Ally just received the galley copy of Cook Small, Live Large! This is the cookbook I directly inspired her to write. Now, I not only get to be one of the first people to read it, but I’m also doing so with my editor’s eye. It’s not just about typos and layout errors, either. I am literally the audience she wrote this for, so I’m also looking at it from the perspective of making sure everything in it is clear enough for me, or someone like me, to understand. I am armed with sticky notes to make notations as I go. Do I need to get a red pen as well?
This entire project has been a continuing back-and-forth between us. I’m going to read it regardless, but why not give some useful feedback while I’m at it? Editing a book is a service that could be yet another way to make money while I travel. But all I want from Ally is a copy of the final version of this book, which she’s already promised me anyway. It will, however, be once more experience I can put on my resume, something to point at and tell people I want to work with “I’ve done this.”
I’m stuck at the house catching up on laundry all day anyway, so it’s time to flip my loads, have some lunch, and get down to reading. Yes, I will absolutely be promoting her book on my website and across my various internet presences. Sorry, not sorry!
What goes around comes around, and I got a bit of much-needed help yesterday. After the long process of installing the diesel heater (successfully!) the inside of my trailer was a disaster area. Not only did it contain all the stuff from my storage unit that I had not yet sorted through, but it also had stuff pushed aside so I could get to my tools for this job. I didn’t have the energy to clean up after the job was done, so this was my task for today.
Fortunately, I would not face it alone. Allison came over, initially for a motorcycle ride, but also to help me get through dealing with all the stuff remaining inside the trailer. She was an enormous help in the immediate aftermath of the apartment fire, being the logistical brain that we didn’t have after our lives literally went up in smoke. She did this for me again yesterday, reframing the job from “What am I going to do with all this stuff?” to “Do you need to keep this broken ham radio antenna? I can take it to the New England Forest Rally and give it to someone who can fix it and use it.” Breaking things down from the entire trailer to individual items, as well as offering solutions for me to choose from, helped us get through this in just an hour or two. Aside from one small box, everything remaining in the trailer has an intended use or destination. I’m not ready to load the motorcycle and get back on the road yet, but I will by the time I intend to leave this Friday.
Smokey Da Van 