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Beginnings . . .

December 31, 2015A. Keith Carreiro5 comments
(photo by A. Keith Carreiro – 2012)
It is with excitement, fear, hope and anxiety that I begin this profile of a journey in writing that started in 2014. For instance, when it comes to setting up a business for myself, I seem to falter. I can do wonders for others, but in the past, in attempting a sole endeavor on my own effort, I fell apart. Even now, I feel self-confidence flying out the window and I am left shaken with various shadings of doubt, fear and trepidation. I can easily become useless. Shaken. Dismayed. Disgusted.
The purpose of this blog is to share with you the learning I have acquired in traveling on the self-publishing road. Over the course of my posting about this experience, I hope that you are at least somewhat entertained with my foibles, foolishness, foolhardiness and, yes, sometimes even small victories.
Given the caveats stated above, I have overcome them by putting one foot in front of the other. I haven’t often been able to walk very well. A lot of stumbling, falling and even running pell-mell away in retreat have occurred. Yet, I have kept getting back up on my feet.

Like the stepping stones I placed in my Japanese garden pictured above, I hope to set a path before me now in this weblog site. Perhaps by doing so, I can build another series of steps that help others walk into a place and time I have discovered.

I can’t just quit following the path of a writer on this topic of the Immortality Wars story, and in sharing with you about this experience. I have to keep going with it. I think it is important that I do so. I have a story to tell. I think it is an excellent one. It is powerful and haunting to be its chronicler. I am captured by it, and I think others will be as well. I wish to share this odyssey that I have begun with you, and to share with you, also, toward where it is leading me.
Thus, two years ago to this day, and on the cusp of the New Year heading into 2014, I made a resolution to go through all of the poetry I had written since 1965, update it, and gather it all together in computer files that could be easily retrievable. It took me all of the first four months of 2014 to complete this goal. I made sure that I had hard copies made of each poem and that I backed up every file onto an external disc drive.
I had poetry handwritten on the back of envelopes, scrawled across napkins, slapped hastily down on memo paper and even on the margins of old newspapers. Several poems were memorialized on paper dinner mats from eating at a wide variety of grills, delis, bistros and restaurants. Many others were actually typewritten and some were done in Microsoft Word format.
My goal was to attain a summative listing and a complete collection of all of my poetry. This endeavor included images, footnotes and a gathering of other sources that I could use in a poetry reading in order to share with my audience how each poem was conceived and, perhaps, to explain how the wellsprings of creativity helped shaped them into being.
When this project was done I felt a deep satisfaction and pride that I had indeed completed it. However, I suffered from a post-partum blues in conception. I figured that as I had successfully accomplished this task, I could do so on another writing task. Consequently, I turned my attention to writing a story about the future, about the past and, above all, about the present . . .

If you enjoyed reading this post, please share it with others.

 

© 31 December 2015 by A. Keith Carreiro

 

For information about my series, The Immortality Wars, please go to my home page: https://immortalitywars.com/

Tags: self-publishing, writing
Next post Partings . . .

5 comments. Leave new

A. Keith Carreiro
January 1, 2016 5:20 pm

You are totally awesome my dear husband! Your novel is beyond excellent! I am so happy you wrote it! Many will agree, as readers, once one starts reading it, they can’t put it down! Through the journeys, on editing by many. I cannot wait to read the second novel! With Love- Carolyn

ms
January 1, 2016 10:53 pm

I am looking forward to reading some of your poems. Will you be posting some of them on the blog? I am curious about the self-publishing journey myself. Keep up the good work.

A. Keith Carreiro
January 2, 2016 12:17 am

Hi, Michael,

Thank you for your comment. I had not thought about posting my poetry until you asked me about doing so! You also helped give me an idea. It would be great if I could somehow record myself reading a poem, while at the same time the individual listening to the reading could read the poem as well. I would appreciate any suggestions you have on accomplishing this idea.

Best,

— Keith

rkeating
January 3, 2016 5:56 pm

Dr. Keith:
Having read an early draft of the first novella, I firmly believe that you will be taking your readers on a wonderful almost mystical journey of the mind. This book seems to be a amassing of your observations on life via a most entertaining approach. Although this book is about the future, one’s thoughts on the present can never be far behind. I would encourage folks to only read the first few pages to get hooked and to see that you have accomplished something very worthy for those who love a good read.

A. Keith Carreiro
January 4, 2016 5:56 am

Robert:

Thank you for your insightful comment and kind words to me and about the story. I hope that it is one people dig into and follow avidly.

Best,

— Keith

ARIA Member

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