My Journey by Jim Woods

NEW RELEASE MAY 1, 2014!

My Journey by Jim Woods

#gypsyshadow #autobiography #hunting

http://www.amazon.com/My-Journey-Jim-Woods-ebook/dp/B00K2EV8VE

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/my-journey-jim-woods/1119395013

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/434196

http://www.gypsyshadow.com/JimWoods.html#MyJourney

Born by the side of the road, Jim Woods went on to be a writer and an adventurous big game hunter. My Journey by Jim Woods. Available from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Smashwords, other fine eBook vendors and Gypsy Shadow Publishing at:

http://www.gypsyshadow.com/JimWoods.html#MyJourney

Jim Woods was a sports hunter writer, outdoorsman and game hunter. Follow his journey from his early beginnings in the Navy through many hunting adventures, both in the Eastern and Western hemispheres as he searches for and bags trophy game.

Word Count: 98600

Pages to Print: 272

Price: $5.99

EXCERPT:

A Long Walk Home

This account of my birth is enhanced family verbal history—enhanced because I don’t know precisely what dialogue was spoken, although the gist of it is faithful to what I’ve been told. I’m not certain that my mother remembered exactly either, and quite likely recalled and told it a bit differently each time I heard it from her. However, the story is as I remember it being told to me, and of course I have no personal memory of the events.

“Virgull! [My father, Virgil Neff Woods] Ah kain’t go no futher!”

Already some fifteen steps ahead of her, he deliberately took two more as though he didn’t hear, and then disgustedly set down the two battered and mismatched suitcases. He unslung the water jug hanging by the rope loop from his shoulder, and turned to face her.

Her streaked, blonde, straight, sweat-matted hair clung to her colorless features. She hadn’t put on lipstick in four days. Even her normally blue eyes were dusky gray.

The tattered sweater, once blue like her eyes, now faded by the years and grayed by the dust filtering upward from her every step, hung limply on her shoulders. The stretched sleeves covered half of her hands so that only her fingers were exposed below the frayed cuffs. She had needed the wrap in the coolness of the morning when they started out just after first light. Now at midday in mid-September, the Arkansas weather was steamy. Still, it was easier to wear the sweater than to carry it and the sniffling boy too.

Her dress once had been a bright flowered print. She traded and coaxed cloth from neighbors until she had enough of the multicolored flour sacks in the same pattern to make the only maternity dress she had ever owned. She had worn it while pregnant with the boy, now in her arms, two years ago. Threadbare and almost bleached out, once again it stretched taut across her swollen stomach. The soles of her flimsy sandals gave way to the piercing of every pebble in the road, and her feet were bruised and dirty.

“We can make six more miles today,” he objected gruffly, then relented to the persuasion of her silent tears.

Under the refuge of a hickory tree just turning to yellow alongside the grassy roadside ditch, he fished cigarette makings from the bib pocket of his overalls. To conserve tobacco, he packed the paper loosely from the Prince Albert can, twisted the ends to keep the cherished narcotic in place, and then popped a wooden match into flame under his grimy thumbnail. When the paper flared and the tobacco glowed, he stuck the half-burned match to the grass and twigs she had gathered for a cook-fire.

He appreciated the tree that sheltered them, but cursed the forest around Hardy [Arkansas] that finally had run out, causing the mill to shut down. It had been degrading for him to go hat-in-hand to her sister’s family in Fort Smith, and beg to stay on with them until he found another job. There should be jobs. It was 1934; the Depression was turning around, the nation’s economy on the way to recovery—Mister Roosevelt said so. Then came the letter from his own sister Catherine [Pierce] in Paducah [Kentucky] telling him that the Illinois Central Shop was hiring—and paying forty cents an hour!

Paducah was three hundred miles away. Train fare was impossible for them, so they set out afoot, and had been lucky with rides while they walked along the main roads. They crossed the Ozark Plateau in three days, sometimes hitching a ride on a wagon or truck. They even slept under a roof every night; on the ground huddled in their coats in abandoned or dilapidated barns, but at least not out in the open. Now at Marked Tree, they turned northeast through the Mississippi Valley to cut across the corner of Missouri into western Kentucky. The main flow of commerce moved in the tug-towed barges on the river, so the surface roads through the region were lightly traveled. The single car going in their direction passed with a blaring horn and a flurry of dust. They had walked nine miles.

She untied the rope from around the heavier suitcase, and removed the cast iron skillet and the battered aluminum pan that long ago had lost its handle. Then she dug out the bag of flour and measured a couple of handfuls into the pan. From the Clabber Girl can, she added a pinch of baking powder, and lastly, a sprinkle from the saltbox. She twirled the ingredients briefly with her single tablespoon, and formed a depression in the center of the mixture.

He pulled the cork from the jug of tepid, cloudy water reclaimed from a farm pond back down the road, washed the dust from his mouth with a swig, and handed her the bottle. She poured some into a tin cup to give the fretful boy a drink, and then clucked soothing endearments to quiet him, while she splashed more water into the flour mixture. When it was stirred into a thin batter, she used the same spoon to measure lard from the tin to the hot skillet where it sizzled and smoked, and spooned three pools of the batter into the skillet. She then retrieved the spatula he had shaped and thinned from a broken board with his clasp knife on their first night’s stopover.

After the batter was covered in bubbles over the entire top surface, and the bubbles broke, she flipped the hoecakes over to cook them through. The edges of the bread were burnt and crisp, while the centers were plump and soft. When the first one was done, she passed it to her husband. She turned her attention to the boy, crumbling the next hoecake in a tin plate and pouring syrup over the pieces from the almost empty Log Cabin can. Then she mashed the bread into a gooey mixture and spoon-fed the boy.

She was snatching a bite of her own bread in between feeding the boy when He demanded, “Don’t we have some of that baloney left?” Setting her lunch aside, she probed once again into the kitchen suitcase and produced a greasy paper package, and remembered the meager feast of last night.

They agonized over the decision, but had spent a precious dime for their first meat in three days. It was hard to wait as the butcher sliced a few pieces from the cloth-wrapped sandwich loaf. When the man realized how desperate was their hunger, he rolled another sheet of butcher paper into a cone and filled it with crackers from the barrel out in front of the counter. They protested that they didn’t have money for crackers, too, but he insisted that crackers were free with the purchase of bologna. They carefully divided the meat and crackers into two portions and put half away for the next day, even though what they acquired was barely enough for one meal.

She unwrapped the package and gagged at the odor, and her eyes brimmed at seeing the formerly fresh pink bologna now slimy and tinged with green. The crackers, also closed up in the hot and airless suitcase, had gone stale and soft. Her weeping turned to near hysterics at the waste, and he stoically resolved not to add to her misery. He wouldn’t voice the deserved accusation that she should have known this would happen when he insisted they not eat it all at one time. Besides, she cried at everything these days.

She separated the crackers on the butcher paper in the forlorn hope that they would dry in the air and perhaps serve as an acceptable snack to pacify Bobby [My brother, Bobby Gordon Woods] before the next meal, then solemnly fried the last of the batter.

After another sip all around of the just barely drinkable water, she started to repack the suitcase, because she knew that he wouldn’t allow them to rest here for very long. As she twisted around in her sitting position to stretch for the fry pan, she felt a sharp, penetrating pain and screamed him out of his musings of the good life to come. “Virgil! The baby’s coming!”

“Don’t be silly, Ethel Marie! [My mother, Ethel Marie (Burns)Woods] You’re just upset over that damned baloney. You’re not due for two weeks and we’ll be at Cat’s way ‘fore then.”

“No! It’s coming. I know it is and it hurts! You’ve got to help me!” Her panic was real and contagious.

“What can I do?” Now, scared at his inadequacy, he was yelling at her. She had no right to involve him in this business that was her doing.

“Get the coats . . . and the boy’s diapers!”

GSP's Book of the Day September 15

So You Want to be an Author? by Jim Woods

#gypsyshadow #checkeditout #nonfiction

English usage and grammar textbooks, at least those volumes when in paper print, are so big, so heavy…so complete. Students toting books and laptops in backpacks need relief, just as home authors can use more space on their reference bookshelves. So You Want To Be an Author? takes up little space and weight but most importantly provides immediate answers to questions about grammar, spelling, punctuation and writing style. No searching through voluminous chapters in textbooks or scrolling incessant computer files. Pick a subject and go right to it for realistic examples of literary usage drawn from the author’s more than four decades working both sides of the editorial desk. Let his experience as magazine Editor, Managing Editor, Editorial director; independent book editor; and his four hundred articles and thirteen books as a fellow author, be your compact and shortcut guide along the path to literary success.

Word Count: 31,000

Pages to Print: 106

Price: 4.99

http://www.amazon.com/So-You-Want-Author-ebook/dp/B00557S3W0
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/so-you-want-to-be-an-author-jim-woods/1113644894
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/64645
http://www.gypsyshadow.com/JimWoods.html#SoYouWant

Let Jim's experience as magazine Editor, Managing Editor, Editorial director; independent book editor; and his four hundred articles and thirteen books as a fellow author, be your compact and shortcut guide along the path to literary success. So You Want to be an Author? by Jim Woods. Available from Amazon, other fine eBook vendors and Gypsy Shadow Publishing at:
http://www.gypsyshadow.com/JimWoods.html#SoYouWant

Book of the Day December 28

So You Want to be an Author? by Jim Woods

English usage and grammar textbooks, at least those volumes when in paper print, are so big, so heavy…so complete. Students toting books and laptops in backpacks need relief, just as home authors can use more space on their reference bookshelves. So You Want To Be an Author? takes up little space and weight but most importantly provides immediate answers to questions about grammar, spelling, punctuation and writing style. No searching through voluminous chapters in textbooks or scrolling incessant computer files. Pick a subject and go right to it for realistic examples of literary usage drawn from the author’s more than four decades working both sides of the editorial desk. Let his experience as magazine Editor, Managing Editor, Editorial director; independent book editor; and his four hundred articles and thirteen books as a fellow author, be your compact and shortcut guide along the path to literary success.

Word Count: 31,000
Pages to Print: 106
Price: 4.99

Here's what we need you to do (Thanks in Advance!):

1. Login to Amazon
2. Click the link (under the picture)
3. By the title on Amazon there is a "like" button, click it. if you wish you can stop there, but if you want to help even more . . .
4. When you click and hover over the like button it says "share this link: via Email, Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest." Click one (two or all) of them and hit share, it should only take a couple of minutes.
5. Page down to the visible tags (Tags Customers Associate with This Product) and either click on the tags you agree with, agree with all the tags or, if you've read the book, add some tags of your own. The fastest way, of course is to click on the link that says "Agree with these tags?"
6. If you have read the book, please leave a brief review!

You say you want to get published?

I don't mean to sound harsh at all, but a career in writing is a hard way to go! Breaking into the publishing world is difficult and often heartbreaking. Once, a really good story had a fair chance of getting your foot in the door, but these days, it's next to impossible to find a publisher, even if you do have a fantastic story. Collectively, publishing houses receive literally thousands of submissions per day. You have to interest them from page one and do it professionally, or they won't read past the first few pages at most.

Today, the would-be author has to have a killer story, possess a better than average command of the language and know where and how to market herself. More than that; you have to have raging tenacity, get used to rejection, be willing to continue to submit your tale aggressively to dozens, maybe even hundreds of publishers and not be at all attached to the belief that your story is perfect as it stands. You may think you have written the next New York Times bestseller, but in all honesty, it isn't always the best story that makes the cut. Aggressive promotion and lots of very hard work go into making a book a bestseller. Often it's the author's own "elbow grease" that gets a book into that highly coveted position.

My advice? Unless you love writing so much you would do it even if you never sold anything, quit NOW, before you get turned down 100 times. Still want to be a writer? Okay. Some of us HAVE to write, just like we have to breathe. If you are one of us, here are some tips:

1. READ a LOT, especially in the genre you are interested in writing. If romance is your "bag" for example, read all the bestselling romance novels you can get your hands on--not all the novels out there, just the best ones! But don't just read. Absorb the way the authors write, the things they say and how they phrase their sentences. Analyze everything.

2. Proof your manuscript for spelling, grammar and dum-dum mistakes, and then proof it again . . . and again. Keep a good thesaurus and dictionary by you at all times (or use the online ones). If it isn't professionally presented, it won't get read past the first few sentences, and it certainly has very little chance of being published. Inexperienced writers think editors are there to rework their books. Not true. Editors will rake you over the coals, make you re-write it until you get it right and still not ever lift a finger to help you whip it into shape, beyond making a few suggestions. After all, this is your book; you are the one who needs to write it. If you need someone to make your work shine and you can't do it yourself, you need to hire a professional ghostwriter. Your editor is too busy to re-write your book for you, so don't expect it.

3. Join a local writer/critique group (or several) and get their feedback. DON'T be insulted if these people tell you all kinds of ways to improve your writing. Just follow their advice! Join online groups and read all the tips of authors who are making making their way out there (avail yourself of the many writer's resources these groups post to their files), because it's a tough business (have I mentioned that?) and only the fearless and strong make it. These would be the ones who kept on keeping on until they got published, so follow their examples.

4. When you think your manuscript might be ready, look through a new (as in up-to-date) copy of Writer's Market and find a dozen or so (for starters) publishing companies you want to submit to. Read their submission guidelines and do exactly what they say. Warning: this is likely to be somewhat different with each different publisher, so don't think you can put your manuscript together and just shoot it out to everyone. If you want their attention in a good way, tailor your submission and query letter just for them, as though you wrote your book with them alone in mind. You will have to rework your submission and query for each different publisher, probably; and many publishers don't want you to submit to more than one place at a time, so get ready to WAIT . . . three to six MONTHS just to be rejected and start over. Here's a hint: Don't submit to the big guys until you have made your mark with a book or two sold to less prominent publishers, unless you long to start a collection of rejection letters. I know plenty of authors who have had a dozen or more books published and they still have trouble finding a home for the next one in the world of the traditional publishers.

5. Write and write and write. Read what you have written aloud and see how it flows; check to see if it sounds dull or plodding . . . Look at it like it was someone else's work and ask yourself if you would continue reading it if it wasn't your baby. Be honest, even if it hurts. Writing is a skill which can be learned and improved on with practice, but you have to write a LOT, re-write even more and accept the critiques like they pure gold, because they may be that valuable in terms of improving your style and technique. Successful writing (and selling) begins with hard work: start with a good concept for a story; create strong, memorable characters who are real, compelling and believable; hone your presentation with sentence variety, correct grammar and immaculate usage; find a way to grab and keep your readers' interest, because if you don't, your book won't sell. Sounds simpler than it is, and it sounds like a tall order, because it is.

6. Don't think just because you have a book (or even a dozen) published that you are going to be rich and famous. Over 99% of the authors out there never get rich or famous, even though their work is worthy of recognition. Besides that, once you are published, that's when your work begins. You have to hustle to get readers, because no one will buy your book if they never heard of you or your book. You have to eat, drink and sleep promotion, and it still may not get you the results you want. If you can't promote yourself, you probably won't sell your books; and if you don't sell your books, publishers won't publish any more of your work. A publisher--even a big, established traditional publisher--can/will do only so much to promote its authors, and only authors who are already bestsellers will get a lot of promo from the publisher. You gotta do it yourself! You want to be a bestseller? Go for it, but know in advance it's going to take all the courage, stamina and consistency you can manage.

In the world of eBook publishing, the outlook on getting published is not quite as bleak . . . yet, although competition is very stiff and getting more so every day. Face it, probably more than half the people you know have written, are writing or will write a book, and they all want to see their work out there. So even eBook publishers have to deal with a lot of submissions. You should take no less care in submitting to a small indie eBook publisher than you would submitting to the cream of the top traditional publishers. Attention to detail, correctness and consistency will eventually get you where you want to be, so don't skimp in attention to details. You want them to think the best of you, so give them your absolute best.

My publishing company, Gypsy Shadow Publishing, is a small, indie publisher. We have been open since September, 2009, and to date we have 75 authors and about 150 eBooks under contract. When I say small, I mean two women read, proofed, edited and produced all those books (125 are out right now; the other 25 are in various stages of completion) in less than two years. We've had to turn a lot of stories down, just as all publishers do. It didn't mean they weren't good stories; only that there isn't enough time, energy and enthusiasm between the two of us to accept all of them. Check out our Submission Guidelines, and if you want a more detailed description of the dos and don'ts of writing and getting published. I invite you to check out a new book we just released by Jim Woods, titled: So You Want to be an Author?