Memorial Day

I haven't been posting over this Memorial Day weekend because most Outlaw fans are busy with other things than my little blog.

Being retired, I get to spend lots of time doing whatever is most interesting.  I'm a news junkie, watching cable news shows and listening to talk radio for hours every day.  I've become a libertarian in my political views - if you're an adult and what you want to do doesn't harm me or my family, then it is none of my business.

I'm alarmed at the way government is eroding our liberty, expanding control over our lives.  At best, it is annoying and inconvenient.  At worst... 

...at worst it costs lives. 

We send young volunteers to far away places where their lives are at risk.  We, or our elected leaders, establish rules of engagement, making certain our soldiers, the good guys, play fair even if the enemies don't.  Career politicians in fancy offices with great security send our military into hostile territory.  And many return maimed.  Or don't return at all.

It isn't just on Memorial Day that I think about this.  But moreso today. 

Life is precious.  Sometimes a cause is big enough that prevailing is more important that life itself.  I think of Pearl Harbor.  I think of 9-11.  Events where a vigorous response was warranted, where the cause  great enough to justify putting lives at risk.

Which events are that important?  I wonder about Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq - are they worth the price?  Iran - are we doing enough?  I don't know. 

Some families are losing sons, daughters, fathers, mothers... because of decisions made inside the beltway, where the motives are suspect, where getting reelected is more important than soundness of policy.  Decisions about which causes are worth putting young lives at risk.

On Memorial Day I'm reminded of just how ugly it all is. 

Book About the Austin Outlaws

NOTE: THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF MY BOOK MAY HAVE BEEN PREMATURE.  I'VE TEMPORARILY SUSPENDED UNTIL I CAN WORK OUT A COUPLE COMPUTER GLITCHES.  SHOULDN'T TAKE LONG. 

This blog was created out of respect and admiration for the Austin Outlaws.  I've been following the team since around 2004 and gathered lots of stories and hundreds of photos which I've been sharing here.  The intent is to entertain blog visitors (that's you) and to promote the team. 

Blogger.com, host of this blog, has a blog-to-book service.  Jump through a few hoops and they'll compile selected blog posts into a PDF file suitable for a book.  This past weekend I did the jumping and came up with a book composed of selected blog posts.  I included posts published through December 7, 2011.  I deleted the "Random Fan Photo" posts because I wasn't confident fans would want to be in my book.  And I deleted a couple non-football posts.  Aside from those deletions, the PDF file contained all my posts set up in ready-to-publish-book-form. 

I then went to Lulu, a print-on-demand publisher and had them use the PDF file to create books, titled "The Austin Outlaws, Women Who Play Football."  Lulu created two editions, one a paperback and the other an ebook in  PDF format.  

I haven't seen the paperback version yet and I'm a little concerned the photos won't be as brilliant as I would prefer.  And I had problems formatting the book to suit me.  The Lulu computer just took the Blogger.com document and set it up as a Lulu book.  So this isn't a work of art.  It isn't perfect.  But it is kind of cool.  I've ordered a few copies of the paperback edition to be delivered to me hopefully this week.  When I get them I'll let you know what I think of the reproduction quality. 

The paperback version is expensive.  It costs a lot extra to produce lots of color photos - and I did include lots of color photos.  It will sell for about $55.  The PDF costs $7.95 for a download to your computer.

I'm telling you this here because some of my friends with the Outlaws will be touting the book for me - I love 'em.  I want to be certain you know the story behind this, my first venture in to book writing and publishing.  And I suspect you'll see a volume 2 in the not too distant future.

You can check out the Lulu catalog for the books at these links:

http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/austin-outlaws---women-who-play-football/18741500?productTrackingContext=search_results/search_shelf/center/1


http://www.lulu.com/product/ebook/austin-outlaws---women-who-play-football-pdf-edition/18742341?productTrackingContext=search_results/search_shelf/center/2

Or go to Lulu.com and search "women who play football."

I'd love to get your feedback.  What do you think about books about the Outlaws?

Personal Note - Feedback Please

What do you like about this blog?  What should we change?

This blog was born as sort of a market test for a book.  With forty or so Outlaws on the team every year; with forty or so players on a hundred women's teams around the country, we have 4,000 ladies playing pro football every year.  Add families and friends - and a book about the Outlaws could sell a thousand or so copies. 

But is there really that level of interest?  And even granting 4,000 possible buyers, would this writer's writing interest them enough to buy a book by me?  Writing a book is hard work (and I'm lazy).  So lets test the market.  Put some of my book material in a blog and see if it attracts an audience.

So far it isn't attracting very many.  So far, it appears there wouldn't be much of a market for a book. 

What do you think?  I'll open the blog to allow you to comment directly.  Just select the comments option and let me know what you think.  Would a book sell?  What would make this blog attractive to more fans?

Thanks.