I’ll be doing more canning this week, as I did last week. Also last week, as with this week, I’ll be doing more research. What I’ll be doing to rebuild my life has been carved in stone. How to make money from my choices isn’t as easy. It’s not like I can go out and just flip burgers, which I would, in a heartbeat, if the choice was mine (any job is good money), despite my educational background, but the choice isn’t mine. I need to see to my wife. I have to make my stand from the comfort of my livingroom, using my meager resources. With those cards dealt and in play, I have to hedge my bet. I can’t call and hope for the best. With no ace, or a sleeve to stuff it in, I have to sweat the game out. That’s the hard part. Supply and demand now comes into play. I have to identify the most demand, and then manufacture the best supply. I have to find and target my market. Let them know I’m here. See you next week.

A picture is worth a thousand words, and this week’s post is a picture of what I’ve been doing this week. Pickles, carrots, and more zucchini than I know what to do with. The tomatoes are my first (off the vine), along with the jalapenos, and I’m going to make French onion soup this week. See you next week.

Art costs money. Supplies, marketing, shipping. There are a lot of possibilities to explore in making this idea work. On-line and off, there are distinct possibilities I can use to my advantage. Publishers, many of them, large or small, need cover illustrators and/or designers. I’ve always wanted to do a graphic novel, and sent material to Heavy Metal, many years ago, without success. That was back in the day when you mailed copies of the originals to France, and waited several months for a yes or a no. The comic market is hard to get into, but there is an on-line option for anyone to produce a magazine in which subscriptions are sold, and gaining readership in my problem alone. Also, if I do art for the eBay crowd, I have to be innovative and strange enough to gather multiple bids. Should I pick one and roll with it? Or should I start with one and build up from there. Time is also an issue with me. Lest we forget, I do it all around here, or almost all. I cook, clean, do the yard work and the garden, plus write novel after novel, query after query, synopsis after synopsis, editing them all into some semblance of perfection. All of these endeavors consume time. Each blog entry may take several hours to write, which is why I only post once a week for two, and once a month for one. Still, things are starting to come together. My mind, always filled with good thoughts and clutter, is clearing, and a specific plan of attack is beginning to gel. The cover to Central Park, in the Fall, I did that, and didn’t do too bad, but I could have been better. Practice. I need practice. Stretch my skills. See you next week.

I didn’t have time to write a post of what I did last week, since I didn’t do much to further my overall goals. Sometimes shit gets in the way of getting things done. However, art is where I left off, so I’ll fill this post with art I sold years past. eBay wasn’t as kind as you might think, and I wish there was a better way. Iowa isn’t known as a progressive art venue, so that’s out. I could set up and maintain my own online gallery, but don’t yet have the time, or the marketing dollars. I’m still figuring this one out.

See you next week.