It's the first Wednesday of the month,
the day that members of the
Insecure Writer's Support Group
share their writing struggles
and writing successes
and offer their encouragement
and support to fellow writers.
To visit the IWSG website, click here.
To become a member of the IWSG, click here.
Our wonderful co-hosts who are volunteering today,
along with IWSG Founder Alex J. Cavanaugh are
along with IWSG Founder Alex J. Cavanaugh are
Stop by their posts and thank them for hosting.
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Every month the IWSG announces a question that members can answer
with advice, insight, a personal experience, or a story in their IWSG posts.
with advice, insight, a personal experience, or a story in their IWSG posts.
Or, the question can inspire members
if they aren't sure what to write about on IWSG Day.
Remember the question is optional.
This month's optional question is:
Is there anything you'd like to see changed, added, and/or rearranged about the book publishing industry?
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Happy July, Everyone!
I hope that you have had a happy, healthy, and fulfilling June!
I've been home since last IWSG Day, and that has been wonderful.
I've had time to sit out on our deck with Terry and enjoy the long summer evenings.
Almost Mid-Summer's Eve
Looking West Toward the Rockies
Aurora, Colorado, USA
June 16, 2026
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue. All Rights Reserved
Being home has also forced me to confront all that remains
to be done after our major home renovation last year.
"You're still unpacking?" gasped my bought-and-sold-many houses,
moved-way-too-many-times best friend over dinner late Sunday afternoon.
"I'm not you, Cheri." I deadpanned.
Our Amazing Friends, Cheri and Gary
Maggiano's Little Italy
Englewood, Colorado, USA
November 28, 2019
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue. All Rights Reserved
They had recently arrived from their winter home in Arizona
to spend the summer in their Colorado condo on the far side of town.
We get together as often as we can.
Cheri can pack up or unpack a house or condo in two or three days,
and she doesn't have to resort to Swedish Death Cleaning like I must now.
She does not get distracted like I do.
Guaranteed she wouldn't have come across the receipts for her wedding night
like I did while sorting through a stack of papers this week.
She'd have pitched those receipts after her wedding month.
And she wouldn't have been sidetracked like I was
by preserving them in my journal while enjoying a margarita. 😂
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue. All Rights Reserved
My distractibility, okay ADHD, also explains why I'm always racing to finish my IWSG post.
Despite all good my intentions, here I am again madly typing at the last minute.
Really, did our posting day have to land on the first day of the month?
So this month's question asks what I'd like to see changed,
added, and/or rearranged about the book publishing industry.
What I really want is a magic wand that I can wave over my manuscript mess
and transform it to a published best seller on the New York Times Best Seller List.
I'd be doing a book tour with the planning and financing handled by my publishing company
~ nice hotels and meals please, also a makeup artist and a hairstylist to accompany me.
My publishing company would arrange for me to appear
on CNN NewsNight with Abby Phillip, where the panel and I would discuss
my brilliant expose of Canada's treatment of Indigenous people in my memoir.
And ... well, that ain't going to happen.
So, since I, as a writer hoping to get my memoir published, have to do all the heavy lifting
of marketing ~ like defining my target audience, building an author's platform,
promoting my book online and in live venues, finding reviews, and selling my book,
so I, as a writer who frequently feels like Sisyphus,
want to own the rights to my book and higher royalties.
My Writing Mess
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue. All Rights Reserved
My Father's Students and Classroom
Photo by Donald Blair MacBeath
Lansdowne House, Northern Ontario, Canada
January 1961
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue. All Rights Reserved
But I'll worry more about these things when the time gets closer.
Meanwhile I'll keep plodding along on my manuscript and our house.
Happy Canada Day to all the Canadians celebrating today! 🇨🇦 🇨🇦 🇨🇦
Happy Independence Day to all the Americans celebrating on the 4th! 🇱🇷 🇱🇷 🇱🇷
May the US beat Bosnia and Herzegovina in the World Cup today! ⚽ ⚽ ⚽
I'll be celebrating everything!
Canadian by Birth, American by Naturalization
Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia, Canada
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue. All Rights Reserved
If you are also a member of our Facebook Group,
I invite you to visit and to provide a link to your IWSG post.
Facebook members are invited to answer our July question too.
Happy creating in July!
Take care!
Till next time ~
Fundy Blue
Standing Into Danger https://selkiegrey4.blogspot.com
Copyright ©2026 – All rights reserved.
My next post will be Friday, July 10th 🤞
Just so you know, I monitor my comments before publishing them. This means your comment won't appear immediately. I will not publish mean spirited or commercial comments.
I want one of those magic wands too. Your picture of the sunset is gorgeous. I'm glad you're enjoying being home.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Natalie! Have fun today!
DeleteMy wife is one of those unpack-quickly type. We stay in a hotel, within minutes she has spread out all the bath items, food, and clothes.
ReplyDeleteJust keep working on that manuscript and enjoy some time at home.
I will, Alex! May I borrow your wife? 😂
DeleteThe little red hen, right? He who does the work should take home the pay. =) Wishing you epic writing, focus, and patience as you work through the pages!
ReplyDeleteCluck, cluck, Crystal! I do need epic focus. All the best to you.
DeleteCan I borrow your magic wand after you're done with it? Please!!! Lol
ReplyDeleteI'm the type that can be packed and ready to go in a few hours too. Depending on how long it takes me to stuff the cats in carriers.
You staying put for a whole month is super rare haha
Hope you have a good 1st and 4th.
I find that wand, I'll pass it on to you immediately! I laughed at the image of you stuffing the cats in carriers. I had fun chatting with you and your nephews the other night. All the best to you, Pat!
DeleteI've never seen that flag. Amazing! I bet you loved a month home.
ReplyDeleteThat's my special flag, Jacqui! I spotted it on a boat in Annapolis Royal , Nova Scotia years and years ago. I'm going to be home fore July too. 😂 Have fun today.
DeleteOne suggestion: don’t post your credit card number online. Consequences are kind of high on that one. Hehehe
ReplyDeleteI wouldn’t mind a magic wand that made my writing dream come true either. Sign me up.
Happy Canada Day! Celebrating everything is how it should be done. :-)
Thanks for the tip, Anna! That credit card vanished in the mists of time well over thirty years ago, but I eliminated the photo just to be more careful. Duh! 😂 I'm watching England and the DR Congo right now ~ a very exciting game. Happy Canada Day to you!
DeleteI, too, could use a magic wand to fix my MS, which has holes you could drive a truck through. I'm pretty good at packing up and unpacking for trips, but moving house completely is a pain. Yes, there are some boxes I haven't opened since moving to Seattle 4 years ago, but they are a special case. I *think* I've unpacked everything that should be unpacked.... almost.
ReplyDelete😂😂😂 Thanks, Rebecca! I will have this unpacking done before four years. I *think*.🤞. If I get that magic wand, I will be sharing it with you and other IWSG members.
DeleteAnd thanks for co-hosting today!
DeleteAnonymously Esther O'Neill East of the Sun, We never met, but a friend's mother rehomed every single book, as soon as she'd read it. This meant that their house remained an almost book free zone. Perhaps the friend's chosen career was inevitable. Librarian, of course, OX1 3BG
ReplyDeleteI always enjoy looking at your photos, so thanks for sharing them. I'm sure your writing "mess" will eventually become a great published book, no wand necessary :-)
ReplyDeleteOh my gosh, Louise! I save everything, too. And I get distracted. Constantly. I have WAY TOO MANY scrapbooks of our family adventures. And stories told. And I’d much rather be unpacking our last few boxes from our move...six years ago! Ahem. Than trying to market my college memoir. Life is tough. Stay strong, dear friend!
ReplyDeleteHey Louise, When you find that magic wand and are done with it, please toss it my way, would ya:) Heh. Happy 4th.
ReplyDeleteI love your magic wand ideal! If only it were so easy. And all the stuff writers have to do (marketing, editing, everything) does feel a bit overwhelming. I'm glad you've had a nice month at home and with your friends.
ReplyDelete...distracted, should be my middle name. It difficult for me to stay on task, I flit from one thing to the next!!!
ReplyDeleteHappy Canada Day today, Louise! And Happy 250th Independence Day on Saturday!
ReplyDeleteAh, I would like that magic wand, too. However, I love the picture of that receipt and the other of your book pages!
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like you uncovered some warm memories during the dreaded organizing/unpacking! Your magic wand is lovely--I hope you find that one day.
ReplyDeleteI'd like that magic wand too.
ReplyDeleteMy husband is OCD so he's a quick unpacker. Me, I'm much slower. If he'd come across an old receipt, he'd immediately throw it away. Me, I'll think it over first whether I want to save it and put it in an album or throw it away.