Sunday, December 19, 2010

Yesterday

I went back into the studio to take some new advice from a critique I had the day before. Work bigger, keep it simple, frame it better. It took a while to get the juices flowing then all of a sudden out came what I thought was my best piece ever. I stared in amazement and glanced at the clock. I HAD TO GO. <---- mistake #1.

This morning I went back in the studio to continue the process from yesterday. My piece still looked great. Could I do it again? Let's make a few of these. Larger but still simple. Could I do it? NO! I tried and tried and just don't know how that worked out yesterday. RATS!!!!

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

FUN!


This was fun to see a story about Journeys and some paintings of mine both old and new....

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

feeling grateful

For all those warm, wonderful reviews that are coming my way. They are posted on Amazon.

Sunday, November 28, 2010

Yeah! I am now on Kindle!!

It hasn't been easy. I had phantom images on my manuscript that didn't show up when I printed the book, but did when I tried to upload it. The images were nowhere to be seen on the document going up but there on the document coming back. After tomorrow hopefully, I will be going to Smashwords.com and there I can upload it to all the rest of the ebook readers. The folks at Authorlink.com were able to help me get rid of the phantom images and format the manuscript for e books. Nobody said it would be easy....

Friday, November 19, 2010

Monday, November 15, 2010

FUN! MMD Newswire: Press Release News Wire

Journeys: A Grand Adventure by Judy Edwards describes trip around the world by painter and her 13-year-old daughter
ROCKLEDGE, Fla. (MMD Newswire) November 15, 2010 -- Journeys: A Grand Adventure by Judy Edwards is the true story of Edwards' yearlong, globe-spanning artistic journey with her teenage daughter, Jill.

Like many people, Edwards had always dreamed of international travel but the typical responsibilities of everyday life had kept her from doing anything more than stepping over the border at Niagara Falls. She had a successful husband, loving children, pets and a big house, but she still fantasized about world travel. After flipping through a book of travel stories, she was inspired by a vision one evening while driving the family home from the Christmas holidays, in which her whole trip was laid out in front of her. A few months later, Edwards and her 13-year-old daughter embarked on a trip around the globe to paint in beautiful locations like Chile, Easter Island, Moorea, Bali, Thailand, Greece and Egypt. As she and her daughter faced their fears and experienced unforgettable adventures, the trip turned from a painting trip with the bonus of having Jill around, to an extraordinary adventure for the two of them.

"My story is about the empowering results of following your dreams," says Edwards. "Once I had that vision, I knew I had to go in spite of my fears. I wondered what would happen to me if I didn't go."

With no foreign language skills and only a limited budget, Edwards runs into some challenging situations in far-off corners of the globe. However, her unflagging spirit of adventure and sense of humor allowed her to overcome each challenge and return home strong, confident and with a clearer understanding of her purpose in life. Upon their return home, her daughter pursued her own passion discovered while traveling and learned to fly airplanes, having her first solo flight at age 16. Edwards' life-changing story can serve as an inspiration to all who long to follow their dreams but are held back by fear.

Journeys: A Grand Adventure is available for sale online at Amazon.com and other channels.

About the Author
Judy Edwards was born in Staten Island, N.Y. and received her degree in communication disorders from SUNY Brockport. She worked as a Montessori teacher, special education teacher and speech therapist while always dreaming of life as an artist. Edwards studied painting at the Honolulu Art Academy and with various teachers across the U.S., including Don Stone, an internationally known impressionist painter who has won two Greenshields Foundation grants. She and her husband of 34 years have two grown daughters and currently reside in Rockledge.

MEDIA CONTACT:
Judy Edwards
E-mail: judyedwards05@gmail.com
Phone: (321) 213-6930
Web: www.judyedwards.com

REVIEW COPIES AND INTERVIEWS AVAILABLE

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The views and opinions expressed in this press release do not necessarily represent the views and opinions of CreateSpace or its affiliates.


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Sunday, November 14, 2010

My first book signing

Well that was fun! It was at Aquarian Dreams and we had the large room. In about an hour we transformed it to the place to be. In the end, there was SRO and I think it went well, from sharing the story not of me, look what we did, to look what we did, and you can do it to. I am depending heavily on my sage Lao Tzu to guide me through this. He gave me the nudge to do it at this time, and whenever I stay out of the doubt and fear, it is all well. Being vulnerable was OK. No one shot me or anything. My goal was to be honest and to discuss how when faced with fear, it is best to consider the odds and do something. It was fun to hear me say, that when faced with no money it was better to spend the last baht we had on a wonderful dinner rather than nothing as we didn't have enough money to go on, and when in that situation it is better to eat then not, while we search for the solution. Same thing about going to the trip. Being afraid to go and afraid to not go. Well seeing as their was fear surrounding each decision, I made the choice that had a trip with it.

Many of the lessons learned when lived through they didn't register. But upon review they are apparent. It was gratifying to hear the women come up who just like the last time, thanked me for telling my story as they were so inspired to do whatever. I guess that is what it is all about.

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

It finally happened

A couple of things. I saw my book on Amazon! I have an Amazon page. The title has been shortened to but I guess that is ok. And there is a place for video. and there is no comments but one has to start somewhere. It seems an awesome project to get it out there. So we will see how the publicity works and we do have books. The only problem that I see right now is that it is hard to find if you don't have the link. I am waiting for a response from Daniel on that. It was fun to see Juliet today at the gallery. I love what she sees in my paintings.

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

2 weeks

It seems that I have been working on this forever and I think I have gone through 6 or 7 proofs but that's what happens when you do it yourself. So I am at the 2 weeks part of the game. I finally paid to have it formatted electronically for Kindle, the Nook, ibook and epub, and that was on Monday and she said it would take 2 weeks. I answered all the PR questions, and she said, 2 weeks! I did find a few errors in the last proof that I was attempting to forget about and/or not let it bother me. Well, once I had the 2 week window, I sent it in for the LAST proof. Then hopefully it will all fall into place.

Rebecca from Space Coast LIving is writing an article about me and my painting and now Journeys. I gave her a copy a few weeks ago and she is pitching it in the article in December. The neighbors who read it in present time, they loved it, so it will be on its way soon. And I will just be honest and know that I am doing it because Lao Tzu told me to.

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

October 5,2010 still waiting

I paid more for the latest proof of my manuscript to get to me sooner and that hasn't happened. I had to change the margins for the last time and the change on the back cover that tales the story from being about 'me' to the reader and what they could do.
I was interviewed yesterday for a magazine article by a lovely reporter. I had been thinking ahead of time as to what I would say when asked, "what took me so long?" or "why now?".

When I got thinking about the years that passed since 9/11 when my manuscript got stopped dead in its tracks. Well once we got over that more of less, then every two years after, I had first my mother in law, then my father in law and most recently my mother who passed on. That brings me right up to now.... and in hindsight each event was challenging and time consuming.

So now it is time! I look forward letting it go out there in the world and see what happens. It is my service project.

Sunday, September 26, 2010

9/26/10

It is very interesting all this final editing. I am on my 3rd attempt. But it has been worthwhile. My concern has always been to bring this really good story into present time context. I have been thinking of that for a while. On the evening of the 23rd I went to bed asking for the answer. I don't get many answers in dreams but I was hopeful. RIding up to an art event with a friend of mine on the 24th , we were discussing this situation, and she asked some really pertinent question surrounding why was I doing this and what was my intention.

Hmmm. then all of a sudden it hit! My intention in sharing this story is to encourage the reader to release all they are not and develop who they are meant to be. That's what happened to me, and to Jill only we didn't know it at the time. But I guess I did to a certain degree when I mentioned to Chris in Crete that the woman he knew was not here anymore.

To see this adventure as an archetypal story is clear in hindsight but as I said not when we were living it. There were so many challenges that we/I lived through which makes it all very interesting....

Monday, September 20, 2010

It came in the mail!

I got home this afternoon and there was a box in the mail from Amazon. I thought it was the book I ordered for a friend. When I opened it up, it was Journeys!!!!. Well, that was fun! Now I guess it all gets going. The book looked good, except it was a bit squashed from the packaging. It wasn't packed as well as Amazon usually packs its books. If I could change the whiteness of the back cover I would...not sure if I can. So now the secret part of the story gets out in the world. I'm ok with it.

Sunday, September 19, 2010

9/19/10

It has been a fun girls weekend, dinner at a lovely restaurant on Friday night resulted in a toast to Journeys coming out in the world, We didn't think we were that loud but the tables all around us got involved. Some were voracious readers and when they found out what Journeys was all about... they wanted to buy it!
That was fun! Home tonight and tomorrow I will figure out how to upload it to Kindle.

Thursday, September 16, 2010

09/16/10

Today, I finally did it, I clicked enter twice and sent my manuscript up to Createspace and to Amazon's DPT site. From the time I decided to take my manuscript out of the closet till now has been at least a month. And the manuscript was all done. An updated Introduction, and Epilogue brought it into present tense. Then hours of research as to how to do this outside of the traditional method which I attempted the first time. I believe It would have gone eventually had it not been for 9/11 and the fear and anxiety that ensued for years. I have to admit, I did forget about it, too. I always knew that there would be a someday, but I thought it would have to be on my deathbed or something, 'oh before I go, let me tell you this great story'. I am way too superstitious to have created that, and I didn't want to spend the energy necessary in that place. Hopefully it would have been fiction and that would have screwed up a non fiction story.

Thank you to Elizabeth Gilbert and Eat Pray Love. It's appeal demonstrated to me that there was now interest. So the next Journey began. And the biggest thing was that my dear husband who has put off reading this for all these years, now that it is going out in the world, he is reading it. I never realized how much anxiety was harboring in the anticipation of this event. As a friend said, it was like I was pushing a rock up a hill for all these years, and someone just took it away.

We had the conversation we should have had nine years ago, last week. And it is all good. We admit that we are not the same people now that we were then, fortunately we have grown. He is a wonderful man in that did not object to my telling the story as it was. I couldn't or wouldn't have changed anything anyhow, cause there was consequences to everything that happened. His vulnerability as we had the overdue conversation was endearing... and here we are, still together.

Back to the details of a POD book. It is not easy but it is doable with either the know how, or the friends and associates who know how to do the things that I don't

The train has left the station.... let's see where it goes.