Conversations with Calliope- Dealing with Frustration

(Vigo Reconquista Parade)

JOE: Good morning Calliope.
CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. How are you today?
JOE: Less confused about frustration than I was yesterday.
CALLIOPE: You said you would ponder this issue. What did you discover in your mind?
JOE: I discovered that keeping concerns locked in my mind makes them bang into the walls of my awareness and damage delicate ideas taking shape.
CALLIOPE: What led to this discovery?
JOE: Sharing my concerns with you and our readers yesterday helped me put them behind me and get on with life.
CALLIOPE: Glad to hear it. Sounds like a simple solution.
JOE: Simple does not always mean easy. I sometimes become so wrapped up in the complexities of issues that I don't realize I am making things more complicated and could just let the concerns float until they reveal their secrets and simple solutions.
CALLIOPE: Sound profound. Are you talking about things like meditation?
JOE: I am. Letting something reveal itself often works better than trying to tear it apart.
CALLIOPE: How does that apply to the concerns you talked about yesterday?
JOE: Doing something counterproductive such as dosing boredom with junk food just creates new problems.
CALLIOPE: So you found talking with me about it more productive?
JOE: I did. Thanks for being there to listen. Talk with you tomorrow.

Conversations with Calliope- The Best Laid Plans

(Water Over the Dam)

JOE: Good morning Calliope.
CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. How's your organizational plan going?
JOE: I got through one day and started yesterday on some changes to my website.
CALLIOPE: And?
JOE: Technology tripped me up again. My FTP program updated and then I was unable to log into my server.
CALLIOPE: Did you get it fixed?
JOE: No. I'm still stuck and will ask for some help from my internet service provider.
CALLIOPE: Sounds frustrating.
JOE: It is. I worked on that and a problem with one of my e-mail accounts. Neither problem is resolved yet.
CALLIOPE: I take it that means you didn't get to work on your writing yesterday.
JOE: You take it correctly. So much for that plan.
CALLIOPE: You sound frustrated.
JOE: I am. Just when I start taking technology for granted it rears its ugly head and reminds me who's in charge.
CALLIOPE: I hope you get some answers and get back to work today.
JOE: I hope so too. Talk with you tomorrow.

Conversations with Calliope

JOE: Good morning Calliope.
CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. How are you today?
JOE: Still pondering my lying fallow.
CALLIOPE: What are you pondering specifically?
JOE: I tried to shut off my logical brain for a while, but it doesn't seem to want to cooperate.
CALLIOPE: What is it doing?
JOE: Bringing up thoughts of whether I should continue my writing efforts or just enjoy retirement or do something else.
CALLIOPE: Sounds rather drastic. Where do you think those thoughts originate?
JOE: Probably from realizing that publicity and marketing are much more complicated than I thought even though I have been learning all I can.
CALLIOPE: Speaking of which, how are the videos coming?
JOE: I guess that's part of the frustration. I have struggled with the technology to the point of frustration. Finally I have all the pieces in place and have developed an outline for the first video, Ten Reasons To Read The Pastor's Inferno and Ten Reasons Not To.
CALLIOPE: So what's the problem?
JOE: I felt my energy drained by the effort. I'm ready to go technically but flagging in my motivation.
CALLIOPE: You mentioned recharging. Did you do anything in this regard?
JOE: Yesterday I resumed work on a painting of the Block Island Lighthouse I promised to have finished by the beginning of July. I also attended a picnic for cancer survivors last night and got out of myself as well as having some help putting my good fortune in perspective.
CALLIOPE: Those sound like positive steps. Now what?
JOE: More painting today. I think I will also try a test video with the technology I have recently discovered to consider the quality of the video. I'll let you know how it goes tomorrow.
(Charlotte Lighthouse- Rochester, NY)

Conversations with Calliope

JOE: Good morning Calliope.
CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. Everything back in working order?
JOE: I wish. My phone is still on the blink. I sent an e-mail about my problem and got back suggestions which were not only confusing but impossible to do.
CALLIOPE: So now what?
JOE: I think I might talk with Time Warner to see about their service.
CALLIOPE: Do what you have to. What's happening on the writing front?
JOE: Very little. I spent yesterday scrambling around trying to fix the phone problem. It's hard for me to concentrate when I have such annoyances.
CALLIOPE: Have you made any progress with the marketing?
JOE: I have been reading and getting some ideas. I woke up early this morning realizing that scattered ideas won't get me anywhere.
CALLIOPE: So what's your plan?
JOE: That's just it. I don't have one. I think today I should review what I have found so far and then work on a well thought out approach for marketing rather than going off into a variety of directions.
CALLIOPE: Can anyone help?
JOE: I do have a forum of writers at BookLocker but have not approached it yet. I think this might be a good resource. I had better get on it. Talk with you tomorrow.

(Fuerte San Geronimo- San Juan)

Conversations with Calliope

JOE: Good afternoon, Calliope.
CALLIOPE: Good afternoon, Joe. Where have you been all day?
JOE: Getting refocused. Yesterday I finally sent out an agent query I had been working on for some time. Within fifteen minutes I had a rejection.
CALLIOPE: So what did you conclude from that?
JOE: That I am wasting my time with traditional publishing. I worked hard to craft good query letters and took pains to carefully choose and research the agents I approached. Yet not a glimmer of interest from any of them.
CALLIOPE: You sound miffed.
JOE: I am a little. It leaves me wondering what I need to do to get access to the traditional publishing world. I have been speculating that I either need to be famous or have a personal recommendation from someone an agent trusts. Another possibility is that the topic of The Pastor's Inferno is too emotionally charged for them to risk.
CALLIOPE: Have any of them given you any indication why they would not look at your work?
JOE: Not one. It would be nice to know what the reason is and then I could address it. But no dice.
CALLIOPE: So now what?
JOE: I have decided to further explore print on demand and am looking at a couple POD publishers. I spent the rest of yesterday and today researching them.
CALLIOPE: So no writing yesterday?
JOE: No. I was a bit obsessed with the publishing concerns. I don't know if I will get back to writing today, but I am ready to write the next chapter and will do so tomorrow if I don't get to it today.

(Rocky Mountains- Colorado)

Conversations with Calliope

JOE: Good Morning, Calliope.
CALLIOPE: Good Morning, Joe. What's going on in your mind this morning?
JOE: I was just planning my day. I was bragging last week about being so organized and then could not find four books I had to return to the library.
CALLIOPE: Did you finally find them?
JOE: Yes. I was trying to be so good at organization that I put the books in a row with some others rather than leaving them in a pile. There were still where I put them.
CALLIOPE: I guess organization can be overdone. How about your novel?
JOE: First, I contacted the sister of the producer I met and am waiting for her e-mail address to send her a friendly query. The screenplay business is quite a mystery to me. But I think it helps to have a contact.
CALLIOPE: I agree. Did you do any actual writing over the weekend?
JOE: I did another chapter of Marital Property. Both spouses now have appointments to meet with advisors. He will be meeting his brother, and she her best friend.
CALLIOPE: Do you plan to write about those meetings today?
JOE: Probably not. I have some research to do on their personalities and interactions first. I also have a chapter to write about the two children talking after school.
CALLIOPE: Anything else going on today?
JOE: Yes. I have a column pending and plan to do it on Commonsense Wisdom and the Cowboy Mentality.
CALLIOPE: Sounds interesting. What is it about?
JOE: Mainly my frustration with positive writing all these years and feeling like people in our country are descending back into frontier diplomacy or what I call the gunslinger approach.
CALLIOPE: Let me know how it goes.
JOE: I will.

(Cannon- siege tunnel- Gibralter)