Now on Goodreads

 The right book in the right hands at the right time can change your world.

Goodreads

This just in: It Is What It Is now listed on Goodreads.

If you haven’t heard of Goodreads previously, here’s the scoop:

• It’s the world’s largest website for readers and book recommendations with over 80 million members!
• You can list and rate books you’ve read, join in conversations about books, ask authors questions, and on, and on.
• As you build your very own library of past books and ratings, Goodreads suggests books for you based on your preferences.
• Goodreads also makes it easy for you to add comments on all the books you have read.

Since my book It Is What It Is is self published, it's up to readers to rate/comment so others may benefit from what it has to offer. More comments about a book will raise its ranking and become more visible to other readers. With that in mind, I've updated this website to include a Goodreads badge link in the sidebar and on the Book Buzz page.

Here, give it a click and see what all the fuss at Goodreads is about!

Michelle

Goodreads badge photo courtesy of Goodreads

Embracing Imperfection

There are many cultures around the world that purposefully damage their manmade crafts in some small way to symbolize the imperfection of life. It took me a good portion of my life to fully embrace this imperfection idea. That being said, I found out there is a minor error on the cover of my recently released book. The importance of a perfect cover in the publishing world is a big deal as it speaks to the quality of the work, but all I can say is It Is What It Is, and it is an easy fix. That's the beauty of print-on-demand publishing. Although, you may find you are are not able to purchase it for a day or two - but not to worry.

This Just In...

My first book reviews for It Is What It Is, An Inspired Guide to Transforming Your Life are now showing up on Amazon! I have also added them to the Book Buzz page in the tabs above. AND Amazon is currently offering my book at 20% off list price, something they do for new authors from time to time. You should note, I have no idea how long the price drop will be in effect. And who knows, maybe someday that first printed book cover may be more valuable!

On a personal note...

Once It Is What It Is was officially available, I felt a quiet excitement and stillness envelope me that I’m still full of three weeks later. Perhaps it’s a huge universal embrace and an outpouring of the gratitude I feel. All I know is that it is something I physically feel like an extended goosebumps moment While I don’t know where any of this book business is going, I’m satisfied that my gift to the universe is finally available. Even though there is an error on the cover, I still feel the quiet excitement and stillness - that's just how I roll these days.

Sharing...

In the book release post, I mentioned how you can help share the love by becoming part of my marketing team. On that note, there have been a couple suggestions from blog followers and I thought I should pass them along to you:

• Donate It Is What It Is to local libraries
• Create a buzz of your own by stopping in at area book stores, show them the book, tell them about it, order copies, see if they might be interested in carrying it.

These are great suggestions and I will follow through on my end as I travel from town to town. If you have any ideas for sharing this book with others, please let me know.


I often feel as if the universe is testing me over and over again. I've come to terms with that by being my best self and not letting things get to me. It's just not worth it - ever! When I initially found out about the cover, I could feel my body letting go of the moment as I let out a big breath. Ironic was the first word that came to mind and I could feel a smile forming as I shook my head and the next words formed - It Is What It Is! I'm going to make sure I keep this edition of the cover to remind me how important embracing imperfection is.

Michelle

Butterfly at Cloudtop photo courtesy of Glenn Scoffield Williams

It Is What It Is - The Book

It Is What It Is

An Inspired Guide to Transforming Your Life

A self-help memoir, It Is What It Is tells the story of how I saved myself from the despair of my out of control health issues after my husband Dennis' stage IV cancer diagnosis. His cancer diagnosis in 2002 was the beginning of a series of changes in our lives that ultimately led to downsizing the safe and secure life we had - to our uncertain nomadic wandering as full-time travelers living in other people's homes. Now, for the first time, I'm sharing how it all began.

I started the first draft of It Is What It Is in 2004 and finished it in 2006. During this initial writing, I did not read what I had written, because emotionally I wasn't ready to revisit what I had written about Dennis' cancer journey. I guess you could say that my emotions were still a bit tender. Over the years, I've continued to edit, edit, and edit my manuscript as life evolved and we moved forward to what has been a massive lifestyle change. Last year, I spent 3 months taking time out of our travels to seriously address the edits. Recently, I was able to tackle the final book layout, and tweaked this and that for self-publishing in CreateSpace, an Amazon.com company. At this writing, I have received the author's proof - as in the real book to review before the release in the next few months. It Is What It Is will be available to you on Amazon.com to order as a soft cover book, and you, my friend, will be the first to know when I announce a release date. I've considered a Kindle version, but have decided to wait on that as it requires different formatting and I didn't want to delay publication any longer!

Self-publishing It Is What It Is has been a complicated process. The writing was the fun stuff! I even enjoyed the editing process to some extent, but it's everything else that became a journey unto itself. Beyond the rules of language and sentence structure, there have been many things to consider such as formatting every single element on the page while working through the steps of the print on demand (POD) publishing world. Friends and family members helped review the manuscript, and I was fortunate to know a very talented graphic artist who helped bring my vision of the cover design to life.

For those who don't know me, I'm a resistant tech geek, of a sort. Dennis is the true tech geek and he makes sure we are up to date on all the latest devices and technologies. I considered traditional publishing, but even a resistant tech geek doesn't necessarily follow traditional ways. So, it seemed more to my way of thinking to do this on my own with the new, at the time, print on demand publishing. POD works this way, you order a book and they print it out just for you. There's not a stockpile of books held in a warehouse. It's your own personal copy! How cool is that? I've always pictured It Is What It Is as a soft cover format with a matte finish - my favorite style of book to hold in my hands. When I began this undertaking, matte finish was not available in the new POD publishing world. Maybe it's a good thing I took this long to publish because matte finish is now available.

This blog began in 2010 as my attempt to continue writing while striving to work through the publishing process. It has taken time away from the forward progress of the book at times, but it's helped me hone my voice and improve my manuscript. From its conception, It Is What It Is had a purpose and became my mission. That purpose was to share with others how I found a way to take control of the circumstances of my life, and see that life in an entirely different way. I knew my story could have a positive impact on anyone at any time they may read my words. I can't wait for you to read It Is What It Is!

Michelle

Photo courtesy of damclark's

Happy Anniversary

In August of 2010, I posted to this blog for the first time. I started It Is What It Is as a way for me to continue to write after I finished the book I was working on. While slowly making my way through the book editing process I missed the writing process. As I approached the end of my fifth blogging year, I considered putting a wrap on it as my intention had been to blog for five years. Obviously, I haven’t stopped. I still love the idea of instant publishing and work hard to continue to inspire others through all the changes going on in my life – from living life in a somewhat normal fashion while living with chronic health issues to living out of my suitcase and traveling full-time – chronic issues be damned!

Why do I continue to blog? As with my initial posts, I believe we can all learn from one another as we strive to be our best selves through the ups and downs of our lives. Why do I believe you would be interested in what I have to say? Because I look at my life in a positive light. I wasn’t always this way, but adopting a positive mindset changed my outlook, changed my life, and I hope to inspire the change you may be looking for.

Since 2010, I have continued to work on my book in various stages of editing, formatting, cover design, and on, and on. Early in the process, I decided not to go down the formal publishing road for many reasons, and self-publishing seemed to be a better fit for me. It has been a lot of work to wear so many different hats in the publishing process. It is also a bit more difficult with my traveling lifestyle to work-in when I can focus on the final stages of my book. I’m happy to report I was able to find two months during the spring of 2017 to move the book along. I am now closer than ever to making the self-publishing thing happen. While this may sound like a teaser – well, it is! Let’s see what happens with all this by year end. And, in case you are wondering what this book of mine is called – It Is What It Is. Of course! You will finally be able to follow in the footsteps of my journey, and learn how I found the positive mindset that inevitably changed my life.

Join me as I begin my eighth year of It Is What It Is. I promise to keep you up-to-date on the final process of publishing later this fall and winter. As always, share the love of a post or this blog. If you would like to follow my traveling adventures, you will find a link to my travel blog in the sidebar along with links to Instagram and Facebook. Thank you for your wonderful comments over the years. 

Michelle

Get It Done

Memorial Day weekend marks the unofficial start of summer. From now until Labor day, people plan picnics, go camping, get together with friends and family for barbecues and hit the road in a frenzy to get the most out of whatever time we may have for that summer way of life.

As for me, I am intending to wrap up a major loose end this summer. Recently, I have been working on publishing my book, It Is What It Is. Making decisions as to what each page of the book layout will be is a bit daunting. What font do I want to use here and there? Where should the page numbers land? How should the chapters sit on the page and on and on. It’s all those things book readers don’t have to consider. I have also been working with a graphic artist on the cover, and once again more decisions.

It has been a bit difficult to give the time needed for the book layout while continuing to write my weekly blog. I usually take some time away from the blog during the summer, this year I will be starting a few weeks earlier. Since I won’t be publishing weekly, here are a few things you can do:

• Set a weekly alarm and go back and enjoy earlier posts
• Forward some of your favorite posts to others to share the love and grow our subscriber base
• Pick one thing to get done this summer

Is there something you want to put a wrap on once and for all, or perhaps there is something new you would like to do to shake things up a bit? What’s the first thing that came to mind when I mentioned picking one thing? That’s it! Get it done with me this summer. I know by fall I’ll be jumping for joy just getting IT done. There will be one less loose end while we all continue to move forward and get it done this summer.

See you in the fall,

Jump for joy photo courtesy of Scott Ableman

Book Status

I finished writing my book, It Is What It Is, last fall. Since that time, it has been reviewed and edited by a variety of people including a doctor, someone who doesn't know me, people who read self help and inspirational type books and people who don't. All comments have been very positive. I have read and edited more times than I can remember. Quite frequently I am asked about the editing process and just what it is I am doing. I'm looking for consistency, misspellings, grammar and punctuation to name a few. Plus, sometimes I just find a better way of saying something. The thing is, when you make a change, you may read the paragraph the change was made in but not the complete chapter or essay. So by the time you get around to reading the whole document again, you hopefully can see that the changes you have made are consistent with the rest of the document. It's actually interesting what you and others miss. I found I had gotten too close to the words and wasn't seeing what I needed to. I worked extensively with a dear friend of mine who has also probably lost count of the number of times she has reviewed this book, and has admitted that she is now too close and doesn't see what she needs to see.


I'm currently finishing an edit and will read my book yet again. Each time I read I try not to focus on everything. When I was focusing on punctuation, it just about drove me crazy. After awhile, I felt as if I didn't know anything anymore. While reading other books or articles, I found myself concentrating on the author's punctuation style. That is not something I've ever given a whole lot of thought to when reading. It quite definitely takes away from the reading enjoyment. This whole process has been frustrating at times but enlightening and I know it will help improve my writing in the future.


Getting out from under all the editing will give me more time to work on this blog and organize all my notes and scribblings for the next three books that are screaming to get out of my head. I have looked into traditional publishing as well as self-publishing, such as print on demand. I understand the traditional publishing world is in a bit of a turmoil with all the new self-publishing avenues. What I know for sure is...I just want to write and speak to groups and not have to concern myself with everything else that goes along with publishing my writing. I can see the future is bright and my books will be published. I just don't know what the in-between looks like at this point. I am confidant and I will find my way, one word at a time.

Photo courtesy of Zitona