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About This Author
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La Bene Vita
I am a professional musician  , worship leader , small business owner , songwriter , aspiring author and freelance nonfiction writer with a chemical engineering degree .
But that's just my resume.
My profile of qualifications is only one of the ways in which I am unique. Here I chronicle my personal and professional goals and my efforts to achieve them. Occasionally I fail. Mostly, I take daily baby steps toward all my long-term goals. Much like the stories I pen, the songs I compose, and the businesses I run, I am always a work in progress.
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I keep calling it a store, but I need to change my lingo. When I open my next MTMS location, it will become the Westerville (or Pickerington or Pataskala or Bexley) "Campus" - not "store". And if you're keeping track, the next campus is planned for fall of 2013.
On a completely unrelated note, I've been thinking of looking up literary agents again. I don't want to do the work beyond writing the books - blog tours, promotions, physical sales, blah blah blah. Book signings, okay. Not all the other crap. I just don't want to. I'm not good at it, because I'm not focused enough, so I can't be consistently witty on Twitter or fascinating on Facebook or anything but boring in my blog. It's a failing, I know.
So I looked up blogs for Stephen King, JK Rowling, Nora Roberts. Steve's was dry and last updated in 2009. JK and Nora don't have blogs, that I could find. But these authors didn't get readers by writing blogs. They got readers by connecting with the right people, the people who had the business know-how and drive to promote and sell their first books.
Steve and Nora, incidentally, happened across fledgling genres for their times and thus gained notoriety as pioneers. Rowling is an enigma, unless maybe she hit a new target market with her cross-generational appeal, but there's no doubt she sells books, not blogs. Their kind of fame might be unattainable, unless some new, untapped genre or target market waits to be discovered.
The business person in me cringes at the thought of a book debut that might lose money, so I think I want to do it right, by hiring an agent who knows the business. The problem is, who is that person? And how does one go about capturing the attention of that person? Research? Interview agents who express interest to make sure their clout is sound?
It almost seems like finding a literary agent is just as much work as the crap I'm trying to avoid by hiring an agent.
And so we return to the age-old question: agent or self-publish? I know enough about how business works to know it takes time in before you get money out. In most accepted business models, time in equals eighteen months. Eighteen months of hard work for no pay before you break even on a business. I wouldn't consider one book an entire business, unless it's the first book, which, in my case it would be. So, I shy away from self-publishing because I figure I should expect eighteen months before I see a profit.
But here's the thing: "Campus" or not, technically, I own a retail STORE frequented by kids and parents. I could sell stuff there.
Stuff like books.
Just sayin'.
*ponders* |
March 28, 2012 at 11:51am March 28, 2012 at 11:51am
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| I'll be checking in eventually, but for recordkeeping: Student Count = 271. |
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I was that college kid who spent four hours every finals season calculating exactly what grades I needed on each exam to pass all my classes instead of, you know, using that time to study. True to form, I spent the bulk of my morning today calculating the percentages of time spent on each of my life facets to create "Balance". Here's what I found. My 2012 "Balance" New Year's Resolution involved balancing three areas of my life: Family, Work, Body. Incidentally, these are also the keywords that (are supposed to) drive my everyday choices.
FAMILY
38 hours per week.
BODY
61 hours per week
WORK
69 hours per week
You might think these should be 33% (56 hours per week) apiece, and I certainly started my analysis that way. But I had to make some concessions, and ultimately, this target balance is much better than my 2011 performance. The hours are broken thus:
1. FAMILY, 38 hours
30 hours shared time (stretch goal)
8 hours chores (stretch goal)
I can't share more than 30 hours at this time because of our conflicting work schedules, but I do commit to "being there" during the 30 hours we do have together. Next year, maybe I'll shoot for more shared hours. And 8 hours of chores is more than plenty, thankyouverymuch.
2. BODY, 61 hours
52.5 hours sleeping.
3.5 hours grooming.
3.5 hours exercising (a stretch goal!)
1.5 hours meal planning and recording (somewhat arbitrary)
3. WORK, 69 hours
 MTMS, 40 hours
Breakdown TBD
Church, 7 hours
1 hour worship planning
1 hour music preparation
3 hours rehearsing
2 hours worship
Performance, 7 hours
2 hours Senor Patron
2 hours other gigs or events (this doesn't happen every week, but I would like to shoot for this)
2.5 hours practicing
0.5 hours administrative (organizing music, landing gigs?)
Writing, 15 hours
Breakdown TBD
So... I determined my weekly writing hours by what was left. Some of that has to go to things like to-do lists and "daily" blogging at WDC, but there's still a pretty good chunk there for freelance articles, editing and new fiction. I'm happy with it. I still need to figure out exactly how to break down both my writing and my MTMS hours, but that's a task for another day, when the procrastination bug bites me again. |
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About a week ago, I outlined the next segment of "Poor Witch" [E], which I project will require more than one sequel. I've written five Textbroker articles for a Direct Order customer who seems like he's going to be a regular, and I revamped the business website. We have a St. Patrick's Day party on Sunday with performances as well as carnival games and prizes, we've hired and trained six new employees, bought a new piano and set up a new lesson room, installed a new program in the computer lab, enrolled/withdrawn/enrolled/withdrawn (student count = 273), and prepared for Holy Week at church (one service on Palm Sunday, Good Friday, Easter Vigil, and one service on Easter Sunday are my responsibility), including kicking off a brand-new praise band choir.
But I forgot to blog.  I suppose I'm not a complete slacker. |
March 10, 2012 at 10:08am March 10, 2012 at 10:08am
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Student count = 276.
I hate tax season. I sold my house and can't find the settlement statement, which is a problem when your accountant (mother) takes a vacation day from her regular job to do your taxes and can't because you're missing a critical document. In addition to (justifiably) irritated mothers, these scenarios cause headaches and hours lost searching for wayward items, neither of which is good for productivity. If you don't know me well, here's a summary: I'm a productivity junkie. And apparently an idiot who can't keep track of her paperwork. I think I'll wallow in my shame by blowing my diet again.
On the bright side, we're buying a camper today. Which means we might end up sleeping in the driveway tonight, just for practice.  |
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I judged the February round of Ohio Idol video submissions this morning. Adele is great. Really. Love her.
DEAR IDOL CONTESTANTS: PLEASE STOP TRYING TO BE ADELE. Thank you for your attention in this urgent matter.
I blogged recently about song choice, but apparently none of the contestants thought to read the blogs of the judges (um... duh.) Want to sound good in an audition? Be yourself. Stop trying to be some singer you're not. You sound like a cheap imitation.
Moving on.
Student count = 277.
So I sent out our annual "we're about to increase your tuition" email and sat back to wait for the rotten tomatoes:
Ok. So, what would be the cost for us? I honestly don't know what we pay, so if you could break it down for me I would greatly appreciate it. (Ooh. She sounded mad.  )
Oh yeah, sure, the Federal Reserve prints more counterfeit money, further devaluing their currency, (a capital felony crime, by the way), which even now is worth less than two cents on the dollar, and Vista Plaza demands a greater amount of this ever-falling dollar for rent on the same property, and utilities are demanding more money for the same services, and your teachers can't pay for their yellow punch-buggies, and you want to take it out on your new students. I sure appreciate being regarded as a grandfather. (We informed 2011 customers that they'd been "grandfathered in" until April, where 2012 customers had the new pricing effective January 1st. Also, his teacher drives a yellow punch-buggy.)
You guys do some really neat and motivating things here at MT!!! Thanks for always emailing too! WE love it! (Just to explain, we also reminded parents about our upcoming St. Patrick's Day Party and Irish Carnival in the same email. Apparently she overlooked the tuition increase in favor of fun parties. I even asked her if I could post this on our testimonials page.)
You should handicap the price increase for those that are really bad and will need years of lessons to become respectable….just a thought. Luckily, he's got career prospects as a comedian.
So, yeah. Annual tuition hike: Check. |
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Student count = 275.5. This always happens around the last week of the month/first week of the next month: People go, oh, yeah, I was going to withdraw this month. We still have quite a few payments out, so the numbers may yet dip a bit before climbing back up through March. Last year, March was a big withdrawal month. Stupid spring sports.
I haven't posted goals in several weeks. Ironically, I received a Direct Order at Textbroker for an article about goal setting. I completed that, and the customer must have liked it, because they sent a second Direct Order for an article about weight loss goals.  OMG, the irony continues.
And... a customer of mine, who also happens to be coordinating our St. Patrick's Day Party and Irish Carnival, told me the sad news that her family is moving away this summer. But in the same conversation, I discovered that her husband is writing a book! I invited him to WDC, and also sent a link to my novel, "Poor Witch" [E], which her children (ages 6 and 8) might enjoy. I'd love to get feedback from kids that age. How fun is that? I'm suddenly inspired to pick up the NaNoEdMo paces and focus on that book. So much for not writing until 2025, LOL. I forgot: Goals are supposed to be reasonable and achievable. I can't stay away from writing that long.
Why do I feel like I never have enough time to do everything?? How can people complain of being bored? I need to find all those bored people and delegate a few jobs. |
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Student count = 278. Although, we have one withdrawal. Music is a universal language, but unfortunately, we can't speak music to our non-native English-speaking customers about our billing practices. I have no idea what her concern was, except she didn't like the late fee, and she said if she pays every month at her daughter's lesson, which is on Saturday, if it's not on the 1st exactly, she'll always be late. I suggested she could pay the Saturday before the first (for instance, last Saturday, the 25th) or go on autopay. She didn't like either of those options, and I couldn't figure out why. I suggested she could call in on the 1st (thinking, maybe she gets paid on the 1st or something), but she can't keep up and remember. We offered to send her an invoice in the mail since she mentioned several times that she didn't check email often. But in the end, she just paid the late fee and withdrew her child from lessons, obviously unhappy. If I could have just understood half of what she said, I might have been able to work out some kind of arrangement, but her English was so poor, I couldn't see the root cause of the problem.
So make that student count = 277.
It's sad, because we've worked out arrangements for people before. If she told me, look, I get paid on the first, can we make mine due by the 6th (by the end of the first week of the month), I could have arranged it. But I truly think she just forgot, and when we stopped her to get her payment today, it was too late. I think what she needed was a reminder on the 25th. Maybe. She was getting so frustrated, trying to explain the problem to us, because we didn't understand her.
You might not be surprised to hear that a large percentage of our customers are non-native English speakers. I feel like this is a problem we may need to address. But what am I supposed to do, hire an arsenal of translators? Many of them read and write better than they speak, so email correspondence works well. But this one doesn't check her email.
Sigh.
LETHARGIC AGAIN. And I felt that way before work today, so the withdrawal had nothing to do with it. Half a box of lemon Girl Scout cookies temporarily elevated my mood, but now I've crashed again (shock). I was productive, at least, putting together a new page for the website. But this morning, before work, before the fam wakes up, should have been the most productive couple hours of my day. No dice. I sort of stared off into nothingness. It might be the book I just finished , which came highly recommended, and which I hated. You know how a downer book stays with you?
Off to praise band. Yippee. Here's hoping we avoid any drama today. |
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My boyfriend's daughter (who is at her mother's during the week) on Facebook:
Abigail:
lauren plz answer ur phone I have called like a million times!!!!!!(hyperbaly) for ms. Davies
Unlike · · 12 hours ago ·
You, Brezina and Abigail like this.
Lauren im callin u
12 hours ago · Like
Michelle Hahaha make sure you tell Ms. Davies you used "hyperbole" on Facebook, she'll love that. 
a few seconds ago · Like
</Facebook>
Student count is still 276, but it feels like it should be higher. Poor Karen, the receptionist, has moved a million students (hyperbaly) to new lesson times this week, which takes about as much work as a brand new enrollment. On the other hand, we had a mass "Spring Sports" exodus last March, so I'll take the reschedulings over withdrawals any day. |
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Sammy is 1 year old today. 
Is there more? Let's see: Dinner was delish (grilled pork chops, baked potatoes, broccoli, all cooked to perfection) and work was... work, for a change. It was the 1st of the month, which is Payroll Day, and I kept getting interrupted (my own damn fault for sitting in the lobby), so it seemed to take forever. But it was still a fun day at the "office," and I'm reading a good book, so kudos to karma all around.
Student count: 276. |
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Thanks for sharing!
Comment • View 7 comments 
, also known as Michelle Tuesday, is a musician, educator and writer hailing from Columbus, Ohio.![Merit Badge in Music
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To a dear friend whose talent for writing music is sensational. May you have a fabulous New Year, (((Brandi)))!!! *^*Kiss*^*
Big hugs,
Sherri *^*Heart*^*](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/genre-Music-1050.gif)
![Merit Badge in Organization
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I don't know how you do it, but I assume there's magic involved *^*Bigsmile*^* I have really enjoyed this month of planning and preparation for NaNoWriMo and I love how organized it all is. Thank you for hosting a great challenge and for your dedication to helping so many of us prepare with confidence and trepidation for National Novel Writing Month (known to sane folks as 'November' *^*Laugh*^*) at your [Link To Item #1474311]](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/general-Organization-1150.gif)
![Merit Badge in Leadership
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For your hard work, commitment, talent and innovation in running the October NaNoWriMo Preparation each year, which helps many of us get our scattered thoughts together for November's novel-writing. And also because this badge has ducks on it.](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/general-Leadership.gif)
