The business of writing is precarious. Last month I succombed to the temptation to do book signing for Shrink and Finding Jackson. A local bookstore here in Chester County was kind enough to indulge me. The owner even went to the trouble of making me a poster for promotion of the event, which I placed in 24 willing stores in the area. My wife, Joyce, also induced friends and relatives to attend the event. She did her job well. Sixteen loyal troops came out and some bought books, which embarassed me. My daughter buying a book was the worst indignity. How could I have forgotten to send her one? But that's not the worst of it.
If you are Sarah Palin and can get someone literate to write a book for you, you can sell it. She's even touring with the book but on her second 1,000,000 copy printing, I wonder why she needs to beat the bushes. But then she is probably more interested in the 2012 election than selling books at this point. But if you are a first time novelist and need to pay an exhorbitant rate to purchase your own books forget about selling, let alone making money. Dan Brown's new book goes for about $19. To make a couple of dollars on my book I would have to charge $30! Come on, only a few close relatives and friends will pay that. So I priced Shrink at the signing at $20, losing moiney on each sale. Some of my neighbors now want Books. I'll have to buy some more and likely will just give them away.
If this sounds somewhat sour grapeish I guess it is. I don't fault Sara for wanting to make a buck or a million. That's the American way. I just don't want to sse her within a thousand miles of the White House.
One positive. The book store owner would like to help me self-publish my next book, if there is one, and market if so that I might fare somewhat better than my first, and second efforts. Perhaps. Right now I will stick to blogging and other on-line publishing.
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Thursday, December 3, 2009
On parle francaise
I was a good French student in high school and took three years of it. We were translating short stories at the end and I was an "A" student...except for speaking. My accent was terrible. "Vous parley francais comme un vach espagnol (You speak English like a Spanish cow) my teacher remarked. When I got to college it was necessary to take a year of language or to opt out by passing an examination. There was no way I failed that exam yet I was placed in French 1. I don't know how that happened but, supidly, I didn't protest. It was six credits of aguaranteed "A" without work. Concerned about keeping up with college assignments I kept my mouth shut. That was the last time I dealt with French for about 55 years.
In 1955, my wife and I scheduled a trip to Paris. I borrowed some tapes to tune my ear but didn't do much with them. When I landed at de Gaul Airport, and started listening to people talking French, it was as if a switch had been thrown, unlocking phrases, idioms, and vocabulary I thought were long lost. Delighted with my newly rescued memories, I decided to speak only French during our stay. I asked a gendarme directions to the opera house. He answered so rapidly I understood nothing but I wasn't going to reveal that to him. I managed to upgrade our room at the Hotel du Louvre by complaining in pigeon French that it was difficult to make love in a double bed where the two matresses were alligned vertically, with the split down the middle. The two young female clerks were so amused they gave us the best room they had the next morning, including a genuine double mattress.
All this is preamble to a happening this week at the high school where I consult for mental health services. I routinely call teachers to release students from their classrooms for counseling. I always ask first if it is convenient. Most teachers cooperate readily. Some conscientious souls demur so that the student can complete an exam or finish some make-up assignment. No real problem. However, after agreeing to my request for Chistopher, a nineth grader who needed to learn social skills, she followed up with a note that I had interrupted his review for a vocabulary test, suggesting strongly that I not remove him from French class again. Now Je comprende that academics are important. Somehow, however, I think that it is more essential for Christopher learn eye contact and basic communication skills than French vocabulaire. Nevertheless, I sent her an apology note, written en francaise. True, I required a french dictionary for some words but, all-in-all it wasn't a bad effort. I also excused myself for my mauvais French, explaning that il y'a beaucoup d'ans since I studied French au lycee. I await my grade.
In 1955, my wife and I scheduled a trip to Paris. I borrowed some tapes to tune my ear but didn't do much with them. When I landed at de Gaul Airport, and started listening to people talking French, it was as if a switch had been thrown, unlocking phrases, idioms, and vocabulary I thought were long lost. Delighted with my newly rescued memories, I decided to speak only French during our stay. I asked a gendarme directions to the opera house. He answered so rapidly I understood nothing but I wasn't going to reveal that to him. I managed to upgrade our room at the Hotel du Louvre by complaining in pigeon French that it was difficult to make love in a double bed where the two matresses were alligned vertically, with the split down the middle. The two young female clerks were so amused they gave us the best room they had the next morning, including a genuine double mattress.
All this is preamble to a happening this week at the high school where I consult for mental health services. I routinely call teachers to release students from their classrooms for counseling. I always ask first if it is convenient. Most teachers cooperate readily. Some conscientious souls demur so that the student can complete an exam or finish some make-up assignment. No real problem. However, after agreeing to my request for Chistopher, a nineth grader who needed to learn social skills, she followed up with a note that I had interrupted his review for a vocabulary test, suggesting strongly that I not remove him from French class again. Now Je comprende that academics are important. Somehow, however, I think that it is more essential for Christopher learn eye contact and basic communication skills than French vocabulaire. Nevertheless, I sent her an apology note, written en francaise. True, I required a french dictionary for some words but, all-in-all it wasn't a bad effort. I also excused myself for my mauvais French, explaning that il y'a beaucoup d'ans since I studied French au lycee. I await my grade.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Packing it in
Former Buffalo Bills coach Marvin Levy was well into his 70s when he was asked when he would retire. "When you start thinking about retirement," he quipped, "you're already retired."
I've retired three times and none of them lasted. My most recent retirement lasted six months. I persuaded my wife to retire with me. After a while you have nothing to talk about. We both returned to work part time with a great deal of freedom to decide our own hours. I changed jobs, consulting for another school district. When I paid a visit to my last job I was warmly greeted by my former colleagues. For this reason I was surprised and annoyed by the booing Brett Favre, legendary quarterback and superstar for the Green Bay Packers, received playing against his old team at Lambeaux Field. Favre had retired from Green Bay after some poor seasons but came out of retirement to play for the Minnesota Vikings. The facts of his retirement and failure to be re-hired by Green Bay have not been revealed. Whatever the reasons, he did not deserve booing after 14 years of service. True, there was also some applause, but the jeers predominated. I was happy to see the Vikings trounce the Packers and especially elated to watch Favre throw a touchdown pass in the closing minutes of play to finalize the Packer's loss. What better way to stick it to his detractors? Shame on you Green Bay!
I will probably continue to work so long as I am healthy and believe I am still making a contribution
I've retired three times and none of them lasted. My most recent retirement lasted six months. I persuaded my wife to retire with me. After a while you have nothing to talk about. We both returned to work part time with a great deal of freedom to decide our own hours. I changed jobs, consulting for another school district. When I paid a visit to my last job I was warmly greeted by my former colleagues. For this reason I was surprised and annoyed by the booing Brett Favre, legendary quarterback and superstar for the Green Bay Packers, received playing against his old team at Lambeaux Field. Favre had retired from Green Bay after some poor seasons but came out of retirement to play for the Minnesota Vikings. The facts of his retirement and failure to be re-hired by Green Bay have not been revealed. Whatever the reasons, he did not deserve booing after 14 years of service. True, there was also some applause, but the jeers predominated. I was happy to see the Vikings trounce the Packers and especially elated to watch Favre throw a touchdown pass in the closing minutes of play to finalize the Packer's loss. What better way to stick it to his detractors? Shame on you Green Bay!
I will probably continue to work so long as I am healthy and believe I am still making a contribution
Thursday, October 22, 2009
On consulting
I need to get this off my chest. Recently I changed my job status from part time employee to consultant. I receive more money but no days off vacations or benefits. I work the same amount of time. I don't need the benefits because of Medicare but I previously was paid in lieu of benefits. What realy irks is the way that schools treat consultants--not the admistration or the staff who really seeem to value what I do, but the finance people. Three schools have delayed payments to me beyond what is reasonable. After seven weeks and three invoices I still have not been paid by one school district. They claim each payment must be approved by the Board. This itself is wrong. Boards should set policy, not get into operations. Perhaps it is the recession. Pennsylvania delayed passage of its education budget until just recently but it now has passed and I remain unpaid. I didn't appreciate the Union I was forced to join in my previous position but I do now. Teachers wouldn't stand for non-payment. I guess I could go on strike but it wouldn't even be noticed. Consultant? Just a euphemism for second class citizen.
On marketing
When I started writing my novel, "Shrink," I was advised by a publisher to spend 30% of my time writing, 10% editing, and 60% marketing. In truth I spent much more than 10% editing and much less than 60% marketing. But then, I am a God-awful editor and I havn't sold many books. Typos crept into my creations--one had to be redone. I just don't see the errors--missing periods, misspellings, etc. I know the rules and my grammar isn't bad but my perception stinks. My brain corrects the errors when i proof read and I miss them. But this is about marketing. I created a website (www.rosenshrinksite.com) to promote the book. I created this blog to promote the website. I wrote articles for WWW.ezinearticles.com to advertise my books and my private practice. After a dozen submissions, eleven of which were published on- line, I am discontinuing this outlet. While many people find it helpful in promoting their business, I have seen no results. The final straw was their trashing of an article I did on meditation. They claimed I used foreign words. Usually they ask me to edit and correct what was wrong. This time the article disappeared from their website. I had not even kept a copy. The foreign words were names of Buddhist monks from India and Tibet who originated the practice. I believe the real reason for the rejection is an aversion to anything that smacks of religion.
They had asked me to remove a religious reference once before. My articles are not religious but psychological in nature. So much for marketing except thatI have two book signings scheduled in November. Initially I refused book signings but now I'll give it a try.
They had asked me to remove a religious reference once before. My articles are not religious but psychological in nature. So much for marketing except thatI have two book signings scheduled in November. Initially I refused book signings but now I'll give it a try.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
School Based Mental Health
I continue to consult to schools for mental health programs, although I have changed school districts. Naively, I anticipated fewer mental health problems in the new, more affluent,school district. On my first day at the high school I was warned: "Just because our kids live in nicer houses, don't be fooled. They have the same problems you saw in your previous job, especially drugs." They understated the case. During my first seven weeks I have seen more meltdowns, crises, suicide threats, and psychiatric hospitalizations than I saw in six months at the last school. Is it the recession? I don't know. A check at my ol,\d school revealed no more than the usual frequency of such incidents.
I see a large number of kids with panic disorders. It is a diagnosis I enjoy working with, using cognitive behavioral approaches and resilience techniques. The school counselors appear to be exceptionally caring and knowledgeable--more than willing to work with a clinical psychologist. One is particular has sent the largest proportion of referrals to me. I took exception, however, to how she was dealing with the fourteen year old with daily panic attacks related to her history of physical abuse at home and PTSD. She provided the girl with a meditation/relaxation tape, which was fine with me and consistent with what i was doing with her. I was not pleasd, however, when I saw the girl clutching a fluffy, soft, red satin pillow that the counselor uses to comfort stressed out and depressed teenagers. The girl does need nurturing, but from her mother. I did not not make a fuss over it but mentioned that I was trying to toughen up the girl while she was catering to her dependent needs. My resilience training was sandpaper in contrast to her satin The pillow looked and felt (yes, she asked me to squeeze it) like a gigantic breast. I kept my association to myself.
A mother of a very bright but underachiving sixteen yesr old insisted that her child, who had a questionable (to me) diagnosis of ADD also had "exexcutive functioning" disability. Executive functioning problems are associated with
ADD, although not mentioned in DSM-IV-TR. Without revealing details here, I have the following reservations. ADD is a sufficent diagnosis; we don't need a second. School psychs are using the BRIEF, a symptom checklst for parents and teachers is a group of behaviors seemingly reflecting poor impulse control, attention and memory deficits, poor planning abiilty, and distraction by irrlelevant stimuli. Behaviors such as failure to complete assignments, cutting classes, and underachievement meet all these requirements but can have a variety of other determinants. Furthermore labeling a behavior or symptom is not the same as explaining it. This has been called the "nominalistic fallacy." I don't doubt that executive function is real and is a forebrain activity but if it is there we need to demonstrate it by appropriate testing. In this case I did just that. The boy showed extremely high executive functioning by the best tests I could find. Moral--you can't judge a book by its cover.
I am seeing a fair number of kids on the autism spectrum as well as others with social anxieity and social skill deficits. Many of them ask for help in making friends. I am treating these teens in dyads or small groups for socialization in a very structured way dealing with communication, relationships, social mores and niceties. Role playing is a poweful technique. It is an interesting and useful endeavor. One boy who scares people by his angry facial expression is learning to smile with the use of a mirror.
Mental health is sorely needed in schools, especially the high school and middle school. It is still relatively rare. I was fortunate to receive a Pennsylvamnia Department Of Education grant last year to initiate a program, which continue today without special funding. IEPs frequently pecify counseling for emotinal problems but schools psychs and counselors are overloaded with testing or just puttingout fires. Clinical psychologists are a valuable addition to schools to supplement educational psychology approaches. Teachers need to be trained in mental health concepts and strategies.
I see a large number of kids with panic disorders. It is a diagnosis I enjoy working with, using cognitive behavioral approaches and resilience techniques. The school counselors appear to be exceptionally caring and knowledgeable--more than willing to work with a clinical psychologist. One is particular has sent the largest proportion of referrals to me. I took exception, however, to how she was dealing with the fourteen year old with daily panic attacks related to her history of physical abuse at home and PTSD. She provided the girl with a meditation/relaxation tape, which was fine with me and consistent with what i was doing with her. I was not pleasd, however, when I saw the girl clutching a fluffy, soft, red satin pillow that the counselor uses to comfort stressed out and depressed teenagers. The girl does need nurturing, but from her mother. I did not not make a fuss over it but mentioned that I was trying to toughen up the girl while she was catering to her dependent needs. My resilience training was sandpaper in contrast to her satin The pillow looked and felt (yes, she asked me to squeeze it) like a gigantic breast. I kept my association to myself.
A mother of a very bright but underachiving sixteen yesr old insisted that her child, who had a questionable (to me) diagnosis of ADD also had "exexcutive functioning" disability. Executive functioning problems are associated with
ADD, although not mentioned in DSM-IV-TR. Without revealing details here, I have the following reservations. ADD is a sufficent diagnosis; we don't need a second. School psychs are using the BRIEF, a symptom checklst for parents and teachers is a group of behaviors seemingly reflecting poor impulse control, attention and memory deficits, poor planning abiilty, and distraction by irrlelevant stimuli. Behaviors such as failure to complete assignments, cutting classes, and underachievement meet all these requirements but can have a variety of other determinants. Furthermore labeling a behavior or symptom is not the same as explaining it. This has been called the "nominalistic fallacy." I don't doubt that executive function is real and is a forebrain activity but if it is there we need to demonstrate it by appropriate testing. In this case I did just that. The boy showed extremely high executive functioning by the best tests I could find. Moral--you can't judge a book by its cover.
I am seeing a fair number of kids on the autism spectrum as well as others with social anxieity and social skill deficits. Many of them ask for help in making friends. I am treating these teens in dyads or small groups for socialization in a very structured way dealing with communication, relationships, social mores and niceties. Role playing is a poweful technique. It is an interesting and useful endeavor. One boy who scares people by his angry facial expression is learning to smile with the use of a mirror.
Mental health is sorely needed in schools, especially the high school and middle school. It is still relatively rare. I was fortunate to receive a Pennsylvamnia Department Of Education grant last year to initiate a program, which continue today without special funding. IEPs frequently pecify counseling for emotinal problems but schools psychs and counselors are overloaded with testing or just puttingout fires. Clinical psychologists are a valuable addition to schools to supplement educational psychology approaches. Teachers need to be trained in mental health concepts and strategies.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Poor excuse
This is by way of an apology for my failure to make entrees here for several weeks.
Not an excuse but a reason is that I have devoted a great deal of energy to writing for a website titled ezinearticles.com. Ezine will publish short articles (250 to 5,000 words) about almost any topic. There is no payment for these articles. The trade off is that you are allowed to append each article with a commercial for any business enterprise you are promoting. Since they allegedly have thousands of readers on the web there is great potential for spreading your message. They literally have hundreds of thousands of writers (they publish their names arranged by the number of pblished articles. Many authors have done over 2,000 articles. They do require minimum writing skills. The number of people who do this is so large that some people have got to be benefiting. Ezine benefits by selling advertising that goes along with each article. Most of the topics seem to be "how to..." in content, e.g., how to tune up your Volkswagon." I have sent them a dozen articles of a psychological nature, using my previous publications as source matierial. So far eleven have been published. I am trying to promote this blog, my website, my books, and my private practice. Have I benefited? Not yet that I can see, but the jury is still out. I have risen from Basic,to Basic plus, to Expert author in their rating system. I'll do a few more submissions and see how it goes without neglecting this blog and then we'll see it it's worth the effort.
Not an excuse but a reason is that I have devoted a great deal of energy to writing for a website titled ezinearticles.com. Ezine will publish short articles (250 to 5,000 words) about almost any topic. There is no payment for these articles. The trade off is that you are allowed to append each article with a commercial for any business enterprise you are promoting. Since they allegedly have thousands of readers on the web there is great potential for spreading your message. They literally have hundreds of thousands of writers (they publish their names arranged by the number of pblished articles. Many authors have done over 2,000 articles. They do require minimum writing skills. The number of people who do this is so large that some people have got to be benefiting. Ezine benefits by selling advertising that goes along with each article. Most of the topics seem to be "how to..." in content, e.g., how to tune up your Volkswagon." I have sent them a dozen articles of a psychological nature, using my previous publications as source matierial. So far eleven have been published. I am trying to promote this blog, my website, my books, and my private practice. Have I benefited? Not yet that I can see, but the jury is still out. I have risen from Basic,to Basic plus, to Expert author in their rating system. I'll do a few more submissions and see how it goes without neglecting this blog and then we'll see it it's worth the effort.
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