India who got his book published by Amazon. It is an adventure story set in Central America, God only knows where he got the idea and how he got the details about Central American jungle right but the book was good enough for Amazon to agree to publish it.
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If you enjoy doing it, keep doing it.
If it gets to stressful quit.
If you keep doing what you've been doing you'll keep getting whatcha been gettin.
A home without books is a body without soul. Marcus Tullius Cicero
PartsBin an Electronics Part Organizer - Release Version 1.4.0 (Many new features) JaxCoder.com
Latest Article: EventAggregator
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Here is one resource you might look into.
It is the NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) They are the organization that sponsors the yearly challenge to write a complete novel (50,000 words or more) during the month of November. They tend to cater to new writers with tips and encouragement to finish a first novel. I do know that a few literary agents do check out the winners (finishers) of their novel to see if there is any new talent that they can represent.
Here is a link to the general organization:
<nanowirmo>[^]
Here is a link to one of their work shops on how to edit your completed first draft of a novel:
Edit to Excellence with ProWritingAid[^]
If writing feels good, keep at it!
(I think it was Stephen King that said he sent his first novel to about 100 publisher/agents before one gave him a shot.)
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The site should be back to normal.
"Mistakes are prevented by Experience. Experience is gained by making mistakes."
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philosophically, what is normal ? 
CI/CD = Continuous Impediment/Continuous Despair
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Don't know if it's related but I still don't have the forum list on the left-hand side of the page.
...
And I still have to make multiple tries for a reply to a message to go through. The failure cases say "We are unable to find the message to which you are trying to reply. The message may have been deleted"
Be wary of strong drink. It can make you shoot at tax collectors - and miss.
Lazarus Long, "Time Enough For Love" by Robert A. Heinlein
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It is definitely related.
I've got is working now, but not sure how long it will last.
"Mistakes are prevented by Experience. Experience is gained by making mistakes."
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I'm seeing that too - nothing down the left side, started yesterday. Also, site slow to load. loading codeproject.com is fine, its when I select one of the community pages (lounge, w&w etc) Feed the hamsters?
modified 7-Aug-24 1:58am.
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Sorry to ruin your day Matthew, but it still appears to have problems.
[Update]
It seems to have resolved itself. I assume some background processing was in progress earlier.
[/Update]
modified 7-Aug-24 7:54am.
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I still don't see the left-hand forum list. Odd that others can. I'll try clearing my cache.
There are no solutions, only trade-offs. - Thomas Sowell
A day can really slip by when you're deliberately avoiding what you're supposed to do.
- Calvin (Bill Watterson, Calvin & Hobbes)
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I may have to take the site down for short periods of time while I tackle this.
"Mistakes are prevented by Experience. Experience is gained by making mistakes."
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Half-joke, half-serious. Complete rant.
Would anyone miss skunks if the species went extinct altogether?
I mean, what role do they play on the food chain? What other species would be negatively impacted if skunks suddenly disappeared from the surface of the Earth? What predator approaches a skunk and thinks "this probably tastes great"...?
I just went through a couple of weeks of 30C+ (close to 40 with humidity), and during that time period, opening windows at night hardly did any good. Now that we finally got a break from this, right after going to bed last night, I had to get back up at 11pm to close the windows because of a nearby skunk...I re-opened them somewhere around 4:30am, and had to close them again around 6am.
Nature gave these creatures an effective defense mechanism. I fail to see their place on the food chain, or have them play a role that is necessary to keep some other species in check. I'm sure some other animal could easily take their place.
The bleeding hearts are free to come over, pick them up, and keep them as pets in their house.
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Where would we be without Pepe le pew? (Sp) 
A home without books is a body without soul. Marcus Tullius Cicero
PartsBin an Electronics Part Organizer - Release Version 1.4.0 (Many new features) JaxCoder.com
Latest Article: EventAggregator
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Well, they eat mice, rats, moles, voles, insects, slugs, and snails as well as being prey for owls and raptors (which have little or no sense of smell), plus coyotes and domestic dogs (if they are hungry enough and no other prey is available).
So they do have a place in the ecosystem, just like wasps and other "pest species".
It's also illegal to keep them as pets (i.e. in your house) in most US states (and you'll need a special permit in most of the others - as well as understanding and tolerant neighbours). Pet Skunk Legal States 2024[^]
Canada won't let you import them as pets at all.
"I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony
"Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt
AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
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OriginalGriff wrote: It's also illegal to keep them as pets (i.e. in your house) in most US state
Land of the free... not. 
Jeremy Falcon
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OriginalGriff wrote: Well, they eat mice, rats, moles, voles, insects, slugs, and snails
I'm pretty sure we already have plenty other animals that can take care of all of those.
OriginalGriff wrote: Canada won't let you import them as pets at all.
I'm trying to export them out of Canada.
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Skunks I don't mind and they do eat alot of Ticks which is very helpful where I am from. I really save my loathing for Mosquitos.
To err is human to really elephant it up you need a computer
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Yes! Yes! Count me in!
Mircea
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That stinks. 
Jeremy Falcon
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I got a tax refund cheque today - completely out of the blue - so I went to my bank app to pay it in*
And they have changed it. I've got to set up security all over again - which needed a new photo of my ID (which it wouldn't accept in the default auto mode, because of "glare", "blur", and / or "shake" but took right away in manual mode), then a security number, then a email link follow - finally get in, and wade through all the "welcome to ..." guff which tells you nothing about how to use it.
Right, where's "pay in a cheque"? nope, not there, not over there, not this menu, no I didn't mean to close the damn app, ah! There, under "make a payment". Should have thought of that...
Put the cheque on a plain background, click the button and ... only up to £1000 ... 15 minutes wasted.  I gotta post it (which means working out where I hid the paying in slips 10 years ago when I last used one) or go to the bank to pay it in. Which is a twenty mile round trip, but it's better off in my account than the tax mans!
Leave these things alone, or provide a decent migration path guys - you just piss people off with this crap.
* I don't know if you left ponders can do this, your banking system does seem to be about 20 years behind the times ... In the UK, we've been able to pay cheques in to our account by sending a photo of it via a secure banking app on the phone. You login (using biometrics etc.), take a picture of the cheque and it's in your account the next morning (provided it doesn't bounce). Really handy, quick, and easy, used it quite a few times over the years.
"I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony
"Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt
AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
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What bank Paul ? You can register your/an account with HMRC which cuts all this crap out
In a closed society where everybody's guilty, the only crime is getting caught. In a world of thieves, the only final sin is stupidity. - Hunter S Thompson - RIP
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I can't - it was Michelle's taxes (which they demanded £400 of last November as she'd underpaid). I'm not getting involved in persuading HMRC to let me access her account (and since they know she is no longer with us, I'd hope her login (that I set up) has been cancelled at their end ...
"I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony
"Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt
AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
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