Cadiz Springs

Last month I took my wife hiking with me at Browntown-Cadiz Springs State Rec Area. It's located just a few miles west of Monroe, WI off of Highway 11.  I thought it might be interesting to share our different points of view on the trip.

Glen says-
I hike whenever the weather (or family obligations) do not prevent it.  I enjoy seeing the beauty in nature both the landscape and the wildlife that inhabits it.  I love to take day trips and bring a picnic lunch with me.  I also make my own trail mix.  I bring a backpack and camera.  I change into boots before starting on the trail.

Jordan says-
I like going hiking to be with my husband. I also enjoy seeing the wildlife and the waterfalls. I'm still pretty new at hiking, but Cadiz Springs was really easy. It would be a good place to go for beginners, or for anyone who likes easier trails.

Glen says-
Cadiz Springs has two lakes: Zander Lake and Beckman Lake.  The lakes are stocked with fish.  There is a boat launch and a beach area and a picnic area.  There are several hiking trails and plentiful wildlife to admire or capture on film.



Hooded Merganser

We began hiking on the nature trail that circles Zander Lake.  The trail begins between the two lakes and meets up with another trail at the far end of the lake.  Maybe five minutes into our hike we saw a turtle on the side of the trail.  I took a couple of pictures before he ran away at turtle speed.  We saw ducks and geese swimming in the lakes.

Snapping Turtle

Snapping Turtle



American Coot

As we walked along we read the nature signs that are posted along the trail.  They give information about the various wildlife and flora that can be found in the area.  After we rounded the corner we saw a pileated woodpecker working on a hollow in a tree.  I assume that it was building a nest.  We saw a cardinal, too.  We also saw a chickadee, red-winged blackbirds and a pheasant, but they were all camera shy.

Pileated Woodpecker

Pileated Woodpecker

Cardinal

We changed to the trail circling Beckman Lake. We heard several birds that refused to come out of hiding.  We saw a few little flowers.  There were a couple birdhouses and several bat houses.

At the far end of Beckman Lake there is a nesting platform for ospreys.  There weren't any around yet, but I'm sure there will be soon.

Cadiz Springs is a nice quiet park for those who enjoy nature or fishing or picnicking.  It is on our list to visit again.

Beach area on Beckman Lake

trying to learn how to market myself

I'm amazed at what I've accomplished in 6 weeks.  I wanted to put my poetry into a book and upload it online.  I ended up creating 2 poetry ebooks and I did it all without any help.  I typed them up and did all of the formatting and even created covers with my scanner/printer.
Then I began to utilize my facebook to share the link with my friends.  I continued to add to my network of friends and got some interest in my ebooks right away.  3 copies and 38 samples between 2 books isn't bad when you consider that it's a small group and it's only been 2 weeks.
I even designed a webpage and got that up and running  (3 times actually).  And I set up this blog and a story blog to try writing a story a bit at a time online.
I'm still learning how to market myself, but I'm enthusiastic and learning more each day.

Glen

http://www.hikerauthor.com/  main webpage
http://www.hikerauthor78.com/
http://www.hikerauthor78.blogspot.com/  current blog
http://www.theoutcast78.blogspot.com/  story blog
www.facebook.com/glen.brereton1

waiting for spring

It's almost December.  It's too late in the year to hike.  I can't wait till Spring.  Hopefully I can catch the snowmelt at Starved Rock dnr.state.il.us/lands/landmgt/parks/I&M/EAST/STARVE/PARK.HTM  Jordan and I got to see the snowmelt spring of 2010.  It was gorgeous.  The waterfalls were halfway melted, so there were columns of ice with water rushing down the middle.  It's truly a sight to go see.  But timing is everything.  Maybe I can distract myself for the next 4 months by writing about hiking and working on my novel.  lol.

Blogisodes???

I'm considering doing a series of stories and the best analogy I can think of is tv episodes.  You know, how a sitcom or a drama continues with the same cast of characters every week in a different situation.  Well I think it might be something I could try with stories.  Not sure how long it will take me to get something going, but I thought it would give my readers something to read so they don't complain about me taking forever to write my novel :)
Let me know what you think.  I have several scenarios that I'm considering for the blogisodes.  I just need a little time to build one of these into a story.  Who knows?  Maybe other indie authors will try doing this too?  That would be great for the readers, which motivate writers to write.

Wow

Just starting this blog and pretty new to this.
I have been very busy lately.  I decided a few weeks ago that I could take my folder filled with poems and make an ebook out of it.  After a little thought I decided to split it into 2 ebooks, because there are two primary themes that aren't related.  One group of poems had christian themes, and the other group had love, romance and heartbreak themes.
It took me a while to type all of these on the laptop.  I made sure to follow the formatting instructions to ensure my ebook would upload to http://www.smashwords.com/.  I also experimented with scanning in pics out of my albums to the laptop.  I found some nice pics to use, but they were too big so I adjusted the size.  Then I added a second pic to the first and left some space between for a title and my name.  For doing everything myself with no money, I am pleased with the results.
I began designing a webpage and expanding my friends on facebook.  Then I decided I was ready to upload one of the ebooks on Sunday.  I uploaded Kiss Me Tonight and didn't encounter any problems.  I set the price to .99 and then created a coupon that I shared on facebook.  So far 11 people have looked at a sample of my book and 2 people have used the coupon to get a free copy.
I'm new to marketing of any kind, but I have 39 friends on http://www.facebook.com/.  I shared the coupon code with my mother, my mother in law, and on facebook.  So with less than 100 people (probably less than 50 in reality) I was able to reach 2 people.  And that is in just 3 days time!  I must be doing something right.
I need to finish up Poetry and upload it too.  That should be ready this week or next.

Ok to sum up the important info:
I uploaded Kiss Me Tonight at www.smashwords.com/books/view/104631.  It is 13 poems about love, romance, seeking love, and heartbreak.  coupon code GP45B will let you get a copy free.
Poetry is 30 poems on christian themes.  It will be available soon.
In 3 days I got a great response from my limited number of contacts.  If I can expand my contacts and somehow get noticed, then I will have a base of readers interested in my writing.  That is my goal: to write.