Career Indie Author: How to Save Money Like A Writer

In his novel David Copperfield, Charles Dickens defined happiness as having an annual income of twenty pounds and annual expenses of nineteen pounds, nineteen shillings, and six pence. While it’s debatable whether that can be the sole source of…

Longmire's Craig Johnson displays his storytelling chops on tour

Twice a year, Craig Johnson comes to the Mechanicsburg Mystery Bookshop. I’ve been to three of his visits, and I’m starting to accumulate a row of signed books for my library. This time, he was touring in support of the paperback edition of his book of…

The same month that The Hound of the Baskervilles began running in The Strand, the return of Holmes was celebrated in James MacArthur’s “Notes of a Bookman” column in the Aug. 31, 1901, issue of Harper’s Weekly. MacArthur (1866-1909) also worked as a…

Suburban Stockade: It can take several attempts to keep your basement dry

(This is the second post in the Keeping Basements Dry series. Part one here.) Because the previous owners routinely let water into the basement (lazy? incompetent? uncaring? oblivious? who knows?) we got to learn how to fix all kinds of damage caused by…

Career Indie Author excerpt: How to Record Author Expenses and Income

Keeping records is an important part of your business. There are two reasons why: one that’s important for the business and another that’s important for you. It’s important for you to do this because it’s another tangible way to reinforce that you are…

How to use landscaping to help keep your basement dry

To keep your basement dry landscaping can help by keeping the water from working its way through your foundation. I believe the fern rain garden hasn’t caused problems despite how close it is to the house, because Bill built a sidewalk connecting the…

What we learned selling books at the Hershey Arts and Craft Show

We returned to the Hershey Arts and Craft show last weekend. Whenever we do one of these events, part of me still cringes at the memory. I admit it: I’m a pessimist. Not at the Eeyore-level and certainly not Code Marvin. I try not to get too excited about…

To make a career out of writing, it’s important to be a healthy writer. But why is it more important than you think? Chapter II. Taking Care of Yourself There is a big difference between working for anyone and working for yourself. It’s such a huge…

The Hershey Winter Arts Festival will be held Saturday (11/7) from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., and we spent the day at home getting ready. We’ve been packing books, putting together our booth, checking our cash reserves and printing out flyers. Oh, and baking…

Strictly speaking, keeping basements dry isn’t a sustainability topic. It doesn’t involve setting goals, food storage tips, or getting out of debt. But it does involve a major mental adjustment that you’ll have to make, from thinking about the short-term…