Blogging and booking!
I still have many blog ideas written on various scraps of paper, spotted in newspaper articles and in my notebooks, that have been accumulating over the past few months. I have neglected both of my blogs recently and I have missed them. I try to note down my ideas as they come up because I know that one day I will want to be a one-a-day blogger again!
I may even get a chance to write some postings over the next few days. It is carnival time and it is half-term holiday, so some of our children and adults are off having fun, some skiing, some are dressing up and partying, others are just having a well-earned break.
I am still available for work for those who wish to be conductive but I do have a couple of mornings and an afternoon off so, with a year-long project now tucked-up in bed, I may just have the time to write something else.
As I said to someone at work this afternoon, “I could have done with some free time this week!”
A publishers' life for me!
Last week I worked away from home for nine days with a family. This meant that I was there for one whole weekend and for half of another with no break in-between. I went straight back to work in the group this week and at the same time have spent every spare minute, working well into the night, editing and proof-reading my next publication.
It was so exciting yesterday to receive the final email that informed me that the book is at the printers and it will ready for collection on 24 February!
That means we shall have it in our hands two weeks before the deadline date! It also means that I suddenly find myself with time on my hands to blog.
I would never have got the book-work done without the motivating spirits of my designer Uli and her wonderful assistant Tine. Between them they have spurred me on, almost encouraged me to burn the midnight oil and get as many mistakes ironed out and readjustments made as I possibly could. Not an easy job when half of it is in German!
This time I am not the author of the book; the author is one of my clients. I am the editor and mediator, and it is “CN”, my own personal publishing house Conductor-Nürnberg that is publishing the book. My client and I have been working on this publication since 28 October 2010 when, during writing practice in the stroke group, she informed me that she had always wanted to write a book but thought that she could not realize this dream any more. I told her that I thought that she could, and she has!
You can read about the moment when this book came to life here:
I have been working all this time not only with the author but also with her husband who has been closely involved with photographic work and proof-reading. Slowly but surely the two of them have been developing her ideas and getting them into the shape of a little book.
Little did I know that when I took all our material to the designer that such a smashing job would be made of it. Off course I have yet to see a finished book but I have seen the lay-out on the computer and it looks brilliant.
I have nothing that I can show here of what this publication will look like, but I have a picture of my desk taken during the final proof-reading!
Author and singer
In another posting on my blog I described this lady:
“She is my singing client. The choir conductor!”
Now I can describe her not only as the musician in my group but also as the writer. What an achievement. I remember many years ago that while I learnt to sing with this client another conductor helped her to improve her writing skills, concentrating on German grammar. How surprised that colleague will be when I present her with a copy of this new publication. How thrilled my client’s family will be to receive a signed copy for their next birthday. How thrilled I am to have been able to help this lady to fulfill a dream and to have been able to observe what determination she has needed and displayed to get it done.
Softly, softly
When I was asked by my designer Uli whether I could write a few more words for a afterword I had it done for her that very evening but I thought that when I asked my client to write one I would have to tell her that she could take as long as she liked. I gently suggested that she should think about it for a few days, then discuss it with her husband and only then try to write a few lines. Between them they managed two pages and I collected it ten days later!
The passage above may go some way to explain why this book has taken so long to produce. It has been a very enjoyable experience, and working closely with my client and her husband has taught me so much about the importance of a conductive family lifestyle.
I have made sure that I have always taken the softly, softly, slow and sure approach, so that every moment should be enjoyable with no pressure to be felt by my client. She is delighted that our work is now done and we are planning a trip to the design studio together to collect the boxes filled with her creation.
Readers can be sure that as soon as that book lands in her hands there will be a photograph of the occasion right here on my blog!
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