Archive | January 2014

FREE AT LAST ! FREE AT LAST!

AtLast131022_bookcoverCVR6

You know you want it.

HOWEVER, times are tough. We recognize that over here at www.susanthatcher.com (I like to pretend I’m not alone)

Want it for free?

You know you do.

I will still hunt you down and leave flaming bags of poop on your doorstep for the read and return.

2013-07-21 08.57.03

My source. He is small, but productive.

 

But, LEGITIMATE free Kindle copies of At Last.

From January 23 to January 27 (aka tomorrow until Monday), At Last will be available as a free download on Kindle.

Here’s your link:  At Last Kindle Link

 I had to wait until today to set it up, so it is free, At Last.  (Oh, Dear God, Dr. King is going to haunt me).

I’ve had success with offering free downloads of These Foolish Things and I’d like to get its sequel into wider circulation. Thus, free Kindle download. What could be better. Oh, and if you want it signed, it’s possible. Use this link:

Susan Thatcher on Authorgraph.

So, free e-book, personalized by the author. Go for it, Dude!

“And a Round of Encouragement for the House”

As I write this, I am truly irritated: I have had a whopping 5 Kindle sales this month and 3 of them have been returned. Hey, if you’re one of those assholes who think they’re so clever and smart for beating the system and reading books for free, I have a few words for you:

1) No, It’s Not Okay link. I’ve written about this before.

2) WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?

 You want to read e-books for free? GET A MOTHER FUCKING LIBRARY CARD! DO YOU EAT OUT OF THE BULK BINS AT THE GROCERY STORE? OR MAKE NACHOS FOR YOURSELF AT A SALAD BAR WITHOUT PAYING? (I have seen this at the Hannaford store in Concord, NH on Fort Eddy Rd) WERE YOU RAISED TO THINK LOW LEVEL THEFT ISN’T THEFT? IT IS, SHITHEAD.

3) I advise ceasing and desisting this behavior immediately. I won’t come mess you up, but I can’t answer for Karma.  She sees all, she knows all, and she sees to it that what goes around comes around. You WILL end up paying for all those stolen books, maybe not monetarily, but you will end up paying.

However, that’s not what I’m writing about today.

It is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day in the USA. I can tell it has finally been accepted as a holiday because there are now appliance sales attached to it. Labor Day gets cars, President’s Day gets mattresses and linens, Dr. King gets appliances. Okay. It’s an acknowledgement.

My first memory of Dr. King is the news of his assassination. I was 6 and my parents had gone out for the evening. My brother was in charge and I remember him leaving a note for my parents on the bannister by the front door. I learned who he was after his death.

I’m referencing Dr. King today due to two memes circulating one Facebook.

The first:

Dr King on persistence

I needed this particular reminder today. My life has been at a standstill and an unpleasant one at that. I cannot see the light at the end of the tunnel.  It’s scary as all hell, I will not kid you. I’m almost 53; this is a time in my life when I’m supposed to be  financially secure, in my own home, done with raising a family, and winding down towards a placid retirement. Notice the use of the phrase “supposed to be.” Secure? Not so much. Done raising a family? Hell, I never even started. Retirement? Are you kidding me? The way things are going, I’ll be lucky to be in the first batch of Soylent Green (look it up). I’m not alone, either. I have what should be highly marketable job skills and education. They’re not proving to be the competitive edge they should be. I’m not alone, either. THAT, my friend, is extremely scary. It’s not just me.

So, having seen the above picture a couple of times today, I will crawl forward. And do so every day.

what are you doing for others

This picture hit me today because it ties into a book I’m reading:

Super rich

Super Rich by Russell Simmons

(I had no idea the guy was a vegan and yoga enthusiast).

lotus pose russell simmons

(I look at that and my right knee say, “Nuh uh, Baby” I used to)

Anyway, Mr. Simmons speaks of giving and attraction. I first heard about this book listening the Mark & Brian show on KLOS in 2011. I went back and listened to the archived interview to get the quotes (it took me a while to get the book):

“Give your talents until others can’t live without them.”

“Good givers are great getters.”

“Rid yourself of neediness. Needing nothing is a state of bliss.”

“Operate from a happy space.”

“Let go of results, stay focused on the work itself, rather than the result. Work is the prayer.”

(And those are quotes jotted down from a radio interview. I’m sure they pop up in his book)

Work is the prayer…

I’m not seeing results right now. Keep writing. Got it.

I have a bunch of inspirational quotes in the notebook that has the above.

joel osteen

Joel Osteen. I’m not big on televangelists, but sometimes, I hear something I need to hear.

” Prophecy something good Whatever you’re constantly saying, you’re moving towards. [If you’re not happy with where you’re going] Send words in a different direction.”

How does this tie to the rant at the top of the the post? Simple. I know enough to change my direction and focus on what I’m creating. I am willing to give it away until others cannot live without it. However, those who take pride in theft, in cheating others, and do not change their ways will continue on that path until it bites them in the ass. That’s just the law of averages; sooner or later, someone is not going to just “let it go” and the results will be ugly and shameful for the thief.

So I will keep crawling forward, in the direction of my choosing, to give my gift to others until they cannot live without it. And as for those who would undermine the effort: When you fuck over someone, Karma looks a lot like this:

untouchables-1

See the guy in the front? He’s about to experience karma, courtesy of Al Capone.

HN42X

“What’s that?” you ask. “Some kind of a secret code? Is treasure involved?”

Sort of. See this?

tftbookcover

You type that there code in here:

Smashwords. See where it says “Coupon Code?”

Between now and February 4, if you plug in that code in the title line,

you can buy this book for 50% off the list price of $5.99.

$3.00 for a book that is getting reviews like:

“I really really loved this book and the characters. There were so many emotions I went through while reading Liz and Ty’s story happiness, amusement, love, hate, pain, and sadness. “

“I love a good love story…and this one didn’t disappoint. This romance novel was also full of wit and humor, between the two protagonists, Elizabeth Gardner and Tyrone Hadley…a real battle between the sexes.”

“These Foolish Things is a quick but wonderful read about a man and a woman who find in each other the piece that makes each of them whole. Great story that appeals to the almost-dead romantic in me :)”

And that’s just a sample.

Seriously. A coupon good for 50% off a well-reviewed e-book.

Such a deal.

What One Can Learn From Ernest Shackleton

Way back, 100 years ago in 1914, Sir Ernest Shackleton

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Sir Ernest looking rugged.

led an expedition to make the first overland crossing of Antarctica. As you can imagine, this was a particularly hazardous undertaking and that’s without the kinds of cold weather sleeping bags, satellite phones, GPS and necessities that we have now. In fact, this is the ad Sir Ernest posted to recruit crew:

ad for adventure

For real. He wasn’t mincing words. He got guys. Despite this straightforward warning, they went. 

They didn’t make it. That is, they didn’t complete their mission of crossing the Antarctic interior.

It’s a helluva story. One I learned from A&E. Before they sold their souls for reality shows, A&E used to tell great stories about real events.

branagh shackleton

I’ll watch anything with Kenneth Branagh.

(It’s a shame they abandoned producing great shows like this or “Longitude.” Entertaining AND educational. Quack quack)

Anyway…

They didn’t even make it to the actual Antarctic continent. Trouble happened when the expedition’s ship, Endurance,  got caught in pack ice and crushed.

endurance-in-pack-ice

SHE didn’t live up to her name, but the men who sailed her certainly demonstrated endurance.

They had to abandon ship and lived on the ice through an Antarctic winter. You think this polar vortex is bad? They had worse weather, no indoor shelter, only what supplies they could salvage from the ship, and had to eat their sled dogs. They had 3 lifeboats and after dragging them across the ice, they were able to eventually get them into the water and sail to Elephant Island. From there, Shackleton took 5  of his men and they sailed across 800 miles of open, nasty, stormy, COLD ocean to get to South Georgia Island. In a 22 foot boat. During winter.

Antarctica_Shackleton2

And you think going to the grocery store is just too much to do.

16 days of getting wet, being cold, not sure if they were on the right course (old school navigation), all 6 guys in the boat made it.

There was no one waiting for them when they hit the beach. South Georgia Island was a remote whaling station. Help lay on the northern side of the island, Shackleton and his crew landed on the southern side. Their boat was too beaten up to try to sail around to the inhabited part. He took two guys,  left the remaining three on the beach to shelter under the boat, and spent 36 hours STRAIGHT hiking to the whaling station. Understand, these guys are cold, hungry, exposed to the elements, and weak from 14 months of being cold, hungry, and exposed to the elements. It had been their departure point in December 1914 and they arrived May 21, 1916.

SHACKLETON DIDN’T LOSE ANYBODY. That’s right: the three guys on the south side of the island? A ship was sent around and they were collected safely that night. The 21 guys on Elephant Island? All survived. They even amputated one guy’s foot and HE survived. (No, they didn’t eat the foot. It was gangrenous. They ate seals and penguins). On August 30, 1916, they were rescued.

Later, Shackleton’s leadership skills were credited with saving his men in the face of disaster. He kept them going.

If you’re interested, here’s a link to a radio piece about this story:NPR Shackleton story

So, what’s the takeaway?

1) You never know what you’re capable of until you push yourself.

2) Don’t let someone else’s fears and doubts stop you. Everybody has his or her own brick walls. The odds may be stacked against you, but you have zero chance of success if you don’t try.

never tell me the odds

Okay, it’s NOT Shackleton, but it ties in.

  3) Keep going.