BE THANKFUL

In a few days I will be 66 years old. Yes, another birthday is approaching and it gives me time to look back over my life. Would I have done anything to change it? I think that everyone in their life would make changes if they had it to do over again.

However, I have so many things in my life to be thankful for. I grew up a country boy and had nature all around me. It was a tough childhood, but also in many ways rewarding. I got to spend much time in the forest and learned to love and respect animals and nature at an early age. That feeling has never left me. In my heart I will always be a country boy.

When I got our of high school I went to work in a factory that did much work for the government. It was the time during the Vietnam War. As many of my friends were getting drafted, I felt it was time to enlist in the military. The owner of the factory told me one day that since we did much government work he could get me out of the military. I told him no, it was my duty to serve. I would never be considered a draft dodger. I enlisted in the U.S. Air Force and spent time in Texas, Florida, and the Philippines.

Here I sit at the computer now thinking what would have happened if I had listened to my boss. I would have never ended up in the Philippines and I never would have met a beautiful young woman that worked in the Airmen's Club on Clark AFB in the Philippines. I never would have got married and had a son and a daughter by my wife Lina. In December of this year we will celebrate 44 years of marriage.

When I got out of the Air Force I went to work for a short while for Ronson Corporation. My main job was to put flint tubes in cigarette lighters. I only worked for them a couple of months before I got a job working for General Electric. That factory made carbon brushes for motors and generators. It was dirty, extremely dirty but paid well. The downfall was that I worked many holidays including, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's. The pay was great, but between the dirt and the hours I left after 4 1/2 years.

Through the following years I worked in other machine shops and and factories. It was often stressful work but paid well. Some of the things I worked on was gold drums that went in guidance systems for missiles, hoists for shrimp boats, parts for the space shuttle, parts for the stealth bomber, parts for missile launchers on nuclear submarines. I was proud of much I accomplished, it made me feel patriotic and proud.

When I first got out of the Air Force I had a chance to get my pilots license at the local airport. I turned it down because I was at that time working about 70 hours a week at GE. The government would have paid 90%. Not becoming a pilot has been the biggest regret of my life.

I look back over my life and I am thankful for what I have, a wife, two children, and five grand kids.
I have a little adopted dog that gives me smiles every day. A roof over my head. Food in my stomach. I have been a published author. Dreams that every day the world will get better.

Yes, I complain about politics, traffic, pollution, and many things other people complain about, but I am happy in my life and that is what counts. I have many friends in my personal life and on Facebook. In a few days I will be 66, and I look forward to getting up everyday. It is just another chapter in my life and I think I have quite a few chapters left until I reach that final chapter.


Copyright   Larry W. Fish   2014

PROOFREADING

You have just finished that novel and you want to get it to a publisher as soon as you can. You have read over your novel and you think everything is perfect and that is the way you want it. You contact a publisher and soon the copy of your book is in your hands. Have you made a wise choice by rushing it to a publisher? My answer to that is yes, you have made a big mistake. The same mistake that I made on my first novel, Golden Haze.

An author needs to have their work proofread by someone other than yourself. Someone else will pick out many mistakes that you do not see yourself. I know to have it professionally proofread is very expensive and many authors are working on a shoestring budget, myself included. When I wrote my second and third novels, I didn't have the funds to get it professionally proofread. My daughter is very good in grammar and punctuation. I was lucky to have her and she was glad to do it for me. My daughter caught many errors that I didn't see myself. I now have two novels that I will be getting self-published in the months to come.

I now feel that I will end up with the best work possible. If you don't have the money to get it professionally proofread, then you may well have a friend who is good at grammar and punctuation. Have them read your manuscript, look for errors, and suggest changes.

When my next novels get in print I want them to be the best they can possibly be. An author puts much time into their work and is doing something they are proud of. I am writing this blog post because I had someone tell me that they read a book that was self-published and they said it was poorly written and confusing. Spelling, grammar, and punctuation are so important to a writer.

If you wish to read my first novel. It is, Golden Haze, and is available on amazon.com or can be ordered at any book store in the US. It has received good reviews on amazon. It is the story of a four legged angel that helps a family through the struggles of injury, disease, and paranormal activity in their home. The dog pictured on the front cover was my actual dog, Izzy.


Copyright   Larry W. Fish   2014