Two Updates: My Miracle Cat & My New Book!

Two updates on two important features of my life. We thought our cat, Jesse, was gone twice in the last few weeks, but he’s the miracle cat for sure. Also, I’ve turned the corner on my new book! I will release it in e-book format in the next couple weeks and the paperback at the end of September!

Two Updates: Jesse, the Miracle Cat

Jesse has lived for twenty years, which is equivalent to 96 years old in people years. He has feline diabetes, and I used to give him three units of insulin twice a day.

On Thursday, August 24, something happened; we think he had a seizure. For the last couple of years, we have had problems with Jesse vomiting, but it increased. To keep track of how often he vomits, I have kept track of it. However, this day was horrible, and it got worse.

First, Jesse vomited in the hallway on a towel I had put down because the had vomited there before. I cleaned it up, but left the towel until the carpet dried. He had one episode in the kitchen, peeing on the carpet in the living room and liquid coming out of him. He howled, an eerie sound from the depth of his being. Then I took himself outside on the patio, and that’s where he had something like an epileptic episode. He had tremors. His eyes glazed over, and I had to hold him so he wouldn’t hurt himself because he was rolling around. He lost control of his bowels. He howled again! I shed lots of tears. Then he came out of it for a few days, but again it changed.

Then Jesse had two consecutive days, vomiting twice each day, so on Tuesday, August 29, I called the vet and took him in. They decided to keep him over night, and the vet talked to me about the possibility of euthanizing him. I decided I had to do at least one more thing: a night in the hospital might help.

And it did. They fed him intravenously and did numerous tests. Several problems arose for him besides the diabetes: pancreatitis, low potassium, and low red blood count. That’s a lot!

After a restless night, Wednesday morning, we took his insulin up to the hospital. At this point, we didn’t know if he was dead or alive. At Lin’s suggestion the night before, I had prepared myself that he was dead, but Lin kept a positive mindset. He was alive! Later Wednesday afternoon, the vet decided one more night in the hospital, so I picked him up about 5:00 PM on Thursday. The tech then gave me some changes for him: one unit of insulin once a day and wet cat food for diabetic cats. ONE UNIT! I thought that was a mistake, but she repeated it then and when I called to check Friday morning. So the over-dosage of insulin possibly could have caused all the vomiting. Oh, diabetic cats are a mystery for sure! Lots of tears shed again!

When we got home, Jesse was weak, yet looked a lot better than when I took him in. I had to get a shot for him and give it to him on Friday for the low blood count. He has eaten like a starving maniac! So, maybe the dry cat food for diabetic cats was part of the problem, too! Who knows?

Needless to say, he is doing great! Yesterday I spent the majority of the morning and early afternoon outside, and he joined me—Lin’s garden is his favorite place on earth! I’ll keep you posted on his recovery!

Two Updates: My New Book

I said I had two updates, so here’s the second one. It might appear odd, but I’m working on a Christmas book now. Sales statistics show people buy Christmas books starting in September and I’m running behind schedule.

So here’s cover and subtitle reveal for you! The title came easily; I’ve labored considerably over the subtitle. Last week, I surveyed my book coach and his group, and they were split! They felt either would work! For the last few days, I did a survey on Facebook and came up with one a little ahead of the other. So here’s the winner:

As a self-published author, I have the opportunity to do all the legwork behind the scene of creating the book. Yes, I write it, but I also design the interior in different formats: paperback and e-book. I also organize all the launch promotions and do all the marketing. What a daunting task, but this time, I have had the help of Derek Doepker, my book coach, and his coaching group.

Finally, these two updates stirred my life up this week. Hopefully Jesse stays well and continues to improve, and I finish all the needed tasks to get my book finished, uploaded and available to you, the readers!

Grab my e-book at the book launch price of $1.99 for a limited time:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1L7-YCwCE400uy4Q5MfK-ocRTrf_3Wfvs_goZ-rJAlng/edit

Marshall Flippo · My Books · My Thoughts · square dance

Gone But Forgotten: Flippo? Really?

Featured Larada Horner-Miller4 Comments

Just Another Square Dance Caller hardback cover - gone — Hardback Cover

Gone but forgotten? Really? Flippo died on November 4, 2018. Yes, five years ago this year. And It might appear people have forgotten him. In my mind, Marshall Flippo was and is a legend in square dance history; therefore, this book is not only a biography, but a history book. It’s not old news; it’s timely news! How could people forget him so quickly?

Recently, I had a booth in the vendor’s room at the International CALLERLAB Convention in Reno, Nevada April 23-26, to sell Marshall Flippo’s biography. Yes, I wrote it in 2020—three years ago—but I thought this would be the place to make lots of sales. My mission: to get the word out about the life and times of Marshall Flippo! Not only square dance history, but World War II history, Texas history and the life in the 50s and 60s.

Here’s some history of this book & CALLERLAB!

I released Just Another Square Dance Caller: Authorized Biography of Marshall Flippo mid-May 2020 and with the pre-order sales and the sales on Amazon.com and IngramSparks.com, I enjoyed an acceptable amount of sales.

The coronavirus pandemic hit in March 2020, canceling all dance festivals and events for a couple years, so after my original release, the book sales have plummeted. Somehow, I thought I could maintain minimal sales even though we weren’t dancing.

I had originally planned to release the book at the 2020 CALLERLAB convention in Reno, Nevada, but they canceled it. Then I thought I’d have a major release party at REVCO Festival in Indio, California, a festival Flip called at for years. They canceled it. ALL DANCE EVENTS—CANCELED. Then CALLERLAB 2021 in Grapevine, Texas, occurred, but as a virtual convention, so I had no book sales there. I missed CALLERLAB 2022 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania because I still felt leery about the coronavirus pandemic.

So, 2023 would be the year, and anticipation filled me. Before the event, I followed the suggestion of my book coach, and prepared a fifty-minute audio of highlights of my conversations with Flippo to offer FREE for interested people. Listening to his voice once more when I created this, I snuggled down in my chair and relished the storyteller he was. He talked about how he started calling, about his amazing recording of “The Auctioneer” (such a piece of history) and a bonus of his sleeping with another caller and the practical jokes that followed! Interesting and funny—Flippo at his best! And to hear that raspy Texas twang once more! Looking to CALLERLAB, I saw, in my imagination, people rushing to my booth to get the free audio and buy his book.

The days before leaving for Reno, I put three labels of awards the book won on each book I took. I ordered more of my other books not about Flippo because I was sure I would sell out of the number I had—the eternal optimist.

As we neared the departure date, I had a glitch in my travel plans. My husband came down with shingles, so my brother pinch hit for him to help me drive. After a delightful trip there and a mini-family reunion with his family from northern California on Saturday, the anticipation grew! Yet a nagging doubt whispered in the back of my mind: gone and forgotten? What would the sales be like?

On Sunday morning, my brother and nephew helped me set up my booth, teeming with my six books and three cookbooks—Flippo’s book took center-state though! We opened from 1:00-5:00 PM to start the conference. Callers and callers’ wives slowly dribbled in, and I realized my fate! Maybe gone and forgotten was the truth!

On Monday and Tuesday, the lack of interest continued. I sold a few books, but eleven people said, after I asked if they had bought Flippo’s biography, “Not yet.” The sad thing—the “Net yets” never came back!

But the most disturbing part for me, more than the lack of sales—the lack of enthusiasm about Flippo. Yes, I had several people stop by my table and share. They bought the book and enjoyed it—several had stellar comments to make. That blessed my heart because this was the first opportunity I had to get that kind of face-to-face feedback in such numbers.

But the lack of enthusiasm shocked me! In Flip’s biography, thirty-four callers, cuers and dancers told stories about him, remembering great tales to tell. As I thumbed through those stories today, most of those people bought the book early. Several have posted reviews on Amazon and three wrote thoughtful blurbs I used for the covers and promotions.

Flippo Loved to Tell Stories About Other Callers & Cuers

From the beginning, Flippo wanted to tell stories about the callers and cuers he worked with. In fact, we started the book with “A Tribute To Those Who’ve Gone,” identifying ten specific callers and cuers who helped him get started.

He also told stories on fifty-three callers, cuers and dance influencers in another section. Many of them have passed, but their names ring in the mind of any square dance historian: Jerry Haag, Beryl Main, Frank Lane, Ed Gilmore, Joe Lewis, Arnie Kronenberger, Dave Taylor, Dick Jones, Hotsy & Joan Bacon, Jerry Helt, Al and Bob Brundage, Earl Johnston, Al “Tex” Brownlee, Bill & Phyllis Speidel, Ray & Harper Smith, Jerry Story, Randy Dougherty, Singing Sam Mitchell, Max Forsyth, Charlie & Bettye Procter, Ted Frye, Bob Yerington, Bobby Newman, Chuck Goodman, Johnnie Wykoff, C. O. Guest, Billy Lewis, Pancho and Marie Baird, Jim Brower, Joe & Cricket Young, and Bob Fisk. Whew! What a list of the stars of the history of square and round dancing!

One more thing! I worked hard to add an index at the end of the book. Why spend a week putting it together? I saw the historical value of it and I wanted people to look up famous names, familiar names easily.

Gone but forgotten? I had a conversation with Darryl Lipscomb. He told me that Flippo had told him when he was retiring people would forget him because of his absence at festivals and different events. Interesting prediction for sure!

Finally,

Gone, but forgotten! I took way too many books to CALLERLAB in my enthusiasm. The lack of enthusiasm for Flippo astonished me there, but I look to the future and festivals coming up to sell at: USAWest in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Cool Mountain Fling in Show Low, Arizona and Hot August Nights in Albuquerque, New Mexico, too, to name a few.

Flippo! Gone, but not forgotten for me and many! Be one of us!

News, News, News!

Just Another Square Dance Caller: Authorized Biography of Marshall Flippo meme - gone — Grab your iPhone and lounge on the beach with Flippo!

~Get your FREE Fifty minute audio recording of “Highlights of My Conversations with Flippo.” Learn how he started calling, how he recorded “The Auctioneer,” and a bonus: which caller did he sleep with? Click here for easy access!

Grief · Marshall Flippo · Mom · My Books · My Thoughts · Prejudice, Mistreatment, Mexican, immigrant · Ranching · Spirituality · square dance

What Ties My Six Books Together?

Featured Larada Horner-MillerLeave a comment

Someone holding up things that connect - ties

What Ties My Six Books Together? As I pondered this question this week, I wondered: three books about my rural childhood in southeastern Colorado, one about my grief in losing my parents, one a biography about a square dance caller and the last one about my reaction to the coronavirus pandemic. Then I saw the tie that binds them: relationships and connection to people. So, here’s how I see the tie that ties my writing together:

My First Book

This Tumbleweed Landed, a memoir written in poetry and prose, focuses on people, places and events in my small rural community during my childhood. I fashioned it after Cynthia Rylant’s children’s book, Waiting to Waltz, who wrote poetry about people, places and events in a fictional town. In my book, I celebrated my childhood relationships with many notorious adults in town—Virgie Firestone and the Warners. Also, what I wrote about many of the places and events, places and times I connected with my family and friends—Branson dances and stories my dad and his school years, told sitting at our round table.

My Second Book

When Will Papa Get Home?, a historical fiction, focuses on a Mexican immigrant family’s perilous times during the 20s in southeastern Colorado. Maria, the daughter, tells the story of her family’s plight. She weaves the tale of those people responsible for her papa’s false accusations.

I centered this book on familial and friend relationships and connection to people. Sadly though, this book also shows the prejudice of the time and the misconnection some people had with certain races. But her deep connection with her family wins in the end.

My Third Book

Let Me Tell You a Story, a nonfiction account of how my granddad put our family ranch together during the depression when many other ranchers lost theirs, focuses on the three generations of my family and our ranch. My dad, mom and I had previously released this booklet in 1992 at my dad’s 75^th birthday party. It overflows with the relationship between my dad and his dad and my granddad, and the relationship my dad and granddad had with the ranch they loved. Yes, you can have a relationship and connection with the earth! Even though it focuses on the ranch, the underlying topic is our familial relationships.

My Fourth Book

A Time to Grow Up: A Daughter’s Grief Memoir, a memoir about the loss of my parents, shows the foundation of my life and relationships: my parents. Of all my books, this book hurt to write, yet I love it the most! In talking about my loss, I feature the unique relationship I had with each parent. First, I connected with each of them, making it easier to connect with others in the world.

My Fifth Book

Just Another Square Dance Caller: Authorized Biography of Marshall Flippo, a biography of the most famous square dance caller in the world’s, first and foremost highlights relationships and connections with people. Yes, it tells Flippo’s life story from Texas to Japan as a young man and then later in life, but a major part of his life story was his connection with his family and friends. So much so, he required a section in the book telling stories about his square and round dance friends. After fulfilling that request, I connected with callers, cuers and dancers and featured their stories about Flippo. Yes, he truly understood relationships and how to connect with just about anyone.

My Sixth Book

Coronavirus Reflections: Bitter or Better?, a spiritual self-help book written in poetry and prose, focuses on many of the perils of the coronavirus pandemic with an underlying theme the opposite of my focus: isolation. Yet this theme emphasized the extreme need I had and many others had to connect with people, to be with people, to relate with people. Thankfully, Zoom met some of those needs—a monthly get-together with two women friends I knew in Loveland, Colorado, a Christmas concert with our local caller, and many recovery meetings. But I’ll never forget the first time I went out without a mask and actually hugged someone besides my husband. Something deep inside me healed.

The lack of connection truly became the hardest part of the pandemic for me, and I see now how that appears throughout this book.

Finally,

This topic came up because I’m a multi-genre author which makes it difficult to market my books, my brand. Current training I’m attending wrestled with this dilemma. But I have no qualms about this! I love poetry and prose. Also I relish historical fiction. Writing Flippo’s biography was a privilege and an honor. I love the variety!

Relationships and connections with people feed my life and my writing. I did not know when I wrote each book that those themes laced their way through each work, hiding in a poem, a story, or my prose. Actually, taking the time to identify the tie between my six books opened my eyes! I’m so glad I wrote this blog to see the common tie that binds my work together. I have a feeling this meandering around and through my six books will help me in my future writing!

If you’ve read my books, did you see this theme? If not, did you see others? Let me know.

News, News, News!

A wintery day is an invitation to read! meme of five of my books — All available at my website: laradasbooks.com or Amazon.com

~For me, it’s Christmas all year long! Here’s a variety of Christmas greetings from Flippo & Neeca, featuring his song, “When It’s Christmas Time in Texas”: https://youtu.be/mpJCUGffU3A

~My new book, Coronavirus Reflections: Bitter or Better? WON the 2022 New Mexico-Arizona Book Awards in the Body, Mind & Spirit Category. Have you bought your copy yet? Vist my website: laradasbooks.com or at Amazon.

Just Another Square Dance Caller: Authorized Biography of Marshall Flippo meme — Baby, it’s cold outside! Read about Flippo inside where it’s warm!

~Have you bought a copy of Flippo’s biography yet? Believe it or not—it’s been three years. Go here for your hardback or paperback: https://www.laradasbooks.com or at Amazon.

Audiobooks · Books · Memories · My Books · My Thoughts

When Did I Start Writing?

Featured Larada Horner-MillerLeave a comment

When did I start my writing? My uncle extolled an essay I wrote in high school which surprised me. I didn’t see myself as a writer then! After reading it, I shocked him when I told him my plans after graduation in 1971—business courses. But his compliments lingered in the back of my mind—hiding in my subconscious.

Larada's graduation picture - start — My graduation picture, 1971

Then on a visit back home a couple years later, my journalism teacher simply said in passing, “Send me a copy of your first book!” Shocked, I just stared at her, but she was serious! So in 2014, I sent her a copy of This Tumbleweed Landed. She had an emphasis on my start.

My Publishing & Writing Timeline

1985—I wrote When Will Papa Get Home? after a visit to the ranch and I found a blue marble at the Phillie homestead. I did nothing with it until 2015.

1987—Working at the middle school as a language arts/literature teacher, I wrote an article for the Raton newspaper, Raton Range, about a flamenco dancer who came to the Shuler Theater.

1991—I wrote This Tumbleweed Landed in a professional development workshop and did nothing with it until 2013 when I started revising it. I self-published it in 2014.

1993—Mom and I self-published Let Me Tell You a Story as a gift for my dad for his 70^th birthday. We published it here in ABQ at AlphaGraphics. A friend of mine worked there (manager of the store), and they turned out beautiful. We printed a copy for everyone in our immediate family, and I printed twenty-five extras to use in my classroom.

2007—Tom Cummins, lifelong friend and historian, and I self-published Branson-Trinchera Historic Photos with lulu.com. This was my introduction to online publishing and POD (print on demand). Before POD, you had to print 10,000 copies of a book. POD allowed you to print whatever number you wanted, which made self-publishing affordable.

2012—The year before I retired, I researched self-publishing companies and found the top 3: lulu.com, createspace.com (an affiliate with Amazon and has become kdp.com) and IngramSparks.com. I decided to go with createspace.com and now kdp.com.

2013—I edited and revised This Tumbleweed Landed, adding prose (essays I wrote in the 1991 professional development workshop) because of the Black Mesa Writing Workshop with Natalie Goldberg and Julia Cameron.

2014—I self-published This Tumbleweed Landed and had a fantastic response to it which so surprised me. Really, I hadn’t planned on doing much more. I still questioned myself as a writer.

2014—For family Christmas presents after mom died, I self-published From Grannie’s Kitchen: Pies, Cakes & Christmas Candy, Volume 1, and family members said I needed to sell them.

2015—I edited, revised and self-published When Will Papa Get Home? Which I wrote thirty years before.

2015—I created another family Christmas present and self-published From Grannie’s Kitchen: Beverages, Bread, Cookies, Meats, Vegetables, Mis. & Records of a Rancher’s Wife, Volume 2. Mom had too many delicious recipes to put in one cookbook, so I created a three-book series.

2016—I re-released/self-published Let Me Tell You a Story, originally released in 1993.

2016—For another family Christmas present, I self-published From Grannie’s Kitchen: Casseroles, Mexican Dishes, Relish, Sandwiches, Salads & Desserts, Volume 3.

2016-2017—Giving myself a couple years after my mom’s death, I edited, revised, and self-published A Time to Grow Up: A Daughter’s Grief Memoir.

2017-2020—I interviewed, edited, revised and self-published Just Another Square Dance Caller: Authorized Biography of Marshall Flippo.

2021—Because of the coronavirus pandemic, I edited, revised and self-published Coronavirus Reflections: Bitter or Better?.

2021-2022—I recorded, edited, revised and released my first audiobook, Let Me Tell You a Story.

2022—Enjoying my first audiobook so much, I recorded all thirty-one chapters of Coronavirus Reflections: Bitter or Better?, then I edited and revised six chapters for the audiobook, but shingles stopped me initially and then the neuralgia afterwards.

2022—After learning so much from writing Marshall Flippo’s biography, I started writing I Said Yes!: How I Learned to Write a Biography, but shingles stopped me on this project too.

Looking to the future, I have the following projects lined up:

A Colorado Country Christmas: A Collection of Memories
An Extreme Costa Rica Trip: A Travelogue from 2020
3 books poetry series
1 Haiku poetry book
Eye Witness to Life—a novel I wrote in 2016

How does a writer start? Kind words, encouragement, years of trying? As you can see, my start came years ago. Have you read any of my books? If so, which is your favorite?

If not, why? Wholesome, family-oriented stories! Country-life, nostalgic stories and poetry about a simpler life—try one!

News, News, News!

Coronavirus Reflections: Bitter or Better? meme

Just Another Square Dance Caller: Authorized Biography of Marsahll Flippo

~Have you bought a copy of Flippo’s biography yet? Believe it or not—it’s been two years. Go here for your hardback or paperback: https://www.laradasbooks.com or at Amazon.

Coronavirus · My Books · My Thoughts

COVID-19 Pandemic: Tough Topic #2—Denial?

Featured Larada Horner-MillerLeave a comment

Has the COVID-19 pandemic faded from our memories? Have we faced all of its losses and grieved? Or have we denied its impact and moved on? If I move on from a tragedy and haven’t dealt with it, I may carry some of it with me.

Coronavirus Reflections: Bitter or Better? book cover-COVID-19

My book, Coronavirus Reflections: Bitter or Better? offers the possibility of facing what this horrible pandemic was to you by reading my experience, reflecting on what you dealt with, and responding to some probing questions to put it all to rest.

NEWS UPDATE: I won the 2022 New Mexico/Arizona Book Award for the Body, Mind & Spirit category!

As we look back, we all lost two years of our lives—for me, it was dancing, traveling and seeing my family. Many suffered severe anxiety and depression.

Statistics about anxiety or depressive disorder. COVID-19 — https://www.kff.org/coronavirus-covid-19/issue-brief/the-implications-of-covid-19-for-mental-health-and-substance-use/

These charts show the mental effect COVID-19 pandemic had on many people.

I structured my book in small chapters. Each begins with a captivating picture and quote. Then I share my thoughts and experience on that topic. Afterwards, I end each chapter with a reflection question. So, the reader has choices in how to use it: read it from cover to cover, peruse the Table of Contents and select a topic that jumps out at you, and/or use it as a journal.

Excerpt from Coronavirus Reflections: Bitter or Better? Addressing COVID-19

An excerpt from my book might whet your appetite. I titled chapter twelve, “I’m Suffering.” The quote by Nichiren starts the chapter: “If you light a lantern for another, it will also brighten your own way…”

“The isolation of sheltering-in-place has begun to take its toll on me—basically interacting personally with no one except my husband since March 8th. As an extrovert, I relish social interaction. Yes, I get ample hugs from my dear husband daily, but I’m accustomed to hugs from a variety of people. We hug when we square dance, we hug at recovery meetings, and we hug at church. My family hugs a lot, also. I heard someone say this week, “I’m suffering from hug deprivation!” Me, too! That describes it perfectly.

I’m used to an abundance of hugs, so the social distancing has been a real trigger for me. Yes, I agree the restrictions are a necessity, but my spirit and soul thirst for a hug, and this lack of a normal staple has zapped me.

On top of the restrictions, I filled my March and April with the final production of my book project, Just Another Square Dance Caller: Authorized Biography of Marshall Flippo, and though I was able to add some special features I wouldn’t have been able to do if I had rushed the production, it drained me. Hugs from a variety of people and interaction with dear friends are how I would normally replenish myself after a grueling workday, but there was no safe way to do that.

Come Back Tomorrow and I’ll Have More

April 17, 2020 

I’ve run out, 
Empty, 
No More,
Barely running on fumes. 

But come back 
Tomorrow. 
There will be more! 

More of me 
My humor 
My expertise 
My talents. 

I’ve used up
Everything today,
Ran desperately scarce! 

I spilled me 
Wide-open, 
Nothing left.
 
But daily I rejuvenate 
Refresh 
In my Quiet Time 
With God 
And start again 
With a full tank! 

So, don’t ask me
When I’m on empty 
To give more! 
That’s selfish! 

Ask me about
My availability. 
Ask me if I’m full 
Or empty. 
Don’t assume! 

I know me! 
I can tell 
The meter’s hanging 
Dangerously low, 
Near empty. 

I’m zapped, 
Nothing now, 
Today! 

But come back tomorrow, 
And I’ll have more! 

More of me 
More joy 
More compassion 
More energy! 
Totally more!

Larada Horner-Miller, Coronavirus Reflections: Bitter or Better?, (2021): 95-99.

Finally,

When you finish, I hope you have reconciled the lost years and feel deeply better about how you handled it. In recovery, we say, “Denial is not a river in Egypt!” Face it, feel it and heal it!

Do you have a residual effects from the COVID-19 pandemic? If so, how have you dealt with them?

News, News, News!

Coronavirus Reflections: Bitter or Better? COVID-19 — Read, reflect and respond!

~My new book, Coronavirus Reflections: Bitter or Better? is a finalist in the 2022 New Mexico-Arizona Book Awards in the Body, Mind & Spirit Category. Winners will be announced in a couple of weeks.

~Wish You Were Here: A Novel by Jodi Picoult, one of my favorite authors, deals with the COVID pandemic in fiction as opposed to my nonfiction book. Check it out! Interesting story!

~MY FIRST AUDIOBOOK IS AVAILABLE: Go to Audible to buy my first audiobook, Let Me Tell You a Story. I’m working on Coronavirus Reflections: Bitter or Better? but have gotten stalled with shingles.

~Do you listen to podcasts? Here are three podcasts with interviews about my new book & some Flippo stories:

Douglas Coleman’s show-August 5, 2022
Chat & Spin Radio, from Friday, June 24, 2022. Join us for a lively description of all my books!
Book Talk–June 3, 2022
Live on Purpose Podcast–March 17, 2022
Zbooks.com–January 19, 2022
Apostrophes, A Writers Series with Double DD–January 10, 2022
The On Purpose Podcast–January 10, 2022

Just Another Square Dance Caller: Authorized Biography of Marshall Flippo. COVID-19 — Grab your SmatPhone & read this hilarious book!

~Have you bought a copy of Flippo’s biography yet? Believe it or not—it’s been two years. Go here for your hardback or paperback: https://www.laradasbooks.com or at Amazon.

~For me, it’s Christmas all year long! Here’s a variety of Christmas greetings from Flippo & Neeca, featuring his song, “When It’s Christmas Time in Texas”: https://youtu.be/mpJCUGffU3A

Grief · Memoirs · My Books · My Thoughts · poetry · Spirituality

Afraid of Tough Topics—Not Me!

Featured Larada Horner-MillerLeave a comment

Am I afraid of tough topics? Not at all! Two of my books touch very heavy subjects: death and the coronavirus pandemic, and I felt compelled to write them, no matter what the consequences. A Time to Grow Up: A Daughter’s Grief Memoir addressed the death of my parents and my growth. Coronavirus Reflections: Bitter or Better? dealt with my experience with the coronavirus pandemic—another difficult concern.

Tough Topic #1—Death

A Time to Grow Up: A Daughter’s Grief Memoir

A Time to Grow Up book cover. Tough Topic

When my father died in 1996, my mother told me, “Everyone grieves in their own way.”

I took these words to heart when Mom passed away in 2013. I discovered that writing poetry was the best way of working through my fresh grief. Eventually, I penned dozens of intimate, heartfelt poems about my parents’ lives and legacies and my deep sorrow and gradual recovery and growth. Yes, it was a grief memoir but a growth memoir, as well.

I discussed the emotional challenges of caring for my parents at the end of their lives. My words will strike a chord with any worried caretaker or child watching over ailing but fiercely independent loved ones.

As I explored the nuances of bereavement through my poetry, I provided inspiration and comfort for readers coping with the same burdens. While many of my poems explore the depths of my anguish, others exude humor and warmth—a reminder that there is still always light in the world.

Besides my poems, I included biographical sketches about my mother and father, as well as appendices that provide coping tips, suggested activities, and resources for others dealing with intense bereavement. These appendices offer a world of resources for anyone who has lost a parent or both.

This book received several awards:

2018 New Mexico-Arizona Book Awards “Finalist” in 2 categories: E-book Nonfiction and E-book Cover
2018 Book Excellence Awards “Finalist” in the Memoir category
2018 Independent Press Awards “Distinguished Favorites” in the Memoir category
2017 New Apple Book Awards for Excellence in Independent Publishing ”Official Selection” in the Biography|Autobiography|Memoir category.
2017 New Mexico-Arizona book awards “Finalist” in 2 categories: Biography (Other) and E-book Nonfiction.

Tough Topic #2—Coronavirus Pandemic

Coronavirus Reflections: Bitter or Better?

I invite you to read, reflect and respond to the global pandemic of 2020 and successive months. I encouraged readers to think about how the pandemic affected them and how they adapted. The book is intended to be used as a journal, a safe keeping place to revisit 2020. I viewed the forced shelter in place as an opportunity for spiritual discoveries and renewed spiritual growth. The book incorporates what I learned during my year and more of solitude, a transformative process leading me to find a reconnection with my “God.” I struggled spiritually and emotionally. My emotions ran deep from fear, struggle, and despair going deeper into her faith, ultimately making me a better, not a bitter person.

Themed chapters with poetry and prose add depth to the book. I divided the book into chapters with content developed from my blog over the years. Each chapter begins with a carefully chosen thought provoking quote complementing the theme. My prose and poetry are creative and soul-stirring. Both are extensions of the chapter’s theme. Many of the poems deal with the anxiety and depict the universal struggles of uncertainty during this time. Readers will find them inspirational and comforting. Reflective questions at the end of each chapter encourage reader participation to share their personal thoughts and stories as well as process hidden fears and concerns during time spent in quarantine.

I felt this book offered a soulful looking back at this worldwide pandemic and then a step into the future, clear of the spiritual cobwebs of that experience.

Someone consoling someone else. Tough Topics — We can face tough topics together!

Finally,

But do readers want to read books about such tough topics? It seems the world’s fascination focuses on lesser topics of importance, a means of escape. Are these too scary? Too personal? Too intimate? Is it denial? Is there a major fear of feelings, tears and loss?

Hopefully, you will take this opportunity to delve into one or both tough topics with me through reading my books and then grow spiritually. I offer them to console your wounded or broken heart. The choice is yours. We can face tough topics together, survive and grow!

Coronavirus Reflections: Bitter or Better? meme Tough Topic — Read, reflect and respond!

~I’m not afraid of tough subjects like the coronavirus. Yes, I get people are tired of hearing about it, but. . . Visit my website to find out about my new book, Coronavirus Reflections: Bitter or Better? and my other five books and three cookbooks: https://laradasbooks.com

~Wish You Were Here: A Novel by Jodi Picoult, one of my favorite authors, deals with the COVID pandemic in fiction as opposed to my nonfiction book. Check it out! Interesting story!

~WATCH MY NEW INTERVIEW on Douglas Coleman’s show dated August 5, 2022.

~Do you listen to podcasts? Here are three podcasts with interviews about my new book & some Flippo stories:

Chat & Spin Radio, from Friday, June 24, 2022. Join us for a lively description of all my books!
Book Talk–June 3, 2022
Live on Purpose Podcast–March 17, 2022
Zbooks.com–January 19, 2022
Apostrophes, A Writers Series with Double DD–January 10, 2022
The On Purpose Podcast–January 10, 2022

Just Another Square Dance Caller: Authorized Biography of Marshall Flippo meme. Tough Topic — Grab a drink & read!

~Have you bought a copy of Flippo’s biography yet? Believe it or not—it’s been two years. Go here for your hardback or paperback: https://www.laradasbooks.com or at Amazon.

Marshall Flippo · My Books · My Thoughts · square dance

Are You a History Buff?

Featured Larada Horner-Miller3 Comments

History fascinates me—I love to read about what has happened in the past with well-known characters and events. When I wrote Marshall Flippo’s biography, Just Another Square Dance Caller: Authorized Biography of Marshall Flippo, I knew without a doubt; it stands as a history book of square dancing and so much more.

When I first interviewed Flippo, I heard stories about his growing up in west Texas in Abilene. He enjoyed his teachers and his education and had a favorite story about ink wells and the ink used in them. Family meant the world to Flippo.

World War II

Marshall Flippo in the Navy. History — Marshall Flippo in the Navy

Laced into those first few interviews, Flippo identified his patriotism with World War II raging in the background of his teen years. His older sister, Helen June, had already enlisted, so it seem natural for him to join up, but he was only seventeen years old. That felt so young as he described the process.

When I referenced his enlisting in the navy, I had a major misunderstanding about that event. Originally, I thought he said they had faked his enlistment papers, but he vehemently corrected me. His dad had to sign for him; patriotism ran strong in the whole family.

So, World War II became a significant topic in his biography, with him spending four years in the navy. He spent two years at the end of the war, going to Japan twice. He described being onboard ship, observing Iwo Jima as an eyewitness.

When Flippo described his last two years in the navy, I laughed out loud in amazement. No one could have guessed what he did those last two years. He enjoyed a dream post—playing baseball for the navy overseas and then in San Diego, California.

Square Dance Caller Career

After the service, Flippo returned to Abilene, Texas, married Neeca and embarked on a career that would change his life forever—square dance calling. He stood as a bridge in the history of square dance calling between an influencer like Dr. Lloyd “Pappy” Shaw, the person credited for the square dance explosion in the late 30s and 40s, and all those who followed him. Flip never met or trained under Lloyd Shaw, but Bob Osgood and Betty Casey did and, in mentoring Flippo, Shaw’s influence carried over to him through those two people. Learned more about Lloyd Shaw at https://squaredancehistory.org/exhibits/show/lloyd-shaw

With his career spanning sixty years, he followed those influencers and became a mentor to many callers over the years, carrying on Shaw’s legacy. As one of the original eleven founding fathers, Flippo helped start CALLERLAB, the international organization for callers that changed the direction of square dancing in the 70s. He continued attending this annual convention throughout his career, going to his last one in 2018 in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where I spent 4-5 hours with him, interviewing him for his biography.

In organizing this book, Flippo immediately let me know he wanted to tell stories about callers and cuers who influenced him. He so much wanted to honor those who were deceased; we created a tribute to them at the beginning of the book. Then the book ends with stories he told about other callers and cuers. I added stories callers wanted to tell on Flippo. Flippo’s humility prevailed throughout the book, and I had to ruin him in, reminding him this book was supposed to be about him!

Sadly, Flippo died in 2018 before we finished what he wanted to share. When he passed away, I had 258,000 words to transcribe from his interviews—so much information. Flippo totally involved himself in the production of his biography. Before he passed, Flip commented about the thickness of Bob Osgood’s biography, As I See It. We saw it at CALLERLAB in Albuquerque. He demanded his biography not be that thick, so I found the word count of Bob’s biography and made sure Flippo’s was less!

However, yes, this book is thick, but the following features liven it up.

Added features to this book—

Footnotes explaining square dance terminology—interactive in the e-book formats
Period pictures of Flippo, callers, cuers and dancers from Neeca’s three scrapbook/photo albums
Pictures from a war book about his time on the USS Lander Flippo referenced often
An Index at the end of the book, simply because of my commitment for it to be a history book. I wanted readers easily to cross-reference any topic identified in the book.
Appendices
- Appendix A–Chronology of Marshall Flippo’s Life
- Appendix B–Itinerary of USS Lander (one of the destroyer tenders Flippo was assigned to)
- Appendix C–More Burma-Shave Jingles
- Appendix D–International Tours
- Appendix E–Chek-A-Kaller Legend
- Appendix F–Flippo’s Recordings & Reviews
- Appendix G–List of Callers who Attended Flippo’s Last Night, December 31, 2017
- Appendix H–Festus Article & Letter
- Appendix I–Glossary of Square Dance & Round Dance Terms
- Appendix J–Additional References: books, URLs, Marshall Flippo Song Bytes, News & Websites

Additional resources on my website for those who buy the book in the “Members Only” section

Finally,

If you’re a square dancer, this book has so much information for you about the activity we love and the inside story of Flippo’s life. If you’re not a square dancer, the historical aspect might capture your heart about a time in our history rich with stories and people of a time gone by.

Do you like history? Do you like stories about World War II? About life in the 20s in Texas? Let me know what you think in the Comments section.

~Need a Father’s Day gift for your dad or granddad? How about a bundle of my books about ranch life? Go to my Etsy Shop, Larada’s Reading Loft, for 25% discounts on three bundles!

~Do you listen to podcasts? Here are three podcasts with interviews about my new book & some Flippo stories:

Book Talk–June 3, 2022 –
Live on Purpose Podcast–March 17, 2022 –
Zbooks.com–January 19, 2022
Apostrophes, A Writers Series with Double DD–January 10, 2022
The On Purpose Podcast–January 10, 2022

~Have you bought a copy of Flippo’s biography yet? Believe it or not—it’s been two years. Go here for your hardback or paperback: https://www.laradasbooks.com or at Amazon.

~What happened to you in 2020-2021 during the coronavirus pandemic? Do you care? Are you on a spiritual path? Do you want to heal from the horrible effects of the pandemic of 2020? Visit my website to find out about my new book, Coronavirus Reflections: Bitter or Better? and my other five books and three cookbooks: https://laradasbooks.com

My Books · My Thoughts · square dance

Book Trailers—Flippo’s Life!

Featured Larada Horner-MillerLeave a comment

Book Trailers—a promotional idea I enjoy! I created three book trailers of Flippo’s biography, Just Another Square Dance Caller: Authorized Biography of Marshall Flippo. What a blast that was!

I formatted each trailer the same: I used one of his singing calls for audio background and highlighted many pictures gleaned from the three scrapbooks Neeca made for Flippo.

I focused on major areas of Flippo’s expansive life:

His life
Amazing skits
His Motto & travels

As you can see, I tackled some fun ones.

So here they are for your viewing pleasure!

His Life Trailer

I start with him growing up a Texan, then the Texan becomes a sailor. After the Navy, Flippo came back to Abilene, and to the love of his life, Neeca. He started square dance calling after a few pitfalls. His hit song, “The Auctioneer,” skyrocketed his career. The music background is a clip of “The Auctioneer.”

His Amazing Skits Trailer

At a square dance weekend or during a square dance week, after the evening dance came a fun-filled event, the afterparty. At an afterparty, callers organized skits to entertain the dancers.

Anyone who saw Flippo in one of his amazing skits will never forget it. At Kirkwood with Melton Luttrell, Gary Shoemake and Frank Lane, the shy Flippo entertained everyone with his antics. Also at Asilomar, he teamed up with Frank Lane, and I’m sure many others. At Paris, Texas, he shared the stage with Ken Bower, Mike Bramlett and Justin Russell. The music background is “It Do Feel Good.”

His Motto & Travels Trailer

Flippo repeated his motto often to me, “I was at the right place at the right time.” This attitude sent him traveling around the United States and the world. After traveling during his Navy career, Flippo loved to travel as a square dance caller and the dance world loved him. His extensive tour plan took him all over the United States for six months of the year. Then he added world travel when he could. Flippo traveled to Spain, Morocco, Majorca, England and Germany. He returned to Japan where he continued his love affair started with his Navy career at the end of World War II. The music background is “Sing, Sing a Song.”

Trailers summarize a book’s message and speak to the visual majority of people in the world today. In book marketing today, trailers lead the list of promotional ideas. The message of Flippo’s book was so large I had to do three! And I could probably do more.

Finally,

Do you enjoy book trailers? Make sure you liked my trailers on my YouTube channel.

~Valentine’s Day Special at my Etsy Shop, Larada’s Reading Loft. 40% off of “This Tumbleweed Landed” paperback until February 16, 2022.

~MY FIRST AUDIOBOOK IS AVAILABLE: Go to Audible to buy my first audiobook, Let Me Tell You a Story

~Do you listen to podcasts? Here are three podcasts with my interviews about my new book & some Flippo stories:

~Buy a copy of Flippo’s biography on my website: https://www.laradasbooks.com or at Amazon.

~Here’s Christmas greetings from Flippo & Neeca, featuring his song, “When Its Christmas Time in Texas”: https://youtu.be/mpJCUGffU3A

~Visit my website to find out about my new book, Coronavirus Reflections: Bitter or Better? and my other five books and three cookbooks: https://laradasbooks.com

Audiobooks · Books · My Books · My Thoughts

My Adventure Continues—Audiobook!

Featured Larada Horner-MillerLeave a comment

My new adventure has taken over! On November 29, 2021, in my blog post, “Audiobooks—My New Adventure,” I alerted you about my new adventure of recording audiobooks. I don’t know if you’re a consumer of audiobooks, but this market is growing like crazy, so I’m jumping in with both feet!

Two months later, I have recorded and released my first audiobook, Let Me Tell You a Story, the nonfiction booklet of how my granddad put our ranch together during the depression when many others were losing theirs. I thoroughly enjoyed the process, and what a pleasure it was to reread this little gem!

Why I picked this one to be my first?

After finishing the audiobook training, I started with the shortest book I had, so this one won! It’s more the size of a chapbook. I didn’t want to do one of my sizeable books, in case the process became too difficult, but it was a breeze, thanks to good training I received.

What was the process like on this new adventure?

At first, I didn’t know whether to record everything and then take the audio through the editing and adding the effects process on Audacity, the app suggested. So, at first, I did a couple of recording and then did the editing and adding the effects. But I realized, once I started recording and got into “the zone,” I didn’t want to stop.

So, then I changed my plan—I finished recording the rest of the book and did the editing and adding effects. As I focused on the editing, I became more proficient at finding the places where I breathed and deleted them more easily.

I had such great instructions on doing the effects in Audacity. It really became a checklist of twelve steps to do for each recording, and it went quickly. I just wanted to make sure I did each step, so I took it slowly and methodically.

As a final run-through, I sat with the book in hand and listened to the audio to make sure it matched the book. It did!

How to get my audiobook out to the world?

My training taught me to put it out to two sites: acx.com and findawayvoices.com, and it warned me it could take three to four weeks for publication.

First, I tried acx.com, an affiliate of Amazon, and I had trouble because my book didn’t come up in my list of books. I spent several days and emails before that problem got solved—I could use the ASIN number (Amazon Standard Identification Number) off of the Amazon.com listing.

Each site had a different setup for uploading the files. Because we have a horrible internet connection, I saved each chapter as a file. You could save it as one file if you have a fast speed connection.

Each site warned the files had to be uploaded in the order you wanted them to be on the audiobook. I liked findawayvoices.com’s set-up for uploading because their system stopped any chance of uploading the files out of order.

For acx.com, it took about a week and a half to two weeks to go live! And how excited I was! I’m still waiting for any distributors from findawayvoices.com to go live.

What is my current audiobook project?

At the beginning of the year, I made a schedule for recording my books:

Let Me Tell You a Story—January
Coronavirus Reflections: Bitter or Better?—February

I was right on schedule for February, but recording Coronavirus Reflections: Bitter or Better? has gone much quicker than I thought it would. Today I finished recording Chapter 25, Christmas 2020 with Charles Dickens, so I’m way early. Last Wednesday, I recorded nine chapters! I couldn’t believe it!

Since I have thirty-one chapters in the book, I only need six more chapters, Appendix A and the closing credits to finish the recording. I plan to finish the recording on Monday or Tuesday of this week. Then I can easily finish the editing and adding effects by the end of the month.

What are my future plans for this adventure?

Here’s the rest of the schedule I made earlier:

When Will Papa Get Home?—March
This Tumbleweed Landed—April

With my speed of recording so far and the length of both books, I might record both books in March. I don’t want to rush, but I do want to get as much done before the heat of the summer hits. I can’t stand recording when it’s hot outside in my closed in little recording studio (really our walk-in closet)!

What about my two longer books?

In my November 29, 2021 blog post, I wrote, “Two of my books—A Time to Grow Up: A Daughter’s Grief Memoir and Just Another Square Dance Caller: Authorized Biography of Marshall Flippo are too long for the audiobook format.”

I’ve rethought that stance. A writing friend suggested I do a set for my longer books. What do you think? Would you buy an audiobook set of Just Another Square Dance Caller: Authorized Biography of Marshall Flippo, specifically?

What have I learned about this adventure?

Both the audiobook training, Audiobooks Made Easy, by Derek Doepker, and Audio for Authors: Audiobooks, Podcasts and Voice Technologies by Joanna Penn helped me initially. But here are some tips I learned in the actually recording:

Take off anything that can make noise while recording. The earphones fit snugly over my ears, so I took off earrings and the chain I use for my reading glasses.
Drink room-temperature water before recording. I drank some ice-cold water once and my voice crackled.
Use your laptop or iPad instead of paper to read from. When I first recorded, I printed up pages of my script. Then, when I shuffled through the papers, it added a noise I could easily eliminate.
Have a file system for your recording files. I created three folders for raw audio files: original recordings, and duplicated edited files, and effects files. Then I created another file for the mp3s to be uploaded to the different sites for distribution.
Use an external hard drive. My laptop has limited storage space, so I bought a 2 terabytes external hard drive and save to it.
Wear supportive shoes. After standing still in the same place for nearly an hour, I realized good shoes helped how I felt afterwards.
If you are going to offer a .pdf for your audiobook buyer, make sure you have the URL correct before recording. For my first book, I posted on my website all the pictures that were in the book so the buyer could go there and see the visuals included in the book. For the Coronavirus Reflections book, I have created a personal reflection journal the consumer can download to respond on.

Finally,

Elderly woman joins me on the my adventure

I love adventures and this is one for sure. I hope to have four of my six books on audiobooks by this summer, and then hopefully the other two finished by the end of 2020. Do you buy audiobooks? Audiobooks are for any age! If you’d like to sample my first audiobook, you can at https://laradasbooks.com/sample-my-audiobook/

~Valentine’s Day Special at my Etsy Shop, Larada’s Reading Loft. 40% “This Tumbleweed Landed” paperback until February 16, 2022.

~MY FIRST AUDIOBOOK IS AVAILABLE: Go to Audible to buy my first audiobook, Let Me Tell You a Story

~Do you listen to podcasts? Here are three podcasts with my interviews about my new book & some Flippo stories:

~Buy a copy of Flippo’s biography on my website: https://www.laradasbooks.com or at Amazon.

~Here’s Christmas greetings from Flippo & Neeca, featuring his song, “When Its Christmas Time in Texas”: https://youtu.be/mpJCUGffU3A

Coronavirus Reflections: Bitter or Bette? meme

~Visit my website to find out about my new book, Coronavirus Reflections: Bitter or Better? and my other five books and three cookbooks: https://laradasbooks.com

Blogging · Goals · Gratitude · My Books · My Thoughts · poetry

A Challenge for Thirty Days! Whew!

Featured Larada Horner-Miller1 Comment

The Ultimate Blog Challenge, Day 30, is today and I have mixed feelings about its ending. I finished the challenge of writing a blog post every day in November, missing only one day—the first day because I didn’t know about it. A friend in my writing practice group told me about it long, long ago on November 2. So, I started that day and continued successfully until I had network issues one day and had to publish two blog posts the next day. The challenge also asked us to post links on our Facebook and Twitter pages, adding the hashtag #blogboost on Twitter. The next step: post on The Ultimate Blog Challenge Facebook page. Finally, read, comment and post on Twitter 1 – 2 other blogs in the Challenge.

What did I learn in this challenge?

I truly enjoyed writing a blog post every day. Because I had returned to Natalie Goldberg’s writing practice every day in March 2021, it came easier. I outlined topic themes for the four weeks at the beginning:

Writing help—SWAG, doing successful interviews, how I select my blog topics and the value of writing groups
Back Stories for each of my six books and three cookbooks—there’s always a story behind the story
My poetry—I found a sketchbook/journal with several poems I had forgotten about and shared them
Gratitude list & things I was grateful for—I shared about my recovery, key people from my life and my dear pets
I chose two suggested prompts from the Ultimate Blog Challenge & then wrote about my newest adventure: audiobooks

Being organized at the beginning with this outline made the writing every day easy. I didn’t have to search for topics. Being new to this, I didn’t realize topics were provided every day. Also, I created a blog post page with the social media icons in it for each day to make life easier. Normally in my weekly blog posts, I love to add a couple pictures, but I found a wonderful plugin that reduces the size of the picture tremendously and that helps because I have a horribly slow network, and it made my life much easier.

My big take-away: I relearned how much I love to write and share my voice with the world.

What did I enjoy?

I thoroughly enjoyed my topics, especially my gratitude week. Coincidentally or not, the day I planned to write about my dear friend Kathi Raver Miller was the anniversary of her death. I savored each word.

Also, I took pleasure in reading the wonderful posts by the other participants. I learned so much and saw how others handled the challenge. Every blog post I read entertained, educated or consoled me! You can’t beat that!

What was a hassle?

I do my blog in wordpress.com, and it has so many helpful hints which have made me a better writer. But every day I went through the list of suggestions to tailor that post to have both green light (good) in SEO (Search engine optimization) and Readability. In the past, frequently, I have had problems with the Readability score because I write complex sentences. It suggests writing shorter sentences, so I worked hard this month and ended up with a lot of green lights for Readability—yahooo!

Also, my brother visited us for Thanksgiving, so I worked super hard Wednesday night and did two—for Wednesday and Thanksgiving. So, I all I had to do on the holiday after gorging on our delicious meal and watching nonstop football was clean it up and publish it and then do the required assignments!

Would I do it again?

Again, I have mixed feelings about it. It took a lot of work to do it, but the regularity of writing significant pieces every day rewarded me deeply. Yes, I think I would.

Finally,

I never once doubted I would finish the challenge. I’m just that type of person. I love a wonderful challenge and couple that with one of my passions and it’s a win-win situation for sure!

What did you think? Did you like it? What was your favorite blog post of mine?

Visit my website to find out about my new book, Coronavirus Reflections: Bitter or Better? and my other five books and three cookbooks: https://laradasbooks.com

STILL AVAILABLE! Cyber Week Specials at my Etsy Shop, Larada’s Reading Loft, on select books! If you liked my blog posts, you’ll love my books! 40% off of select Individual books, 40% off of select bundles and 50% off of digital copies! These books make the perfect gift for your friends and family.

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