Book Writing

Almost all my life I have wanted to write a novel.  Over the years I have started any number of them.  They all ended up in the trash.  I finally decided I just couldn't write.  Then one day a friend of my was telling me about her mother, who lived in a trailer court.  She said she wanted to move because all the people that lived there were just sitting around in heaven's waiting room waiting to die.  They found nothing to do, nothing to make them happy.

Wow----Now I had something to write about.  Not a novel, but a group of essays about things they could do.  After each essay I put a list of things for them to try.  I was 83 years old at the time and I knew if I sent it to a publisher I would get one rejection after another---I think in most cases that is par for the course.  So, I saved up my money and published it myself.  I would be dead before I could find a publisher who was interested in my topic.  So, my first book is titled, Get Out of Heaven's Waiting Room.

Since I like to write simple poetry, I felt brave after the first book, so I published my second.  I called it The House of Memories and Other Poems.
My great-grandfather built a house in Ogden, Utah probably in the late 1800's.Five generations of us have lived in that house and it holds some of my best memories.  It has been years since I have gone back there so I asked my cousin If she would take a picture of the house for me.  I really cried when she let me know that the house had been torn down.  I designed the cover of my book by doing a colored pencil drawing of the house.  I wasn't too happy with the publishing job, however it would be too spendy to change it and I don't plan to write any more books. (not until some other idea comes to mind.)

Although you can purchase my books through Xulon press, I would rather have you purchase them from me if you want them. They are $15.00 and I would only charge you $2.00 shipping charges.

My address is:   Joyce Ackley
                          895 N.E. 130th Ct.
                          Vancouver, WA 98684

I hope some of you will respond with stories of your own.  Love to hear from you.

Until next time,
Be kind to one another