New personal writing project has begun

Greetings, readers. I am very happy to announce that along with Bear Spring Camps book 2, I have begun another writing project which is more deeply personal. My writing assistant and I set up the outline yesterday and I have a pretty clear picture of how this book is going to look when it’s finished. That is a good thing.

Now for the bad thing. This morning at 7:30 I began writing and wrote approximately two paragraphs before looking at it and saying to myself this is bullcrap. It’s frustrating because even though I knew exactly what I wanted to say, for some reason it just didn’t want to come out. I’ve already told myself that tonight or tomorrow morning I shall try again with another story in the book. In first draft there really is no particular order that I must write these stories in. That’s the fun in editing. That is where boo-boos are fixed, flaws are unflawed, t’s are crossed, and i’s are dotted.

Now for a couple of particulars about this project, especially for my Facebook readers. This book is going to be a memoir of my life up to this point, ranging from my earliest memories of childhood through junior high and high school, and junior college and beyond. I wish to make it known quite clearly that I will use no last names unless I have express written permission to do so. This is not going to be a smear-all book.

I have absolutely no time-line for when this project is going to be finished but I can tell you this. Once I really get going on it, I expect it to flow. My editor, Rebecca, will then take over and smooth it out. I am estimating that this project will be completed and ready to be put on my CreateSpace.com e-store for sale in 12 to 18 months. I of course will keep you all updated. Please feel free to contact me with questions or comments. Until next week, take care and have a good weekend.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day

Greetings, friends and readers. Rebecca, my writing assistant, and I have worked out the issue which was holding up the sale of my book in a local store in downtown State College. Picking Up Where We Left Off: My Bear Spring Camps Stories is now on the shelves, for anyone to buy, at Appalachian Outdoors.

Now that I have that out of my system, a happy St. Patrick’s Day to you all. I don’t know whether or not TV stations around the country still show St. Patrick’s Day parades like when I was a child, but if one was on around here, I forgot to watch. Oops, sorry. There is always next year.

I am making an unusual promise here on my blog. The blog post about my father will be posted next Friday. Until Monday or Tuesday, have a great weekend and I hope the weather there is as nice as it is here.

At this very moment

Wednesday greetings to everyone. As I’m getting my work week started, I continue to wish to make my new blog a big part of my writing. Of course, blogging takes getting used to. I told myself that I was going to post a certain number of times a week. I shall make every effort to do so, however one week maybe it will be a little more and another week a little less.

At this very moment Keekee my kitty cat is peering out of the window of my apartment at a bird or at a car as though she wants to pounce on it. “Keekee, we’re eight floors up. I wouldn’t suggest it.”

Short story ideas for my second book are coming along slowly but surely. For a couple of months it didn’t seem like I was making much headway. But one day my writing assistant looked down at my computer and noticed that I had many more stories in my folder than I thought I did. Time flies when you’re having fun. And yes, I do consider writing fun. I consider it a challenge, sometimes a strain; just today I was reminded not to try to keep pace with my father who was a writer of scholarly works. We are two different people. Dad was a philosopher at Penn State and Mother a psychologist. I’ve been trying to keep my head clear in order to write and earn a living. Though certain things that have happened over the last few years are starting to take a toll.

Fear not, readers, for I am a fighter and, loving to write, I will not give it up. Until next time…

Greetings Blog Readers

My name is Joseph M. Kockelmans and this is my first blog entry. I just want to say hello to  everyone and to let all who are interested know that I am an author and have one book published. I am 46 years old and have been vacationing in the state of Maine all my life. My book deals with my experiences at Bear Spring Camps in central Maine. It is a fun folksy light read which would be enjoyable for anyone. It is called Picking Up Where We Left Off: My Bear Spring Camps stories and you can find it at https://www.createspace.com/3625476.

As I get more familiar with blogging, I hope to post once a week to start and more often after that.