Travels with The Rayman

Howdy.  If it’s Wednesday, it must be time to blog for no particular reason.

Is anyone watching Clarkson’s Farm?  If you have missed this jewel, I highly recommend it.  On Amazon.  We’re looking for more good TV.  Recommendations accepted!!  

A few news bits from the Bay.  In order to enhance sales of my new about to be released book, I have created a YouTube channel.  Right now it consists of two videos.  My plan is to create more videos.  Of course, a video of me sitting at my computer, writing, is not riveting at all.  So, what was I thinking?  

Trains. 

 My love of trains is not a mystery to the Rayman.  And his dislike of trains in the U.S. does not go unnoticed by me, either.  So, when Rayman took a train last summer without me, he gave me an opening.  Rayman’s son,Ryan, treated his father to a train trip to Seattle, from Vancouver, WA.  It was a father-son trip to attend a football game.  I was happy Ryan did  this.

From that trip, I was able to talk Rayman into taking a trip to Chicago this summer on, drumroll please, the Empire Builder from Portland, OR.  This trip was my  brainchild, or was it?  My new friend, Colleen Craig, writes.  She is well connected.  She is very pretty.  She is really the one that got this ball rolling in this direction. After discussing my family history book, she fell asleep as boredom set in when she read the title of the book…

The pic of the book cover was supposed to be placed here but I couldn’t figure out how to do it.  So, please look at the end of this blog to see the cover of the book as Colleen saw it.

 You can see her point?  I certain saw her point.  Colleen then offered her idea up to me.  She suggested since I blog, that I might consider retracing my great great grandfather’s trip from Beloit to California and writing about it.  She reasoned that more people might buy the book if it peaked their interest.  And she suggested that the name could be “From Beloit to Clark Gable in Three Generations.”  

Well, holy mackerel.  That was it.  It had to be it.  And so I got the bright idea of taking the train to Chicago.  See how it happened?  Pretty cool, right?

Off we go on June 9th to the east.  A rental car procured at O’Hare will be used for tracing of steps, and I am thrilled.  Now all I need is a budding artist to design a cover!!

Where did Clark Gable fit in?  You’ll have to read the book to find out!!

Did I perk your interest in the Empire Builder?  It’s the Amtrak train that skirts the upper reaches of the United States.  Most of it will be real estate that neither of us have transited before so we are both excited.  Here is a link.

https://www.amtrak.com/empire-builder-t

In other news:  I also have a new email address for my marketing of the books.  It is [email protected]. So, if you get an email from me using this address, it should be read.  To that end, please insert this second email into your contact card for me.  That way, it might not be relegated to junk.  I will continue to use [email protected] for non-book correspondence.  

Oh, my You Tube channel is https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfboDXyuohl0zmniMhOxo2Q

For a senior citizen, this writing business has lead me to all kinds of opportunities to drive myself crazy with technology.  They say that new things keeps you young.  If that’s true, I am reverting to a toddler.   

It will be fun to do some videos as we cross the country.  There are bound to be interesting predicaments to video.  Maybe I should buy myself a fake mic so I can look professional.  

Well, that’s all folks.  We’re done here.  I’m having some peeps over for dinner tonight and I need to get cooking.  If Rayman ever returns from the grocery store, I will don my apron and make an Atlantic City pie.  A new recipe.  

Oh, and speaking of recipes, my soon to be released book about cooking adventures is close to being published on Amazon!!  I have settled on a name…How to Cook a Skeet.  Just need to come up with a good subtitle to goose sales!!  The book is organized in alphabetical order.  A is for Artichoke, Z is for Zebra with a chapter for each letter in between. Have subtitle ideas?  Send them my way…attribution assured!!  And the same thing goes for a picture cover.  Budding artists, this is your chance!!

P.S.  As anyone author would do, I will order some business cards.  Okay.  I am definitely out of here.  My pie crust needs to be rescued from the oven.  Multitasking at its finest.