rabbi.author

When I first began to work as a spiritual support counselor for Samaritan Healthcare and Hospice, I was given a piece of advice that turned out to be all too accurate: When planning your visit schedule, figure on at least an hour more than you think you will need for each patient.

On October 20, I posted a blog here about a new/old book I planned to have up on Kindle, and possibly as a self-pubbed print book, by Chanukah. That’s Chanukah, 2014. That’s Chanukah, 2014, beginning on October 16, 2014. Not 2015.

The book is old in that a proposal for it, complete with outline and sample answers to sample questions, has been lurking on my laptop’s “ISS/Writing/Books” folder since around 2008. It’s new in that it has never been published in any format.

I figured I had plenty of time. The five weeks until December 1 should be enough time, I thought, even though I’d be spending two days with friends from my old neighborhood and another week in California. It’ll be easy and quick to finish the book, format it for Kindle and CreateSpace, do promo, and watch it shoot up in sales.

I was delusional, and not just about the sales projections. My self-imposed deadline was the worst miscalculation I’d made since I volunteered the end of last February to compile and edit Recipes by the Book: Oak Tree Authors Cook! “How long could it take to put together a cookbook?” I thought. “A couple of weeks?” Sure, that’s all it took, if “five months” is equal to “a couple of weeks.” And it’s still awaiting publication. (The formatting is more complicated than the publisher anticipated. At least, I’m guessing that’s the reason for the delay. Plus it’s probably at the bottom of the to-be-released list, below all the other terrific books OTP releases.)

The first problem became apparent as soon as I opened the file for the first time in six years. I discovered I had not answered as many sample questions as I had remembered.

Fortunately, I enjoy research. Unfortunately, I enjoy research. “That looks interesting,” I think as I click on a hyperlink. Which leads to another hyperlink. And another. Which leads to two hours of research that boils down to a two-sentence answer.

I subscribe to the philosophy of Matt Groening in School is Hell:  “The simple way to avoid the stomach-churning agony of having to finish your thesis: read another book; repeat when necessary.” Substitute “book” for “thesis.” (Have I ever mentioned it took me ten years to finish my doctoral dissertation? Maybe I shouldn’t have had Groening’s “advice” taped to my computer monitor.)

Why 9 antlers – I mean candles – for Chanukah?

So, when will the book, titled Why Nine Candles For Chanukah? Answers to Questions You NeverThought to Ask,  be done? Maybe by next week. That will still give me a week until Chanukah starts. Or maybe in two weeks, during Chanukah.

Or there’s always 2015.

In the meantime, I just found another fascinating link. Ooh, and look at all the Chanukah songs on YouTube!