Gary McDonald "inRefinement" by A. McPope

  Hawaii with Rob The sunscreen. The wave. The insane drive. Other stories? Dad: This is a trip that started coming to fruition four years earlier when I asked the question around the dinner table, “What would you like to  do for a summer holiday this year?” Greg said, Let’s go to England and we’ll hang out in castles. Bob said, I want to play with Kevin MacMurray up the street. Anne Marie said, Why don’t you and Greg go to England. I said to Anne Marie, What about you. Anne Marie said, Don’t worry about me this will be good for the two of you. I said, It’s done. And I said directly to Bob, When you’re thirteen we are going wherever you want. Start thinking about it. [I really wanted the four of us to have an enjoyable time someplace but I must admit I jumped at the opportunity Anne Marie offered.] Four years later after four or five choices Bob had destined to go, his latest was Hawaii. The deal was done and off we went. Bob was about to be thirteen years old. Anne Marie had...

  Greg: I'm talking about the one time you took me and Bob camping. I'd love to read your retelling of that trip. How did we decide to go? How did we pick the destination (I don't remember where we went)? What did we bring and why? Dad: We were sitting around the table at home when Rob and Greg suggested a Camping trip. Anne Marie never stopped the three of us doing almost anything. She enjoyed that special time for us as much as I/we enjoyed doing it. When we left home we had no idea where we would end up. Did we buy the tent and other stuff or did we borrow the goods? Do you remember? It’s interesting that this is item number one. The one thing that stands out after we arrived at our SPOT was that the two of you pitched the tent and I thought you did a great job. How old were you when we did this? Did we go to the movies and see ET that night? I can’t remember if we lit a fire but I hope we did. It was a lovely night out in the woods with my boys and well after dark when ...

  I've made notes, letters, stories, anecdotes, pictures and various stuff for at least twenty-five years. This collection has appeared on paper, on pixels, on screens and things for a long time. About two months ago I Googled 'How to self-publish a book.' The lead sponsor was Amazon.com and my click followed a casual read of the advertised material. Someone from California followed my submission with a telephone call in a matter of minutes. Trevor James inquired and promised my needs would be met in every way, and that his team would take care of my manuscript including: spelling and grammar, formatting and proof reading, designing the cover (and keep designing it until I was happy), eight months of marketing, making it one hundred percent ready for Print On Demand (POD) in an Ebook, Audiobook, Paperback and Hardcover version. And it would be sold and delivered to buyers by various Amazon outlets around the world. On the strength of Trevor's promises which appeared in ...