Mary Brotherton

         On a recent trip to North Carolina, my husband treated me with a visit to Connemara, Carl Sandburg’s home in Flat Rock. I researched the historical site online before we visited the 248-acre property that Mr. Sandburg called a “village” and his wife called “a million acres of sky” now managed by the National Park Service. The website, while thorough, did not prepare me for the inspiration that came shortly after we joined the guided tour already in progress when we arrived.

Known as America’s Voice, Carl Sandburg was more than a Pulitzer Prize-winning poet who legitimized free verse, recorded folk stories and spoke for those too weak to whimper. He wrote what some consider the comprehensive biography of Abraham Lincoln despite being told that poets had no business writing serious prose. He turned every no he heard into more than a yes; he turned them into personal success.

The wandering poet pursued writing seriously with the encouragement of a college professor. A West Point dropout, Mr. Sandburg also left Lombard College without a degree and became active in politics, advocating for the end of child labor and protesting the exploitation of laborers.

Sandburg spent two months wooing and winning the affections of Lillian Steichen, a woman who initially did not find him appealing. The tour included quotes from some of their correspondence and made me renew my resolve to write more hand-scribed letters to those most dear to me, though I will bear in mind the social mores of our current technological era.

The 20^th century was only eight years old when Sandburg wrote his first love letter; the Kennedy administration a recent memory when he died. In the 21^st century, lovers and business people, brothers and sisters, friends and strangers communicate electronically, using tools and technology unknown to Sandburg. He frequently shared information with friends and newcomers to his social circle by placing a copy of something he’d read in their hands during a handshake. Knowing this, inspires me to share more relevant information with my readers.

The only rooms not lined with bookshelves were the bathrooms and the kitchen. Just looking at his personal library, I was inspired to read even more. Sandburg’s daughter, Margaret, was also his librarian. The family brought more than 17,000 books in the move from Illinois to North Carolina. Most of the books and periodicals in place at the time of Sandburg’s death at age 89 remain as they were in 1967 and reflect the political and social environment of that era.

As we walked through the three-story home, the guide pointed out the lack of curtains. Sandburg’s wife, Lillian, had said that windows were meant to frame nature, not hide it. Although the “Poet of the People” read and wrote in nearly every room of his home, Carl Sandburg chose a dark office without a view of Mount Pisgah, which he said was too distracting. He also chose to write at night, when his mind was sharpest, though he was still a devoted father and husband.

Inscribed on one of the plaques at the entrance to the park is one of Sandburg’s quotes.

“There is a place for me somewhere, where I can write and speak much as I can think and make it pay for my living and some besides. Just where this place is I have small idea now, but I am going to find it.”

As most writers, I have also yearned for that place somewhere, a place where I can also write and speak as much as I can think, a place that will pay for my living with a little extra. Until my visit to Connemara, I knew that I would eventually find my place to write, though I had no clue how to begin my search. I only knew my current situation did not provide what I needed. Without knowing I’d even been inspired, twenty-four hours later, I’d found my place.

Returning from North Carolina to its southern sister, the tranquility and beauty of Carl and Lillian Sandburg’s home had eased my concerns. For the first time in years, I loosed myself of the shackles of my own work-a-day woes. I was on a holiday from my day job and I wasn’t concerned with writing or editing or even photography. I enjoyed the views and the fresh mountain air.

Then I walked into my mother’s home. Perfectly cool on a hot April day, initially; within a few minutes, she’d flipped the thermostat from its air conditioner setting over to heat. Fifteen minutes later, she complained she was overheated, a cycle that repeated. She seemed more agitated and forgetful than I recalled from our visit with her just a few days earlier and my husband and I noticed other signs that led us to a simple conclusion.

We’re moving in with her.

The easiest hard decision we have made as a couple will return me to my childhood roots and the place where the seeds of my writing had been sown.

I will become my mother’s HANC because I can’t yet accept the fact that she needs a live-in caregiver. So, I will be her Housekeeper, Activity director, Nutritionist and Companion. I am prepared for the hard work and long hours of attending a frail, 85-year-old woman, but I may have found my place. Resolute, I have given notice to the publisher who has honored my writing and editing skills for more than nine years by offering to continue working with me remotely.

In two months, after the moving sale, after the cleaning and packing, we’ll trade our small town neighborhood for a pastoral setting that is part redneck, part hillbilly – everything I have struggled to overcome for years. I am intrigued how the rural setting I longed to leave fifteen years ago, today feels exactly like the place I need to be.

Perhaps Carl Sandburg had it right all along. My mother’s home will be that “place for me somewhere, where I can write and speak much as I can think and make it pay for my living and some besides.”

I have many friends who are writers. Some of them embrace this fact and others blush at the idea. Most don’t know how to promote themselves or feel they might be breaking some kind of ethics code to say, “Hey! Look at me! Look what I wrote!”

Why write if you don’t promote yourself?

There are so many aspects to self-promotion and creating a solid writer’s platform. There are also many websites devoted to helping writers do just this – perhaps none better than My Name is Not Bob.

Robert Lee Brewer is

“Father. Poet. Editor. Occasional slap happy smack talker.”

He’s also quite the motivator. I wondered how he finds time to do all he does, then I accepted his April Platform Challenge, despite knowing I would be traveling 10 days in April and I knew that for half my trip, I would have spotty or no Internet connection.

Fortunately, when I did have connection, I could search his archived posts and I now have all the challenges logged for use when my upturned life arights.

The challenge includes:

• Create a twitter account
• Read at least one blog post and comment on it
• Do a search on your name
• Find a helpful article (or blog post) and share it with your social network
• Create a time management plan

Many of my friends write or blog for their own pleasure, but most long, as Carl Sandburg did, to

…make it pay for my living and some besides.

Robert Lee Brewer’s April Platform introduced me to Michael Hyatt’s Intentional Leadership site and many others. I want to start exploring other bloggers and link to them, for being among peers is vital to any person’s success, perhaps more for a writer.

Previously, I  mentioned my friend’s blog at Half C Note, but it bears repeating. She’s clever and makes me take notice. Her partner also has a site where she bares her soul and showcases her wonderful photography.

Like my friend’s partner, I have never met Amanda Dcosta, but I enjoy reading and guest-blogging for her at Mandy’s Pages.

I meet many writers, self-published and mainstream authors and bloggers alike, including my personal friend, H.V. Rhodes, the author of The Braindead Manager. Since 2008, he has been a member of My Own Writers’ Salon and has inspired me to achieve personally and professionally.

Another friend and close, personal writing peer who has a blog is J.J. White. He is, by all standards, a smarty pants, a smart alec and a smartass. He knows it and works to perfect his snarky attitude on a daily basis. The electrical engineer is also a prolific writer. His blog is very much a tongue-in-cheek expression of his angst at not having yet published a book, despite years of tryng. He is, however a many-times-over published writer of surprising short stories that make me think of O.Henry crossed with a touch of Edgar Allen Poe. I believe he has even written at least one story about a raven or some other ominous black bird. He writes so much, I cannot keep up with him, despite our twice-a-month meetings. He earns money on Helium and has numerous national awards for his short stories.

I am honored and inspired to know, even if only through their blogs, such fascinating writers. Social networks have made it possible to get to know people who would have been complete strangers, such as Amanda, who lives on the other side of the globe.

Remember, challenges like Robert Lee Brewer’s April Platform Challenge can be done at any time during the year. They are not reserved for the month of April. If you would like to see my complete list, to save you the trouble of searching his archives for the daily posts, leave a comment or request one by emailing marybrotherton@gmail.com

If you found this helpful, please share it by using one of the links or posting a link to your favorite social network.

Not long ago, I visited Boston Market on Wickham Road in Melbourne and ordered a pot pie. My husband had tried them before and told me how much he’d enjoyed them. I failed to ask if they were made with all white meat. That was my first mistake. I don’t care for dark meat, but since I had been the one who didn’t inquire, I ate everything but the meat, which I left on the plate.

 
The manager noticed that I’d been picking at my food and asked why. I explained that the food was satisfactory, minus the dark meat and he said that he wanted me to be completely satisfied. He gave me his business card with “One free chicken pot pie” written on the back while he explained that I should call to pre-order an all white meat pot pie, 20 to 30 minutes prior to stopping in, the next time I was in the area.

 
On May 3, I called and told the young woman who answered the phone, “I’d like to pre-order an all white meat chicken pot pie.”

 
She said, “They don’t come with all white meat. It’s a mixture.”

 
“Yes,” I said, “I understand. That’s why I am calling to request you bake one for me with all white meat.”

 
Here’s where my Boston Market experience started to become strange.

 
“I’ll go check to see if we have any with all white meat, but I don’t think we do.”

 
I told her, “Maybe I need to speak with James. He told me to call and order an all white meat pot pie when I wanted one. That’s what I’m doing.”

 
“Who?”

 
“James, the manager. He told me I could pre-order an all white meat pot pie, if I wanted one.”

 
“Oh, he’s not here.”

 
I was becoming frustrated and said, “I can’t believe this. It’s not supposed to be this hard.”

 
“We can bake one special for you.”

 
“Yes, please do. I’ll be there in about half an hour.”

 
When I arrived at Boston Market, things became even more tedious and frustrating. We were greeted promptly by a smiling, young woman, but when I told her I had pre-ordered a white meat chicken pot pie, she looked like a deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming train. She asked my name and walked to the register, where she remained for the entire time we were there.

Another young woman approached from the back and offered to take our order. I told her that we’d been served and motioned toward the young woman at the register. This second woman walked to the register and again they asked my name.

 
A third woman wearing a chef’s coat and hat approached and again I was asked if I could be served. I said, “I pre-ordered a white meat chicken pot pie and they are taking care of that, but you may take my husband’s order.” She served up a regular chicken pot pie for him with two sides and placed his plate on the counter, near the register.

 
Not long after, the second woman walked to the kitchen and returned with my freshly-baked pot pie. She placed a piece of cornbread on the plate and slid it down near my husband’s. No one asked if I wanted sides. My husband and I remained in front of the food window, waiting for someone to finish my order.

 
The second woman took an order from a customer who came in after we had and she gave the woman at the register a yellow slip of paper. The woman at the register looked at me and asked, “What sides do you want with your barbeque chicken?”

 
I said, “I didn’t order barbeque chicken. I am still waiting for someone to give me sides on my chicken pot pie.”

 
The register woman said, “They are already there, I am talking about your barbeque chicken.”

 
I said, “I didn’t order barbeque. That is someone else’s order. Please don’t confuse them.”  I couldn’t understand why the barbeque order had been given more priority than mine and I didn’t have confidence the orders weren’t going to be mixed up. The man I thought was a manager did nothing, though he was standing in the dining area. I told my husband, “I think we should go.”

 
It felt to me as if no one heard me. They certainly didn’t step forward to find out what kinds of side dishes I wanted. I told my husband again that I wanted to leave, and there seemed to be a flurry of attention as two of the women offered to give me sides and the woman at the register stared at me.

 
After feeling that I had been ignored while the woman behind me had been served, I knew that I could not enjoy my meal and started toward the door. The woman at the register said, “Ma’am what kind of sides do you want?” and I told her, “I don’t want to be here any longer.” She said, “But your pot pie.” I continued walking toward the door and said, “I do not want to be here any more.” I knew I was too upset to eat without distressing myself more. From the phone call, the entire Boston Market experience had been too complicated.

 
My husband said the woman at the register looked at him with an exaggerated shrug. He told her, “You’ve p–s–d her off, now. It’s over.”

 
Maybe they were all trainees on their first day.

I wrote Boston Market’s corporate address, but was limited to 700 characters, which didn’t convey my angst fully. I don’t expect or need a response, but I do hope the workers will receive training

If you like my photography and can write a short-short story, you could win your favorite Mary Brotherton Photo.

I will mail you a large-format print of the photo of your choice, suitable for framing.

***Details below***

• Visit The Mary on Facebook and become a fan.
• Check out the photo albums and choose your favorite.
• Like the photo and write a poem or short story about it.
• Minimum 50 words. Maximum 420 characters (about 100 words)

***How winners are chosen***

• All decisions are final.
• Decisions are made by The Mary.
• Winners will be chosen based on creativity, subject interest and the number of “Likes” each post receives.

Contest ends at midnight, June 30, 2012.

Winning photos and stories will be published on this site after the winner has been notified, on July 1, 2012.

Responding on this site, while much appreciated, will not qualify you for the contest.

Please visit the contest on Facebook to enter.

I’ve been called the “family dictionary” and a friend once told me I have “encyclopedic knowledge.” Some of my friends look up to me as a sort of writing guru. Yet, despite my personal fan club, I find myself doubting my skills from time to time.

It’s easy to become complacent. In my job as an editor, I work with writers of all sorts – helping, guiding and teaching. They tell me I have a knack for helping them find or use their voices.

Yet, my own creative writing is often relegated to the “someday” file in my mind. My novels, short stories and personal essays stagnate. My growth as a writer stalls, which is why it’s important to challenge myself or to accept challenges, such as Robert Lee Brewer’s April Platform Challenge.

The daily challenges have progressed and encouraged the participants to stretch themselves as writers and as social networkers. With the Twitter hashtag #MNINB, he has motivated many writers to move beyond our comfort zones.

So far, the challenges have been easy, but I’ve learned that if I intend to have others take me seriously as a writer and editor, I need to better promote myself. The challenge, for me, is to let writers know I can help them improve their works. My challenge lies in self-promotion without spamming the very people with whom I want to connect.

Despite my status as family dictionary and encyclopedic, I have much to learn – especially about how to promote myself and my skills.

Leave a comment to let me know how you are challenging yourself to pursue your passions. You can also connect with me on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn or even IMDB.

Robert Lee Brewer, Twitter #MNINB, challenged writers to comment on a blog today with more than a request for bloggers to check out our blogs, while linking back to our blogs. Fortunately, he also provided his list of Best Blogs for Writers to Read in 2012 , which led me on a quest.

• Michael Hyatt was my first stop. Here is what I commented on his post: 7 Steps to Launching Your Next Big Project.
  

  I don’t believe in coincidences.

  I’ve been casually following Robert Lee Brewer’s blog, My Name is Not Bob, for a few months. In April, he initiated a clever way to drive traffic to his site by incorporating what he calls the April Platform Challenge. Today’s challenge was “read at least one blog post and comment on it.” He even included a list of some of his favorite blogs. It was a long list. I didn’t know where to begin, so I scrolled to a blogger who didn’t use a cute name – simply Michael Hyatt.

  I was blown away when the first blog was precisely what I needed to read. I’ve been considering my own podcast, after a friend suggested I’d be good at it, but I simply didn’t know where to begin. Now, I know.

  Thank you.

  Like the Terminator, I’ll be back.

  Unfortunately, one of the requirements for today’s challenge was that our comments must link back, subtly, to our own blogs and Mr. Hyatt’s comment section did not allow for more than an email address.

• I wanted to comment on a post by The Urban Muse, but could not find a comment option.
• Kristine Kathryn Ruschhas a busy site. It’s organized, but none of the topics appealed to me, so I moved on.
• I don’t know how I arrived at Dana Sitar’s blog, but I liked it. My comment to her was:
  

  I’ve had a blog for some time, but it’s been more for my ego than anything else. Now, I’m ready to become a serious blogger. I’ll be reading yours for more tips like this one – stellar!

I learned a great deal while reading these and other blogs. I also have a renewed purpose to be much more proactive in my own blog.

When I first began this site, I wanted to create a site for writers. I hoped to be a resource of information for novelists, essayists, poets and journalists. The first few dozen posts were about writing mechanics and were probably rather boring.

Then, I distracted myself. One of my biggest obsessive pasttimes was my other blog. I lost site of the reason for this site.

Recently, I discovered Robert Lee Brewer’s April Platform Challenge. Day 5 of the challenge was:

• Create a blog. That is, sign up (if you don’t already have a blog), pick a design (these can usually be altered later if needed), and complete your profile.
• Write a post for today. If you’re not sure what to cover, you can just introduce yourself and share a brief explanation of how your blog got started. Don’t make it too complicated.
• Share your blog URL in the comments below. I’ll go through and create a list of blog URLs, so that we can easily find, follow, and friend each other in the blogosphere.
If you already have a blog, excellent! You don’t need to create a new one, but you might want to check out some ways to optimize what you have.

I’ve been talking about updating my site for some time and this is the motivation I’ve needed.

I will be using tips from Blogging Tips for Writers to see if I can improve my site.

They don’t understand

When I was a child, my grandmother said, “Everybody has an opinion. Everybody has an _ _ _ hole, too. Ninety-nine percent of the time, they are only good for the one who has them and usually, they both stink.”

Many years later, a woman I worked with told me, “A person’s perception is ninety-nine percent of reality.”

A few months ago, I posted another reference to ninety-nine percent, when I quoted someone who stated that ninety-nine percent of our nation’s population is protected by the one percent who comprise the military.

I have an opinion about some members of the military who have a skewed sense of reality, based on their perception. You  see, in November 2011, I started a blog called It’s not a Sailor’s Life for Me because I wanted to bring attention to conditions aboard the USS George HW Bush on its maiden deployment.

As a taxpayer, I was appalled to learn that my son and almost 6,000 other sailors on the United States’ most modern aircraft carrier had been enduring more than five months with malfunctioning toilets, or, in military lingo – heads. Like most sailors who had been deployed, he said nothing; he manned-up and dealt with what was much more than a minor inconvenience. For almost half a year, they all dealt with the VCHT that did not vacuum, contain, hold or transfer as the system had been intended. Sadly, the ship had these problems upon delivery. Five months at sea, thousands of man hours attempting to repair and maintain the system and yet, the ordeal continued.

As unfortunate as it was that the heads weren’t functioning, the sailors received orders that they were only allowed to relieve themselves in the heads – the ones they could find that did work – and if they opted to do otherwise, they could be subject to being called to Captain’s Mast. That was when locks were allowed to be placed on the doors to heads that did work. Locks. On the doors to working toilets. On a ship that is larger than many small towns. Locks on doors to heads that only some could access and orders to use only the working heads.

Not long after I started my blog, two Virginia newspapers picked up the story and not long thereafter, media outlets worldwide linked to those stories.

It’s a fact: in the Navy are “boat people” and “squadron people.” It’s also a fact that my son is one of the squadron people. I get it. They are rivals on the same team, if you can believe it. The boat’s company spend much more time on the ship than do the squadron’s company. It’s almost like having a cousin who comes to visit from time to time, but doesn’t live in your home. I get it. I really do.

What I don’t get, however, is why those who “live” on the ship didn’t rejoice when the combinations to the locks were reset to a common default. Would you have your cousin, even the one you don’t like much, visit and then lock him out of the one room with working toilets?

Instead, they create cartoons meant to insult, leave them on car windshields of squadron members and then say, “You’re not going to tell him, are you?”

My son sent me the photo, linked above, and said he found it amusing that they are still focused on him, rather than on fixing the toilets. Of course, the ones with the cartoons probably have working toilets.

The VHCT system on the ship isn’t scheduled to undergo repairs until May. In my opinion, that is far too long for tax payers to support our active military to wait for properly working toilets. My reality, based on my perceptions, is that my blog made a difference – good or bad – it made a difference to at least 1% of 1% of the sailors on board the Bush. The locks were opened and the captain said he will recommend an upgrade. That’s all I wanted.

On Feb. 2, 2012, NavyTimes.com reported a change in federal law to provide higher retention rates for “top brass” with the purpose of keeping military leaders active longer.

Perhaps most officers deserve these remunerations; however if their rewards are at the expense of the morale of the enlisted personnel they lead, something is tragically wrong with the system.  Some believe the increased pension payment may not entice senior officers to remain in the military, but younger officers might choose to remain active longer, hoping to reap the payoff when they retire after more than 26 years.

“At a time when the Pentagon is struggling to pay for the men and women who actually fight wars, and is shrinking the size of its fighting force and civilian employees, it doesn’t make sense to nearly double the size of a retired four-star’s pension,” said Nick Schwellenbach, director of investigations for the group.

The Facebook group, Sailors Against ERB asks, “Did our sailors get fired so we could pay these guys more than double what their pension used to be?”

In November 2011, the Enlisted Retention Board informed nearly 3,000 sailors their active contracts will terminate on September 1, 2012. One tenth of those “ERB sailors” will take advantage of the early 15-year retirement option recently approved by Congress. Many of the remaining sailors are concerned with the quota game being played by “Big Navy.”

They want to know why they were selected to be involuntarily separated from their military careers, despite what their superiors called excellent work performance, especially when they know other sailors who had openly expressed regret at being retained.

They feel betrayed.

According to another NavyTimes article, “Some sailors who volunteered for early outs were turned down; others  with less-than-stellar records were able to escape because their ratings and year groups were safe. Some of those losing their jobs will be eligible by a matter of days (to retire at 15 years) and miss out on as much as $950,000 over the course of their lifetimes.”

Meanwhile, high-ranking officers receive raises and incentives to remain on active duty. Our military requires strong leadership, but not at the expense of our enlisted personnel, the backbone of the military.

troops for ron paul

Adam Kokesh is a controversial figure – probably because he isn’t a sheep, bleeting and following along behind those who would try to make him fit into a role that does not fit.  He challenges authority and reveals the reality of a government based not on protecting the freedoms of the American people. He believes his experience as a former Republican Congressional candidate and member of the USMC qualifies him to encourage everyone to live as free, dignified humans and he urges everyone to live as if government does not exist. He is Adam of Adam VS the Man.

Adam versus the Man is more than a cable or Internet show, it’s his way of life. His Facebook page states:

Who is “the man?” The man is anyone who thinks they can tell you how to live your life and impose their will on others by force of government. But maybe the man behind the curtain is the would-be man in all of us. Because really, the message of freedom that this show is based on, is about conquering that desire to rule over others and that willingness to accept rule by force. They are temptations all are subject too, but in order to establish true liberty for humanity, we must condemn all forms of freedom-violating initiation of force against others and embrace the love and respect for our shared humanity of which we are all capable.

His current press release follows.

1,000 Veterans to March on the White House for Ron Paul, Organizers Overwhelmed

Thousands expected to turn their backs on Obama for “RON PAUL IS THE CHOICE OF THE TROOPS”

It’s only been up for a couple weeks, but according to the Facebook event page, which just passed 1,250 “going” this past Friday, Veterans for Ron Paul 2012 are going to be an undeniable presence in Washington, DC on President’s Day. The organizers have been overwhelmed by the positive response, much of which is from veterans and active duty troops who are hearing Ron Paul’s message for the first time because of this event. Many passionate veterans are even coming from as far away as the west coast, and almost every other post on the wall for the event page is a request or offer for long-distance transportation. Emails to organizers have also indicated that there will be a large contingent of active duty troops in the formation who have declined to RSVP publicly on Facebook. However, organizers are realistic about the numbers, as former US Marine and Fallujah combat veteran Adam Kokesh said, “We know 1,250 on Facebook includes some supporters who won’t be there, but we think it’s a reasonable goal now to have 1,000 veterans in the formation.”

On President’s Day, February 20th, 2012, the founders of Veterans for Ron Paul 2012, Nathan Cox and Adam Kokesh, will lead a formation of veterans and active duty troops who support Ron Paul’s candidacy for President of the United States from the Washington Monument to the White House. Upon arrival at the White House, they will do an about face and render a hand salute to a folded American flag. They will hold the salute for as many seconds as troops have died under the Presidency of Barrack Obama, including suicides.

The purpose of this event is to make it clear to the American people that Ron Paul is the choice of the troops and the candidate who will have the greatest support from those he would lead as commander-in-chief. This is already evidence(d) by the fact that Ron Paul has received more campaign contributions from active duty service members than all other presidential candidates combined, INCLUDING Barrack Obama. The troops want a President who is going to be decisive, put America’s security first, and only send them into harm’s way with a clear moral imperative. Ron Paul is the ONLY candidate who even comes close to meeting those criteria.

Any active duty service members who join will be invited to march at the front of the formation. Proof of service will be required to march in the formation for all current or former military personnel. Family members are invite(d) to march behind the formation and supporters are encouraged to line the route of the march and be present for the ceremony at the White House.

For more information about this event, please contact Veterans for Ron Paul 2012 at VFRP2012@gmail.com or see the facebook event at  http://www.facebook.com/events/create/?eid=192677970828185

To see the first official announcement of this event:

http://youtu.be/v0LxI7_v9vA

I don’t typically involve myself in politics because I believe our system if flawed and based on an antiquated electoral college. There comes a time, however, when everyone must ask the question:”If not me, then who; if not now, then when?”

I have to do my part or my freedoms mean nothing.

Thanks to Adam Kokesh, for permission to use the photo.