Here I Sit

Making the Sconnie Sailor get off the ground has been nothing short of a slow burn and labor of love. When you have that pang within your soul, you know what needs to be done, but getting there without a map is interesting if I wanted to be modest about it all.

The vision of this site is to advocate for the literary arts of the American Midwest, and it has taken me more than enough time to define what that means. I know a few things: a) I want to take my friends with me and pay homage to my mentors b) I am not special, know everything, or pretend to have the answers. It’s still a toss-up whether I’m either brave or dumb enough to not let this idea go. This little experiment is c) meant to help give others the same shot I was given.

I’m proud of the Whiskey Journal, and it being the flagship book of this site is very exciting to me. I want to take my friends with me though. I want other writers and artists from the American Midwest to know that there is a safe harbor to port your ship, and this site should be at the top of their list. I’m not a publisher, I’m not an editor, or an agent, or an illustrator, or anything else that takes to create a book become massly available to everyone. I’m a lover of stories and if I can sync two people’s stories to create something special, then I have done my job; then this site has done its job. If I can get two people together in the same room to make something happen, boom.

So what to do? As I write this entry, I am in the Brisbane, Australia library. My Internet connection is strong, website access is unlimited to serve my purposes, and I have lots of time. No one is looking for me and I have nowhere especially to be. I’ve sent The Whiskey Journal to a couple of book competitions, and tried to widen its exposure to other libraries in the Wisconsin area, but time will tell. I’ve been working with a great hire from Fiverr.com to flush out this site design and make everything connected as it should. I had to outsource because I do not have the sort of time required to stand up a website, especially one with such ambitious goals.

Here’s the rub, I’m still an active duty Sailor. I’m in Brisbane because I’m in a liberty port. I have two nights to cram as much as I can before it’s time to come back to the ship. I’m still a father with three children under nine years old. I’m still married to my first wife, and she needs me to listen to her problems too. I’m still working on my next book, but it’s too early to tell what it is or about. I’m torn in a million different directions so to have the ability to hire out some help is a blessing that I do not regret. Especially if I can retain this relationship with this designer and we can continue to grow the site.